Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Office 2007

As I use Office 2007 1 will document issues that arise, new ways of doing things.



VBA Macros



Opened my access database that apparently contains VBA macros. You are given an option




  • Help Protect

  • Enable Content

Note if you enable content then it is for this session only. The next time you open the database you will be prompted again.


There seems to be two ways of handling this



  • Changing access permisions for all macros

  • Adding the location of your database to the trusted locations

Macro Permissions



  • Disable all macros without notification

  • Disable all macros with notification (default setting)

  • Disable all macros except digitally signed macros

  • Enable all macros

Trusted Locations


Here you can add the directory location of the database. This would then give you greater security because you could leave the default macro permissions but not have to enable macro permissions for databases that you had created or came from a trusted location.


There is an option not ticked and not recomended "allow trusted locations on my network". Why I am not sure. However I save my database to a network drive so that it is backed up.


** Will have to investigate further **

Star Stream

The shortcut for this would have to be changed from office to office12

Would also need this to be a trusted location

System Requirements


and processor
500 megahertz (MHz) processor or higher
Memory
256 megabyte (MB) RAM or higher1
Hard disk
2 gigabyte (GB); a portion of this disk space will be freed after installation if the original download package is removed from the hard drive.
Drive
CD-ROM or DVD drive
Display
1024x768 or higher resolution monitor
Operating system
Microsoft Windows XP with Service Pack (SP) 2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, or later operating system2
Other
Certain inking features require running Microsoft Windows XP Tablet PC Edition or later. Speech recognition functionality requires a close-talk microphone and audio output device. Information Rights Management features require access to a Windows 2003 Server with SP1 or later running Windows Rights Management Services.Connectivity to Microsoft Exchange Server 2000 or later is required for certain advanced functionality in Outlook 2007. Instant Search requires Microsoft Windows Desktop Search 3.0. Dynamic Calendars require server connectivity.Connectivity to Microsoft Windows Server 2003 with SP1 or later running Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services or Office SharePoint Server 2007 is required for certain advanced collaboration functionality. PowerPoint Slide Library requires Office SharePoint Server 2007.Internet Explorer 6.0 or later, 32 bit browser only. Internet functionality requires Internet access (fees may apply).
Additional
Actual requirements and product functionality may vary based on your system configuration and operating system.

Folder Locations and Save Options

Folder Locations set to network drive. Drop autsave time to 5 mins. This will need to be checked for all apps.

Personal Folder

I removed Ofice 2000 from Personal Assistants PC. Installed 2007. When I started up Outlook it automatically migrated the Personal Folder (which must not have been deleted when office was removed) into the new version. However there was now two Personal Folders in Outlook. I just closed one and it was OK. I will need to investigate as she may have imported her backup copy from her network drive without realising it had already been done.

Monday, June 25, 2007

All things Vista

I have just installed Vista Ultimate. As I configure and learn I will document.


I connected to the domain. I then tried to access a share on the domain server. This is achieved by going to the start menu and then clicking on network. It told me that network discovery was turned off.


To paraphrase in order to improve my understanding


There are 3 network environments you can choose to have your PC fall under the umbrella of.







  • Work



  • Home


  • Public (e.g. Using a hot spot at a cafe.)





By selecting one of these network environments the firewall settings are changed to reflect the security required when using your pc in these locations






If you select Work and home office then other Computers on the network can see your PC and you can see other PC's on the network. Other PC's can see and use your shared resources (permissions withstanding) and you can see and use other PC's resources (permissions withstanding). Network Discovery is turned on.






If you select Public then other computers on the network can not see your PC and you cannot see other PC's on the network. Other PC's can not use your shared resources and you cannot use other PC's shared resources. Network discovery is turned off






When connected to a domain, group policy can control if Network Discovery is on or off






To change the Network Discovery setting start>network>network and sharing






Network Discovery can be turned on or off for the network.






There is an option to turn file sharing on or off.






There is an option to turn Public Folders on or off






Public Folder Sharing






The public folder has the following sub folders








  • Documents



  • Downloads



  • Music


  • Pictures


  • Videos






You could create your own folders under the public folder. Any files placed in this folder and its subsequent subfolders is available to any user that logs on to your PC.






There is an additional option under start>network>network and sharing that allows you to turn Public folder sharing on or off. If it is on then computers on the network will be able to access files placed in the Public folder and subfolders. If it is turned off the access to the Public folder will only be available to those users logging on to your PC.






The options for enabling the Public Folder are








  • Open and allow network users read only access



  • Open and allow network users read,change and create access


  • Do not allow network users access





Administration Pak for Vista






http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=E487F885-F0C7-436A-A392-25793A25BAD7&displaylang=en






The fownload link for the Latest administration pak for Windows 2003. This can be installed on to your vista machine and allow remote administration of your Domin Controller. Mostly used for its remote administration capabilities i.e. connect to our servers without having to go to the server room.






Windows Update






Service Pack 1 was required to update WSUS 2






http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=919004








Switch Users








Unlike Windows XP you can us the switch user facility when you are connected to a domain. Very handy if you want to flick to an administrator user. If you want to logon on as another user and connect to the domain for the username enter domain\username. If you want to connect to the local computer loccalpcname\username







User Profile Locations







The user profile location on windows XP was c:\Documents and Settings\Username . This has been changed to c:\users\Username


Where to access physical network adapter


Start>Network>Network and Sharing>Manage Network Connections


Security


Well there seems to be more administation options with Windows firewall in Vista than its predecessor Windows XP. I am not going to cover everything know for a couple of reasons



  • I don't understand it all

  • Will have to study the security options further.

For the moment I will concentrate on configuring security for Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI). I was trying to run a script from my laptop (which is also hosting virtual pc) to a virtual PC. Bothe were connected to a domain.


Originally I was getting the error


"Remote Server machine does not exist or is not available" : Get Object


There is two locations where firewall changes can be made. The first is via start>control panel> and then click the link "Allow a program through windows firewall". Under the exceptions tab there was an option to click an exception for WMI. This did not fix the problem.


This was when I discovered there was another location to change firewall settings. An advanced section if you like. Go to start>administrative tools>Windows firewall with advanced security. Here there are inbound rules and outbound rules. There is a set of inbound and outbound rules for 3 profile types



  • Domain

  • Public

  • Private

I found I needed to enable the following two rules on the virtual computer to get my WMI script to work.



  • Windows Management Instrumentation (DCOM-In)

  • Windows Management INstrumentation (WMI-In)

ALL USERS


The al users folder has changed location. It can be found under c:\public\desktop. It is a hidden folder. To view the folder drom the computer explorer windows organize>folder and search options>view and untick do not show hidden folders.


Star Stream


Will need to look at making the location for Star Stream a trusted location to avoid the constant Vista pop ups. Note this is done on a per user basis not system wide. This will have implications for mandatory profiles.


Printers


Drivers for network printers and local printers will need to be upgraded.

File association

If you want to associate a file type right click on the file and then select the program you want to use to open the files of type extension. Make sure the deafult program box is checked.


Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Remote Desktop

To enable or disable Remote Desktop

1. Open Group Policy.

2. In Computer Configuration, Administrative Templates, Windows Components, Terminal Services, double-click the Allows users to connect remotely using Terminal Services setting.

3. Do one of the following:

  • To enable Remote Desktop, click Enabled.
  • To disable Remote Desktop, click Disabled.
    If you disable Remote Desktop while users are connected to the target computers, the computers maintain their current connections, but will not accept any new incoming connections.

Set Firewall Exception

  • Computer Configuration>Administrative Templates>Network>Network Connections>Windows firewall>Domain Profile>allow remote desktop exception enable