Windows devices are widely used for kiosks where the users should be able to use only an application and nothing else. This makes sure that an anonymous user can use the kiosk and the application, but not harm it in any way. To achieve this, you had to lock down the Windows device and harden it for obvious security reasons. But, locking down a Windows device traditionally was a difficult task.

Windows 8.1 comes with an excellent feature where you can lockdown the device allowing the user to use only one application. You need to keep in mind that this application needs to be a modern application and cannot be a desktop application. So, if you are going to use it for your customized company application (For e.g. ATMs, Flight Schedule), the application should be a modern application.

Let’s see how we can do that.

Step 1: Create a Local Account in your Windows 8.1 device. For this, go to Charms->Settings->Change PC Settings->Accounts

Step 2: Log out of the machine and log in using the local account (KioskUser) that was just created. This makes sure that a profile for that user gets created and loaded in that machine. Once that is done, log out from the local account (KioskUser)and log back in using the Administrator’s account. If this step is not followed, while assigning the app, you will get the following error: This account has no apps.

Step 3: If there is not one of the default apps available with Windows 8.1, log into the machine using the local account (KioskUser) and install the app. Skip this step if you will be using a default Windows 8.1 app.

Step 4: Assign the app to the local account (KioskUser). For doing that, go to Charms->Settings->Change PC Settings->Accounts

And that is it. Log out and log back into the machine with the local account (KioskUser) and you will see that the machine launches into Kiosk Mode and the assigned app opens directly. The user can neither drag the application down to close it, nor the charms or any other shortcuts will work. In order to log out of the Kiosk Mode, you can hit the Windows key 5 times.

In order to improve the security, you should consider the following:

1. Not keeping the Windows key easily accessible, so that users don’t log the user out by mistake.

2. Keep the administrator password strong to make sure that malicious users don’t log into the machine if they land up on the log on page.

3. Use the Automatically log into assigned access mode, allowing the machine to boot into the local account directly without prompting for credentials. This becomes useful in scenarios where if the Windows 8.1 device restarts, it will still launch into the Kiosk Mode and open the app. You can find the information configuring this here.

Hope this information helps. Happy Reading!

Microsoft has released an excellent Server Virtualization Calculator which focuses on the granular components of virtualization and provides an exhaustive Executive Summary demonstrating the benefits of Microsoft Virtualization. You can access the tool at the following link:

https://servervirtualization.cloudapp.net/

The Calculator compares the cost of virtualizing applications on Microsoft Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V to VMware vSphere 5.1. The calculator follows a simple methodology by considering the software acquisition and support costs for a server virtualization solution.  By using this calculator, you will see how the licensing and pricing models differ between Microsoft and VMware and, in particular, how they will impact the Return on Investment you are making today and long into the future.

It’s really easy to use and generates a detailed report that makes your life a lot easier. Check out the screenshots of the report when I put in a modest number of 20 virtual machines running at medium average consolidation ratio:

The following screenshot shows the executive summary giving a glimpse of the entire report.

The following screenshot shows products that have been considered for calculating the costs.

Not only there, but you can also download this report or go to some quick and useful links displayed on the right side of the report.

Leverage this tool for comparison and costing of your future virtualization environment and make an informed decision.

Happy Reading!

Remote Assistance in Windows 8

With Shadowing concept removed from Windows Server 2012 Remote Desktop Services, a lot of users want an alternative mechanism to be able to Remote Assist an RDS user. Please find the steps to request for remote assistance in Windows 8.

1. Either go to command prompt and type msra.exe and Hit Enter; or go to the Modern Desktop in Windows 8 and type Remote Assistance, and select Invite someone to connect to your PC and help you, or offer to help someone else.

2. Select Invite someone you trust to help you.

3. You can send the invitation through a file, an email or by using Easy Connect if it is present on the both the users’ machines. In this blog, we will select the email option.

