Developer OneNote

SkyDrive Upgrade to 25GB free storage

emma — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 17:01:18 +0000

After I installed new SkyDrive Windows client I noticed that SkyDrive is changing to a tiered pricing. The new default storage Microsoft offers will be 7GB, down from 25GB. It seems the main reason is most existing SkyDrive user don’t use more than 7GB.

The good news is Microsoft is taking good care of existing SkyDrive users with a limited time free upgrade offer. If you are a current SkyDrive user and want to keep 25GB free storage, you need request a free upgrade with one single click.

Go to https://skydrive.live.com and login with your live id
Click Manage Storage link
Click Free Upgrade button

SkyDrive Release Windows Client

emma — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 16:27:33 +0000

Last time I posted a blog talked about SkyDrive is Live with OneNote Sync which you can Sync OneNote 2010 notebooks to SkyDrive. Now you can put every files in your PC on the SkyDrive and access it from anywhere, any devices.

Earlier today, Mike Torres and Omar Shahine from Microsoft, posted a blog via the Building Windows 8 blog site announced new SkyDrive Windows desktop client release. The SkyDrive release also includes new version for several platforms including Mac OS X, iPad, Windows Phone, iPhone.

SkyDrive Windows desktop client features

Drag and drop files directly to your SkyDrive folder in Windows Explorer, just as any other files in local disk
Remotely access files using SkyDrive.com on any Windows PC that connected to SkyDrive.
Sync and view files anywhere on Windows PC, Windows Phone, Max OS, iPad, or iPhone
Let you upload big files of up to 2GB

You can download the new SkyDrive clients and apps here. Microsoft only offers 7GB free storage for all SkyDrive users. However, if you are a current SkyDrive user(as of April 22), You just need to sign in to SkyDrive site and opt in to keep your 25GB of storage, view Upgrade to 25gb free storage for detail.

Limitation of current SkyDrive Windows client

Not support selectively sync. Right now all folders and files in SkyDrive will be synced, there is no option to let user pick which folder to sync.
You need to put all files you want to sync under the single root SkyDrive folder. Live mesh allows user to sync any folder to cloud no matter where it’s located. But this isn’t made to new SkyDrive.
No Windows XP support. You will get error “skydrivesetup.exe is not a valid Win32 application” if you attempt to install SkyDrive Desktop client on XP.

Learn more for new SkyDrive release

Windows Live Essentials Install Error 0x8104000d WaitForCatalog

emma — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 14:59:05 +0000

Today when I tried to get Windows Live Essentials installed on my fresh installed x64 Windows 8 I got following error

You cannot download Windows Live programs unless you are connected to the internet.
Error: 0x8104000d
Source: WaitForCatalog

I had same setup package installed on Windows 7 before without problems. Finally I found a solution from Microsoft, this problem can be resolved by using the Windows Live Essential full-offline installer: http://g.live.com/1rewlive4-all/en/wlsetup-all.exe. Following are detail steps provided by Microsoft How do I install Windows Live Essentials while offline

If your Internet connection is slow or unreliable, you might want to download an installer file for Windows Live Essentials and then run the installer when you aren’t connected to the Internet. This installation method can also save time if you want to install Windows Live Essentials on several computers. After you download the installer file onto one computer, you can copy it onto others to install Windows Live Essentials there.

To install Windows Live Essentials while offline

Use the installer file links provided on this webpage to find the one that corresponds to your operating system and language, and then click the link.

When asked if you want to run or save the installer file, click Save, and then save the file to your desktop.

To install Windows Live Essentials on the computer that you’re using, click the wlsetup-all.exe file on your desktop, click Run, and then follow the instructions on the screen.

Install PowerShell and Powershell ISE on Windows Server

emma — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 14:02:31 +0000

Windows Server 2003

For Windows server 2003, PowerShell V1 was released as KB ( hotfix). Download and install KB926139 – Windows PowerShell 1.0 English-Language Installation Package for Windows Server 2003

If you need PowerShell V2, make sure you have SP2 installed and then install Windows Management Framework from http://support.microsoft.com/kb/968929

Windows Server 2008

For Windows Server 2008 run the following command in an elevated Command Prompt.

servermanagercmd -install PowerShell

Windows Server 2008 R2

Windows Server 2008 R2 has PowerShell V2 built in and enabled by default, however, PowerShell ISE is not. It is installed on Windows 7 client OS, but an Optional Component on Windows Server 2008 R2. To Install PowerShell ISE on R2, run the following command in a Windows PowerShell Modules prompt

Add-WindowsFeature PowerShell-ISE

In Server Manager, start the Add Roles and Features wizard.
On the Features page, select Windows PowerShell ISE.

Windows Server 2012

Windows Server 2012 has both PowerShell V3 built in and installed. PowerShell ISE needs to be added as it’s an optional Windows PowerShell feature, same as Windows Server 2008 R2.

