So U're Networking?

Happy 11111011010 (2010 for the rest of us) :)

2010-01-11T13:13:00.000-08:00

Hello there So U're Networking followers,

I have been off for a few weeks due to the holiday season kicking in like crazy! So as my first address to you all, I wanna wish you the best in the new year.

I hope many of you that are on a path to IT certification and learning will make your goal and be the best you can be.

I need to gloat a bit... Well, now I only have ONE exam left to go till I get my MCITP: Enterprise Administrators Certificate. WooHoo :) Thank you, thank you.

I hope that in this year I acquire a CCNA certificate and get a decent job (anyone?).

For the rest of you ... Well we all have our individual goals wee follow, and life would be worthless without goals, so hip hip hooray for goals :)

'till next time,

Darko

Folder Redirection in Windows Server 2008

2009-12-10T15:33:00.001-08:00

Ok another treat for you,

So, you wanna setup folder redirection (Desktop, Documents ... etc Folder) to your user using GPO.

Here is a video I made, that will get you doing this in a few steps.

Without any further talk (helps me save my keyboard key-stroke life :) ), I present you my video guide, the first one in many upcoming from So U're Networking

Darko

THE Microsoft Virtual Business Cards

2009-12-08T16:59:00.000-08:00

*Tamda da daaaaa* *Fanfare*

Ladies and gentlemen, I'm proud to present, the long awaited ... Microsoft VIRTUAL BUSINESS CARD !!! *Crowd goes wild* *Applause*

Ok, enough dramatization.

Yes you got it right, the Microsoft VBC are at last available. MCT's and Loyal borntolearn blog fans got the heads-up on this one. So I am using this opportunity to give a shout to any MCP out there to check this out : MCPVBCWebsite

You can already see that my VBC is setup at the top of the blog page. A nice looking thingy, pretty customizable (not fully, but ok).

Also you generate a profile page which seems ok, simple but good.

The borntolearn blog community has followed this event thoroughly, and in despite of last minute problems this tool was online with just 35 minutes lag ... Great Debuggers! :)

Well it's late, so I'm off ... Just waiting for the professional responses.

Se ya later

Darko

MS Virtual Business Cards ...We'll see !

2009-12-08T14:13:00.000-08:00

*Born To learn Blog*

Yes, right on that link there ^, are a lot of people who are anxious to hear about the upcoming MCP Virtual Business Cads. We just gonna have to wait and see what happens...

So, 03:30 PM Pacific Time (00:30 CET), comes the truth!

I really hope they will introduce this AND bring back the Wallet card ( a real handy thingy).

That much from me... Se ya later!

Darko

Microsoft exam 83-640

2009-12-03T13:09:00.000-08:00

I've started my MCITP: Enterprise Administrator course in September this year... Easily passing my exams I was happy.

Then November came, time to take the MCTS: Active Directory, Configuring exam. Typical, just listen carefully on the course practice at home a bit and it will all be just fine and dandy.

So, that day (let's just say its November 17th) i go to prometric.com to schedule and pay for my exam. Browsing trough the site i pick MCTS 70-640, when all of a sudden ... No English language to pick (?!)

Hmmm ?! What is this... After consulting some blogs and forums I have found out that there is NO MORE 70-640, but now it's 83-640... Yep you guessed it, it comes with Virtual (freakin') labs.

Ok, nothing else to do but to schedule that one.

On the 18th of November i came to the testing center ("CET" in Belgrade, Serbia. Which is the one of the two testing centers in Serbia, and probably the best one), and to figure out that I am the first dude in Serbia to take this exam. Hmm, sounds interesting. Even the test administrator was eager to see the 83-640 in action.

Test starts ...

After two Virtual Labs, which are slow as Economic reforms are in Serbia, i got 30 questions. Typical. Hour and a half per Virtual lab and only an hour for the questions.

The main thing was, that the Virtual Labs DIDN'T crash!!! Weee ^_^

Fearing for the worst, that I didn't pass, I was eager to see the results.

When it Struck me ... "Test results cannot be displayed at this moment" WHAT!!?!

Ah c*ap!!! Well I quickly went over to the Test Admin, he was confused as well as I was, only he wasn't as pissed off.