4. Send the Invitation file to the helper.

5. The code that gets generated needs to be entered by the helper as well.

6. It will prompt whether you want to allow the user to access the computer. Say Yes.

7. Once allowed, you get the option of sharing screen, chatting and pausing the connection.

In Remote Desktop Services, if you are an administrator and have appropriate remoting permissions on a computer, then you don’t have to ask for access in a remote session. You can directly log into the session and see what the user is doing. In RDS in Windows Server 2008 R2, it was called shadowing, while in Remote Assistance, it is called as Unsolicited Remote Assistance.

To start unsolicited Remote Assistance, go to command prompt and type msra.exe /offerra. It will open the following wizard:

Type the name of the machine and Hit Next. This will allow you to connect to the computer without asking for permission to access it.

Hope this helps. Happy Reading!

One of my Colleagues, Vimal Shekar, has written a great and detailed series around upgrading scenarios of Windows 8. He has broken it down into 5 posts for Windows 8 and 4 for Windows Server 2012. Please find the list here:

 Windows 8

Upgrading to Windows 8 - Part 1: Talks about Hardware needed; SKU types; and upgrades paths and options for Windows 8

Upgrading to Windows 8 - Part 2: Talks about Steps of installation

Upgrading to Windows 8 - Part 3: Talks about the dual boot options in Windows 8

Upgrading to Windows 8 - Part 4: Talks about Restoration of older OS (and in a way, downgrading) Windows 8

Upgrading to Windows 8 - Part 5: Talks about known issues in Windows 8

Windows Server 2012 

Upgrading to Windows Server 2012 – Part 1: Talks about Hardware needed; SKU types; and upgrades paths and options for Windows Server 2012

Upgrading to Windows Server 2012 - Part 2: Talks about the Steps of an in-place upgrade of Windows Server 2012

Upgrading to Windows Server 2012 – Part 3: Talks about the known issues during an upgrade

Upgrading to Windows Server 2012 - Part 4: Talks about the known issues in Hyper-V, iSCSI targets, and moving between Full Server, Server Core, and Minimal Server interface

Hope this helps. Happy Reading!

 Remote Desktop Services Gateway configuration for RDS farm

Remote Desktop Services in Windows Server 2012 has undergone tremendous changes. Right from the installation options (where you get Role-based Installation and Scenario-based Installation), to the view of the environment in Server Manager.

One of the biggest concerns in Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows Server 2012 vis-à-vis Remote Desktop Services was setting up an RD Gateway. You can check the following link for understanding the deployment and the various configurations for RD Gateway and the ports that need to be opened:

Deploying RD Gateway using a Scenario Based Deployment

RD Gateway deployment in a perimeter network & Firewall rules

In Windows Server 2008 R2, you had the concept of an RDS farm, where multiple RD Session Host servers can be clubbed together and accessed with a single farm name. But in Windows Server 2012, this has changed into creation of collections. This is then provided and accessed from the RD Web Portal. So, if you had a collection called “Session_Host_Servers”, you will see an RDP icon in the Web Access Portal with the name “Session_Host_Servers”.

But one of the biggest errors that users faced while accessing the RDS farm with a Gateway in place is the following:

“This computer can’t connect to the remote computer because the Terminal Services Gateway server is temporarily unavailable. Try reconnecting later or contact your network administrator for assistance.”

This can occur on multiple occasions, but one of them is where you are trying to connect to the farm name, something like rdfarm.domainname.com and not when you are trying to connect to a RemoteApp or individual RD Session Host Servers, say rds1.domainname.com.

This happens because when you try to connect to the farm, the Gateway tries to connect to the DNS and resolve the farm name. But as there is no resource like that, you get the error. So, in order to access the farm as well, you need to add the name of the farm in the RD RAP policies, so that it checks that as a network resource and thus, does not need to resolve the name with the DNS. To do this, follow these simple steps:

1. Right-Click on Resource Authorization Policies and select Manage Local Computer Groups.

2. Select Create Group.

3. Enter the farm name and each individual servers in the farm and click on Add. Then click on OK.

Once these steps are done and you try to connect to the farm name directly, the RD Gateway will come to know that the farm name is a network resource and thus, not give you the error, but actually connect you to the farm.

