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OCS Setup & Deployment announcements

Live Mesh announcements

  • Link
    This forum is locked. Please visit the help forum for more information.
    Xiaopeng Wu

    Dear Live Mesh beta participant,

    On March 31, 2011, the beta of Live Mesh ended. We hope you’ll go to  http://explore.live.com/windows-live-mesh and try Windows Live Mesh 2011.

    For more information, go the help forum http://windowslivehelp.com/forums.aspx?productid=24

    Thank you for participating in the Live Mesh beta. 

    Sincerely, 

    The Windows Live team

  • Link
    This forum is locked. Please visit the help forum for more information.
    Shivendra Pratap Singh

    Dear Live Mesh beta participant,

     On March 31, 2011, the beta of Live Mesh ended. We hope you’ll go

    to  http://explore.live.com/windows-live-mesh and try Windows Live Mesh 2011.

     

    For more information, go the help forum. http://windowslivehelp.com/forums.aspx?productid=24

     

    Thank you for participating in the Live Mesh beta.   

     

    Sincerely, 

     

    The Windows Live team

     

  • Link
    Live Mesh Beta Will Shut Down on 31st March 2011
    Stephen Boots

    Dear Live Mesh beta participant,

    You're receiving this message because you used the Live Mesh beta from Microsoft. On March 31, 2011, the beta of Live Mesh will end, and the Live Mesh beta will stop working. After March 31, you won't be able to access any files stored online in your Live Desktop or connect to your PCs remotely using the Live Mesh software. Your files will also stop syncing between your computers and your Live Mesh online storage. Please read below for actions we recommend you take.

    With the new release of Windows Live services, we've made a series of changes and improvements across the products. We realize they will have an impact on you and we want to make that as easy as possible for you. We thank you for your continued support of Windows Live services.

    Why is this happening?

    To deliver a better product for all our customers, we combined several services into a new product called Windows Live Mesh. Windows Live Mesh has several performance and reliability improvements compared to the Live Mesh beta, and with Windows Live Mesh, you can also sync your program settings for Internet Explorer and Microsoft Office. Learn more.

    What you need to do before Live Mesh beta shuts down

    To prevent loss of any of your files, please sync all files from your Live Desktop so that you have them on your computer when the Live Mesh beta service is shutdown. To do this, follow these steps:

    1.       On your Live Desktop, right-click any Live Mesh folders not yet synced with your computer, and then click Sync with this computer. Make sure all the folders on your Live Desktop have desktop shortcuts.

    2.       Select where you want each folder to sync, and then click OK. If a folder has a lot of files, this might take a while. Open each folder and make sure all the files are downloaded.

    What you can do moving forward

    If you enjoyed the functionality of Live Mesh, we encourage you to install the new Windows Live Mesh. You will first need to uninstall the Live Mesh beta, and then go to http://explore.live.com/windows-live-mesh to get the latest version of Windows Live Mesh. Before you do this, note the folders that you're syncing on each computer and if they're shared with anyone. After you download Windows Live Mesh, you can set up these folders to sync again. Learn more about how to upgrade

    Thank you for participating in the Live Mesh beta. We hope you choose to move to Windows Live Mesh.

    Sincerely,

    The Windows Live team

    Frequently Asked Questions

    Q: Why is this happening?
    A: For the last couple of years, Microsoft has offered two similar services for syncing your files: Live Mesh beta and another service, called Windows Live Sync, which let people sync large folders of files between PCs. To deliver a better product for all our customers, we decided to combine these sets of features into a new product called Windows Live Mesh.

    Note: Windows Live Mesh is available only for Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, and Mac OS X version 10.5 or later.

    Q: What can I expect between now and the date the beta service shuts down?
    A: The Live Mesh beta service will continue to run until March 31, 2011. However, we will no longer accept new beta participants. You won't be able to share Live Mesh folders with someone unless they already have Live Mesh installed. On March 31, 2011, you will no longer be able to sign in to Live Mesh beta on your PC, Mac, or on the web.

    Q: Where can I learn more?
    A: For more information and for help upgrading to Windows Live Mesh, please go to the Mesh Help Center.

    Microsoft respects your privacy. To learn more, please read our online Privacy Statement.

    Microsoft Corporation
    One Microsoft Way
    Redmond WA 98052

     

  • Link
    Live Mesh Beta - closed to new participants
    Stephen Boots

    With the release of Windows Live Mesh (http://get.live.com), part of Windows Live Essentials 2011, merging the technology of Live Mesh beta and Windows Live Sync for Windows Vista and Windows 7, no additional Live Mesh beta accounts are being accepted.

    Microsoft has not announced an end data for the Live Mesh beta environment or the Windows Live Sync environment, but it seems logical that these will be shut down in time, given that they are 3 unique environments.

    Please note that any discussion about Windows Live Mesh and Windows Live Sync should go here: http://windowslivehelp.com/product.aspx?productid=24

    This forum will remain for existing Live Mesh beta users for the foreseeable future.

    -steve

  • Link
    This forum is for Live Mesh Beta - not Windows Live Mesh
    Stephen Boots

    For discussion of the new Windows Live Mesh (formerly Sync), (as well as the released Live Sync version) go here:

    http://windowslivehelp.com/forums.aspx?productid=24

    -steve

  • Link
    Windows Live Essentials - with the new Windows Live Mesh - is now available!
    kensm [msft]

    Please visit the Windows Live Blog for information on the changes we've made to Mesh and what you can find in Live Sync.

    If you're ready to install you can go here: http://get.live.com

    -Live Mesh Team

Microsoft Fix it Center - NOT for general support questions announcements

Conference XP announcements

Live Mesh Mobile announcements

  • Link
    This forum is locked. Please visit the help forum for more information.
    Shivendra Pratap Singh

    Dear Live Mesh beta participant,

    On March 31, 2011, the beta of Live Mesh ended. We hope you’ll go to  http://explore.live.com/windows-live-mesh and try Windows Live Mesh 2011.

    For more information, go the help forum http://windowslivehelp.com/forums.aspx?productid=24

    Thank you for participating in the Live Mesh beta. 

    Sincerely, 

    The Windows Live team

  • Link
    Live Mesh Beta Will Shut Down on 31st March 2011
    Rong Cao MSFT

    Dear Live Mesh beta participant,

    You're receiving this message because you used the Live Mesh beta from Microsoft. On March 31, 2011, the beta of Live Mesh will end, and the Live Mesh beta will stop working. After March 31, you won't be able to access any files stored online in your Live Desktop or connect to your PCs remotely using the Live Mesh software. Your files will also stop syncing between your computers and your Live Mesh online storage. Please read below for actions we recommend you take.

    With the new release of Windows Live services, we've made a series of changes and improvements across the products. We realize they will have an impact on you and we want to make that as easy as possible for you. We thank you for your continued support of Windows Live services.

    Why is this happening?

    To deliver a better product for all our customers, we combined several services into a new product called Windows Live Mesh. Windows Live Mesh has several performance and reliability improvements compared to the Live Mesh beta, and with Windows Live Mesh, you can also sync your program settings for Internet Explorer and Microsoft Office. Learn more.

     

    What you need to do before Live Mesh beta shuts down

    To prevent loss of any of your files, please sync all files from your Live Desktop so that you have them on your computer when the Live Mesh beta service is shutdown. To do this, follow these steps:

    1.       On your Live Desktop, right-click any Live Mesh folders not yet synced with your computer, and then click Sync with this computer. Make sure all the folders on your Live Desktop have desktop shortcuts.

    2.       Select where you want each folder to sync, and then click OK. If a folder has a lot of files, this might take a while. Open each folder and make sure all the files are downloaded.

     

    What you can do moving forward

    If you enjoyed the functionality of Live Mesh, we encourage you to install the new Windows Live Mesh. You will first need to uninstall the Live Mesh beta, and then go to http://explore.live.com/windows-live-mesh to get the latest version of Windows Live Mesh. Before you do this, note the folders that you're syncing on each computer and if they're shared with anyone. After you download Windows Live Mesh, you can set up these folders to sync again. Learn more about how to upgrade

    Thank you for participating in the Live Mesh beta. We hope you choose to move to Windows Live Mesh.

    Sincerely,

    The Windows Live team

    Frequently Asked Questions

    Q: Why is this happening?
    A: For the last couple of years, Microsoft has offered two similar services for syncing your files: Live Mesh beta and another service, called Windows Live Sync, which let people sync large folders of files between PCs. To deliver a better product for all our customers, we decided to combine these sets of features into a new product called Windows Live Mesh.

    Note: Windows Live Mesh is available only for Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, and Mac OS X version 10.5 or later.

    Q: What can I expect between now and the date the beta service shuts down?
    A: The Live Mesh beta service will continue to run until March 31, 2011. However, we will no longer accept new beta participants. You won't be able to share Live Mesh folders with someone unless they already have Live Mesh installed. On March 31, 2011, you will no longer be able to sign in to Live Mesh beta on your PC, Mac, or on the web.

    Q: Where can I learn more?
    A: For more information and for help upgrading to Windows Live Mesh, please go to the Mesh Help Center.

    Microsoft respects your privacy. To learn more, please read our online Privacy Statement.

    Microsoft Corporation
    One Microsoft Way
    Redmond WA 98052

  • Link
    Live Mesh Update (June 25, 2009) - PC update build: 0.9.4014.7
    kensm [msft]

    Live Mesh for Windows 9.4014.7 has been released. It will automatically update. No action is required on your part. See the following sections for details, and thanks for using Live Mesh.

    Version number

    ·         Live Mesh Desktop: 0.9.4014.7

    ·         Live Mesh PC (x86 and AMD64): 0.9.4014.7

    Included in this update

    • PC – Fixes for display problems in the Resolve Conflicts dialog box on computers running Windows 7
    • PC – Improved performance in memory handling
    • Layout and link changes on www.mesh.com
    • Server-side fixes for improved performance and stability

    Feedback

    ·         Thanks for being one of the first to use Live Mesh. We appreciate any comments you have. You can submit and view others’ feedback and bugs on the Microsoft Connect website, or send us anonymous feedback. Also, if you have a moment, please rate us.



    Thank you,
    The Live Mesh team
  • Link
    Install Live Mesh on your mobile phone!
    kensm [msft]
    If you have a mobile phone with Windows Mobile 6.0 or higher, you can add these devices to your mesh.  Live Mesh for Mobile access requires the following invitation code: https://www.mesh.com/Web/Promo.aspx?pcode=Mob_FCFS1.

    1.  Click the invitation code link above
    2.  Sign-in with your Windows Live ID
    3.  Go to www.mesh.com
    4.  In your device ring, select Add Device
    5.  Under the install button, select "Use Live Mesh for mobile devices"
    6.  A new window with the rest of the procedure will pop-up, follow the instructions.


    Thank you for using Live Mesh!
  • Link
    Help us improve Live Mesh!
    Nadia Fortini

    Help us improve Live Mesh!

    The Live Mesh team is constantly seeking feedback from our customers to help improve Live Mesh. Today we do this primarily through our forums, our blog, and Microsoft Connect, but there are other, often more useful, ways to collect feedback about Live Mesh.

     

    Would you like to help improve the Live Mesh experience? Below are two ways that you can help.

     

    Complete a survey

     

    We now have an online Customer Satisfaction Survey. Please take a few minutes to let us know how your Live Mesh experience has been.

     

    Enable anonymous data collection

     

    Live Mesh also has a tool that anonymously collects usage data on how the software is (or isn’t) working on customers’ devices. With this tool, we can monitor a variety of data points—such as the frequency of errors, typical network settings, and the reliability of sync—and then aggregate the results to get a picture of how Live Mesh is performing for customers who choose to participate. Learn more about this tool.

     

    This tool is disabled by default because it sends some data about your devices to Microsoft, but you can help us continue to improve Live Mesh by enabling the tool.

     

    To enable this tool, click the Live Mesh icon in the notification area of your Windows taskbar and click your user name. Then click Options, select the checkbox next to “Help us improve Live Mesh…,” and click OK.

