IT Knowledgebase Articles

Windows Vista SP1 is now RTM, and will be shortly available for download for all Vista users. You can read more about it on my Changes in Vista Service Pack 1 article and my Windows Vista Service Pack 1 is RTM article. SP1 is made of a large number of individual files and components, resulting…

NetMeeting is installed with Windows XP, Windows 2000 and Windows Server 2003, it is just not obvious that it is. There are, by default, no Desktop or Start Menu shortcuts for it. Note: You may want to read Download NetMeeting for Windows 9X/NT 4.0. To activate NetMeeting, click Start, Run and enter the following command:…

What is port 445 used for in Windows 2000/XP? Among the new ports used by Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows Server 2003, is TCP port 445 which is used for SMB over TCP. The SMB (Server Message Block) protocol is used among other things for file sharing in Windows NT/2000/XP. In Windows NT it…

I remember several years back wondering what a PKI was. PKI was a hot topic in the media; often appearing as a buzz word in many different publications. Claims of what this technology could and would do were often glamorous and exaggerated. However, much of the hype over the technology has now ceased. Lets take…

What are IPSEC Policies and how do I work with them? If you’ve studied Windows 2000 security much, then you know that one of the biggest security features that’s included in Windows 2000 is the IPSec protocol. IPSec is a protocol that’s designed to protect individual TCP/IP packets traveling across your network by using public…

A lot of people think that if you virtualize, let’s say, a Windows 2003 Server, that virtualized system should be secure because it is completely separate from the VMware ESX Server operating system and it could be, potentially “protected” by VMware ESX Server. This is not true and there are a lot of things you…

What is Microsoft (or Windows) Product Activation (or WPA for short)? Windows Product Activation (or WPA) is Microsoft’s attempt to make sure that one copy of Windows XP is used on only one box. More specifically, to ensure that each CD-key is used to install Windows XP on only one box. It makes up a…

What is the Windows File Protection (WFP) in Windows 2000/XP/2003? A major cause of incompatibility and crashes in W2K/XP is the fact that an application might overwrite dynamic link library (DLL) files with a similar name belonging to other applications. Often, these are DLL files that get placed in the %systemroot%System32 folder during an application’s…

What is Windows ClearType Fonts? How can I get it to run? ClearType employs a technique developed long ago that uses the three color components of a pixel to make text appear sharper on the screen. ClearType separates out individual red, green and blue sub-pixels and manipulates them to make text look sharper. Microsoft ClearType…

How can I view the Public Folder Tree Type in Exchange 2000/2003? All MAPI clients can access the default Public Folders tree to read messages and store documents. When you create alternate public folder trees for applications or Web browsers to access, the alternate tree is not available to MAPI clients; however, applications and Web…