Hope this helps. Happy reading!

MDOP 2012 is now available with an upgrade on all the products present in the suite. The download for the product suite can be found here.

The most popular product in MDOP suite is App-V, and with MDOP 2012, App-V 5.0 is getting released. It has undergone a lot of advancements. Let’s try and list them down here:

Hope this information helps. Happy reading!

 It talks about the simple tips and tweaks that you can use to make a Tech Talk much more interesting and relevant.

The Secrets of Effective Technical Talks: How to Explain Tech without Tucking Them In!

Happy Viewing!

With a paradigm shift in how we look at a Start screen, Windows 8 has added a lot of shortcuts for easier navigation. Check out a loooooong list of shortcuts for Windows 8 to make your life simpler.

Windows key: Switch between Modern Desktop Start screen and the last accessed application
Windows key + C: Access the charms bar
Windows key + Tab: Access the Modern Desktop Taskbar
Windows key + I: Access the Settings charm
Windows key + H: Access the Share charm
Windows key + K: Access the Devices charm
Windows key + Q: Access the Apps Search screen
Windows key + F: Access the Files Search screen
Windows key + W: Access the Settings Search screen
Windows key + P: Access the Second Screen bar
Windows key + Z: Brings up the App Bar when you have a Modern Desktop App running
Windows key + X: Access the Windows Tools Menu
Windows key + O: Lock screen orientation
Windows key + . : Move the screen split to the right
Windows key + Shift + . : Move the screen split to the left
Windows key + V: View all active Toasts/Notifications
Windows key + Shift + V: View all active Toasts/Notifications in reverse order
Windows key + PrtScn: Takes a screenshot of the screen and automatically saves it in the Pictures folder as Screenshot
Windows key + Enter: Launch Narrator        
Windows key + E: Open Computer
Windows key + R: Open the Run dialog box
Windows key + U: Open Ease of Access Center
Windows key + Ctrl + F: Open Find Computers dialog box
Windows key + Pause/Break: Open the System page
Windows key + 1..10: Launch a program pinned on the Taskbar in the position indicated by the number
Windows key + Shift + 1..10: Launch a new instance of a program pinned on the Taskbar in the position indicated by the number
Windows key + Ctrl + 1..10: Access the last active instance of a program pinned on the Taskbar in the position indicated by the number
Windows key + Alt + 1..10: Access the Jump List of a program pinned on the Taskbar in the position indicated by the number
Windows key + B: Select the first item in the Notification Area and then use the arrow keys to cycle through the items Press Enter to open the selected item
Windows key + Ctrl + B: Access the program that is displaying a message in the Notification Area
Windows key + T: Cycle through the items on the Taskbar
Windows key + M: Minimize all windows
Windows key + Shift + M: Restore all minimized windows
Windows key + D: Show/Hide Desktop (minimize/restore all windows)
Windows key + L: Lock computer
Windows key + Up Arrow: Maximize current window
Windows key + Down Arrow: Minimize/restore current window
Windows key + Home: Minimize all but the current window
Windows key + Left Arrow: Tile window on the left side of the screen
Windows key + Right Arrow: Tile window on the right side of the screen
Windows key + Shift + Up Arrow: Extend current window from the top to the bottom of the screen
Windows key + Shift + Left/Right Arrow: Move the current window from one monitor to the next
Windows key + F1: Launch Windows Help and Support

PageUp: Scroll forward on the Modern Desktop Start screen
PageDown: Scroll backward on the Modern Desktop Start screen
Esc: Close  a charm
Ctrl + Esc: Switch between Modern Desktop Start screen and the last accessed application
Ctrl + Mouse scroll wheel: Activate the Semantic Zoom on the Modern Desktop screen