    Thank you for being one of the first to use Live Mesh. We’re working hard to create the best experience possible, and your help is greatly appreciated!

    Thank you,

    The Live Mesh Team

    Blog | Forums | Feedback

  • Link
    Collecting Live Mesh for Mobile Logs
    Ben [Live Mesh]
    In order to troubleshoot issues reported by our Live Mesh for Mobile customers, we will often ask you to send us your Live Mesh for Mobile logs. To collect these logs, and submit them to us:

    1.  Connect the mobile device to your PC.
    2.  S    tart the Windows Mobile Device Center, and ensure that it shows the mobile device as Connected.
    3.  Select File Management, and copy all the logs from \Application Data\Live Mesh\Data\Log on the device to your PC.
    4.  Please zip all those logs, then file a bug on Connect (see below) and attach them to your bug report.

    To submit a bug:

    Please go to https://connect.microsoft.com/LiveMesh. (Note that you will need to register your Windows Live ID with Microsoft Connect and sign in before you will be able to submit feedback.) Click the Feedback tab, scroll down, click submit feedback, then click Live Mesh Feedback under "Bug Forms" and follow the instructions.

    If you have log files to include with your bug, you will be given the opportunity to attach them. For instructions on collecting logs, please see below.

    Finally, once you have submitted your bug, please feel free to post your Connect Feedback ID here on the forums so that others can view and validate it.



    Thank you for helping us improve the Live Mesh for Mobile experience!
  • Link
    Welcome to the Live Mesh for Mobile Forum
    Ben [Live Mesh]

    Many of you have already been experimenting with the WAP version of the Live Desktop on your mobile devices, and we’ve just announced the technology preview of the Live Mesh for Mobile software. To go along with all of this, we now have a separate forum for all Live Mesh for Mobile discussions. Please bring all your feedback and questions concerning Live Mesh for Mobile here.

    To get started, you may wish to take a look at our Mobile Device Support sticky and our Mobile Known Issues sticky.

    For details on how to find the Live Mesh for Mobile software, please see our blog.

    Thank you for helping us test Live Mesh for Mobile,

    The Live Mesh team

Windows Live Writer (Beta) announcements

My.Live.com Personalized Page Suggestions and Feedback announcements

  • Link
    All good things must come to an end…
    Jason A. Garza
    If you’ve visited My.live.com in the United States today, you’ve no doubt seen the notification message that My.live.com will be discontinued effective March 15, 2010.

    We know that some of you have invested a lot of time setting up your pages, so before the site comes down, we wanted to provide you an opportunity to save your page setup information via an OPML file. To export to OPML, follow the steps below:

    1. Click on “Add Content”
    2. Choose “Advanced Options”
    3. At the bottom of the options box, select “Click here to export to OPML”

    This will generate an OPML file that can either be uploaded to a site that supports OPML imports, or you can view the file contents to get a quick view of the URLs for RSS feeds that have been added to your page. You can then copy and paste the URL into the “Add Feed” field on My.msn.com.

    The My.live.com team would like to extend our sincere gratitude to all of our users for their support and loyalty over the years. We’ve come a long way since our first introduction as Start.com, and hope that you have enjoyed the journey as much as we have. While My.live.com maybe going away, current and past members of our team continue to work on new, exciting, and innovative features for Bing, Windows Live, and MSN. One journey is coming to an end, but more great things are around the corner. We’re looking forward to it and hope you’ll join us on our next adventure.

    Thank you,

    - The My.live.com Team

Closed - Office Genuine Advantage Validation Issues (Office) Read-Only announcements

  • Link
    Office Genuine Advantage Forum is Closed
    Darin Smith MS

    As of December 17, 2010, Microsoft retired the Office Genuine Advantage program.

    The Office Genuine Advantage program was designed to notify many customers around the world whether their copy of Microsoft Office was genuine. The program has served its purpose and thus we have decided to retire the program. Given our strong commitment to anti-piracy, we are making several new investments that will allow us to engage with customers and help victims of fraud. If you believe that your Office software may be counterfeit, please visit Microsoft’s How to Tell website. You may also learn more about Microsoft Office products or purchase or download a genuine copy directly. If you have additional questions or otherwise require support on this issue, please contact us for support options.

      Due to this we have closed the Office Genuine Advantage Forum to any further postings. We have left the forum Read-Only in the hope that there may be information here that is useful to future users.

      If you have a any other Office related issue, please post in the Office Answers Forum section most appropriate to the nature of the issue. (http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/group/Office )

     

    Thank you,

Windows Phone Suggestion Box announcements

  • Link
    Please post your suggestions to the Windows Phone forums on Microsoft Answers; we value your feedback!
    MaryAliceC

    Thank you for sharing your suggestions through the Suggestion Box forum.  We value your feedback and are working to improve how you provide suggestions about Windows Phone. As part of the Windows Phone forums transition to Microsoft Answers, you will be able to provide suggestions in each of the forums via a topic (such as the Feature Requests topic in the My Phone Service forum.)  This new system will help us more effectively categorize your suggestions to be more responsive.

     

    All of the other forums will remain active and available to you for posting and helping other users get the most from Windows Phone.  We look forward to continuing our exchanges under the Microsoft Answers banner and recommend that you look for new topics, in addition to new question and answer threads each time you visit the forums. 

     

Windows Home Server Power Pack 3 Beta announcements

  • Link
    Power Pack 3 Scenario Voting Survey now available!
    Jonas Svensson -FST-

    Windows Home Server Beta Testers,

    Thanks again for your participation in the Windows Home Server Power Pack 3 beta test program.  We have received many great forum threads, bug reports and suggestions.  Those bug reports and suggestions have been invaluable for improving Windows Home Server.   

    While it was not always possible to respond to every message, all of your feedback has been given to our development organization for consideration.  Since many factors affect product design, we may not have been able to act upon all suggestions.  Any feedback that we have not acted on is being considered for future versions of Windows Home Server.

     

    As a final step in the beta test program, please complete the Power Pack 3 Scenario Voting Survey located here: http://connect.microsoft.com/WindowsHomeServer/Survey/Survey.aspx?SurveyID=9176

     

    Thanks again for your support of Windows Home Server.  We appreciate your participation in the testing of Microsoft products!

Windows Home Server Code Name "Vail" Beta announcements

  • Link
    Forum for discussing the Windows Home Server "Vail" SDK
    Jonas Svensson -FST-

    Please use the following forum to discuss the Windows Home Server "Vail" SDK.

    http://social.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/whsdevelopers/threads

    Also be sure to put "Vail" in the subject of any post regarding the "Vail" SDK

    Thanks

  • Link
    What's new in backup for "Vail"
    Jonas Svensson -FST-

    Backing up client computers for file or folder or a full system restore was a feature introduced in Windows Home Server V1. Significant portion of the features and technology have been carried forward in the Vail product as well.

    Backing up your server

    Ability to backup the server and restore both data and the full system from a disaster was one of the #1 asks from our customers. In Vail we have provided ability to do automated backups of the full server to externally attached storage. Features include:

    ·         Full VSS based backup of the server to externally attached disks using Windows Server 2008 R2 backup technology

    ·         Ability to back up to multiple targets for offsite storage. You keep one external disk onsite for your most recent backups, and the other disks offsite in case of disasters

    ·         You can back up the Operating System, Data, Shared Folders, and even the Client Backup Database for future recovery

    ·         Select what you want to protect using the server backup configuration wizard on the Computers and Backup tab

    ·         Schedule automatic backups multiple times a day upto half hour intervals

    ·         Backups to external disks are incremental for storage optimization but each back up version is fully restorable

    ·         Restore scenarios include restoring individual Files or Folders, Full system restore through Bare Metal Restore, and Factory Reset

    Note: Not all features stated above have been fully developed in the product yet. For details about what is and is not available please refer to the Getting Started guide.

    Backing up the client computers

    Centralized backup of client computers to the Windows Home Server storage was a feature introduced in Windows Home Server V1. The basic technology and the features have been carried forward with some key feature updates.

    Features from Windows Home Server V1

    ·         Automatic daily backups of network joined client computers to centralized storage on Windows Home Server

    ·         Backups are single instanced and incremental over the network. This provides storage and backup time optimizations. Only unique data and incremental changes across your home network are sent over the wire and stored only once.

    ·         Ability to exclude files or folders from your backup

    ·         Restore scenarios include individual Files or Folders and Full System Restore to similar hardware using Bare Metal Restore

    New Features in “Vail”

    ·         Support for VSS writers on client computers to improve consistency of backups

    ·         New backup configuration wizard allows you to select volumes or folders you want to backup. Items that are not selected are excluded from the backup

    ·         New Files or Folders restore Wizard provides a guided wizard for the user to restore individual files or folders from a backup

    ·         New mini filter driver for the Files or Folders Restore wizard solves many of the problems in V1 resulting from multiple mount of backup volumes

    ·         Intelligent automatic scheduling allows more computers to be backed up

    o   Higher priority is given to computers with the oldest backups during the time window

    o   Prioritization is calculated dynamically

    o   Computers which are chronically out of compliance (such as laptops) are automatically backed outside of the backup time window whenever they are connected to the server

    ·         Backups are now resummable. In WHS V1 if backups are not successfull, it started from the beginning the next time backups ran. This resulted in computers with high storage in repeated failed backups. In Vail we take checkpoints along the way (this is not visible to the end user). If for any reason backup fails in the middle such as due network connection drop, backups will resume from the last checkpoint next time it runs

    ·         Full system restore functionality now allows automatic partition and formatting of drives during restore. In WHS V1 if volumes did not exist, users had to manually create partitions and format them before continuing with the system restore process. In Vail we do this automatically based on the configuration that existed in the source during a backup

    ·         System restore disk now includes both the x86 (32 bit) and x64 bit version of the restore media. This allows you to restore both x86 and x64 bit client computers without the need to download and install specific 32 bit drivers for the restore CD

    ·         Improved resiliency and robustness of the backup database including an improved database repair functionality 

    ·         Backup applet on the Client Launchpad allows users to start/stop manual backups as well as set the power management settings

     

    Note: Not all features stated above have been fully developed in the product yet. For details about what is and is not available please refer to the Getting Started guide

     And thank you all for testing Vail

    This post is "AS IS" and confers no rights.

  • Link
    What's new in Drive Extender for "Vail"
    Jonas Svensson -FST-

    Drive Extender is a storage technology first introduced in Windows Home Server's first release. The 1st generation of the technology was file based, and worked on top of "vanilla" NTFS volumes using reparse points. To address the customer feedback we have received and improve the system's resiliency to partial drive failures (seen many times by our support), the Drive Extender technology was updated to use block based storage below the file system similar to software RAID systems.

    The following isn't an exhaustive list, but does try to enumerate the major new features as well as features which are no longer supported in the “Vail” version of Drive Extender:

     

    Features carried over from the previous release:

    ·         Duplication can be turned on/off per folder.

    ·         Duplicated folders can survive a single hard drive failure.

    ·         Storage pool can be easily expanded using different drive types and various sizes.

    ·         Graphical representation of storage usage (AKA the pie chart) - isn't present in the beta, but is planned for the next milestone.

     

    New/Improved features:

    ·         For duplicated folders, data is duplicated in real time to two separate drives - there is no hourly migration pass.

    ·         File system level encryption (EFS) and compression are now supported for Drive Extender folders.

    ·         File conflicts are gone, duplication works as intended for files in use as it is performed at the block level now.

    ·         The remaining amount of data to synchronize/duplicate is reported per storage pool.

    ·         All storage operations are executed in the background without blocking other server operations. Specifically, drive removal can be issued without impacting the online state of shares.

    ·         Drives in a storage pool can be named with a custom description to enable physical identification of the drive in the server.

    ·         Drive serial number and exact connection type is reported for each drive.

    ·         Drives which are bigger than 2TB can be added  to a storage pool.

    ·         iSCSI storage devices can be added to the a storage pool.

    ·         The system drive can be excluded from the storage pool.

