When Software Attacks!

Links from presentation on Server 2012 R2

Thanks to all who attended the ReBuild and TechEd revisited event today. I promised that I would post the links from the final slide to this blog so you can all start evaluating Server 2012 R2 and System Center 2012 R2. Download and evaluate the Preview software http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/server-cloud/evaluate/trial-software.aspx Refer to additional Windows Server 2012 R2 resources http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/server-cloud/windows-server/windows-server-2012-r2.aspx Windows Server 2012 R2 on TechNet http://www.Microsoft.com/technet Refer to additional System Center 2012 R2 resources

Posted by Rik Hepworth on Wednesday, September 25, 2013

I wouldn’t be where I am today… How encouraging kids in computing is important

I’ve been mulling this blog post for a while. Those of you who know Black Marble will have seen that we all believe very strongly in encouraging young people to take up computing and put time into sharing our knowledge and expertise. I thought it was worth sharing how I got to where I am today, which would not have been possible without the help and encouragement of three key people who worked with technology.

Posted by Rik Hepworth on Saturday, August 31, 2013

Installing .Net 3.5 onto Windows 8 and 8.1 using DISM

This is one of those posts to save me searching the web every time I need to install .Net 3.5 on a Windows 8 (and now 8.1) system. If the automated installation via add/remove features fails then you need the correct DISM command. For those who have not yet encountered it, DISM allows you to perform actions on Windows image files in a process called Offline Servicing. However, it also allows you to perform the same functions online – on your current windows system.

Posted by Rik Hepworth on Saturday, August 31, 2013

Life with a Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 13

yoga My wife’s desktop computer is eight years old. In fairness, it was good kit at the time, and the dual core, 64-bit AMD CPU and it’s four gigabytes of RAM are still more than enough to run her apps today. But the disks are slow and, frankly, it’s just getting tired. Time to get a new one… I had no real preference whether we replaced the old computer with a new traditional-style desktop and screen, or an all-in one, or a convertible or even a tablet.

Posted by Rik Hepworth on Saturday, August 31, 2013

Editing Windows Server 2012 Group Policies for Direct Access with Windows 8.1 Enterprise Preview

I finally got time to upgrade my Surface Pro to Windows 8.1 Enterprise. One of the things I most want to test is DirectAccess, as I live and die by this on my main laptop. However, despite the computer object for my machine being in the group that the DA group policies are applied to, no DA settings appeared. TIP: On Windows 8.1, use Get-DAClientExperienceConfiguration in a PowerShell window to check your settings.

Posted by Rik Hepworth on Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Installing Windows 8.1 Enterprise on Surface Pro

Windows 8.1 Enterprise preview was released a week or two ago. Being on holiday prevented me trying it out until I returned to the office. Everyone has different methods for installing Windows 8/8.1 on a Surface Pro. It’s actually pretty simple. Windows 8 can be done in the same way as I list here. However, you will need to download the Surface Pro Driver pack from Microsoft – Windows 8 doesn’t automatically find all the hardware; Windows 8.

Posted by Rik Hepworth on Tuesday, August 13, 2013

The Acer Iconia W3: An object lesson in how NOT to design a tablet

As you may have seen from my recent tweets, I was fortunate enough to attend //Build again this year in lovely San Francisco. In what appears to be an emerging tradition, conference attendees received not one, but two Windows 8 tablets: A 128Gb Microsoft Surface Pro with Type Cover, and an Acer Iconia W3 with keyboard dock. Many column inches have been dedicated to the Microsoft device, which I won’t bother repeating.

Posted by Rik Hepworth on Monday, July 8, 2013

Tech Update for Public Sector

Right now I am putting the finishing touches to my deck for an event Black Marble are running at Cardinal Place next week. As many of you will know, for the past ten years we have run the annual Tech Update covering moves and changes across the entire Microsoft spectrum of products. Until now that has only taken place in Leeds but for the first time we are taking that show on the road.

Posted by Rik Hepworth on Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Speaking at NEBytes about TFS 2012 Lab and SCVMM 2012

On Wednesday 15th May 2013, Black Marble travels north, as Steve Spencer and I will both present sessions for the great guys at NEBytes. Whilst Steve covers fun hardware and software dev using Gadgeteer, I will be talking about our experiences with TFS 2012 Lab and SCVMM 2012. If you have seen some of my earlier posts, our migration to the latest and greatest was interesting, to say the least. I learned a great deal about how SCVMM and Lab talk to each other and I will be running through how we built our environment and the things we learned that could save you pain as you follow in our footsteps.

Posted by Rik Hepworth on Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Fixing a dodgy proximity sensor on my Nokia Lumia 920

I’ve just had a really infuriating half an hour trying to figure out why I couldn’t get the keypad to appear during a call on my Lumia 920. When I took my phone away form my ear the screen stayed black. Pushing the power button made the display switch on and then immediately switch off. Power cycling and even resetting made no difference. A close examination showed that the small round circle next to the speaker slot at the top of the phone display was full of dust.

Posted by Rik Hepworth on Tuesday, March 5, 2013