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Tips
Discover how you can service Windows images and prepare Windows PE images with the new Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM) command line tool available with Windows 7. ...

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By default, SQL Server 2008 allocates a minimum of 1024 KB of memory for query execution. This memory allocation, however, can be set for anywhere from 512 KB to 2 GB. Find out when you should change this setting and how to do so. ...

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You can use the Windows Events Command Line Utility to retrieve information about event logs, run queries, archive logs, and more. Here's a look at how to use this tool. ...

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We show you how to use the Get-MailboxStatistics cmdlet to view who last logged in to a mailbox, last logon date and time, and message count. ...

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In the unfortunate case that you have to use the REPAIR_ALLOW_DATA_LOSS option, some data will inevitably be lost. Find out how you can determine what data was lost when running the repair option. ...

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Popular Articles

Greg Steen discusses recovering from system crashes with Replay RA - Recovery Accelerator, managing compressed archives with WinRAR, using TortoiseSVN to simplify source control, measuring disk I/O with Iometer, as well as rebooting servers remotely with the APC Switched Rack PDU, and looks at the book "Windows Group Policy: Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista".

Greg Steen

TechNet Magazine January 2009

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Without too much effort, you can deploy a terminal server to host the applications you need in your environment. But there are some important decisions you’ll need to make to ensure your implementation meets user expectations. Greg Shields discusses the various options you have and explains how they will affect you.

Greg Shields

TechNet Magazine January 2009

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Discover how to use the Excel.Application automation model for a more powerful way to process data from your servers and take advantage of the analysis and charting tools built into Excel.

The Microsoft Scripting Guys

TechNet Magazine January 2009

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Consolidating servers onto fewer physical machines has many advantages, but it is extremely important that you plan for your systems to be highly available. Here’s a guide to using Windows Server 2008 Failover Clustering to bring high availability to your Hyper-V virtual machines.

Steven Ekren

TechNet Magazine October 2008

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The introduction of Hyper-V makes virtualization an even more compelling solution for IT environments. Get an overview of today’s virtualization market and see how Hyper-V improves the manageability, reliability, and security of virtualization

Rajiv Arunkundram

TechNet Magazine October 2008

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Our Blog

NAP monitors the health of specified computers when they attempt to connect to a network and includes a number of mechanisms to enforce health requirements. In this article, Geek of All Trades Greg Shields gives readers an overview of these enforcement mechanisms and, as an example, takes a closer look at setting ...

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Use Windows PowerShell to Manage Virtual Machines Here are a few examples of how you can use Windows PowerShell scripts to manage virtual machines running on a Server Core installation. Note that these scripts are presented as samples and may need to be customized to work in your environment.

Create a New ...

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Disabling an Unused Part of Group Policy Objects One way to disable a policy is to disable an unused part of the GPO. By disabling part of a policy that isn’t used, the application of GPOs and security will be faster.

Administer Windows Server 2008 Server Core from the Command Prompt ...

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In the August 2008 issue of TechNet Magazine, Paul Randal wrote an article Top Tips for Effective Database Maintenance.  It was geared toward "involuntary  DBAs" (IT pros who inadvertently wind up responsible for a SQL Server instance).  The article had a great response from our readers so Paul has written another ...

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Microsoft Forefront is designed to deliver an integrated security solution that makes it much easier to deploy and manage security across an organization’s IT infrastructure. In this, our annual security issue, we feature two articles that describe how Forefront Security protects instant messaging and e-mail.

Protect ...

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Tip: Track and Analyze System Stability and Reliability with RACAgent

Reliability Monitor gathers and processes data with the Reliability Analysis Component (RAC). The RACAgent is a hidden scheduled task that is automatically configured during system installation. This task is responsible for gathering the reliability data and displaying it in the chart view. The RACAgent task typically runs once every hour and will not wake the computer if it is sleeping. If the computer is a laptop on battery power, RACAgent.exe will immediately exit if the battery capacity is at less than 33 percent.
To view the RACAgent task in Task Scheduler, select RAC within the Task Scheduler library and then right-click and select View – Show Hidden Tasks in the MMC action pane.
If you do not want to track system stability, you can disable the RACAgent task by selecting the Disable option, which is accessible in any of the following ways when the RACAgent task is highlighted in the main MMC pane:
  • Via the action menu
  • Via the action pane
  • Via the shortcut menu for the task


From the Microsoft Press book Windows Vista Resource Kit, Second Edition.

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