    ·         A new low-level storage check and repair diagnostic operation was added.

    ·         All storage operations are performed with very low I/O priority to ensure they don't interfere with media streaming.

    ·         A new "folder repair" operation is available which runs chkdsk on the folder's volume.

    ·         To protect against silent storage errors (bit flips, misdirected writes, torn writes), additional information is appended to each 512-byte sector stored on drive. In particular, each sector is protected by a CRC checksum, which enables Drive Extender to detect data read errors, perform realtime error correction and self-healing (up to 2 bit errors per sector if duplication is disabled, and any number of bit errors if duplication is enabled) and report the errors back to the user and application. The overhead for this additional data is roughly 12% of drive space.

    ·         Data drives in storage pools can be migrated between servers, and appear as a non-default pool.  A non-default pool can be promoted to a default pool if no default pool exists.

    Deprecated features:

    ·         A data drive from a storage pool cannot be read on machine not running the “Vail” server software.

    ·         Data isn't rebalanced across drives to ensure even distribution. The data allocation attempts to keep drives evenly used. A periodic rebalance operation is considered for the next version.

    Known interop/support issues:

     

    ·         As with other software RAID solutions, Drive Extender isn't supported with BitLocker.

    ·         Drive Extender cannot share the same drive with other software based RAID systems (such as Microsoft Dynamic Drives)

    ·         Running low-level software storage tools—for example, defragmentation, full drive encryption, or volume imaging—on server folders may cause issues. These tools have not been fully tested in this release. Please avoid running these tools on the server.

    ·         Internally, the “Vail” software has been tested with up to 16 hard drives and with up to 16 TB of total storage capacity. We’re aware of a number of bugs that occur beyond these limits, so please keep your beta installations under 16 drives and 16 TB total drive space.

    This post is "AS IS" and confers no rights.

  • Link
    Do you have a bug report or a feature request?
    Tom Ziegmann
    If you have a bug report or a feature request and you want to make sure it gets on the Home Server team's radar, please make sure to file it using the proper form on the Microsoft Connect website.
  • Link
    Please note that the use of this preview is not supported in a production environment.
    Ken Warren
    There are plenty of known issues (look at the list). So please don't replace your current server with Vail, supplement it. Test it. Report all the bugs you find on Connect . :)
  • Link
    Windows Home Server Code Name "Vail" Public Preview - Known Issues - Media
    Tom Ziegmann

    Issue

    The media shared folders are not included in the user’s libraries on a Windows® 7-based home computer when it is joined to a server that is running Windows Server “Vail”.

    Description

    After joining a computer that is running Windows 7 to the server, the Windows Server “Vail” media shared folders are included in user's libraries only if the user account on the home computer has been added as a user account on the server.

    Solution

    Add the user account on the computer that is running Windows 7 to the list of user accounts on Windows Server “Vail”.

     

    Issue

    MPEG2 video encoder and decoders, and AC3 Dolby Digital audio encoders are not available in this preview release of Windows Server “Vail”.

    Description

    Streaming MPEG2 and Dolby digital media files is not available in this release.

    Solution

    There is no workaround.

  • Link
    Windows Home Server Code Name "Vail" Public Preview - Known Issues - Shared Folders
    Tom Ziegmann

    Issue

    The OK, Cancel, and Apply buttons in the Folder Properties dialog box are missing. This issue applies to the Japanese (ja-jp) language version only.

    Description

    In the Japanese (ja-jp) language version, when you right-click a folder and select Properties, the OK, Cancel, and Apply buttons in the Folder Properties dialog box are not displayed.

    Solution

    ·      If you make changes in the General tab, click Enter to save, or click Esc or the Red X to cancel.

    ·      If you make changes in another tab, click the General tab, and then click Enter to save, or click Esc or the Red X to cancel.

  • Link
    Windows Home Server Code Name "Vail" Public Preview - Known Issues - Remote Access
    Tom Ziegmann

    Issue

    Cannot access a computer that is running Windows XP using Windows Server “Vail” Remote Access

    Description

    When you attempt to access a computer that is running Windows XP, you received the following error message: Remote Desktop can’t find the computer <ComputerName>.Windows Server “Vail” does not recognize <ComputerName> as a member of the specified network. Verify that the computer name and domain that you are trying to connect to.

    Solution

    You must open UDP port 137 on the Windows XP firewall.

    1.   Click Start, and then click Control Panel.

    2.   Click Security Center, and then click Windows Firewall.

    3.   Click the Exceptions tab, click to select the File and Printer Sharing check box, and then click Edit.

    4.   Click to select the UDP 137 check box, click Change scope, and then click My network (subnet) only.

    5.   Click OK.

     

    Issue

    Cannot purchase a non-Windows Live domain or transfer a non-Windows Live domain from a remote Dashboard session.

    Description

    If you select a domain name service provider other than Windows Server Solutions Dynamic DNS in the Set up Your Domain Name wizard, you are prompted to open a Web site to finish the transaction with that provider. If the Dashboard was opened from the Remote Access Web Site, the link may not open.

    Solution

    If you want to proceed, log on to the server using Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP), and then run the Set up Your Domain Name wizard.

     

    Issue

    Using a non-Windows Live domain results in a certificate error.

    Description

    If you select a domain name service provider other than Windows Server Solutions Dynamic DNS in the Set up Your Domain Name wizard, a non-trusted SSL certificate is installed which results in a Web browser security warning when you access your Web site. This blocks your ability to remotely access the computers on your network.

    Solution

    There are not workarounds for this issue. The current plan is to fix it in a future release.

  • Link
    Please be sure to read the release notes prior to filing a bug
    Jonas Svensson -FST-

    Hi Vail Beta testers!

    We have provided some release notes and a reviewers guilde for this preview release.  Please be sure to read through both the guide and the release notes before filing a bug.

    Both the release notes and the guide can be found in the download package for Vail.

    Thanks

    Jonas

  • Link
    Windows Home Server Code Name "Vail" Public Preview - Installation - ISO Integrity Check Information
    Tom Ziegmann

    To ensure that you have successfully downloaded the Public Preview of Windows Home Server Code Name "Vail" you may want to run an integrity check on the downloaded ISO.

    You can run an integrity check by using the MSCDCRC tool. The tool is available for download at http://www.tomontech.com/tools/mscdcrc.exe

    To run MSCDCRC against an ISO file that you have downloaded follow these steps.

    1. Download MSCDCRC to the same folder that you downloaded the Vail ISO to
    2. Open a Command Prompt window and navigate to the folder from Step 1
    3. Type "MSCDCRC InstallDVD.iso" (without quotes) (You can also substitute InstallDVD.iso for the other ISOs in the download package)
    4. The integrity check will take a few moments to complete. After the check is complete compare the CRC and SHA hashes to the hashes posted below

    ===== InstallDVD.iso =====
    Volume label    : GB1SHSxFRE_EN_DVD
    CRC             : 0xA7798933
    SHA1            : 0xB10EBB38B9A758D67DC70CC3F815A2F65390A570

    ===== RestoreCD.iso =====
    Volume label    : GB1SHSCRxFRE_EN_CD
    CRC             : 0x02836D6C
    SHA1            : 0x4C68BDBB98D73CB31629B4DE750D70EE3CBFE3BB

    ===== SrvRecovery.iso =====
    Volume label    : GB1SHSSRxFRE_EN_CD
    CRC             : 0x8CEDFC4C
    SHA1            : 0xDDB3D2DF9E13A0260F6A8D0362B7B14353FFC6D0

  • Link
    Windows Home Server Code Name "Vail" Public Preview - Known Issues - Backup and Restore
    Tom Ziegmann

    Issue

    Dashboard performance is impacted if the Computers and Backup tab is kept open while client backups are in progress.

    Description

    If the Dashboard is kept open on the Computers and Backup tab, while client backups are in progress, the Dashboard performance will slowly degrade.

    Solution

    If the Dashboard performance starts to degrade or if the Dashboard becomes unusable, restart the Dashboard, OR do not keep the Dashboard open on the Computers and Backup page while client backups are in progress.

    Issue

    A client computer memory leak on client backup can become a performance issue on client computers with unsuccessful backups over an extended period.

    Description

    A client computer configured to be backed up to Windows Server “Vail” experiences a memory leak of approximately 1.4 MB for each backup request. The server computer must be reachable from the client computer for the leak to occur. The source of the memory leak is under investigation and will be resolved in a future release.

    The memory leak will normally not cause a performance issue for the client computer. However, the longer a client computer is connected to the server with a series of unsuccessful backup attempts, the more likely it is that the leak will degrade the performance of the client computer. This is because backups are attempted at an increasing frequency if no successful backup occurs. Unsuccessful backups could be caused by a number of issues—for example, bad disk sectors on the client computer or the server hard disk reaching capacity.

    Solution

    Reboot the client computer to clear memory, and then correct the issue causing backups to fail. If this is not possible, remove backup from the computer by opening the Dashboard, selecting the computer from the list, and then clicking Customize Backup for this computer.

    Issue

    During a factory reset or server recovery the server restarts into WinPE and the firewall is disabled.

    Description

    This is expected behavior.

    Solution

    To help ensure that your server is safe during recovery, you should make sure that it is not connected to the Internet.

    Issue

    Changed or new volumes are not backed up if the volume changes were made while the home computer was not connected to the Windows Server “Vail” network.

    Description

    In the following scenario, the affected volume(s) are not backed up:

    1.   A home computer is joined to the Windows Server “Vail” network long enough to generate at least one backup, and then is disconnected from the network.

    2.   A volume or volumes on the Windows Server “Vail” server are changed, added, removed, or reconfigured.

    3.   The home computer is joined to the network again.

    Solution

    To fix this issue:

    1.   On the Dashboard, click the Computers and Backup tab.

    2.   Click the name of the computer, and then in the Task pane, click Set up backup for this computer or Customize back for this computer

    3.   Follow the steps to configure back up again for the rejoined computer.

    Issue

    System restore wizard may hang or crash if wrong credentials are entered

    Description

    During full system restore of a client computer from a backup on an Windows Server “Vail” server, the user needs to enter server administrator credentials so that the system restore wizard can access the backup information on the server, and then restore a backed up computer. If you enter the wrong credentials, the wizard hangs and waits for a response from the server.

    Solution

    Restart the recovery CD, and then type the administrator password for the server. This is the password that you use to log on to the Windows Server “Vail” Dashboard.

    Issue

    After a bare metal restore of Windows XP with Service Pack 3 (SP3) to a computer from a Windows Server “Vail” backup, the first Volume Shadow Copy service may fail.

    Description

    After a bare metal restore of Windows XP with SP3 to a computer from a Windows Server “Vail” backup, the Volume Shadow Copy service may fail, causing the computer backup to fail.

    Solution

    Restart the computer one more time.

    Issue

    Cannot back up the server using Backup on a home computer

    Description

    Server backup must be performed using Backup on Windows Server “Vail”.

    Solution

    Backing up the server using a home computer is not supported.

    Issue

    Restoring a home computer backup from a backup database that is included in a backup of the Windows Server “Vail” server

    Description

    In Windows Server “Vail”, you can back up the home computer backup database to an external removable disk. The backups are useful for disaster recovery scenarios or when there is a server failure.

    Solution

    The following steps assume that a backup of the home computer backup database is available on an external disk.

    1.   Log on to Windows Server “Vail” using Remote Desktop Protocol, and then shut down the following services:

    ·      Windows Server Computer Backup Service

    ·      Windows Server Computer Backup Provider Service

    2.   Open Windows Explorer, and then browse to the Network Computer backups\Network Computer Backups\ folder

    Note

    Windows Server “Vail” creates a separate volume for the backup database that is named Network Computer Backups.

    3.   Delete all files in the folder.

    4.   Open the Windows Server “Vail” Dashboard, and then click the Computers and Backup tab.

    5.   Click the server name, and then click Restore files or folders for this computer in the Tasks pane.

    6.   Select the option to restore Files or folders on the computer

    7.   On the Select items to restore page, select the Network Computer Backups folder.

    8.   Wait for all of the folders to be displayed, select all of files in the Network Computer Backups folder, and then click Next.