Also checkout How to run PowerShell scripts to start your first PowerShell script.

SCVMM 2012 RTM Available for download

emma — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 13:26:00 +0000

SCVMM 2012 RTM is available for download for MSDN subscribers. You can start download it here. The SCVMM 2012 RTM version is 3.0.6005.0. Microsoft has published the SCVMM 2012 RTM help document and cmdlets help.

If you upgrade to RTM from RC, you can enter the product key in Admin Console UI About dialog Enter product key button.

Update 4/16: The first update rollup for VMM is already out http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2686249. The update includes fix for both SCVMM Server, Self Service Portal and Admin Console. You will need to update all roles in you have them installed on different machines.

In System Center 2012, Microsoft extends the System Center branch to Cloud and Data Center management solution, the new System Center 2012 suites including

System Center App Controller
System Center Configuration Manager
System Center Data Protection Manager

System Center Operations Manager
System Center Orchestrator
System Center Service Manager
System Center Unified Installer
System Center Virtual Machine Manager

Windows 8 How to stop app tile from changing

emma — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 06:57:56 +0000

Tiles are introduced by Microsoft to Windows Phone. Tiles allow user receive latest update on start menu, without the need to open the application. For example, a weather app could show you the latest forecast.

Tile is widely used in Windows 8 metro UI applications. For some metro application you don’t want notification show up in the start menu, you can right click to app, click (or touch) Turn live tile off.

Windows 8 Getting Start Experience

emma — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 08:19:34 +0000

After the release of Windows 8 Consumer Preview, I was very excited to give it a try on my hyper-v VM. There is a lot of difference between Windows 7 and 8, especially Windows 8 has optimized a lot for tablet users.

Lock screen

Windows 8 lock screen provides quick view of latest data, time, unread emails.
Windows 8 supports picture password.

Start Menu

Win 7 classical start menu is removed
New start menu for Metro UI Applications

Desktop mode

Clock desktop tile from start menu to enter classical desktop mode.
The desktop user experience is same as Win 7.

Charm Button

Allow you access Search, Share, Start, Devices, Settings shortcuts quickly .
Shortcut: Win Key + C

Reboot or Shutdown

How to Reboot or Shutdown in Windows 8

Work with application

Win Key + tab to switch between applications
To close metro UI app, click and hold at the top of screen and pull down to the bottom of screen.

Search

Type from start menu to launch search

How to Reboot or Shutdown in Windows 8

emma — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 15:44:31 +0000

It’s pretty hard to figure out how to reboot or shutdown Windows 8 only use mouse/keyboard. After a few hours search in Google, here comes all options I found. All of them work but involved too many steps. It sucks there is no one click shutdown shortcut.

Hover the mouse over the lower right corner ( or WinKey + C), in the right menu, Settings –> Power –> Sleep/Shutdown/Restart.
In desktop mode, press Alt + F4.
In user switch screen, highlight username, sign out and then shutdown.
Running shutdown in cmd.
- Shutdown: shutdown /s
- Restart: shutdown /r

Feel free to comment if you found other options

How to tell if your CPU Supports SLAT

emma — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 16:12:05 +0000

SLAT-enabled processor is the requirement of Hyper-V RemoteFX feature which is introduced in Windows Server 2008 R2. It’s the requirement of Windows 8 client Hpyer-V feature as well.

For INTEL CPU models, following CPU models are SLAT-Capable

Server: E5500 or higher.
Desktop/Laptops: I3/I5/I7/I7-qm

There is a handy tool named CoreInfo from systeminternals that can check if your CPU is SLAT-Capable, it’s pretty easy to use:

Download from http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/cc835722
Launch an elevated command prompt
Run “CoreInfo.exe -v”

If you see EPT Supports Intel extended page tables (SLAT) then you are good.

References:

Hyper-V: List of SLAT-Capable CPUs for Hosts

Understanding High-End Video Performance Issues with Hyper-V

Hyper-v Tip: Use windows key without fullscreen

emma — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 17:03:07 +0000

When connect to a remote VM with hyper-v manager, I have to full screen to make Windows key. Personally I think Hyper-V should have a Windows key button in toolbar like "Ctrl+Alt+Delete" button.

Actually Hyper-v manager allows you to select where the Windows keys goes when you press it. Open up the Hyper-V Settings dialog from with the Hyper-V Manager and go to the keyboard setting, you will see 3 settings.

Use on the physical computer
Use on the virtual machine
Use on the virtual machine only when running full-screen

The default one is #3. Once you change it to #2, you will be able to use Windows key inside VM without *full-screen* it.

You will find this helpful if you are connecting to a VM has Windows 8 Metro UI enabled. Without a windows key it’s hard to exit Metro style app and go back to start screen.