Hello, I'm   Jason

According to eWeek, Microsoft may purchase Claria, the company who owns Gator. With this in mind, eWeek has suggested that Microsoft may no longer have a strong interest in security. What do you think?

Usually I try not to display my opinion on these matters, but I can make an exception. I think that if there is a deal, Microsoft can then cure 50% of their issue with spyware. This can help save them money in the long run. Also, Claria does have some value such as a customer database, user behavior-tracking software, and other small software that Microsoft could always clean up and re-use.

The Microsoft Across America tour came to Wilkes-Barre on Tuesday June 28th and brought their tour bus. Were you there? If not, you missed a lot of great information. Some of the topics at hand were SQL Server 2005, Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1, Web Services and Web Services Enhancements (WSE), Partner information, and more!

More Information

This event will be held at Luzerne County Community College, Nanticoke on July 29th, 2005. For directions to the facility and for room information, click here. The event will begin at 6:30pm. Here is the schedule:

6:30pm IT Professional Presentation: Understanding Group Policy on Windows Server 2003
Michael J. Murphy, Microsoft TechNet Presenter

I finally received my MVP logo kit. So, I now am sporting the new MVP logo. Visit my website to see what it looks like!

We came across an issue within the past few months when we attempted to setup a new Exchange 2003 server and replicate the public folders. We tried every possible way to replicate the folders. However, they never came across to the new server. We noticed that the status showed the current box as ‘In Sync’ while the new box showed ‘Local Modified’. After numerous attempts to get this working, we consulted with Microsoft guru’s. They attempted to replicate the folders as well. It still did not work. So, we had two options. First, we could attempt to debug the issue; which could take weeks. Or, we could copy over the entire Public Folder tree and drop our current server off the network; which we planned on doing anyway. So, we went with Option 2.

On the existing server, we drilled down from Administrative Groups to Public Folders. We right-clicked on the node and chose Dismount. Then at a command prompt we typed eseutil /mh and the path of the public folder .edb file. This allowed us to check for consistency. Once we found that it was OK, we copied the pub.edb and pub.stm files to a temporary directory on the new server. On the new server, we dismounted the public folders. Then we right-clicked and went into the properties. On the database tab, we checked the box to overwrite the database. Then pressed apply and OK. We then copied the new files to the new server’s mdbdata folder, replacing the old files. Finally, we mounted the folders on both servers. The old server could have been taken offline at this point.

The stuff they don’t include in documentation!!! ;)

A few have asked how they can use ASP.NET 2.0 web parts with SharePoint 2003. The answer is, you really can’t. They are still two different systems. In the future, they should will be one system. In the meantime, you can use Visual Studio .NET 2003 to develop SharePoint 2003 web parts. Follow the tutorial on creating a basic webpart: Creating a Basic WebPart

The Northeastern Pennsylvania Microsoft Across America Tour has been moved. The original address was 77 Market St, Scranton, 18701 at Best Western Genetti. It has been corrected. It is now 77 Market St, Wilkes-Barre, 18701 at Best Western Genetti. For more information about the event, visit www.DotNetValley.com.

Ever want to create “Windows XP” icons? Do you have Illustrator, Photoshop, or Freehand (or any other decent graphics tool)? If you’ve answered yes, visit Microsoft’s article on Creating Windows XP Icons at http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us/dnwxp/html/winxpicons.asp.

Microsoft purchased Creature House awhile back. Yes it has taken them a long time, but they have finally released a public beta of the new Expression “4” called Acrylic. You can download it by visiting http://www.microsoft.com/products/expression.

Teemu K (joteke) has posted a great tutorial on initiating a postback on a main page of a website from a popup window. This can be used for allowing users to choose settings, login, and more!