    9.   Click Original location, and then confirm to start the restore process.

    10.  After the restore completes successfully, restart the following services

    ·      Windows Server Computer Backup Service

    ·      Windows Server Computer Backup Provider Service

    Issue

    The backup database is reset when you perform a factory reset or restore the server from a backup, and then home computers are joined again to the server. You must manually configure backup for the home computers.

    Description

    The home computer backup database maintains the list and configuration for all home computers that are backed up over the network.

    The backup database can be reset (cleared) using either of the following methods:

    ·      The server is restored from a previous backup but the home computer backup database is not restored.

    ·      The server is reset to factory defaults. This deletes all data on the server including the home computer backup database.

    ·      The backup volume is restored.

    ·      The backup database shared folder is deleted because of storage or other issues.

    When this happens, the backup application does not automatically rejoin the home computers. The home computer status is Not set up.

    Note

    Client computers are automatically configured for backup the first time that they join the server.

    Solution

    To resolve this issue, do the following:

    1.   Log on to Windows Server “Vail” Dashboard using the administrator account, and then click the Computers and Backup tab.

    2.   For each home computer that needs to be backed up, click the name of the computer, and then click Set up backup for this computer in the Tasks pane.

    3.   Follow the instructions in the Set up Server Backup wizard

    Issue

    Computer backup database is corrupt

    Description

    If the computer backup database becomes corrupt, an alert instructs you to repair the backup database by clicking “Repair the backup database” on the Computers and Backup tab of the Dashboard. This link is not available in this version of Windows Server “Vail”. Instead, a command-line tool is available on the server.

    Solution

    To perform this procedure, you must be logged on to the server either locally or using a remote desktop connection.

    To repair the backup database

    1.   On the Windows Server “Vail” computer, click Start, right-click Command Prompt, and then click Run as administrator.

    2.   At the command prompt, type CD C:\Program Files\Windows Server\Bin, and then press Enter.

    3.   Type backupcontroller.exe /sg, and then press Enter. A list of options for working with the backup database is displayed.

    4.   To select the Start Repair option, type 8, and then press Enter. The backup repair operation runs.

    5.   To review the results of the repair, type 10, and then press Enter.

    6.   To exit the application, type 11, and then press Enter.

    7.   To close the Command Prompt window, type Exit at the command prompt, and then press Enter.

  • Link
    Windows Home Server Code Name "Vail" Public Preview - Known Issues - Storage
    Tom Ziegmann

    Issue

    After the storage check and repair task completes, the storage goes offline.

    Description

    If you continue to use Windows Server “Vail” after a storage check and repair task completes without restarting, the storage may go offline.

    Solution

    You should restart your server after running the storage check and repair task.

    Issue

    There may be compatibility issues between the server’s storage system and low-level storage tools.

    Description

    Running low-level software storage tools—for example, defragmentation, full disk encryption, or volume imaging—on server folders may cause issues. These tools have not been fully tested in this release.

    Solution

    Avoid running these tools on server folders.

  • Link
    Windows Home Server Code Name "Vail" Public Preview - Known Issues - Connector Software
    Tom Ziegmann

    Issue

    During connector software installation, pop-up window is displayed that asks if you want to install a device driver. When you click No, you receive an unexpected error.

    Description

    A backup virtual device driver is installed during home computer join. If you click No in the pop-up windows, the device driver is not installed causing the connector software installation to fail.

    Solution

    Click Yes in the pop-up window to install the device driver.

    Issue

    Cannot join a home computer to Windows Server “Vail”

    Description

    Computers that have non-ASCII characters in the computer name cannot join Windows Server “Vail”. You receive an error message that says An unexpected error has occurred.

    Solution

    Rename your computer with a name that contains ASCII characters only, and then run the Windows Server Connector Software again.

    Issue

    Auto logon does not work after the computer is connected to Windows Server “Vail”.

    Description

    If auto logon is set for the user account, it is overwritten when you install the connector software.

    Solution

    After you install the connector software, retain the password for the user account and reset auto logon for the account.

  • Link
    Windows Home Server Code Name "Vail" Public Preview - Known Issues - Installation and Initial Configuration
    Tom Ziegmann

    Issue

    After installing and configuring Windows Server “Vail”, the server does not work properly or you cannot connect computers to the server.

    Description

    This issue occurs when the following conditions are met:

    ·      The certificate is used to authenticate between components on the server or when connecting computers to the server.

    ·      The BIOS clock on the server is wrong or the BIOS clock is right but the installation takes place in a time zone located east of Pacific Standard Time (PST), between PST and the date line.

    Solution

    Before you install Windows Server “Vail”, set your BIOS clock to match the time and date for the Pacific Time Zone (PST) regardless of where you are located in the world. After successfully installing Windows Server “Vail” and joining client computers, do not reset the time, date, and time zone on the Dashboard for another day.

    If you do not set your server time to PST, you should not use the server or connect computers to it until the number of hours pass that equals the difference between your time and PST.

     

    Issue

    Cannot start from USB hard disk drive or USB flash drive or Windows Server “Vail” Setup fails when starting from a USB hard disk drive or a USB flash drive.

    Description

    ·      If USB devices are listed top-most in the BIOS boot order, Windows Server “Vail” Setup fails.

    ·      Some system boards have a built-in ordering for the USB connectors. For example, if you have 4 USB connector receptacles on the front of your computer and 4 USB connector receptacles on the back of the computer, 4 connector receptacles may be lower level. If you insert a USB hard disk drive or USB flash drive that contains the Windows Server “Vail” bits into a lower level USB connector receptacle, the BIOS skips the USB device.

    Solution

    1.   Verify that the boot order in the BIOS does not list USB devices first.

    2.   Press F12 after the BIOS finishes Post to get the boot order menu, and then select the USB device as the boot source. If the boot menu is not displayed after pressing F12, check the manufacturer’s information to determine which function key to press to display the boot menu.

    3.   If the computer does not start from the USB device after selecting it from the boot menu, verify that the USB device is not inserted in a lower level USB connector receptacle. Check the manufacturer’s information on the system board to determine which USB connector receptacles are lower-level. If you do not have information about the system board, move the USB device to another USB connector receptacle, and then restart the computer until the computer starts from the USB device.

     

    Issue

    Server installation may fail when using Western Digital hard disk drives with Advanced Format

    Description

    Depending on the exact Western Digital hard disk drive model and firmware, Windows Server “Vail” setup may fail because of compatibility issues with the sector sizes that are reported by the hard disk drive.

    Solution

    It is recommended that Western Digital hard disk drives with Advanced Format not be used as the primary hard disk drive on the server.

     

    Issue

    Computers with Windows language packs installed cannot join the server.

    Description

    Connecting a client computer to a server will fail unexpectedly if you have any Windows language packs installed and one of them is in use.

    Solution

    Change your Windows display language to match the underlying parent language of your Windows installation.

Windows Live OneCare – Off Topic announcements

  • Link
    DO NOT POST HERE! Folder used by moderators to move off topic items
    Stephen Boots

    This folder was created for the Windows Live OneCare forum moderators to move off topic posts into.


    Discussions in this folder are discouraged as it is unlikely that a question posted here will receive a reply.

    If your question applies to Windows Live OneCare, please use the appropriate forum folders.

    If your question does not apply to Windows Live OneCare, please consider using the appropriate Microsoft Public newsgroups or other community forums found throughout the Internet.

    -steve

Joulemeter announcements

  • Link
    Version 1.2 available
    A Kansal
    Fixes issues for machines where the firmware does not report CPU frequency. Has some ore enhancements for correct operation on a larger variety of Windows 7 computers.
  • Link
    New version available.
    A Kansal

    A new version (v1.1) is now available, linked from http://research.microsoft.com/joulemeter/

    New features, based on some of the requests from prior feedback

    • Application energy metering feature added (see user manual for why only CPU energy is tracked for applications).
    • Save to file option is provided to save power data.
    • Manual editing of power model is supported.
    • A single application is used for calibration and power usage monitoring (instead of a background service and a taskbar based application).
    • Several improvements have been made to the calibration process, making it more likely to succeed on a variety of computers.

     

Zentity announcements

  • Link
    Welcome to the new Zentity Forum!
    Derick Campbell [MSFT]

    Hi and welcome to our new forum for discussing Zentity.  If you have questions and comments on Zentity - this is the place!

    Zentity is a digital library repository from Microsoft Research. It can help organizations create, maintain, and visually explore library objects and their relationships. Your library can contain digital objects and relationships of any kind. In the scholarly or academic field, this might include information about papers, patents, researchers/authors, research findings, and even works of art or cultural significance.

    With Zentity, researchers can easily access, analyze, and unlock the previously hidden structure and relationships in your data - enabling new insight.

    Zentity is flexible and extensible, taking advantage of the optimizations and performance features available in Microsoft SQL Server 2008. It also leverages powerful data visualization capabilities of the Silverlight PivotViewer and the MSR Visual Explorer (which is also used by Microsoft Academic Search).

    For more information on Zentity, including an intro video, access to downloads, and source code, please see: http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/projects/zentity

    Thanks,

    Derick Campbell | Research Accelerators | Blog | Fourth Paradigm | Microsoft Research Facebook | Microsoft Research Twitter | Microsoft Open Source |

Tark announcements

Microsoft Research Project Hawaii announcements

Infer.NET announcements

Microsoft Research Face SDK announcements

Windows Home Server 2011 announcements

Data Science Virtual Machine (DSVM) announcements

  • Link
    DSVM forum will be migrating to a new home on Microsoft Q&A!
    sammmmmy1

    We’ve listened to your feedback on how we can enhance the forum experience. Microsoft Q&A allows us to add new functionality and enables easier access to all the technical resources most useful to you, like Microsoft Docs and Microsoft Learn.

    Now until November 9, 2020

    From November 9, 2020 until November 23, 2020

    • New posts – Post any new questions in the DSVM forum’s new home on Microsoft Q&A. The current forum will not allow any new questions.
    • Existing posts – Interact here with existing content, answer questions, provide comments, etc.

    November 23, 2020 onwards:

    • This forum will be closed to all new and existing posts and all interactions will be in Microsoft Q&A

    We are excited about moving to Microsoft Q&A and seeing you there.

    Learn More

  • Link
    Windows Data Science VM (15-NOV-2016) Update
    Gopi Kumar (MSFT)

    A new refresh of the Windows Data Science Virtual Machine Image has been released to the Azure marketplace. You will see the version as 1.6.1 on the marketplace listing page of the VM on Azure.

    The following are the highlights in this release:

    1. [BREAKING CHANGE] Jupyter Notebook Server is disabled by default. A new script (c:\dsvm\tools\setup\JupyterSetPasswordAndStart.cmd) has been created to help you set the Jupyter password and start the Jupyter server. This is a one time process. There is a convenient shortcut on the desktop that you can double click to do this operation. You may have to wait a few seconds after setting the password before accessing Jupyter from your browser. 

    2. The following are the major new software on the VM:

    • Microsoft Cognitive Toolkit 2.0 (also known as CNTK). Now a Python interface (Python 3.4)  is available to build your deep neural networks. Comes with lots of samples, notebooks and hands-on labs. 
    • Weka 3 - An open source Visual Data Mining Software in Java. 
    • Apache Drill - An open source schema-free SQL Query Engine for Hadoop, NoSQL and Cloud Storage.  Supports ODBC and JDBC interfaces to enable querying NoSQL and files from standard BI tools like PowerBI, Excel, Tableau.
    • eVince PDF reader
    • Side-by-side install of  Microsoft R Open 3.3.1 (Enhanced Open source R distribution based on and 100% compatible with R-3.3.1). This is in addition to the default R instance which is Microsoft R Server developer edition (which in turn is based on R-3.2.2). You can switch to Microsoft R Open 3.3.1 if you need to run R programs that depend on the latest R version. 
    • OpenJDK 1.8.0_102 : An open source implementation of Java  Standard edition platform.
    • A new conda environment for Python 3.4 in addition to the existing Python 2.7, Python 3.5. 
    • R libraries: RSQLServer library to access SQL Server databases through the dplyr interface; dplyrXdf library to work with Microsoft R Xdf files using the dplyr paradigm. 
    • Mozilla Firefox browser. Jupyter notebook software is better tested and supported on Firefox. If you are see issues with running notebooks on default IE browser, please retry with Firefox. 
    • Visual Studio Code - An open source code editor supporting several popular programming languages and extensions. Particularly useful for editing / previewing markdown and a lightweight client to work with Git repositories.
    • Libraries to access objects stored in Azure Data Lake Store (WebHdfs) from Microsoft R Server using the R functions RxHdfsFileSystem, RxTextData.

