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Tomorrow, the Toronto Windows Server User Group will be getting together to discuss Group Policies on Windows Server 2003. When we polled our 180+ members on a choice of future topics, the overwhelming majority selected that particular one.
Here is an abstract of the event details:
Understanding Group Policy on Windows Server 2003
Date: November 25, 2004
Time: 6:30PM - 8:30PM
Location: Microsoft Canada / Events Entrance
1950 Meadowvale Boulevard - MPR
Mississauga, Ontario
Canada, L5N 8L9
The focus of the meeting is an in-depth look at Group Policy, a powerful management feature of Windows Server 2003 that enables IT administrators to automate one-to-many management of users and computers, thus simplifying administrative tasks and reducing IT costs. Through the use of Policy Settings, administrators can control desktops, software deployment, and software usage and security settings across an entire organization. As this is such a powerful feature, this session covers the full range of options within Group Policy, starting by highlighting differences from previous versions. We will look at design considerations for both security and management, and then look at deploying and managing Group Policy objects using the GPMC, deploying software, testing staging, filtering, and finally troubleshooting. With GPMC, policy-based management is even easier. Administrators can efficiently implement security settings, enforce IT policies, and distribute software consistently across a particular site, domain, or range of organizational units.
You can still sign up for the event here:
http://www.microsoft.com/canada/events/event_details.aspx?event_id=1032264717
Last week, I attended the 2004 TechNet Fall Tour stop in Toronto. I have photos and commentary from the event - I'll post the details when I get the chance.
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My wife is currently busy editing video using Adobe Premiere. Last night, to her horror the project loaded into Premiere but all of her video clips were gone, replaced by blank black boxes. It looked like all the clips she had been working on for weeks were completely erased from her computer!
The first thing I did to troubleshoot the problem was check the source files. Her .avi files were still intact on the PC but wouldn't run in Windows Media Player 9. The two errors I received were "Unable to Download an Appropriate Decompressor" and "The file format is invalid". I tried to install new codecs to make the video run but to no avail. The next thing I figured is perhaps there was WMP file corruption - I tried installing Windows Media Player 10 to fix the problem. Unfortunately, the codec error kept popping up.
I found the solution in the most unlikely of places. I downloaded and installed the Ace Mega CodecS Pack - Professional Edition and ran a tool called GSpot. This tool allows you to identify and diagnose codec problems within .avi files.
The root of the problem was a program called WinAVI Video Converter. It was recently uninstalled on her system and removed a core .dll (q3drv.dll) which was associated to the Sony DV Video Codec (the FourCC code is "DVSD"). Reinstalling WinAVI reinserted the .dll on her system and fixed the problem. At some point in the future, I'll surgically remove the .dll dependency.
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"My name is Jean-Luc David and I approved this message" (a little post-U.S. elections humor) :)
The Toronto Windows Server User Group will be meeting on November 25th at Microsoft Canada. The topic of the day is Group Policy Management, one of the most requested topics from one of our recent membership polls. In the past, I've had to use GPOs to lock down client PCs and prevent the installation of unauthorized software (most companies frown on P2P and chat software). It's a great bread & butter topic for anyone who has to administer workstations and servers. Hope to see you all there - here is a sign up link on the Microsoft Events website:
http://www.microsoft.com/canada/events/event_details.aspx?event_id=1032264717
In terms of the user group's future plans, we are planning a online meeting in December and regular meetings in 2005 on topics such as Small Business Server, Security and more. If you would like to have a say on what topic we present in February 2005, visit our website and fill out the poll.
The TWSUG will also be participating on the Toronto leg of the Microsoft 2004 TechNet Fall Tour on November 18th. Be sure to drop by our booth for a chance to win great prizes. I'll be sitting down at the Ask The Experts booth with other IT Pro MVPs, ready to answer any questions you might have on the .NET Framework, our user group (and anything else that might come up). :)
If you're interested in the contents of the tour, be sure to check out the PowerPoint decks. Bruce Cowper will be delivering informative talks on topics such as SP2 and MOM 2005 - he is a great speaker because his depth of knowledge on . Bruce is also going to be conducting a series of online web chats through November - here is a link to his blog entry with all the info: http://blogs.msdn.com/brucecowper/archive/2004/11/05/253019.aspx
You can sign up for the 2004 TechNet Fall tour at this link: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/canada/falltour2004/
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If you are part of the East of Toronto .NET User Group, please be advised that our meeting will be taking place in downtown Toronto instead of our usual spot at Durham College. If you are free for the day, it's a great opportunity to combine two events in one - in the morning you can attend the Microsoft's "MSDN Presents: Deep Dives - Building Connected Systems" event between 9:00 AM and 12:30 PM at the Paramount theatre near Queen & John (down the street from MuchMusic).
Our user group meeting will be taking place at 200 Bloor street East Toronto (Manulife Financial) between 6:30PM and 8:30PM. The topic of the meeting is "Building Smart Client Application using Visual Studio Tools for Office Version 2003". Here is a link to sign up for the event: http://gtaeast.torontoug.net/UG_Events/779.aspx
Kate Gregory has recently been seen hopping the globe and just appeared on .NET Rocks. I am a regular listener of the show - I usually upload the shows to my PocketPC using iPodder. Kate has links to the broadcasts on her blog - here is the link: http://www.gregcons.com/kateblog/default.aspx?date=2004-11-05