After several attempts to receive any good info from the ProMetric support. I went home...

I was so angry that I will have to wait few days to find out whether I have passed or NOT.

A friend, suggested that I check the prometric website, and look into "Candidate History", so lookey here... I HAVE PASSED! Weeeee ^_^

But no test score, heh, who gives a rats ass about a score. I passed!

So, that is the story of the First Serbia 83-640 Exam!

Any comments, what are your experiences with this exam?

Deploying Windows Server or Vista over network With Windows Deployment Services

2009-12-02T14:40:00.000-08:00

So, you have a netbook or a computer w/o an optical drive, and your USB DVD/RW is at your neighbor’s house. Or you are a Network administrator that just wants his life to be much easier when it comes to windows deployment.

Well we have a (Microsoft) solution!

For this solution I am using Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 SP1.

What you need:

Windows Server 2008 (I guess you have one already, if you Googled this)

And of course a Windows Server/Vista installation media (DVD or .iso)

Ok, the first thing you need is a Windows Server 2008 setup as follows:

- Windows Server with an static IP address

- An Active Directory Domain Services Setup ( Windows Deployment Services need the server to be a part of a domain, which is the biggest con)

- DHCP server to assign IP addresses to installation clients. The DHCP address range needs to be in the same subnet as is the Server.

- The Server needs to be on a NTFS partition

My Settings are like this:

Domain name: Contoso.com

Full computer name: Server01.Contoso.com

IP address: 192.168.10.1 255.255.255.0

DHCP pool range: 192.168.10.2 – 192.168.10.10 with subnet mask 255.255.255.0

Now after that is all setup, run the Add Roles Wizard and select Windows Deployment Services go Next, when it asks you to select Role Services, choose Both the Deployment Server and the Transport server, finally hit next ‘till you

reach the finish. Wow, you’re done installing this role. Phew!

Ok, let’s configure this so called WDS. From Administrative tools start Windows Deployment Services, you’ll get WDS window like in fig.1. So, right click on the Server (in my case it’s Server01.Conoso.com and select configure server. Use this wizard to configure WDS on this server.

Fig. 1

Let’s go through some of the points in the Wizard:

Remote Installation Folder Location – Name says it all, just choose a path where will the installation images reside. For some performance issues you can choose a different partition, just remember that it has to be NTFS formatted and that it has enough free space.

DHCP Option 60 –Wow, sounds though! If you have a Microsoft DHCP server installed on the same server where is WDS you need to check both of these options.

PXE Server initial settings – Ok, let’s setup the PXE server. Here you configure what does the server respond to.

“Do Not Respond To Any Client Computer” –this is a fascist option, you just ignore every computer that tries to contact your PXE server. Don’t see the point here.

“Respond To Only Known Client Computers” – When You have Active Directory setup, you can pre-stage computer accounts (add computer objects to Active Directory, with AD Users and Computers tool). If this option is selected PXE server will respond only to pre-staged computers.

“Respond To All (Known Or Unknown) Client Computer” – This will make the PXE server respond to all client computers, you can mark the checkbox “For unknown clients notify administrator and respond after approval” this will add an option for the Administrator to approve unknown clients to receive a response from the PXE server.

When the Wizard reaches the end, you just have to decide whether to leave the checkbox “Add images to Windows Deployment Services now” or not. This opens a dialogue to add .wim files (Images of OS install, they are found on OS installation media).

Ok suggesting you left the checkbox checked (Which is default), from the Add Image Wizard dialogue browse to your Windows Vista or Windows server 2008 installation media. And select folder x:/sources (x: being your optical/virtual drive). Fig. 2.

Fig. 2.

Next step takes you to an image group creation. Just enter a name for a new image group and click next.

It will take some time to the wizard to add images. Depending on your Version of Windows it could take a while.

Now, this adds both boot images (boot.wim) and Windows installation images. As you can see my Windows Server 2008 contains multiple editions. Fig.3

Fig. 3

Startup your client computer and be sure it can do a network boot (PXE network card has to be present), that shouldn’t be a problem with most modern computers. When the client computer receive it’s IP address from DHCP hit F12 to confirm loading. Fig 4.

