October2009October 2009

Windows 7:The 10 Things to Do First for Windows 2227

Getting ready for Windows 7 may seem like a Herculean job—but there are plenty of ways to maximize the OS’s new features while minimizing disruptions in your organization. This offer spells out 10 steps that can help streamline your efforts and smooth the transition. Bill Boswell

Windows 7:Groovy Security in Windows 7

Security enhancements in Windows 7 mean the OS is not only more securable, it’s more usable as well. Learn how the new features make life easier and more secure for both admins and users. Steve Riley

Windows 7:What’s New in Group Policy for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2

Explore the new and updated Group Policy features in Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. System administrators will find plenty of goodies, from new Windows PowerShell functionality to updated power options, task scheduling and software restriction policies. Jeremy Moskowitz

Windows 7:77 Windows 7 Tips

Whether you’re upgrading from Vista or skipping it altogether and moving up from Windows XP, you’ll need to know how to make the most of Windows 7 in your environment. Here are 77 tips and tricks to get you there. Edited by Keith Ward

Forefront Protection Manager:Manage Forefront Security with Forefront Protection Manager

Forefront Security product management is being unified in a single management console known as Forefront Protection Manager (FPM). Here’s a peek at FPM’s features, including its effective task and alert systems and its comprehensive monitoring views. Chris Sfanos

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Columns

Editor's Note:Welcome to Windows 7

Mitch Irsfeld

Toolbox:New Products for IT Pros

Greg Steen discusses encrypting sensitive data with AxCrypt; connecting remotely to your PC with Kavoom! KVM; and discovering unknown file extensions with FILExt.com. He also looks at the book, "Malware Forensics: Investigating and Analyzing Malicious Code," from Syngress.Greg Steen

SQL Q & A:Unexpected Consistency Checks, Troubleshooting Memory Usage, More

Paul S. Randal answers your SQL questions: Why are consistency checks running? How do I figure out how much memory is being used? Why are some of our databases becoming "suspect"? And more!Paul S. Randal

Utility Spotlight:File-by-File Defragmentation with Contig

A solid utility written by Mark Russinovich for Windows Sysinternals, Contig can help boost your systems performance by quickly and efficiently optimizing specific files or directories.Lance Whitney

Inside SharePoint:Protect SharePoint Data

Pav Cherny looks at the data-protection strategies and options available with SharePoint, focusing on the most issues and how to resolve them.Pav Cherny

Windows PowerShell:Planning to Break

One big question about writing a user-provisioning script using Windows PowerShell: handling the errors that occur when you’re trying to create a username that already exists. Read this article for an approach that neatly addresses that issue.Don Jones

Geek of all Trades:AppLocker: IT’s First Security Panacea?

There’s still no one-stop solution for fully securing your IT systems, but AppLocker comes really, really close. This article offers insights about the technology’s features and functionality.Greg Shields

Windows Confidential:Tracking Shortcuts

Raymond Chen demistyfies the algorithms used by the Windows shell when resolving a shortcut.Raymond Chen