MS: Download Multiples Hotfixes for Unattended Installs

I found Windows Updates Downloader an amazing tool to download multiples hotfixes and create an ISO file for unattended installs

MS: Enable and Disable Windows 2008 R2 Firewall from Command Line

Disable Windows 2008 R2 Firewall from Command Line:

Domain Profile:
Netsh advfirewall set domainprofile state off

Private Profile:
Netsh advfirewall set privateprofile state off

Public Profile:
Netsh advfirewall set publicprofile state off

To enable the firewall replace the OFF at the end of the sentence for ON.

CTX: Inactive vDisk on Target Device in Citrix Provisioning Server

When you try to copy the content of the target device in Citrix Provisioning Server (PVS) 5.x, the PVS icon show Inactive vDisk status on Target Device.

If you are using DHCP to assign the IP address to devices, you need to configure DHCP options 66 and 67:

1.- Stop Citrix PVS PXE Service on PVS Server.
2.- Open the DHCP Server Management Console and select DHCP server.
3.- In the Toolbar, click Action and select Set Predefined Options from the menu.
4.- Click Add to add the DHCP options.
5.- The Option Type window appears.
6.- Enter the Name:

For option 66, enter Boot Server Host Name (for example: ctxpvs01 or 192.168.100.102 - I prefer using the IP address)
For option 67, enter Bootfile Name (ARDBP32.BIN)

7.- Click OK.
8.- Start Citrix PVS PXE Service on PVS Server.

MS: Install SQL Server 2008 on Windows 2008 R2

Install .NET Framework 3.5.1 on Windows 2008 R2 (Features)

Install SQL Server 2008 with SP1. You must slipstream SP1 on SQL Server 2008 RTM image.

Check How to update or slipstream an installation of SQL Server 2008
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/955392

MS: Always ask before opening this type of file

When you open a link or URL for a file in Internet Explorer (IE) or any browser like FireFox, you will receive this dialog:


File Download

Do you want to open or save this file?

Three buttons: Open - Save - Cancel

And one checkbox Always ask before opening this type of file

The solution is add (or modify existing) registry key to the machine (you can use a GPO to update several machines)

Microsoft Word 2003 (.doc):

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Word.Document.8]
@="Microsoft Word Document"
"EditFlags"=dword:00010000
"BrowserFlags"=dword:00000008

Microsoft Word 2007 (.doc):

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Word.Document.8]
@="Microsoft Office Word 97-2003 Document"
"EditFlags"=dword:00010000
"BrowserFlags"=dword:00000008

Word 2007/2010 (.docx):

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Word.Document.12]
@="Microsoft Office Word Document"
"EditFlags"=dword:00010000
"BrowserFlags"=dword:00000008

Microsoft Excel 2003 (.xls):

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Excel.Sheet.8]
@="Microsoft Excel Worksheet"
"EditFlags"=dword:00010000
"BrowserFlags"=dword:00000008

Microsoft Excel 2007 (.xls):

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Excel.Sheet.8]
@="Microsoft Office Excel 97-2003 Worksheet"
"EditFlags"=dword:00010000
"BrowserFlags"=dword:00000008

Excel 2007/2010 (.xlsx):

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Excel.Sheet.12]
@="Microsoft Office Excel Worksheet"
"EditFlags"=dword:00010000
"BrowserFlags"=dword:00000008

Adobe Acrobat 7.0

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AcroExch.Document]
"BrowseInPlace"="1"
"EditFlags"=dword:00010000
@="Adobe Acrobat 7.0 Document"
"BrowserFlags"=dword:00000008

Adobe Acrobat 9.0

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AcroExch.Document]
"BrowseInPlace"="1"
"EditFlags"=dword:00010000
@="Adobe Acrobat Document"
"BrowserFlags"=dword:00000008

MS: Windows 7 and Windows 2008 R2 are RTM!

Microsoft today announced the release to manufacturing (RTM) of Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. Windows 7 will be generally available to customers around the world on October 22, and Windows Server 2008 R2 will be generally available on or before that date.
Current customers of the Microsoft Volume Licensing program, MSDN subscribers and TechNet subscribers will be among the first to get customer access to Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 in August 6th.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/default.aspx

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/us/R2.aspx

CTX: Best Practices for Citrix XenApp Hotfix Rollup Pack Installation and Deployment

Best Practices for Citrix XenApp Hotfix Rollup Pack Installation and Deployment

This article introduces and discusses some of the best practices for installing and deploying a Hotfix Rollup Pack for XenApp 5.0 for Windows Server 2003 and Presentation Server 4.5.

http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX120842