Fig. 4

Later on you’ll need to enter domain/user information to continue the installation process. Fig 5

Fig. 5

That would be it! Now you can boot of your server and install a clean copy of Windows. With no Optical device needed.

It's been a while

2009-11-20T15:27:00.000-08:00

Hello current and future followers of this here blog,

As you can see from the posting dates IT HAS BEEN a while since I last posted something on my blog. And I have even switched to another blog that is more oriented to my expertise. So NO MORE "Darko's Blog", meet the "So U're Networking Blog" *insert fanfare here* TADA DA DAAAAA!!!

So what has happened to poor ol' me that I wasn't able to blog... Well, I am currently attending the MCITP: Enterprise Administrator course in Belgrade (the capital of my country), and since it last from September to February I haven't been able to find some decent time to give into my blogging.

How is the course going you ask? Why my dear readers ... I thought you would never ask!

To this date I have passed three out of six exams needed for my MCITP: EA certificate. So three down, three to go!

I later posts I will share my experiences with the certification tests to the world!

Yeah, and wish me luck in finding a job after this certification is over, because I quit my boring "130 computer workgroup windows/linux/9x administrator" job ... For 250 euros a month it was just to much to handle ...

Well, it's getting late, and this magic potion they call coffee is starting to wear off. So I guess I'm gonna hit the sack.

Bye bye and see ya in a later post.

Darko

Antique ...

2009-07-14T02:50:00.000-07:00

This was brought to my mind a few days ago, when I was ordering some computer improvements for my company's computer systems. So, here at our company we have ~ 130 computers. They are mostly low end machines dating from 2005. So expect the usual : AMD Athlon 1600, 256 DDR and 40 Gigs HDD space. As time passes by the system requirements of new software begins to rise. So some upgrades are needed. Ok let's see... Hmmm what CAN I upgrade here? Hey, let's boost the RAM another 1GB + will do the trick 'till we can buy some new computers.

Ok so here it goes, DDR1 (SD RAM) was NOT introduced so long ago. Let's say somewhere around 2001 ~ 2002 when it went into mass commercial sales. That's ~ 9 years ... Nine freakin' years for some stuff (which was so widely available) to become ANTIQUE !!!

Let's set some facts 2 years ago you could by a 1GB of DDR1 Ram for about 10 ~ 12 Euros ( I hope I got this right) and you could buy it apsolutely anywhere. But now... 35 euros for a single module of 1GB DDR1 ?! Too much, and you can find it well, almost no where.

Yeah, so it seems that computer parts which get obsolete (and do get that way FAST), get a price massive price boost within months. And they are really scarce.

Imagine me now, I have to acquire 130 modules of 1GB DDR1 ... That is ~ 4500 euros! Hmm, and where to get the 130 modules of this Archaic RAM ...
I guess, if you are slow, there is no place for you in the computer buisness. And the one guy who is slow in this case it's my company.

Well let them pay for their ignorance.

SNES-ing 2009

2009-07-07T03:34:00.000-07:00

Ahh... I remember like it was yesterday ...

*insert dwindling music and white fuzzy cloud here*

It's the year 1996, and I've just finished my first year of elementary school. I'm such a kid, ain't I? Skipping home from the playground with my grandfather, then it struck me like a giant potato truck. A brand USED Super Nintendo (Entertainment System). I was soo happy that I just couldn't explain. Let me set some thing straight first... Before I got the SNES i was gaming on it, but in a local video-rental store (some 10 dinars for an hour of playing).

So my dreams have come to life, I have my own Nintendo. Wow! Let's play! Hmm... Something is wrong, dad didn't seem to have bought any games. Well mostly because a single game was priced around 50 German Marks (my parents had a combined pay then of about 300 marks).
So games were out of the option. What to do? Rent a game? Heh, for about 50 dinars a day I could have any game in the 'vast' selection of our local video store. Yep, thats about 15 games.

Hmmm, not much. But all the big ones were there ... Super Mario All stars, Super Mario World 1 and 2, Super Mario Kart, Street Fighter 2, Killer Instinct ... etc That way each weekend I would rent a game, and game on for three days! Woohoo... What fun ...

