Lost in Group Policies?

Ever got lost in thousands of Group Policies? I know I do.. A new application, operating system or add-on, I’m always searching, like crazy. Until I found this little helper:

MSDN Group Policy Searcher

The site also contains a Search Provider for Internet Explorer 7 and Internet Explorer 8 as well as a Search Connector for Windows 7.

This is new for me, but it has been around the web for quite some time: http://blogs.technet.com/b/askds/archive/2010/06/24/announcing-the-group-policy-search-service.aspx

Check port connectivity on a server without a telnet client

Telnet client is not installed by default for some time now, and sometimes you will find yourself in a position that you cannot install it. Then PowerShell has the answer.

$socket = new-object System.Net.Sockets.TcpClient(“192.168.1.1”, “25”)

Infrastructure Planning and Design (IPD) guides

The Infrastructure Planning and Design (IPD) guides are the next version of Windows Server System Reference Architecture. The guides in this series help clarify and streamline design processes for Microsoft infrastructure technologies, with each guide addressing a unique infrastructure technology or scenario.

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=732&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+MicrosoftDownloadCenter+%28Microsoft+Download+Center%29#tm

Microsoft Security Update Guide, Second Edition

Looking for security guidance?  This Second Edition of the Microsoft Security Update Guide includes additional content describing how Microsoft tests security updates before they are released, revised advice and guidance on testing updates in your own environment, and an expanded and updated resources section. Our goal with the Guide is to help IT professionals manage organizational risk and develop a repeatable, effective deployment mechanism for security updates.

In the Guide, you will find a convenient glossary of terms, an overview of the Microsoft Security Bulletin process, and a stage-by-stage review of Microsoft Security Updates. The Guide is organized according to the following stages of the security update process:

• Stage 1, Receive Microsoft Security Release Communications;
• Stage 2, Evaluate Risk;
• Stage 3, Evaluate Mitigation;
• Stage 4, Standard or Urgent Update Deployment Timeline;
• Stage 5, Monitor Systems, and;
• Ongoing Stage, Watch.

Each section outlines the purpose and objective for that stage, as well as the expected target outcomes upon that stage’s completion.

You can download the Microsoft Security Update Guide from the Microsoft Download Center.

Threats and Countermeasures Guide: Security Settings in Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7

These countermeasures help ensure compatibility, usability, manageability, availability, or performance.

• Threats and Countermeasures Guide: Account Policies
• Threats and Countermeasures Guide: Advanced Security Audit Policy
• Threats and Countermeasures Guide: User Rights
• Threats and Countermeasures Guide: Security Options
• Threats and Countermeasures Guide: Event Log
• Threats and Countermeasures Guide: System Services
• Threats and Countermeasures Guide: Software Restriction Policies
• Threats and Countermeasures Guide: Application Control Policies
• Threats and Countermeasures Guide: External Storage Devices
• Threats and Countermeasures Guide: Additional Resources

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh125921(WS.10).aspx