Microsoft Management Console 3.0

If you use IIS, SQL server enterprise manager or any other microsoft admin tools then you are using Microsoft Management Console. There is a new version introduced with Windows 2003 Server R2 now available for download on XP.

Download details: Microsoft Management Console 3.0 for Windows XP (KB907265)

To enable the new interface functionality (by default it will behave and look the same as MMC 2.0), follow the instructions in the FAQ "How can I enable the new Microsoft Management Console (MMC) 3.0 feature set in Windows Server 2003 R2?" )

Will your new hardware run Windows Vista ?

Well it looks like joe public will not get Vista until 2007 but corporate editions will be out around November 2006.

If you are thinking about buying new hardware such as a laptop, here are a few guidelines for hardware requirements for windows Vista including the Graphics adapter requirements from ATI and Nvidia for the new eye candy "Glass" effects in Vista.

Enterprise Planning Guidelines for Windows Vista PCs

Microsoft Certified Application Developer .Net

I finished the last exam in the series to become a “Microsoft Certified Application Developer in Net” technologies.

I did 2 of the 3 exams in VB.Net and one in C# but as both languages are syntactically similar I ended up using the C# versions of the www.examcram2.com books to study for all the exams.

It is such as relief to be able to take my head out of the books in the evenings again.

Microsoft Certification Status

	Credential	Certification / Version
	Microsoft Certified Application Developer	For Microsoft NET
	Microsoft Certified Professional

Microsoft Certification Exams Completed Successfully

	Exam ID	Description
	70-310	Developing XML Web Services and Server Components with Microsoft® Visual Basic® .NET and the Microsoft® .NET Framework
	70-316	Developing and Implementing Windows®-based Applications with Microsoft® Visual C#™ .NET and Microsoft® Visual Studio® .NET
	70-305	Developing and Implementing Web Applications with Microsoft® Visual Basic® .NET and Microsoft® Visual Studio® .NET

Standby Power Mode - Fans Off Please

My Dell Dimension 9100 has a annoying feature, especially when used with Media center edition. To have the proper "10 foot experience" you can put your PC into standby mode by pressing the power button on the media centre remote. This works but for some reason all the fans in the pc are still blowing so it sounds like the PC is still on (even though the power light is flashing so it is actually in standby).

After a bit of research it seems the Logitech wireless keyboard and mouse could be the reason for this.

If you want your CPU fan and power supply fans to go off during standby, please follow these simple steps...

Goto: Device Manager, Keyboard, in Keyboard properties goto Power Management, Uncheck 'Allow this device to bring the computer out of standby'

Follow the same steps for the mouse properties...
Then follow the same steps for the "eHome Ir Remote" properties...

Each of the Mouse, Keyboard and virtual Ir Receiver have to be unchecked for the fans to go off in standby.

Please note that doing this will not allow you to bring your PC out of standby with either the keyboard/mouse or remote meaning you will have to use the power button on your PC to bring it out of standby.

The good news is that Media center is smart enough to bring the PC out of standby if you have a TV program recording scheduled and the put it back into standby afterwards.

Result, the noisy PC in the corner behind the TV is silent. I am looking into replacing some of the fans inside the PC with quieter ones so that even when the PC is on its not so disruptive.

Zalman make almost silent fans that do just as good a job as the noisy ones but are less than 20 decibels which is effectively silent inside a PC case. Just have to figure out which of the 3 fans in the 9100 is making the racket now...