    We have a few more new samples. They are can be found on the Jupyter notebooks home (c:\dsvm\notebooks on the VM instance) when you login to the Jupyter server on the new data science VM. Non-notebook samples are found in c:\dsvm\samples. You can also download detailed labs for Cortana Intelligence Advanced Analytics labs and Microsoft R Server from shortcuts found on desktop or from c:\dsvm\samples\Labs. 

  • Link
    Welcome to the official community forum for the Data Science Virtual Machine (DSVM), monitored by the DSVM team at Microsoft
    Barnam Bora [MSFT]

    If you are already using or are planning to use the Data Science Virtual Machine (DSVM), you are definitely not alone.

    A rapidly growing number of people and organizations globally from across different industries with diverse skills and requirements have started to use the DSVM. This is quickly expanding the number and types of problems that people are trying to solve using the DSVM. It is our intention to build and grow this community and promote the healthy sustainable conversations, community based problem solving and knowledge sharing that Microsoft forums have always been known for. The DSVM team is committed to being actively engaged in the conversations and responding whenever possible and required.

    The forum is intended to be the central location for our customers to interact with their peers and the DSVM team. This dialogue greatly helps not only the community and new users but also the DSVM team to make the right decisions about what direction to take the product, in future releases.

    We encourage you to ask a question today.

    Click to Download the 2-page DSVM Handout as PDF.

Windows HPC Server Academia and Research - General announcements

Windows HPC Server Developers - General announcements

Windows HPC Server Deployment, Management, and Administration announcements

Windows HPC Server Message Passing Interface (MPI) announcements

Windows HPC Server Job Submission and Scheduling announcements

Microsoft Research AutoCollage announcements

  • Link
    Useful Links
    cjoprey

    Microsoft Research AutoCollage Links

    For more information on the AutoCollage product, please click on the links below.

    Support

    Contributors

    Research Topics

  • Link
    Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
    cjoprey

    Microsoft Research AutoCollage Frequently Asked Questions

    AutoCollage comes with a comprehensive help system which describes how you can use the application to generate pleasing AutoCollages. Please read the help first if you have a question as it may solve your issue. Below are some of the most frequently asked questions on how to best use the application. Microsoft Research AutoCollage 2008 has an update, released on February 2009. A description of the update features and instructions on how to obtain it is available at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/961855.

    1) How do I select which images I would like to use in my AutoCollage?

    The application will automatically choose the best images from the selected folder for inclusion in the AutoCollage. If you have a preference for a certain set of images we recommend that you create a new folder and place the images you would like to include there. You can then select this folder in the application's Image Browser and create a new AutoCollage.

    AutoCollage 2008 v1.1 includes the ability to select images for an AutoCollage, which is described in the help topic "Changing Image Ranking".

    2) How can I redisplay the original images after I created my AutoCollage?

    Once you have created an AutoCollage you may decide you would like to redisplay the images used to create it. To do this you simply have to press the "Esc" key.

    3) How can I stop the application from loading all the images in the currently selected folder?

    If you have selected a folder with a large amount of images in error you don't have to wait for it to complete loading all the images. At any time during the loading process you can select another folder in the Image Browser. It will stop processing the images in the previous folder, clear the loaded images, and start loading the images from the new folder.

    4) How can I use images on my website/remote PC through AutoCollage?

    If you wish to use images from a remote PC, you may copy those to a local folder first, what improves the performance of the AutoCollage process. Then you can select this new folder in the application's Image Browser as normal. AutoCollage 2008 v1.1 supports the use of network folders.

    5) How can I register AutoCollage once I have my key?

    When you purchase AutoCollage, you receive an AutoCollage product key you can use to register your copy of AutoCollage. In order to register your copy of AutoCollage:

    • a. Select the Options button.
    • b. Select the Registration tab in the dialog which appears.
    • c. Select the Register... button. This invokes the registration dialog where you can enter your product key.
    • d. Enter your 25-character product key in the white product key input box. You can type it in, or cut-and-paste by copying your product key from another window, then pasting into the first part of the input box.
    • e. Select OK to save your product key.

    Once your copy of AutoCollage is registered, the trial time limit and watermark are disabled.

    6) How do I install AutoCollage once I have bought it from the Microsoft Store (EU only)?

    If you purchase AutoCollage in the EU, your download will be a 'self-extracting archive' file rather than the AutoCollage Installer. In order to use this archive to install AutoCollage:

    • a. Download AutoCollage normally. This will download a file named 'Research_Autocollage_English_NWA-00003.exe' or something similar.
    • b. Run the file you just downloaded, and a self-extractor appears.
    • c. Click on 'Browse...' and select a folder you can easily locate. This is the folder the AutoCollage installer will be saved to.
    • d. Click on 'Unzip.' You should receive a message indicating the AutoCollage installer was 'unzipped.'
    • e. Navigate to the folder you specified in step c., and run 'MicrosoftAutoCollageSetup.msi'
    • f. Follow the prompts to install AutoCollage

    7) How can I find and install the software downloaded from the Microsoft Store?

    In some cases, when you download software from the Microsoft Store, the software is stored in a local folder on your machine without your being prompted to install it. To view your download and potentially install it follow the steps below. Before installing ANY software, make sure you downloaded it from a trusted source.

    • a. Click on your 'Start' menu
    • b. Choose 'Documents' or 'My Documents', depending upon whether you're on Windows 7, Windows Vista or Windows XP. This should open a file folder which contains your documents, and several subfolders.
    • c. Double click on the 'Downloads' folder. Your view should switch to the contents of that folder, and it should include a sub-folder named after the software you downloaded. Double-click on that folder.
    • d. You should see the file you downloaded. You can install your software by executing that file.

    8) How can I get my product key once I have purchased AutoCollage?

    Some AutoCollage customers may need to install the application on a newly purchased machine, taking advantage of the license for 5 machines, or to reinstall the application after upgrading to Windows 7. On these occasions the product key is needed to register the new installation, as per the instructions in the product help, also available online.

    Customers that misplaced their key may easily retrieve it following these steps:

    • a. Connect to your local Microsoft Store website in the USA, UK (for countries in the European Union), Australia, France, Germany, Canada, Norway or Denmark.
    • b. Sign into the store with the same ID you used when purchasing AutoCollage.
    • c. Near the top of the page there are a few rows of links. Click on the "Account" link.
    • d. You will see a page entitled "Microsoft Store Account - Purchase History." The date and time of your order of AutoCollage should be listed. In the right side of this entry, under "Items:", you should see Microsoft Research AutoCollage 2008, along with a line which says "License:" and shows your product key.

    Remember that the trial version of Microsoft Research AutoCollage 2008 can be converted into the full version just by registering it, without the need of a new installation.

    9) When will AutoCollage be available for purchase in my country?

    Due to high demand, we are taking every effort to make AutoCollage broadly available as soon as possible. The list of countries supported by the Microsoft Store is constantly growing, as you can verify at http://www.microsoftstore.com. We will post updates about availability in our support forum.

    10) I'm having problems purchasing AutoCollage. Where do I go for help?

    For US based purchases: You can contact Customer Services by phone at 1-877-MY-MS-STORE (877-696-7786). Further contact information is available at: http://store.microsoft.com/Help/Contact-Us

    For EU based purchases: Customer Support is available on email, phone and by post. For further information, please go to http://emea.microsoftstore.com/UK/Help/Contact-Us

    For Australia based purchases: Customer Support is available on email, phone and by post. For further information, please go to http://www.microsoftstore.com.au/shop/Help/Contact-Us

    For France based purchases: Customer support is available by website. For further information, please go to http://emea.microsoftstore.com/fr/Contactez-nous

    For Germany based purchases: Customer support is available on phone and by website. For further information, please go to https://emea.microsoftstore.com/DE/de-DE/Kontakt

    For Canada based purchases: Customer support is available on phone and by website. For further information, please go to https://www.microsoftstore.ca/shop/en-CA/Contact-Us

    For Norway based purchases: Customer support is available on phone and by website. For further information, please go to https://emea.microsoftstore.com/europe/nb-NO/Kontakt-oss

    For Denmark based purchases: Customer support is available on phone and by website. For further information, please go to https://emea.microsoftstore.com/europe/da-DK/Kontakt

    11) Why does my AutoCollage creation stop in stage 1 (“loading images”)?

    When creating a new AutoCollage, each used image is checked to see if it has changed since it was added to the application by checking its “Date Modified” setting. If so, the image is updated. A possible side-effect of this, if the image has its “Date modified” mistakenly set in the future, is that the creation process may stop responding. While uncommon, files with this invalid “Date modified” setting are sometimes created while importing photos from digital cameras.

    If AutoCollage is not finishing the collage creation process, verify if any of the used image files have their “Date modified” set in the future by looking at the file properties (right-click the image file using File Explorer, and choose the menu item “Properties”). This problem can easily be fixed by opening it in any common image editor and saving back over the original file. Microsoft Paint is available in most Windows environments, and will properly fix this issue.

Worldwide Telescope announcements

CRM Labs Solutions announcements

Windows Home Server announcements

Windows Live Writer (General) announcements

Microsoft Money announcements

  • Link
    Welcome to the Microsoft Money forum
    MarkVan_ms

    As you are probably aware, Microsoft stopped development and sales of Microsoft Money on June 30, 2009.

    This forum is intended for Microsoft Money users to discuss all versions of Money: tips and tricks, problems encounted, requests for assistance/suggestions, etc.

    - Enjoy.

MSR Software Radio Academic Kit announcements

  • Link
    Register NOW! The First Sora Tutorial will be held Aug 13 in Helsinki, Finland, colocated with ACM SIGCOMM 2012
    Kun Tan

    For more information, please find in ACM SIGCOMM 2012 Web site.

    http://conferences.sigcomm.org/sigcomm/2012/#/sigcomm/2012/sora.php


    The number of attendees are limited. Please register ASAP!
  • Link
    Sora SDK ver 1.6 is now available!
    Kun Tan

    We are pleased to announce the new release of Sora SDK ver 1.6 - the best Sora software we have released so far!

    You can download it from MSR Web site: http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/downloads/ca9a93a1-2a38-4e3d-b87c-b7e8ddc46eae

    Sora SDK ver 1.6 newly introduces following prominent features:

    • New UMX API. Sora SDK ver 1.6 introduces a new set of UMX
      API that is more flexible, secure and has better performance.
    • UMX Reflection. Sora SDK ver 1.6 now supports a new reflection mechanism that allows the
      programmer easily integrates the user-mode software radio modem into the
      Windows network stack.
    • Brick library. One most prominent feature in Sora SDK ver 1.6 is the Brick library. Brick is a
      modular programming library for high-performance digital signal processing. It is easy to program,
      flexible and highly extensible.
    • UMXSDRab utility. UMXSDRab is a powerful SDR 802.11 modem
      based on UMX reflection. It supports both client mode and adhoc mode. So it can
      easily connect to a commercial 802.11 AP or device. UMXSDRab has an easy-to-use
      interactive interface to configure and monitor the status of SDR modem
      application.
    • DbgPlot tool. DbgPlot is a versatile tool that allows a
      program to dynamically generate various graphics in real-time. It is a very
      useful tool for real-time monitoring or debugging DSP programs.

