Tag: Microsoft

Internet Explorer 7 Advanced Proxy Settings via Group Policy

Something that has been on my task list for the last 4 months, and pissing me off royally the entire time, has been to figure out why Group Policy settings for Proxy Settings have not been applying to Internet Explorer 7 clients. The policy has worked fine in Internet Explorer 6 but after upgrading to Internet Explorer 7, the function ceased to work.
Apparently, this has been an issue for a lot of users:

SOLUTION!
While some users had luck after checking Proxy Exceptions to
make sure no invalid characters were included, many were still faced with the
initial problem.
After months of looking for a solution to this problem, the big M$ decided to FINALLY address the issue with a knowledge base article
(which was only posted THIS WEEK on March 10, 2009).

According to Microsoft, the issue is related to Internet Explorer 7 no longer
supporting the Gopher protocol. As a result, if you customize a GPO to include
Internet Explorer Proxy Settings, you MUST NOT INCLUDE GOPHER. Simply leave the
field blank, close the GPO and refresh the settings on the client computer. Like
MAGIC the settings now appear! Woohoo. Check below for a short guide.

Guide:

  1. Open the Group Policy Management Console and navigate to the GPO holding
    the settings.
  2. Navigate to the Proxy Configuration Settings located at User
    Configuration/Windows Settings/Internet Explorer Maintenance/Connection
    and configure the Proxy Settings field.

    Group Policy Configuration
  3. In this example, every field is set to the same server and port.
    Do not use the option     "Use the same proxy server for all addresses."

    Original Proxy Settings
  4. Simply delete the entries on the Gopher Field, click
    Apply and then Ok.

    Adjusted Proxy Settings
  5. From the Client machine, open a command prompt and run
    "gpupdate /force".

    gpupdate
  6. Check your IE settings. The proxy configuration should now be applied!

Let me know if this works for you!

Take Note!

I, of course, have been using my laptop coupled with my favorite note taking app for Windows to take notes (paper + pencil is so archaic, duh). On that note, I have to say I am so sick of seeing people use Microsoft Word (Mac + PC) to take notes for classes.

After enjoying a couple months off from school, I find myself back in class four days a week learning basic biology. I, of course, have been using my laptop coupled with my favorite note taking app for Windows to take notes (paper + pencil is so archaic, duh). But for the first time in my academic career (outside my computer science classes, I should say), at least 1/2 of the students in the class are also using notebook computers to take notes! This is great proof that my generation (± a few years) are becoming more comfortable using computers for more than just Internet, email and media.

On that note, I have to say I am so sick of seeing people use Microsoft Word (Mac + PC) to take  notes for classes. While most people immediately flock to the o-so-familiar Microsoft Word app to record text, there quite a few applications for both platforms that perform much better for the task at hand.

Starting with OS X (as I started my note taking career on a Powerbook), there are of course the usual suspects: TextEdit (included with OS X) and Microsoft Word for Mac ($149). These two apps will do the job, but not very well. TextEdit is limited in functionality and Microsoft Word is heavy and not Intel native. This is where The Omni Groupcomes in. When I purchased my first Mac (Titanium Powerbook) it came with a program called Omni Outliner from The Omni Group. After messing around with other the other applications, I found Omni Outliner to be the best at keeping notes, thoughts and attachments in one simple workspace. The application is light (especially compared to Microsoft Word), Intel native and follows Apple’s Inspector driven interface. But best of all, Omni Outliner comes standard on EVERY Mac that ships, and it’s a full licesnse.
Omni Outliner

Omni Outliner makes it easy to:

  • Use rich style sheets to define your document’s template
  • Add attachments directly to the file (not just references, be embedded files)
  • Easily create multiple bullet styles, including check marks for lists!
  • Easily create bookmarks throughout your document for quick reference
  • Export to multiple file formats, including PDF, XML, PlainText, RTF and more

For those of you who use Microsoft Windows as your operating system, fear not. At the launch of Office 2003, Microsoft added a new application to the suite called One Note. At it’s core, OneNote is a digital notebook (which I believe to be heavily inspired by the emergence of Tablet PCs) that can be used for note taking, project management, brainstorming and more. It features a familiar WYSIWYG interface with a few exceptions. First, there is no save button. OneNote is always saving, always tracking changes, and therefore requires no manual saving. In OneNote 2007, Microsoft released new features that allow users to make audio and video recordings of meetings or lectures, for example (hardware dependent of course) as well as share their notebooks with other users and collaborate simultaneously. As far as the Windows world goes, there isn’t any comparison. OneNote 2007 delivers the best note-taking product I have ever used and I highly recommend it to anyone using their Windows based PC to take notes. Download a free trial from Microsoft here, but students rejoice! There is an Academic edition of OneNote 2007 available also!
Microsoft One Note 2007Microsoft One Note 2007 Academic Edition – $44.95 from Academic Superstore

Windows Vista Ultimate – Limited Edition

Well I know it may sound really stupid, but I think it might be really cool to buy this Windows Vista Limited Edition. Aside from the blatant copies from Apple OS X and the more hardware intense requirements, the operating system will grow into what XP is today, the standard Microsoft operating system.


Well I know it may sound really stupid, but I think it might be really cool to buy this Windows Vista Limited Edition. I mean, yeah I know it’s Windows, but on that same note, it’s Windows. Bill Gates has announced that he will be stepping down as Chief Software Architect at Microsoft so this would be the last operating system released under his watch. And for what it’s worth, it’s not that bad an OS. Aside from the blatant copies from Apple OS X and the more hardware intense requirements, the operating system will grow into what XP is today, the standard Microsoft operating system. $259 really isn’t that bad to own a piece of history like this.

Microsoft Privacy Check to begin TODAY

In attempt to scare unlicensed Windows users, Microsoft will release and new version of Windows Genuine Validation in the form of Windows Genuine Advantages Notifications tool. It will display a message “This copy of Windows is not genuine;

In attempt to scare unlicensed Windows users, Microsoft will release and new version of Windows Genuine Validation in the form of Windows Genuine Advantages Notifications tool. It will display a message “This copy of Windows is not genuine; you may be a victim of software counterfeiting.”

Great…..

via cnet News.com