Alt: Display a hidden Menu Bar
Alt + D: Select the Address Bar
Alt + P: Display the Preview Pane in Windows Explorer
Alt + Tab: Cycle forward through open windows
Alt + Shift + Tab: Cycle backward through open windows
Alt + F: Close the current window Open the Shut Down Windows dialog box from the Desktop
Alt + Spacebar: Access the Shortcut menu for current window
Alt + Esc: Cycle between open programs in the order that they were opened
Alt + F4: Close Application

Alt + Enter: Open the Properties dialog box of the selected item
Alt + PrtScn: Take a screen shot of the active Window and place it in the clipboard
Alt + Up Arrow: Move up one folder level in Windows Explorer (Like the Up Arrow in XP)
Alt + Left Arrow: Display the previous folder 
Alt + Right Arrow: Display the next folder
Shift + Insert: CD/DVD Load CD/DVD without triggering Autoplay or Autorun
Shift + Delete: Permanently delete the item (rather than sending it to the Recycle Bin)
Shift + F6: Cycle backward through elements in a window or dialog box
Shift + F10: Access the context menu for the selected item
Shift + Tab: Cycle backward through elements in a window or dialog box
Shift + Click: Select a consecutive group of items
Shift + Click on a Taskbar button: Launch a new instance of a program
Shift + Right-click on a Taskbar button: Access the context menu for the selected item
Ctrl + A: Select all items
Ctrl + C: Copy the selected item
Ctrl + X: Cut the selected item
Ctrl + V: Paste the selected item
Ctrl + D: Delete selected item
Ctrl + Z: Undo an action
Ctrl + Y: Redo an action
Ctrl + N: Open a new window in Windows Explorer
Ctrl + W: Close current window in Windows Explorer
Ctrl + E: Select the Search box in the upper right corner of a window
Ctrl + Shift + N: Create new folder
Ctrl + Shift + Esc: Open the Windows Task Manager
Ctrl + Alt + Tab: Use arrow keys to cycle through open windows
Ctrl + Alt + Delete: Access the Windows Security screen 
Ctrl + Click: Select multiple individual items
Ctrl + Click and drag an item: Copies that item in the same folder
Ctrl + Shift + Click and drag an item: Creates a shortcut for that item in the same folder
Ctrl + Tab:  Move forward through tabs
Ctrl + Shift + Tab: Move backward through tabs
Ctrl + Shift + Click on a Taskbar button: Launch a new instance of a program as an Administrator
Ctrl + Click on a grouped Taskbar button: Cycle through the instances of a program in the group
F1: Display Help
F2: Rename a file
F3: Open Search
F4: Display the Address Bar list
F5: Refresh display
F6: Cycle forward through elements in a window or dialog box
F7: Display command history in a Command Prompt
F10: Display hidden Menu Bar
F11: Toggle full screen display
Tab: Cycle forward through elements in a window or dialog box
PrtScn: Take a screen shot of the entire screen and place it in the clipboard
Home: Move to the top of the active window
End: Move to the bottom of the active window
Delete: Delete the selected item
Backspace: Display the previous folder in Windows Explorer  Move up one folder level in Open or Save dialog box
Esc: Close a dialog box
Num Lock Enabled + Plus (+): Display the contents of the selected folder 
Num Lock Enabled + Minus (-): Collapse the selected folder
Num Lock Enabled + Asterisk (*): Expand all subfolders under the selected folder    

Press Shift 5 times Turn StickyKeys on or off
Hold down right Shift for 8 seconds Turn FilterKeys on or off
Hold down Num Lock for 5 seconds Turn ToggleKeys on or off

Hope this helps. Happy reading!

The wait is over . The biggest change in the Server Operating System history is ready for launch. And it is on September 4th. Be a part of it by registering at the following location:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/server-cloud/new.aspx

Be a part of this milestone. See you there!

Hi Dear reader. Cross posting one of my posts in my team blog. In the blog, we talk a little about Windows 8 Client Hyper-V, how you can enable it and some of the scenarios:

https://blogs.technet.com/b/infratalks/archive/2012/08/24/understanding-windows-8-client-hyper-v.aspx

Happy reading!