Ramblings

In trying to re-configure Routing and Remote Access on I was getting the following error: "The Routing and Remote Access service terminated with service-specific error A device attached to the system is not functioning."

Found a solution on the www.petri.co.il forums:

Delete the following registry entry

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\currentcontrolset\services\remoteaccess\routermanagers\IPV6

I have the Microsoft WPC App installed in my Facebook. This morning, I eagerly poured a cup of coffee, got onto the app and began watching the Keynotes. Steve Ballmer spoke extensively about the new Surface tablet coming out soon. Then he turned over the presentation to Tami Reller -- VP at Microsoft. Tami and I worked together when I was at FRx Software and she was at Great Plains.

She demonstrated the Windows 8 applications, OS and hardware. She announced that Windows 8 will release to manufacturing in August and on machines by end of October, 2012. She demonstrated many touchscreen machines and one that I liked a lot, the Lenovo Yoga -- a laptop that folds into a Tablet form factor.

If you buy a Windows 7 PC today you can upgrade to Windows 8 Pro for $14.99 (she said 1499... I believe that would be $14.99 and not $1,499!) Every PC will have a Skydrive account which is an awesome Cloud file storage application that will give you "on the go" capabilities. Apps are the heart of Windows 8. Every app's touch response seems to be very quick. The Windows App store with e-commerce sellability will be open with the release of Windows 8.

She showed Windows RT running on a Qualcomm device (tablet). She demonstrated all the regular business productivity applications you would want. Instead of going through each, let's just say that for my demands, there is more than sufficient functionality for my needs.

WOW! I was going to refill my cup of coffee but I waited! I am glad that I did. Tami is now showing Windows To Go -- Windows 8 on a thumb drive. This is a 32 GB thumb drive plugged into a Windows 7 machine but now the machine is booting up with Windows 8 Professional with all the IT Security built into it! She booted into Windows 8 with all of her apps, security and personalization! Okay, now I will refill the coffee. That was totally cool!

Windows Server 2008 Remote Desktop Servers require Network Level Authentication. The RDP Client available for XP is not set to use Network Level Authentication by default. The result is that XP machines may not be able to connect with the message "The remote computer requires Network Level Authentication, which your computer does not support." Or you might have to click connect one more time after clicking Ok to the error message.

To correct this issue configure Network Level Authentication in the registry of the client machine.

1. Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then press ENTER.
2. In the left navigation pane, go to the following registry subkey: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Lsa
3. In the details pane, right-click Security Packages, and then click Modify.
4. In the Value data box, add tspkg to the list of packages.
5. In the left navigation pane, go to the following registry subkey: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders
6. In the details pane, right-click SecurityProviders, and then click Modify.
7. In the Value data box, add credssp.dll to the list of Security Providers (be sure to include a coma between providers).
8. Exit Registry Editor.
9. Restart the computer.

What is the state of the Technology Sector today?  With unemployment at 8.2 percent, what is the future for technology experts?  

I am pleased to say that "The future's so bright, I gotta wear shades!"  (Reference to a favorite 80's song)

As I was reading this BusinessWeek article, I thought this would be an interesting topic to address.  Although published in August of 2011, this article is even more applicable.  I believe that as an industry, we live and thrive when the sector as a whole is successful.  There is a great deal of competition in the Tech Sector, iCloud, Windows Azure, Google and Amazon's Cloud are all vying for customers who are interested in the Cloud.

However, reflect back to just three years ago.  In 2009, the terminology of Cloud Computing was just catching on.  Now, a mere three years later, Cloud Computing is such a defacto term that even non-Tech people get it.  It has become so prevalent that people are reinventing themselves around Cloud Computing and notice in the BusinessWeek article that the first skill mentioned in the article is for "cloud computing engineers".  Also note that the next two skills are for "security experts and mobile developers".  

In previous blogs I have written about the future of Cloud Computing and Mobility.  It is evident that these two skills, combined with security experts, represent the three most in demand skills.  That tells me that the Tech Sector is serious about mobility, serious about cloud and recognizes that there must be a very sophisticated security model to support this future.

What does this mean for you, as a user of technology?  Innovation and Solutions.  Innovation being the creation of new, yet unthinkable solutions.  Solutions are the real-world services that make your life better.  The more investment in the Tech Sector means that you, as a user of technology, will have the real-world capabilities of Mobile Business Apps.  Imagine this:  instead of purchasing an entire Time & Expense system for your employees, you purchase a Time app, and Expense app and other apps that are available for download from the Cloud!  Gone will be the days of deploying thousands of dollars of software just to get time and expense functionality for your users!  

In conclusion, I recommend that our users continue their research into Cloud Computing and consider the best fit applications to meet your critical business needs.  

I ran across an issue with Service Pack 1 for Windows Server 2008 R2. In several cases once the service pack was installed I could not log on the servers remotely. Some research found that the issue was with update KB 2667402. On one server I was able to resolve the issue by checking for updates again. On another I had to uninstall KB2667402 and leave it uninstalled. I found the answer to this issue at http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/winserverNIS/thread/f5d... Thanks to posts by MyITNetowrk and Gryffon-G-Wiz.