    For updated Sora manual, please find at http://research.microsoft.com/apps/pubs/default.aspx?id=160799

    The Brick Specification can be found at http://research.microsoft.com/apps/pubs/?id=160800

    The DbgPlot manual can be found at http://research.microsoft.com/apps/pubs/default.aspx?id=160801

    Thank you and enjoy,

    Sora core team

    MSR Aisa

  • Link
    Sora Manual is available!
    Kun Tan

    Hi,

    It takes quite some time for the team to edit a full document for the Sora platform.

    And now, here it comes. The latest Sora Manual contains the latest information of the Sora platform, including the basic usage, tools, programming samples and references of APIs.

    We hope it will give you a handy reference to understand Sora better and help you get hands on it.

    We'd say the manual may still contain many mistakes and miss some information. So if you have any questions or suggestions, please let us know.

    You can download the manual here at http://research.microsoft.com/apps/pubs/?id=144847

    Thanks,

    The Sora Core Team

     

  • Link
    Sora Dump File Format
    Kun Tan

    Dut tool or dot11config can capture a snapshot of the wireless channel and store the raw I/Q samples into a file located at c:\. The post explains the format of the dump file.

    The dump file is basically a binary file that contains an array of RX descriptors. A RX descriptor (RX_DESC) is defined as follows:

    typedef union ___RX_DESC
    {
    #pragma warning(disable: 4200 4214 4201)
        struct
        {
            union{
                struct
                {
                    UCHAR   __IsValid     : 1;
                    UCHAR   __IsScanned   : 1;
                    UCHAR   __Reserved    : 6;
                };
                UCHAR   __Flags;
            } u;

            UCHAR    __Reserved2;
            USHORT   __DataSize;
            UCHAR    __Reserved3[12];
            UCHAR    __bData[0];
        };
       
        COMPLEX16    Samples[SORA_RX_SIGNAL_UNIT_COMPLEX16_NUM];
        COMPLEX8     SmallSamples[SORA_RX_SIGNAL_UNIT_COMPLEX8_NUM];
    #pragma warning(default: 4200 4214 4201)
    }RX_DESC, *PRX_DESC;

    The signal block is of 128 Bytes, with a header (RX_DESC) and 28 complex samples (COMPLEX16).

    For detailed information of signal blocks, please refore _rx_manager.h.

  • Link
    Welcome to the MSR Software Radio Academic Kit forum!
    Qiufeng YIN

    Hello and welcome to the MSR Software Radio Academic Kit forum!

    MSR Software Radio Academic Kit forum provides you an opportunity to join a community of MSR Software Radio Academic Kit customers where you can share knowledge, get questions answered, and learn from others. Start by posting software radio related questions in the forum and leverage the knowledge available in your new forum community.

    If you have any suggestions or feedbacks to MSR Software Radio Academic Kit, please feel free to post in our forums.

    You can also visit http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/projects/sora/ for lastest news, release and document of MSR Software Radio Academic Kit.

Found 125424 threads
Announcement: 80

OCS Setup & Deployment announcements

Live Mesh announcements

  • Link
    This forum is locked. Please visit the help forum for more information.
    Xiaopeng Wu

    Dear Live Mesh beta participant,

    On March 31, 2011, the beta of Live Mesh ended. We hope you’ll go to  http://explore.live.com/windows-live-mesh and try Windows Live Mesh 2011.

    For more information, go the help forum http://windowslivehelp.com/forums.aspx?productid=24

    Thank you for participating in the Live Mesh beta. 

    Sincerely, 

    The Windows Live team

  • Link
    This forum is locked. Please visit the help forum for more information.
    Shivendra Pratap Singh

    Dear Live Mesh beta participant,

     On March 31, 2011, the beta of Live Mesh ended. We hope you’ll go

    to  http://explore.live.com/windows-live-mesh and try Windows Live Mesh 2011.

     

    For more information, go the help forum. http://windowslivehelp.com/forums.aspx?productid=24

     

    Thank you for participating in the Live Mesh beta.   

     

    Sincerely, 

     

    The Windows Live team

     

  • Link
    Live Mesh Beta Will Shut Down on 31st March 2011
    Stephen Boots

    Dear Live Mesh beta participant,

    You're receiving this message because you used the Live Mesh beta from Microsoft. On March 31, 2011, the beta of Live Mesh will end, and the Live Mesh beta will stop working. After March 31, you won't be able to access any files stored online in your Live Desktop or connect to your PCs remotely using the Live Mesh software. Your files will also stop syncing between your computers and your Live Mesh online storage. Please read below for actions we recommend you take.

    With the new release of Windows Live services, we've made a series of changes and improvements across the products. We realize they will have an impact on you and we want to make that as easy as possible for you. We thank you for your continued support of Windows Live services.

    Why is this happening?

    To deliver a better product for all our customers, we combined several services into a new product called Windows Live Mesh. Windows Live Mesh has several performance and reliability improvements compared to the Live Mesh beta, and with Windows Live Mesh, you can also sync your program settings for Internet Explorer and Microsoft Office. Learn more.

    What you need to do before Live Mesh beta shuts down

    To prevent loss of any of your files, please sync all files from your Live Desktop so that you have them on your computer when the Live Mesh beta service is shutdown. To do this, follow these steps:

    1.       On your Live Desktop, right-click any Live Mesh folders not yet synced with your computer, and then click Sync with this computer. Make sure all the folders on your Live Desktop have desktop shortcuts.

    2.       Select where you want each folder to sync, and then click OK. If a folder has a lot of files, this might take a while. Open each folder and make sure all the files are downloaded.

    What you can do moving forward

    If you enjoyed the functionality of Live Mesh, we encourage you to install the new Windows Live Mesh. You will first need to uninstall the Live Mesh beta, and then go to http://explore.live.com/windows-live-mesh to get the latest version of Windows Live Mesh. Before you do this, note the folders that you're syncing on each computer and if they're shared with anyone. After you download Windows Live Mesh, you can set up these folders to sync again. Learn more about how to upgrade

    Thank you for participating in the Live Mesh beta. We hope you choose to move to Windows Live Mesh.

    Sincerely,

    The Windows Live team

    Frequently Asked Questions

    Q: Why is this happening?
    A: For the last couple of years, Microsoft has offered two similar services for syncing your files: Live Mesh beta and another service, called Windows Live Sync, which let people sync large folders of files between PCs. To deliver a better product for all our customers, we decided to combine these sets of features into a new product called Windows Live Mesh.

    Note: Windows Live Mesh is available only for Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, and Mac OS X version 10.5 or later.

    Q: What can I expect between now and the date the beta service shuts down?
    A: The Live Mesh beta service will continue to run until March 31, 2011. However, we will no longer accept new beta participants. You won't be able to share Live Mesh folders with someone unless they already have Live Mesh installed. On March 31, 2011, you will no longer be able to sign in to Live Mesh beta on your PC, Mac, or on the web.

    Q: Where can I learn more?
    A: For more information and for help upgrading to Windows Live Mesh, please go to the Mesh Help Center.

    Microsoft respects your privacy. To learn more, please read our online Privacy Statement.

    Microsoft Corporation
    One Microsoft Way
    Redmond WA 98052

     

  • Link
    Live Mesh Beta - closed to new participants
    Stephen Boots

    With the release of Windows Live Mesh (http://get.live.com), part of Windows Live Essentials 2011, merging the technology of Live Mesh beta and Windows Live Sync for Windows Vista and Windows 7, no additional Live Mesh beta accounts are being accepted.

    Microsoft has not announced an end data for the Live Mesh beta environment or the Windows Live Sync environment, but it seems logical that these will be shut down in time, given that they are 3 unique environments.

    Please note that any discussion about Windows Live Mesh and Windows Live Sync should go here: http://windowslivehelp.com/product.aspx?productid=24

    This forum will remain for existing Live Mesh beta users for the foreseeable future.

    -steve

  • Link
    This forum is for Live Mesh Beta - not Windows Live Mesh
    Stephen Boots

    For discussion of the new Windows Live Mesh (formerly Sync), (as well as the released Live Sync version) go here:

    http://windowslivehelp.com/forums.aspx?productid=24

    -steve

  • Link
    Windows Live Essentials - with the new Windows Live Mesh - is now available!
    kensm [msft]

    Please visit the Windows Live Blog for information on the changes we've made to Mesh and what you can find in Live Sync.

    If you're ready to install you can go here: http://get.live.com

    -Live Mesh Team

Microsoft Fix it Center - NOT for general support questions announcements

Conference XP announcements

Live Mesh Mobile announcements

  • Link
    This forum is locked. Please visit the help forum for more information.
    Shivendra Pratap Singh

    Dear Live Mesh beta participant,

    On March 31, 2011, the beta of Live Mesh ended. We hope you’ll go to  http://explore.live.com/windows-live-mesh and try Windows Live Mesh 2011.

    For more information, go the help forum http://windowslivehelp.com/forums.aspx?productid=24

    Thank you for participating in the Live Mesh beta. 

    Sincerely, 

    The Windows Live team

  • Link
    Live Mesh Beta Will Shut Down on 31st March 2011
    Rong Cao MSFT

    Dear Live Mesh beta participant,

    You're receiving this message because you used the Live Mesh beta from Microsoft. On March 31, 2011, the beta of Live Mesh will end, and the Live Mesh beta will stop working. After March 31, you won't be able to access any files stored online in your Live Desktop or connect to your PCs remotely using the Live Mesh software. Your files will also stop syncing between your computers and your Live Mesh online storage. Please read below for actions we recommend you take.

    With the new release of Windows Live services, we've made a series of changes and improvements across the products. We realize they will have an impact on you and we want to make that as easy as possible for you. We thank you for your continued support of Windows Live services.

    Why is this happening?

    To deliver a better product for all our customers, we combined several services into a new product called Windows Live Mesh. Windows Live Mesh has several performance and reliability improvements compared to the Live Mesh beta, and with Windows Live Mesh, you can also sync your program settings for Internet Explorer and Microsoft Office. Learn more.

     

    What you need to do before Live Mesh beta shuts down

    To prevent loss of any of your files, please sync all files from your Live Desktop so that you have them on your computer when the Live Mesh beta service is shutdown. To do this, follow these steps:

    1.       On your Live Desktop, right-click any Live Mesh folders not yet synced with your computer, and then click Sync with this computer. Make sure all the folders on your Live Desktop have desktop shortcuts.

    2.       Select where you want each folder to sync, and then click OK. If a folder has a lot of files, this might take a while. Open each folder and make sure all the files are downloaded.

     

    What you can do moving forward

    If you enjoyed the functionality of Live Mesh, we encourage you to install the new Windows Live Mesh. You will first need to uninstall the Live Mesh beta, and then go to http://explore.live.com/windows-live-mesh to get the latest version of Windows Live Mesh. Before you do this, note the folders that you're syncing on each computer and if they're shared with anyone. After you download Windows Live Mesh, you can set up these folders to sync again. Learn more about how to upgrade

    Thank you for participating in the Live Mesh beta. We hope you choose to move to Windows Live Mesh.

    Sincerely,

    The Windows Live team

    Frequently Asked Questions

    Q: Why is this happening?
    A: For the last couple of years, Microsoft has offered two similar services for syncing your files: Live Mesh beta and another service, called Windows Live Sync, which let people sync large folders of files between PCs. To deliver a better product for all our customers, we decided to combine these sets of features into a new product called Windows Live Mesh.

    Note: Windows Live Mesh is available only for Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, and Mac OS X version 10.5 or later.

    Q: What can I expect between now and the date the beta service shuts down?
    A: The Live Mesh beta service will continue to run until March 31, 2011. However, we will no longer accept new beta participants. You won't be able to share Live Mesh folders with someone unless they already have Live Mesh installed. On March 31, 2011, you will no longer be able to sign in to Live Mesh beta on your PC, Mac, or on the web.

    Q: Where can I learn more?
    A: For more information and for help upgrading to Windows Live Mesh, please go to the Mesh Help Center.

