Matt's blog

Remotely accessing Windows XP desktops

Posted Tue, 12/02/2008 - 18:19 by Matt

Why Remote Access?

These days remote desktop access is a fundamental tool of trade for IT support professionals. There are a myriad of options too. You can use the Windows Remote Desktop Protocol built into Windows XP, Server 2003 and later versions. You can install a third party software solution, such as VNC (which includes many free derivatives, or a web based solution like LogMeIn.

In most cases, some forward thinking is required. You need to have the software installed before you get the urgent call from the customer requiring either a quick 5 minute remote access session, or a 60 minute drive across town.

Is Windows Vista an option?

Posted Thu, 01/31/2008 - 01:00 by Matt

Windows Vista has been around for a little while now, but I still don't recommend it to any of my customers unless they have a compelling reason to need it. So far, nobody has found a compelling reason.

Vista managed to make an appearance in Wired magazines Top 10 Heartbreaking Gadgets of 2007 due to it's compatibility problems and poor ( I would use the term abysmal) performance.

Why use Firefox?

Posted Wed, 10/17/2007 - 01:00 by Matt

The debate over which browser provides a better internet surfing experience has raged for many years and the answer for many is still unclear. The issue really comes down to what you want from the software, rather than which is "better" in an absolute sense and thus I have compiled this list of my reasons for choosing Firefox over Internet Explorer.

Adding a Windows server 2003 R2 machine to a Windows server 2000 domain

Posted Sun, 08/19/2007 - 01:00 by Matt

Here's an interesting one. I recently had to upgrade a few Server 2000 machines to Server 2003 R2. We were also replacing the hard disks which made backup easy.

We hit a problem when trying to promote the Server 2003 R2 machine to become a domain controller. After running ADPREP from the Server 2003 disk (as recommended) the promotion still failed. Finally after further investigation it seems that you need to run ADPREP from disk 2 of the Server 2003 disk set, which contains a slightly newer version of ADPREP.