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Archives / 2004

  • Book Review - Hacking the Code

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    Book Review: Hacking the Code By: Mark Burnett
     
    I can't say enough good things about Mark Burnett's book Hacking the Code.  From beginning to end it is a great read and a great resource.  What impressed me from the beginning is how he was able to take such a wide range of difficult topics and make them sound so down to earth.  The writing style is so polished and friendly that you almost forget that you are reading about pretty intensive topics.
     
    I was continually impressed at how well formatted the book was.  Now, that almost seems unimportant to mention but it's not.  Each section gives the goals of that section, the topic thoroughly covered, and then a summary, worth reading I must add, to close off the section.  This impressed me because it is easy to read this from cover to cover and quickly grasp the subject matter.  Or, if you are reviewing the section, you can use the summary to be reminded of the key points. 
     
    VB.Net and C# code examples are plentiful, completely usable and easy to understand. 
     
    This book is a must read.  Even with the topics that I already had a good handle on, I felt that I was continually picking up new pieces of information and being challenged to review the security I already had in place. 
     
    Hacking the Code is an easy read covering difficult topics in a consistent, complete and concise manner.  I highly recommend this book without reservation.

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  • Which w3wp.exe process belongs to which App Pool in IIS6

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    Along with Windows Server 2003 and Internet Information Services 6.0 came a large number of benefits.  For us IIS admins, it was a great welcome set of changes. But, one apparent difficultly is matching up the w3wp.exe processes displayed in Task Manager to the Application Pools in IIS.

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  • Book review - Developing WMI Solutions

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    Developing WMI Solutions  By: Craig Tunstall, Gwyn Cole
     
    Developing WMI Solutions is a must read for anyone interested in serious WMI development and WMI administration. 
     
    Both authors have an obvious depth and vast understanding of this exciting topic and give authoritative guidance in many aspects of WMI.  The book starts off with an exhaustive background of WMI and the governing bodies of various technologies surrounding it.
     
    After the background is established, the authors cover key topics like the Common Information Model (CIM), WQL, security, data providers and the Manage Object Format (MOF) to name a few.  The reader is never left wanting as Tunstall and Cole make every word count and without leaving any fundamental topic untouched.
     
    From then on the book jumps into the technologies with both feet and covers topics ranging from developing C# applications to powerful MMC Snap-ins to administrative scripts using VbScript.
     
    They approach this topic from the perspective of a power developer that wants to know the specifics of developing WMI properly.  They do this well.
     
    That being said, I recommend Developing WMI Solutions with reservation to a beginner or casual WMI developer.  Parts of the book assume a solid C++ background, other parts appeal to the C# developer using .NET.  I didn't find that they attempted to simplify their examples or consider a broad audience.  In those chapters, if you aren't a C++ developer, you'll have a hard time grasping the concepts covered.
     
    There is a great chapter close to the end on Administration scripts using VbScript.  This chapter, in contrast to others in the book, is written in a way that anyone can pick it up and start doing some WMI administration development immediately.  The other chapters beneficial to any beginner or causal developer are the "WMI Studio" chapter and the few fundamental chapters at the beginning of the book.  But unless you're a seasoned developer or a user planning to covered the advanced topics of WMI, expect to skim a number of chapters.
     
    I can't forget the chapter on WMIC.  Prior to reading this book I haven't used WMIC and I didn't have any intention to try it anytime soon.  It looked like a vast world of difficult syntax.  How wrong I was.  After reading their chapter on WMI, I have becoming a regular WMIC fan.
     
    For the power WMI developer or someone planning to become one, this book is for you.  The authors dive in deep and cover the far corners of WMI with confidence and skill.  Expect to have your difficult questions answered.
     
    I walked away from reading this book with a solid understanding of not just WMIC but a number of other tools that I now feel confident using and appreciative of having learned.
     
    Over all, I recommend Developing WMI Solutions by Tunstall and Cole to the serious developers.  I keep it handy on my bookshelf and have used it as a reference a few times already and expect to dog ear the pages before too long.  For those serious in developing WMI solutions, this book is a must-have.

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  • Internet Explorer on Windows XP doesn't save password

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    Later Addition: I received an email from Bas Barten with a fix for this: http://windowsxp.mvps.org/ProtectedStorage.htm and http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=885180.  This is the fix that I had been looking for.  Basically it's hidden in the Autocomplete and needs to be turned on. Bas Barten's fix is better in some situations that what I mentioned below because it allows the form to remember the password but still gives you the username/password prompt so that if the password changes in the future, or if you want to log in as a different user, then you have that choice.  Using the fix I mention doesn't give you that prompt but logs you right in automaticaly.  The issue with this is that if it's a site that you use for testing, or if you need to log on with different users, it can be a pain because you must first update the IE settings, then log on with the different user, then change the settings again.  It all depends on your situation which method is better.

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  • Microsoft POP3, is it ready for prime time yet?

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    This past week I was asked a question about the new POP3 service that comes with Windows Server 2003.  Since I hadn't tried it out yet I took the opportunity to install it and learn a bit about it.

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  • IIS Compression in IIS6.0

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    Hold on to your hats folks. If you don't have compression installed on your web server, either IIS Compression or a 3rd party, and you have IIS6.0 and pay for bandwidth you're missing out on something good.

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