I really like Spaces or Mission Control in Mac OS X.
There is a pretty good alternative in Windows, not built-in of course…But with a small app called Dexpot.
Download the beta here.
Tag Archives: windows
Linked: Configure BgInfo to run via a GPO for a consistent experience
Found this great tip at techrepublic.com!
Configure BgInfo to run via a GPO for a consistent experience
Linked: How to Get Mac OS X’s Best Features on Windows
Great post!
Linked: Speed up your Windows DNS
Found this great post on how to speed up your Windows based DNS with forwarders.
The post describes a Windows Server 2003, but it worked just as well on my Windows 2008 R2 servers..
I ran a before and after with namebench on my mac and the results were amazing!
Linked: VistaSwitcher
I’ve had some issues with application switching, Alt + tab, on my virtual Windows 7 machine. When I pressed alt + tab the Aero-preview pane got stuck. I had to press enter to switch applications.
So I downloaded and installed VistaSwitcher.
Great little app that’s, in my opinion, much better than the original in Windows 7.
Linked: How to Join a Mac to a Windows Domain
ZoomIt, a great tool for Windows presentations
Last week I cama across a great little Windows application, ZoomIT.
It’s a small, free app that let’s you zoom in and draw on the screen. Simply put: awesome! 
ZoomIt is screen zoom and annotation tool for technical presentations that include application demonstrations. ZoomIt runs unobtrusively in the tray and activates with customizable hotkeys to zoom in on an area of the screen, move around while zoomed, and draw on the zoomed image. I wrote ZoomIt to fit my specific needs and use it in all my presentations.
ZoomIt works on all versions of Windows and you can use pen input for ZoomIt drawing on tablet PCs.
Download it here.
How to import/export files to/from a Sharepoint server
I found a great way to migrate all your files from a Sharepoint server. I have kind of had it with Sharepoint, at least for small installations. (You can read more about my new setup in How I built a Apache front-end for a Windows Share with SSL and LDAP Authentication)
The problem came up when I wanted to export all the files form the Sharepoint server. My first instinct was to open Sharepoint in Windows Explorer. But it kept throwing me the “your client does not support opening this list with windows explorer” when I tried to open the Sharepoint in Windows Explorer.
I was almost ready to give up when i found SPIEFolder. A great little application that did exactly what I wanted. I just downloaded is and ran it on the Sharepoint server, 2 minutes later the Sharepoint was exported.
….If only Microsoft could write tools like this. 
Introduction
Allows you to either Import a file system folder (And all files and subfolders) into a SharePoint Document Library, and also export a SharePoint Document Library to the file system for WSS 2.0/SPS2003 or WSS 3.0/MOSS 2007. This tool completely replicates the a document libraries folder hierarchy to the file system when exporting, and replicates the folder hierarchy from the file system to the document library when importing.
Importing
The folder can be imported into a Document Library using the following syntax (Note the “import” argument: Example usage:
spiefolder http://krichiemoss "Shared Documents" c:\spiefolder\SeedFiles importThe end result is that the file system folder and complete contents and folder hierarchy is created in the document library on SharePoint
Exporting
To export a SharePoint Document Library to the file system, and replicate it’s folder hierarchy and contents, simply list the sites URL, List Name to read contents from, and File System path to export to. (It is not necessary to supply the optional “export” keyword as it is the default operation.
Example usage:
spiefolder http://krichiemoss "Shared Documents" c:\spiefolder\SeedFilesThis will export the contents of “Shared Documents” to the file system into the folder specified via c:\spiefolder\ and replicate the document libraries folder hierarchy.
Download: http://spiefolder.codeplex.com/
How to backup vCenter running SQL Express
I found a great way to backup the vCenter SQL database running on SQL Express. The downside of running vCenter on SQL Express is the lack of the SQL agent. So running a scheduled backup of the SQL database is a bit tricky.