*dwindly and fuzzy stuff ends here*

Enough of that. That was then, now is a completely different story.
The powers of the internet had brought us some nostalgia. Yes yes yes, the old console, emulation software. That struck me quite good, a few years back, when I have discovered that there is a mass amount of software like this as well as EVERY possible SNES game in a form of a ROM (wich you can load an play on this emulation software). Wow, talk about a selection. 10 000 games in a single folder on my computer. And just free download a program (my favourite is Snes9x), load a ROM and off you go. :)

But one thing bugs me...
Was it better, back then, to play on an old TV set with the actual console in front of you? That big reset button just staring at you. A distinctive game art on the cartidge (wich always amused me).

Or was is it better to play with a Trust Predator gamepad on my HP 6710b notebook, with a vast selection of games at your finger tips.

Well to be honest, I kinda like playing on th TV more... I don't know, it's fun to play like this on the computer. But it's just not the same thing. I dunno, maybe if I've never played the actual SNES I would'nt feel like this.
But now! It's just a downhill win for the SNES! Sorry emulation people, I still use your software, but an actual console is just to close to my heart (fingertips). ;)

So the award goes to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System.
*Tadaaaa* *applausse*

E great free computer diagnose and benchmark software ...

2009-07-06T02:16:00.000-07:00

Ok, so here is the deal. I work with computers for a looong time now, and I always end up with some low-end computer who is "going slowly".

So, let's try a few things out. OK Windows tools aren't up to the job of cleaning this pile of mess. So sarching the vast wastelands of the land of Internet, I've stumbled on to a piece of software named FreshDiagnose! And the best thing about it ... IT'S FREE! :) Well not, open source free, but actually NO MONEY free. The only thing is you need to register to enable the full potential of the program.

It has a great benchmark utility, and all around system info. So, if you need something like this, and you have a SPAMbucket mail account (just to be sure). Register this software and off you go to tend to your computer problems.

Michael Jackson is Dead ... End of story

2009-07-03T00:22:00.000-07:00

I really think its awful for this man to die. He was a GREAT contributor to music.
But it's hard to forget his mistakes (pedophilia...etc). But as a musician! Respect

This video is a great look at the media *uckers! :)

A tribute to Sony Walkman (tm)

2009-07-02T02:38:00.000-07:00

Today is the 30th anniversary of the Sony Walkman. The first (successful ) portable audio player in the world. This product made a technological breakthrough in portable audio devices.

Actually the first personal stereo was the Stereobelt, which was invented two years earlier, but it was commercially unsuccessful. So, Sony stepped in, and made a bang. The Walkman was first invented for the Sony co-chairman Morita, so he can listen to opera music during his flights. (the first Walkman TPS-L2 is pictured on the right)

Ahh... Nice story, but look where are we now? Look at portable audio players. Now, almost anytime you want, you can listen to your favorite music, where ever you are. But all that, probably woudln't like this, if there wasn't a Walkman.

Sony celebrates it's Walkman's 30th anniversary, even if it is suffering from losses, because of the World economic crisis. And due to the fact that te portable audio device market is being taken over by (evil) Apple. And it's iPod.

So, all I can say is GOOD LUCK SONY, I WISH YOU THE BEST.

Windows XP Services won't start ...

2009-07-01T00:29:00.000-07:00

So, yesterday I've stumbled onto a problem. I got a call from a friend who has bought a used computer (some old IBM NetVista from Austria) and could not "do anything with it".

First lets set some data: The computer has a fresh Windows XP w/ service pack 3 installed - Which I haven't installed, so for who ever did so ... he/she did a crappy job. Computer specs don't matter, but its a 1.8 Ghz Pentium 4, 512MB SDRAM, 40GB HDD and Riva TNT2 GPU

As I sit down to the computer and try to figure out what does "can't do anything with it" mean, I try setting up some basic apps (like MS office) ... The installer fails, hmmm... What could it be?! My computer > Manage > Services - Ok, let's see ... Hmmm... What?! 95 % of services aren't even started, only a few remain started. But plenty of them are set to start automatically. But they just won't. The weird thing is, I don't get an error warning that the service won't start. It just doesn't. So, as well as the Windows Installer, neither does networking work, logging, system restore, automatic updates ... etc. Only a few services are still standing.

Starded searching the internet for a solution, there was none. Some suggested to look somewhere in the Registry, but nothing ... Same as in the Services.msc.

