The Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit : MAP

The Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit is an agentless toolkit that finds computers on a network and performs a detailed inventory of the computers using Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) and the Remote Registry Service. The data and analysis provided by this toolkit can significantly simplify the planning process for migrating to Windows® 7, Windows Vista®, Microsoft Office 2007, Windows Server® 2008 R2, Windows Server 2008, Hyper-V, Microsoft Application Virtualization, Microsoft SQL Server 2008, and Forefront® Client Security and Network Access Protection. Assessments for Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2008, Windows 7, and Windows Vista include device driver availability as well as recommendations for hardware upgrades.

 

System Requirements

• Supported Operating Systems: Windows 7; Windows Server 2003; Windows Server 2003 R2 (32-Bit x86); Windows Server 2003 R2 Datacenter Edition (32-Bit x86); Windows Server 2003 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition; Windows Server 2003 R2 Enterprise Edition (32-Bit x86); Windows Server 2003 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition; Windows Server 2003 R2 Standard Edition (32-bit x86); Windows Server 2003 R2 Standard x64 Edition ; Windows Server 2003 R2 x64 editions; Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1; Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 for Itanium-based Systems; Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2; Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2 for Itanium-based Systems; Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2 x64 Edition; Windows Server 2003 x64 editions; Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition (32-bit x86); Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition for 64-Bit Itanium-Based Systems; Windows Server 2003, Datacenter x64 Edition; Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition (32-bit x86); Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition for Itanium-based Systems; Windows Server 2003, Enterprise x64 Edition; Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition (32-bit x86); Windows Server 2003, Standard x64 Edition; Windows Server 2008; Windows Vista; Windows Vista 64-bit Editions Service Pack 1; Windows Vista Business; Windows Vista Business 64-bit edition; Windows Vista Enterprise; Windows Vista Enterprise 64-bit edition; Windows Vista Service Pack 1; Windows Vista Service Pack 2; Windows Vista Ultimate; Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit edition; Windows XP; Windows XP 64-bit; Windows XP Professional 64-Bit Edition (Itanium) ; Windows XP Professional 64-Bit Edition (Itanium) 2003; Windows XP Professional Edition ; Windows XP Professional x64 Edition ; Windows XP Service Pack 1; Windows XP Service Pack 2; Windows XP Service Pack 3

• Hardware Requirements:
  • 1.6 GHz or faster processor minimum (dual-core 1.5 GHz or faster recommended for Windows Vista, Windows 7 or later, or Windows Server 2008 or later)
  • 1.5 GB of RAM minimum (2.0 GB of RAM recommended for Windows Vista, Windows 7 or later, or Windows Server 2008 or later)
  • 1 GB of available hard-disk space
  • Network adapter card
  • Graphics adapter that supports 1024x768 or higher resolution
• Software Requirements:
  • .NET Framework 3.5 SP1
  • Windows Installer 4.5
  • Microsoft Office Word 2007 or Word 2003 SP2
  • MIcrosoft Office Excel 2007 or Excel 2003 SP2
  • Microsoft Office Primary Interop Assemblies
  • Installation of all updates for the operating system and Microsoft Office
  • SQL Server 2008 Express Edition, SQL Server 2008, or SQL Server 2005

Note MAP supports x86 and x64 versions of operating systems.

Download Location

http://download.microsoft.com/download/4/6/F/46F45C42-D679-404E-9812-6053DD59A0D2/Microsoft_Assessment_and_Planning_Toolkit_Setup.exe

SQL Server 2008 Express Edition Limitations

SQL Server 2008 Express Edition is a fantastic option for those seeking the power of a full-featured relational database but with low performance requirements. It replaces the Microsoft Data Engine (MSDE) as the free version of SQL Server for application development and lightweight use. It remains free and retains the limitations of MSDE with respect to client connections and performance. It’s a great tool for developing and testing applications and extremely small implementations, but that’s about as far as you can run with it.

SQL Server 2008 Express has the following features and limitations:

• Limited to one CPU
• Limited to 1GB of RAM
• Database size limited to 4GB
• Does not offer database mirroring
• Does not offer log shipping
• Does not allow merge publication
• Does not offer Oracle replication
• Does not provide the Database Tuning Advisor, SQL Agent or SQL Profiler
• Does not offer SQL Server Analysis Services or Advanced Analytics

If you’re able to live within those limitations, SQL Server 2008 Express may be the best choice for you. It’s available for free download from the Microsoft website.
Another option for database developers is SQL Server 2008 Developer Edition. Unlike Express Edition, Developer Edition has no limitations on database size, performance characteristics or functionality. However, it’s only licensed for use by a single developer in a non-production development environment. Translated: you may use it for your own use in developing applications, but you may not allow others to access either the database or those applications. Before you put the applications into production, you must transfer the database to a fully licensed version of SQL Server.

You want to stop unwanted things while loading or want to get control of boot load files??

Ohh.. my systems dead slow after joins here… they given me T61 with 1 GB..  Where my system taking more than 1 Gb almost every time I am working my Page file…. 

I checked this utility, which has the most comprehensive knowledge of auto-starting locations of any startup monitor, shows you what programs are configured to run during system bootup or login, and shows you the entries in the order Windows processes them. These programs include ones in your startup folder, Run, RunOnce, and other Registry keys. You can configure Autoruns to show other locations, including Explorer shell extensions, toolbars, browser helper objects, Winlogon notifications, auto-start services, and much more. Autoruns goes way beyond the MSConfig utility bundled with Windows Me and XP.

Autoruns' Hide Signed Microsoft Entries option helps you to zoom in on third-party auto-starting images that have been added to your system and it has support for looking at the auto-starting images configured for other accounts configured on a system. Also included in the download package is a command-line equivalent that can output in CSV format, Autorunsc.

You'll probably be surprised at how many executables are launched automatically!

 

Here is the link to download http://live.sysinternals.com/autoruns.exe

WINDOWS 2008 R2 : MY FINDINGS

 

There are 17 possible roles and 42 different features that can be enabled on Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise Edition.

Hyper-V role is not available for Windows Server 2008 R2 Itanium, Windows Server 2008 R2 Web, or Windows Server 2008 R2 Foundation.

Another problem in Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V was the inability to dynamically change the storage on a running VM. Unlike in the physical world where you can easily add or remove Universal Serial Bus (USB), eSATA, or iSCSI drives without shutting down a server, the only way to add or remove VHDs from a VM was to shut the VM down

SCCM client version

 SCCM client version

' RTM 4.00.5931.0001
' SP1 4.00.6221.1000
' SP2 4.00.6487.2000