ExpressMaint is a small application set of scripts/stored procedures that enables you to run backup and maintenance jobs from commandline.(You could run the application ExpressMaint as well, but I installed the stored procedure version.)
I installed and configured it by doing the following:
- I created
c:\backupsto store my backups - I downloaded the ExpressMaint TSQL file.
- I opened a new cmd.exe (with administrative rights) and installed the Stored Procedure by running:
sqlcmd -S .\SQLEXP_VIM -i c:\expressmaint.sql - I created
c:\backups\databaseto store my database backups - I created
c:\backups\reportsto store my reports - I created
c:\backups\backupscript.sql(SQL file that contains the backup settings, note that my script performs the backup and rebuilds the indexes on the vCenter database):
exec expressmaint
@database = 'ALL_USER',
@optype = 'DB',
@backupfldr = 'c:\backups\databases',
@reportfldr = 'c:\backups\reports',
@verify = 1,
@dbretainunit = 'days',
@dbretainval = 5,
@rptretainunit = 'weeks',
@rptretainval = 1,
@report = 1
exec expressmaint
@database = 'VIM_VCDB',
@optype = 'REINDEX',
@reportfldr = 'c:\backups\reports',
@rptretainunit = 'days',
@rptretainval = 1,
@report = 1 - I created
c:\backups\PerformBackup.cmd(this is the batch script that executes the backup):
sqlcmd -S .\SQLEXP_VIM -i c:\backups\backupscript.sql - I schedule
c:\backups\PerformBackup.cmdusing the ordinary Windows scheduled task manager.
Linked: Help! My SQL Server Log File is too big!!! | TechRepublic
Great post about shrinking SQL server 2005 log files.
Shrinking the File
Once you have identified your problem and have been able to truncate your log file, you may need to shrink the file back to a manageable size. You should avoid shrinking your files on a consistent basis as it can lead to fragmentation issues. However, if you’ve performed a log truncation and need your log file to be smaller, you’re going to need to shrink your log file. You can do it through management studio by right clicking the database, selecting All Tasks, Shrink, then choose Database or Files. If I am using the Management Studio interface, I generally select Files and shrink only the log file.
This can also be done using TSQL. The following query will find the name of my log file. I’ll need this to pass to the DBCC SHRINKFILE command.
SELECT name FROM sys.database_files WHERE type_desc = 'LOG'Once I have my log file name, I can use the DBCC command to shrink the file. In the following command I try to shrink my log file down to 1GB.
DBCC SHRINKFILE ('SalesHistory_Log', 1000)Also, make sure that your databases are NOT set to auto-shrink. Databases that are shrank at continuous intervals can encounter real performance problems.
Export a list of all computers in an AD OU
Today I struggled with the problem of exporting a list of computers in a Windows Domain OU to a simple text file. The purpose of the text file is to act as an input for some other neat scripts.
I stumbled across a post on thebackroomtech.com that made the it seem like a piece of cake.
To export a list of all computers and non domain controller servers in an Active Directory OU, use dsquery.exe. For example, to export all computers in mydomain.com’s servers OU to machines.txt :
DSQUERY COMPUTER “OU=servers,DC=mydomain,DC=com” -o rdn -limit 1000 > c:\machines.txt
Simple and nice!
KeePass in my Dropbox
The free application KeePass is a small application that makes my daily workflow easier, both on my Mac and my PC:s.
I probably don’t have to explain the benefits of a password manager. And there are a bunch to choose from, 1password, lastpass etc. A couple of years ago I got hooked by KeePass.
KeePass encrypts the kdb file and is cross-platform, available for Linux, Mac and PC. I have found that in order to use KeePass X on my Mac I have to use the KeePass 1.xx on my PC:s. Something with the 2.xx version not being able to open .kdb files.
And like icing on the cake I store my kdb file in my Dropbox. Making it instantly available on all of my computers,
Mac: KeePass X
PC: KeePass 1.xx