    Microsoft respects your privacy. To learn more, please read our online Privacy Statement.

    Microsoft Corporation
    One Microsoft Way
    Redmond WA 98052

  • Link
    Live Mesh Update (June 25, 2009) - PC update build: 0.9.4014.7
    kensm [msft]

    Live Mesh for Windows 9.4014.7 has been released. It will automatically update. No action is required on your part. See the following sections for details, and thanks for using Live Mesh.

    Version number

    ·         Live Mesh Desktop: 0.9.4014.7

    ·         Live Mesh PC (x86 and AMD64): 0.9.4014.7

    Included in this update

    • PC – Fixes for display problems in the Resolve Conflicts dialog box on computers running Windows 7
    • PC – Improved performance in memory handling
    • Layout and link changes on www.mesh.com
    • Server-side fixes for improved performance and stability

    Feedback

    ·         Thanks for being one of the first to use Live Mesh. We appreciate any comments you have. You can submit and view others’ feedback and bugs on the Microsoft Connect website, or send us anonymous feedback. Also, if you have a moment, please rate us.



    Thank you,
    The Live Mesh team
  • Link
    Install Live Mesh on your mobile phone!
    kensm [msft]
    If you have a mobile phone with Windows Mobile 6.0 or higher, you can add these devices to your mesh.  Live Mesh for Mobile access requires the following invitation code: https://www.mesh.com/Web/Promo.aspx?pcode=Mob_FCFS1.

    1.  Click the invitation code link above
    2.  Sign-in with your Windows Live ID
    3.  Go to www.mesh.com
    4.  In your device ring, select Add Device
    5.  Under the install button, select "Use Live Mesh for mobile devices"
    6.  A new window with the rest of the procedure will pop-up, follow the instructions.


    Thank you for using Live Mesh!
  • Link
    Help us improve Live Mesh!
    Nadia Fortini

    Help us improve Live Mesh!

    The Live Mesh team is constantly seeking feedback from our customers to help improve Live Mesh. Today we do this primarily through our forums, our blog, and Microsoft Connect, but there are other, often more useful, ways to collect feedback about Live Mesh.

     

    Would you like to help improve the Live Mesh experience? Below are two ways that you can help.

     

    Complete a survey

     

    We now have an online Customer Satisfaction Survey. Please take a few minutes to let us know how your Live Mesh experience has been.

     

    Enable anonymous data collection

     

    Live Mesh also has a tool that anonymously collects usage data on how the software is (or isn’t) working on customers’ devices. With this tool, we can monitor a variety of data points—such as the frequency of errors, typical network settings, and the reliability of sync—and then aggregate the results to get a picture of how Live Mesh is performing for customers who choose to participate. Learn more about this tool.

     

    This tool is disabled by default because it sends some data about your devices to Microsoft, but you can help us continue to improve Live Mesh by enabling the tool.

     

    To enable this tool, click the Live Mesh icon in the notification area of your Windows taskbar and click your user name. Then click Options, select the checkbox next to “Help us improve Live Mesh…,” and click OK.

    Thank you for being one of the first to use Live Mesh. We’re working hard to create the best experience possible, and your help is greatly appreciated!

    Thank you,

    The Live Mesh Team

    Blog | Forums | Feedback

  • Link
    Collecting Live Mesh for Mobile Logs
    Ben [Live Mesh]
    In order to troubleshoot issues reported by our Live Mesh for Mobile customers, we will often ask you to send us your Live Mesh for Mobile logs. To collect these logs, and submit them to us:

    1.  Connect the mobile device to your PC.
    2.  S    tart the Windows Mobile Device Center, and ensure that it shows the mobile device as Connected.
    3.  Select File Management, and copy all the logs from \Application Data\Live Mesh\Data\Log on the device to your PC.
    4.  Please zip all those logs, then file a bug on Connect (see below) and attach them to your bug report.

    To submit a bug:

    Please go to https://connect.microsoft.com/LiveMesh. (Note that you will need to register your Windows Live ID with Microsoft Connect and sign in before you will be able to submit feedback.) Click the Feedback tab, scroll down, click submit feedback, then click Live Mesh Feedback under "Bug Forms" and follow the instructions.

    If you have log files to include with your bug, you will be given the opportunity to attach them. For instructions on collecting logs, please see below.

    Finally, once you have submitted your bug, please feel free to post your Connect Feedback ID here on the forums so that others can view and validate it.



    Thank you for helping us improve the Live Mesh for Mobile experience!
  • Link
    Welcome to the Live Mesh for Mobile Forum
    Ben [Live Mesh]

    Many of you have already been experimenting with the WAP version of the Live Desktop on your mobile devices, and we’ve just announced the technology preview of the Live Mesh for Mobile software. To go along with all of this, we now have a separate forum for all Live Mesh for Mobile discussions. Please bring all your feedback and questions concerning Live Mesh for Mobile here.

    To get started, you may wish to take a look at our Mobile Device Support sticky and our Mobile Known Issues sticky.

    For details on how to find the Live Mesh for Mobile software, please see our blog.

    Thank you for helping us test Live Mesh for Mobile,

    The Live Mesh team

Windows Live Writer (Beta) announcements

My.Live.com Personalized Page Suggestions and Feedback announcements

  • Link
    All good things must come to an end…
    Jason A. Garza
    If you’ve visited My.live.com in the United States today, you’ve no doubt seen the notification message that My.live.com will be discontinued effective March 15, 2010.

    We know that some of you have invested a lot of time setting up your pages, so before the site comes down, we wanted to provide you an opportunity to save your page setup information via an OPML file. To export to OPML, follow the steps below:

    1. Click on “Add Content”
    2. Choose “Advanced Options”
    3. At the bottom of the options box, select “Click here to export to OPML”

    This will generate an OPML file that can either be uploaded to a site that supports OPML imports, or you can view the file contents to get a quick view of the URLs for RSS feeds that have been added to your page. You can then copy and paste the URL into the “Add Feed” field on My.msn.com.

    The My.live.com team would like to extend our sincere gratitude to all of our users for their support and loyalty over the years. We’ve come a long way since our first introduction as Start.com, and hope that you have enjoyed the journey as much as we have. While My.live.com maybe going away, current and past members of our team continue to work on new, exciting, and innovative features for Bing, Windows Live, and MSN. One journey is coming to an end, but more great things are around the corner. We’re looking forward to it and hope you’ll join us on our next adventure.

    Thank you,

    - The My.live.com Team

Closed - Office Genuine Advantage Validation Issues (Office) Read-Only announcements

  • Link
    Office Genuine Advantage Forum is Closed
    Darin Smith MS

    As of December 17, 2010, Microsoft retired the Office Genuine Advantage program.

    The Office Genuine Advantage program was designed to notify many customers around the world whether their copy of Microsoft Office was genuine. The program has served its purpose and thus we have decided to retire the program. Given our strong commitment to anti-piracy, we are making several new investments that will allow us to engage with customers and help victims of fraud. If you believe that your Office software may be counterfeit, please visit Microsoft’s How to Tell website. You may also learn more about Microsoft Office products or purchase or download a genuine copy directly. If you have additional questions or otherwise require support on this issue, please contact us for support options.

      Due to this we have closed the Office Genuine Advantage Forum to any further postings. We have left the forum Read-Only in the hope that there may be information here that is useful to future users.

      If you have a any other Office related issue, please post in the Office Answers Forum section most appropriate to the nature of the issue. (http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/group/Office )

     

    Thank you,

Windows Phone Suggestion Box announcements

  • Link
    Please post your suggestions to the Windows Phone forums on Microsoft Answers; we value your feedback!
    MaryAliceC

    Thank you for sharing your suggestions through the Suggestion Box forum.  We value your feedback and are working to improve how you provide suggestions about Windows Phone. As part of the Windows Phone forums transition to Microsoft Answers, you will be able to provide suggestions in each of the forums via a topic (such as the Feature Requests topic in the My Phone Service forum.)  This new system will help us more effectively categorize your suggestions to be more responsive.

     

    All of the other forums will remain active and available to you for posting and helping other users get the most from Windows Phone.  We look forward to continuing our exchanges under the Microsoft Answers banner and recommend that you look for new topics, in addition to new question and answer threads each time you visit the forums. 

     

Windows Home Server Power Pack 3 Beta announcements

  • Link
    Power Pack 3 Scenario Voting Survey now available!
    Jonas Svensson -FST-

    Windows Home Server Beta Testers,

    Thanks again for your participation in the Windows Home Server Power Pack 3 beta test program.  We have received many great forum threads, bug reports and suggestions.  Those bug reports and suggestions have been invaluable for improving Windows Home Server.   

    While it was not always possible to respond to every message, all of your feedback has been given to our development organization for consideration.  Since many factors affect product design, we may not have been able to act upon all suggestions.  Any feedback that we have not acted on is being considered for future versions of Windows Home Server.

     

    As a final step in the beta test program, please complete the Power Pack 3 Scenario Voting Survey located here: http://connect.microsoft.com/WindowsHomeServer/Survey/Survey.aspx?SurveyID=9176

     

    Thanks again for your support of Windows Home Server.  We appreciate your participation in the testing of Microsoft products!

Windows Home Server Code Name "Vail" Beta announcements

  • Link
    Forum for discussing the Windows Home Server "Vail" SDK
    Jonas Svensson -FST-

    Please use the following forum to discuss the Windows Home Server "Vail" SDK.

    http://social.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/whsdevelopers/threads

    Also be sure to put "Vail" in the subject of any post regarding the "Vail" SDK

    Thanks

  • Link
    What's new in backup for "Vail"
    Jonas Svensson -FST-

    Backing up client computers for file or folder or a full system restore was a feature introduced in Windows Home Server V1. Significant portion of the features and technology have been carried forward in the Vail product as well.

    Backing up your server

    Ability to backup the server and restore both data and the full system from a disaster was one of the #1 asks from our customers. In Vail we have provided ability to do automated backups of the full server to externally attached storage. Features include:

    ·         Full VSS based backup of the server to externally attached disks using Windows Server 2008 R2 backup technology

    ·         Ability to back up to multiple targets for offsite storage. You keep one external disk onsite for your most recent backups, and the other disks offsite in case of disasters

    ·         You can back up the Operating System, Data, Shared Folders, and even the Client Backup Database for future recovery

    ·         Select what you want to protect using the server backup configuration wizard on the Computers and Backup tab

    ·         Schedule automatic backups multiple times a day upto half hour intervals

    ·         Backups to external disks are incremental for storage optimization but each back up version is fully restorable

    ·         Restore scenarios include restoring individual Files or Folders, Full system restore through Bare Metal Restore, and Factory Reset

    Note: Not all features stated above have been fully developed in the product yet. For details about what is and is not available please refer to the Getting Started guide.

    Backing up the client computers

    Centralized backup of client computers to the Windows Home Server storage was a feature introduced in Windows Home Server V1. The basic technology and the features have been carried forward with some key feature updates.

    Features from Windows Home Server V1

    ·         Automatic daily backups of network joined client computers to centralized storage on Windows Home Server

    ·         Backups are single instanced and incremental over the network. This provides storage and backup time optimizations. Only unique data and incremental changes across your home network are sent over the wire and stored only once.

