Tea for Christmas!

Being the tea fanatic that I am means I'm always looking for an excuse to share good tea with friends and family. The approaching holidays makes it even easier. this year I'm goign to be buying some tins of Kusmi's excellent Christmas Tea:

http://www.us.kusmitea.com/en/black-tea/russian-blends/christmas-tea/c1_10/p84/product_info.html

Also since your average joe does not have a loose tea setup I'll pair each tin with a box of these excellent 9and very affordable) paper filters from Adagio:

http://www.adagio.com/teaware/paper_filters.html

YUMMY!

Going from MDT to SCCM is not as easy as I thought...

We've been using MDT for OS Deployment internally at my company since version 2008. Although MDT supports a SQL database I never had a real need to use one. Because of the successes we had with MDT we thought a leap to SCCM would not be too much of a stretch. Boy were we wrong. SCCM is powerful, but its also really complicated and dense. If you are using MDT and thinking about getting your feet wet with SCCM make sure you brush up on SQL, WQL and WMI. With all the SQL and WQL I've been writing lately I feel more like a DBA than a SysAdmin...

I Use This: Keepass

This is my favorite password manager. Loaded with features, F-R-E-E and cross-platform compatible (I use it on my Windows PC's, Macs and my Ubuntu rig). Keepass is a great way to get a handle on your passwords:

Windows version:

http://keepass.info/

Other Platforms:

http://www.keepassx.org/

Scripting: Disable Admin-Related Auto-Starts on Windows Servers...

One thing I find really annoying about Windows Servers is the popups you get very time you log in for the first time ('Manage Your Server' for Windows Server 2003 and 'Server Manager' for Windows Server 2008). Of course you can check a box after the initial login to tell it not to pop up the next time you login, but that doesn't suppress it for anyone else who logs in. Also what if you are using MDT to create an image of a Server OS and would like to banish these popups for every login on *all* future deployments? There's probably a host of ways to do this, but I cracked it with the following batch scripts:

Disable Auto-Start Initial Configuration Tasks for Windows Server 2008:

@ECHO OFF ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: TITLE Disable Auto-Start Initial Configuration Tasks for Windows Server 2008 ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: ECHO Disabling Auto-Start Initial Configuration Tasks for Windows Server 2008... ECHO. :: Change "DoNotOpenInitialConfigurationTasksAtLogon" value to "1" to disable the Initial Configuration Tasks Auto-Start: REG ADD "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\ServerManager\Oobe" /v DoNotOpenInitialConfigurationTasksAtLogon /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f :: Uncomment "PAUSE" to view script results: :: ECHO. :: PAUSE
Disable Auto-Start Manage Your Server for Windows Server 2003:

@ECHO OFF ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: TITLE Disable Auto-Start Manage Your Server for Windows Server 2003 ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: ECHO Disabling Auto-Start Manage Your Server for Windows Server 2003... ECHO. :: Disable "Manage Your Server" Auto-Start for the current user: REG DELETE "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Setup\Welcome" /v srvwiz /f REG ADD "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\srvWiz" /v CYSMustRun /t REG_SZ /d 0 /f :: Create policy to set "DisableShowAtLogon" value to "0" to disable "Manage Your Server" Auto-Start for subsequent logins: REG ADD "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\MYS" /v DisableShowAtLogon /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f :: Uncomment "PAUSE" to view script results: :: ECHO. :: PAUSE
You can run them manually or add them to an MDT task sequence.

Scripting: Disable Network Location Wizard for Windows Vista-7-2008

Just set up custom CSS styling for <code> tags which should make it easier for me to post some of my favorite code snippets and scripts. Figured I'd start with a basic batch script I wrote to disable that annoying Network Location Wizard in Windows Vista-7-2008. Just copy and paste the following in your favorite text editor, save it with a .CMD or .BAT extension and run it:

@ECHO OFF ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: TITLE Disable Network Location Wizard for Windows Vista-7-2008 ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: ECHO Disable Network Location Wizard for Windows Vista-7-2008... ECHO. :: Create blank key "NewNetworkWindowOff" to disable Network Location Wizard for all users: REG ADD "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Network\NewNetworkWindowOff" :: Uncomment "PAUSE" to view script results: :: ECHO. :: PAUSE
This script can also be added to an MDT task sequence to automate the application of this setting during a deployment.

Tea: Kusmi Christmas tea arrived today...

Forgot to mention that with my Christmas Tea I also ordered two tins tin of "Four Red Fruits" Tea:

http://us.kusmitea.com/our-teas/flavoured-tea/4-red-fruits.html

I like these two teas in particular because they have a very smooth non-astringent taste that makes them delicious "straight up" without milk (and I'm pretty religious about adding a drop of milk to my tea). I keep these two flavors along with the Prince Vladimir, Petruska and Violet teas from Kusmi in ready supply at my office (where I usually don't have access to fresh milk). All are very smooth drinking and quite tasty. Plus they give me just the right amount of "pep" to get through the day without bringing me down later (like coffee would).

Opinion: Cloud based storage solutions...

I have always felt the need for some form of local device-based storage will never truly go away. Still even I have to admit that cloud-based storage is getting a bit too awesome to ignore anymore. I've been using a personal Dropbox account for quite a while now to sync files across my WIndows, Mac, iOS and Linux devices and I simply cant disput the versatility of the platform. Recently my company made the decision to go with an Enterprise class Cloud Storage solution from Box.net. I'm currently working on testing it internally and (if it lives up to its potential) it could really change the way our users interact with their data. Who knows, maybe this cloud stuff isn't all fluff after all...

Christmas time fast approaches...

That means its time for... CHRISTMAS TEA! Just ordered mine from Kusmi:

http://us.kusmitea.com/our-teas/russian-tea/christmas-tea.html

YUM!