Now, one thing I've noticed is that there was TweakUI installed as well as some program named Unlocker ... ? Hmm, then i knew it. It was some buffed up (read: user created -full of bugs) version of Windows XP with SP3 slipstreamed inside.
Nothing is left but to reinstall the windows, with a clean Windows XP w/ SP2 (Pir4t3d). Well, that fixed everything.

I hate, when the final solution is c:\format c , and to reinstall windows ... But sometimes its the only way. Till' next time...

Meet the gang!

2009-06-30T05:47:00.000-07:00

Ladies and gentlemen, I would like announce the stars of our show...

Heh, jokes aside, here are my three (baby) tarantulas. Milan (Albopilosum), Petar (Boehmei) and Nina (Parahybana). There are just a start to my new collection, which is growin each day! ;)
They all follow the late Johnny (B. Vagans) who died in a accident ... But that is a completely different story.

They are all within my collection for about two months now! Not much, but I'm just getting started. Pretty soon my room will be crawling with tarantulas and other arachnids ... Heh, my girlfriend will just go mad! :)

The technical (Biological) data I will leave out. Be sure to check out the care sheets on the net. There are plenty.

If you are interested in keeping these critters and live in Serbia here are a few links where you can get started :

Teraristika.org < --- The best Serbian forum for this kind of stuff

NSexotics.net

gekkogecko.rs

Respect to these guys @ teraristika.org

Universal cell phone charger

2009-06-30T03:48:00.000-07:00

Hmm... This sounds interesting.

It seem that a group of mobile phone manufacturers has come up with an idea to produce phones with a universal charger support. So that when you change a phone brand, you don't have to change your charger. Apparently they will use the micro-USB connection, which I welcome the most (you can find that cable anywhere now).

I agree that this is a good move, when you go to your friends house, and your Nokia battery is low. You simply take his Samsung charger and of you go.

BUT (yep here is the BUT), when you decide to buy a new phone, well you WILL buy a new charger with it. So, this makes that universality (that is the word, right?) obsolete? A good thing to ponder. But as anything goes, i welcome this move. It will make my fears of a battery low go away! :)

(source, mtsmondo.com )

Contact info

2009-06-30T00:40:00.000-07:00

Oh, yeah, if you wanna contact me (feel free to) you can do that in various ways:

MSN: t34.mod.85[at]hotmail.com

ICQ (yep, I still use this one): 288735881

Skype: Focke_Wulf-190

Facebook: My profile page

My first blog ...

2009-06-30T00:04:00.000-07:00

Hi, and hello Well, this is THE start of my new (hopefully) successful weBLOG. I'm gonna try my best for this one not to turn up like many other dead blogs out there in the internet. Really gonna try and put my mark on the internet, and maybe entertain and (even) educate someone. If you like what you see, all I need is a thanks. :)

So... What is gonna be in this blog? Hmmm... An interesting question. Well, even I don't quite know what will I put in, but be sure it will be entertaining. The only thing is, to whom will it be interesting.

Let's put in a few words about myself... Well, as you can see my name is Darko, I come from a town of Subotica. I am an IT professional, for some years now ( I am a begginer though ). Yep, thats all you need to know, now. Don't expect to know my favourte books, movies, music and meals ... Heh, that is not interesting, trust me. ;)

Well, that should wrap it up now... Oh yeah, if you see a post in Serbian, don't get alarmed. I maybe wanna let of some steam, so it is quite easier to write in Serbian ;)

'till next time

P.S. - That guy in the picture tasting the Hungarian Gulash, yep ... Thats me!

So U're Networking?

Happy 11111011010 (2010 for the rest of us) :)

Folder Redirection in Windows Server 2008

THE Microsoft Virtual Business Cards

MS Virtual Business Cards ...We'll see !

Microsoft exam 83-640

Deploying Windows Server or Vista over network With Windows Deployment Services

It's been a while

Antique ...

SNES-ing 2009

E great *free* computer diagnose and benchmark software ...

Michael Jackson is Dead ... End of story

A tribute to Sony Walkman (tm)

Windows XP Services won't start ...

Meet the gang!

Universal cell phone charger

Contact info

My first blog ...

E great free computer diagnose and benchmark software ...