    ·         Ability to exclude files or folders from your backup

    ·         Restore scenarios include individual Files or Folders and Full System Restore to similar hardware using Bare Metal Restore

    New Features in “Vail”

    ·         Support for VSS writers on client computers to improve consistency of backups

    ·         New backup configuration wizard allows you to select volumes or folders you want to backup. Items that are not selected are excluded from the backup

    ·         New Files or Folders restore Wizard provides a guided wizard for the user to restore individual files or folders from a backup

    ·         New mini filter driver for the Files or Folders Restore wizard solves many of the problems in V1 resulting from multiple mount of backup volumes

    ·         Intelligent automatic scheduling allows more computers to be backed up

    o   Higher priority is given to computers with the oldest backups during the time window

    o   Prioritization is calculated dynamically

    o   Computers which are chronically out of compliance (such as laptops) are automatically backed outside of the backup time window whenever they are connected to the server

    ·         Backups are now resummable. In WHS V1 if backups are not successfull, it started from the beginning the next time backups ran. This resulted in computers with high storage in repeated failed backups. In Vail we take checkpoints along the way (this is not visible to the end user). If for any reason backup fails in the middle such as due network connection drop, backups will resume from the last checkpoint next time it runs

    ·         Full system restore functionality now allows automatic partition and formatting of drives during restore. In WHS V1 if volumes did not exist, users had to manually create partitions and format them before continuing with the system restore process. In Vail we do this automatically based on the configuration that existed in the source during a backup

    ·         System restore disk now includes both the x86 (32 bit) and x64 bit version of the restore media. This allows you to restore both x86 and x64 bit client computers without the need to download and install specific 32 bit drivers for the restore CD

    ·         Improved resiliency and robustness of the backup database including an improved database repair functionality 

    ·         Backup applet on the Client Launchpad allows users to start/stop manual backups as well as set the power management settings

     

    Note: Not all features stated above have been fully developed in the product yet. For details about what is and is not available please refer to the Getting Started guide

     And thank you all for testing Vail

    This post is "AS IS" and confers no rights.

  • Link
    What's new in Drive Extender for "Vail"
    Jonas Svensson -FST-

    Drive Extender is a storage technology first introduced in Windows Home Server's first release. The 1st generation of the technology was file based, and worked on top of "vanilla" NTFS volumes using reparse points. To address the customer feedback we have received and improve the system's resiliency to partial drive failures (seen many times by our support), the Drive Extender technology was updated to use block based storage below the file system similar to software RAID systems.

    The following isn't an exhaustive list, but does try to enumerate the major new features as well as features which are no longer supported in the “Vail” version of Drive Extender:

     

    Features carried over from the previous release:

    ·         Duplication can be turned on/off per folder.

    ·         Duplicated folders can survive a single hard drive failure.

    ·         Storage pool can be easily expanded using different drive types and various sizes.

    ·         Graphical representation of storage usage (AKA the pie chart) - isn't present in the beta, but is planned for the next milestone.

     

    New/Improved features:

    ·         For duplicated folders, data is duplicated in real time to two separate drives - there is no hourly migration pass.

    ·         File system level encryption (EFS) and compression are now supported for Drive Extender folders.

    ·         File conflicts are gone, duplication works as intended for files in use as it is performed at the block level now.

    ·         The remaining amount of data to synchronize/duplicate is reported per storage pool.

    ·         All storage operations are executed in the background without blocking other server operations. Specifically, drive removal can be issued without impacting the online state of shares.

    ·         Drives in a storage pool can be named with a custom description to enable physical identification of the drive in the server.

    ·         Drive serial number and exact connection type is reported for each drive.

    ·         Drives which are bigger than 2TB can be added  to a storage pool.

    ·         iSCSI storage devices can be added to the a storage pool.

    ·         The system drive can be excluded from the storage pool.

    ·         A new low-level storage check and repair diagnostic operation was added.

    ·         All storage operations are performed with very low I/O priority to ensure they don't interfere with media streaming.

    ·         A new "folder repair" operation is available which runs chkdsk on the folder's volume.

    ·         To protect against silent storage errors (bit flips, misdirected writes, torn writes), additional information is appended to each 512-byte sector stored on drive. In particular, each sector is protected by a CRC checksum, which enables Drive Extender to detect data read errors, perform realtime error correction and self-healing (up to 2 bit errors per sector if duplication is disabled, and any number of bit errors if duplication is enabled) and report the errors back to the user and application. The overhead for this additional data is roughly 12% of drive space.

    ·         Data drives in storage pools can be migrated between servers, and appear as a non-default pool.  A non-default pool can be promoted to a default pool if no default pool exists.

    Deprecated features:

    ·         A data drive from a storage pool cannot be read on machine not running the “Vail” server software.

    ·         Data isn't rebalanced across drives to ensure even distribution. The data allocation attempts to keep drives evenly used. A periodic rebalance operation is considered for the next version.

    Known interop/support issues:

     

    ·         As with other software RAID solutions, Drive Extender isn't supported with BitLocker.

    ·         Drive Extender cannot share the same drive with other software based RAID systems (such as Microsoft Dynamic Drives)

    ·         Running low-level software storage tools—for example, defragmentation, full drive encryption, or volume imaging—on server folders may cause issues. These tools have not been fully tested in this release. Please avoid running these tools on the server.

    ·         Internally, the “Vail” software has been tested with up to 16 hard drives and with up to 16 TB of total storage capacity. We’re aware of a number of bugs that occur beyond these limits, so please keep your beta installations under 16 drives and 16 TB total drive space.

    This post is "AS IS" and confers no rights.

  • Link
    Do you have a bug report or a feature request?
    Tom Ziegmann
    If you have a bug report or a feature request and you want to make sure it gets on the Home Server team's radar, please make sure to file it using the proper form on the Microsoft Connect website.
  • Link
    Please note that the use of this preview is not supported in a production environment.
    Ken Warren
    There are plenty of known issues (look at the list). So please don't replace your current server with Vail, supplement it. Test it. Report all the bugs you find on Connect . :)
  • Link
    Windows Home Server Code Name "Vail" Public Preview - Known Issues - Media
    Tom Ziegmann

    Issue

    The media shared folders are not included in the user’s libraries on a Windows® 7-based home computer when it is joined to a server that is running Windows Server “Vail”.

    Description

    After joining a computer that is running Windows 7 to the server, the Windows Server “Vail” media shared folders are included in user's libraries only if the user account on the home computer has been added as a user account on the server.

    Solution

    Add the user account on the computer that is running Windows 7 to the list of user accounts on Windows Server “Vail”.

     

    Issue

    MPEG2 video encoder and decoders, and AC3 Dolby Digital audio encoders are not available in this preview release of Windows Server “Vail”.

    Description

    Streaming MPEG2 and Dolby digital media files is not available in this release.

    Solution

    There is no workaround.

  • Link
    Windows Home Server Code Name "Vail" Public Preview - Known Issues - Shared Folders
    Tom Ziegmann

    Issue

    The OK, Cancel, and Apply buttons in the Folder Properties dialog box are missing. This issue applies to the Japanese (ja-jp) language version only.

    Description

    In the Japanese (ja-jp) language version, when you right-click a folder and select Properties, the OK, Cancel, and Apply buttons in the Folder Properties dialog box are not displayed.

    Solution

    ·      If you make changes in the General tab, click Enter to save, or click Esc or the Red X to cancel.

    ·      If you make changes in another tab, click the General tab, and then click Enter to save, or click Esc or the Red X to cancel.

  • Link
    Windows Home Server Code Name "Vail" Public Preview - Known Issues - Remote Access
    Tom Ziegmann

    Issue

    Cannot access a computer that is running Windows XP using Windows Server “Vail” Remote Access

    Description

    When you attempt to access a computer that is running Windows XP, you received the following error message: Remote Desktop can’t find the computer <ComputerName>.Windows Server “Vail” does not recognize <ComputerName> as a member of the specified network. Verify that the computer name and domain that you are trying to connect to.

    Solution

    You must open UDP port 137 on the Windows XP firewall.

    1.   Click Start, and then click Control Panel.

    2.   Click Security Center, and then click Windows Firewall.

    3.   Click the Exceptions tab, click to select the File and Printer Sharing check box, and then click Edit.

    4.   Click to select the UDP 137 check box, click Change scope, and then click My network (subnet) only.

    5.   Click OK.

     

    Issue

    Cannot purchase a non-Windows Live domain or transfer a non-Windows Live domain from a remote Dashboard session.

    Description

    If you select a domain name service provider other than Windows Server Solutions Dynamic DNS in the Set up Your Domain Name wizard, you are prompted to open a Web site to finish the transaction with that provider. If the Dashboard was opened from the Remote Access Web Site, the link may not open.

    Solution

    If you want to proceed, log on to the server using Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP), and then run the Set up Your Domain Name wizard.

     

    Issue

    Using a non-Windows Live domain results in a certificate error.

    Description

    If you select a domain name service provider other than Windows Server Solutions Dynamic DNS in the Set up Your Domain Name wizard, a non-trusted SSL certificate is installed which results in a Web browser security warning when you access your Web site. This blocks your ability to remotely access the computers on your network.

    Solution

    There are not workarounds for this issue. The current plan is to fix it in a future release.

  • Link
    Please be sure to read the release notes prior to filing a bug
    Jonas Svensson -FST-

    Hi Vail Beta testers!

    We have provided some release notes and a reviewers guilde for this preview release.  Please be sure to read through both the guide and the release notes before filing a bug.

    Both the release notes and the guide can be found in the download package for Vail.

    Thanks

    Jonas

  • Link
    Windows Home Server Code Name "Vail" Public Preview - Installation - ISO Integrity Check Information
    Tom Ziegmann

    To ensure that you have successfully downloaded the Public Preview of Windows Home Server Code Name "Vail" you may want to run an integrity check on the downloaded ISO.

    You can run an integrity check by using the MSCDCRC tool. The tool is available for download at http://www.tomontech.com/tools/mscdcrc.exe

    To run MSCDCRC against an ISO file that you have downloaded follow these steps.

    1. Download MSCDCRC to the same folder that you downloaded the Vail ISO to
    2. Open a Command Prompt window and navigate to the folder from Step 1
    3. Type "MSCDCRC InstallDVD.iso" (without quotes) (You can also substitute InstallDVD.iso for the other ISOs in the download package)
    4. The integrity check will take a few moments to complete. After the check is complete compare the CRC and SHA hashes to the hashes posted below

    ===== InstallDVD.iso =====
    Volume label    : GB1SHSxFRE_EN_DVD
    CRC             : 0xA7798933
    SHA1            : 0xB10EBB38B9A758D67DC70CC3F815A2F65390A570

    ===== RestoreCD.iso =====
    Volume label    : GB1SHSCRxFRE_EN_CD
    CRC             : 0x02836D6C
    SHA1            : 0x4C68BDBB98D73CB31629B4DE750D70EE3CBFE3BB

    ===== SrvRecovery.iso =====
    Volume label    : GB1SHSSRxFRE_EN_CD
    CRC             : 0x8CEDFC4C
    SHA1            : 0xDDB3D2DF9E13A0260F6A8D0362B7B14353FFC6D0

  • Link
    Windows Home Server Code Name "Vail" Public Preview - Known Issues - Backup and Restore
    Tom Ziegmann

    Issue

    Dashboard performance is impacted if the Computers and Backup tab is kept open while client backups are in progress.

    Description

    If the Dashboard is kept open on the Computers and Backup tab, while client backups are in progress, the Dashboard performance will slowly degrade.

    Solution

    If the Dashboard performance starts to degrade or if the Dashboard becomes unusable, restart the Dashboard, OR do not keep the Dashboard open on the Computers and Backup page while client backups are in progress.

    Issue

    A client computer memory leak on client backup can become a performance issue on client computers with unsuccessful backups over an extended period.

    Description

    A client computer configured to be backed up to Windows Server “Vail” experiences a memory leak of approximately 1.4 MB for each backup request. The server computer must be reachable from the client computer for the leak to occur. The source of the memory leak is under investigation and will be resolved in a future release.

    The memory leak will normally not cause a performance issue for the client computer. However, the longer a client computer is connected to the server with a series of unsuccessful backup attempts, the more likely it is that the leak will degrade the performance of the client computer. This is because backups are attempted at an increasing frequency if no successful backup occurs. Unsuccessful backups could be caused by a number of issues—for example, bad disk sectors on the client computer or the server hard disk reaching capacity.

    Solution

    Reboot the client computer to clear memory, and then correct the issue causing backups to fail. If this is not possible, remove backup from the computer by opening the Dashboard, selecting the computer from the list, and then clicking Customize Backup for this computer.

    Issue

    During a factory reset or server recovery the server restarts into WinPE and the firewall is disabled.

    Description

    This is expected behavior.

    Solution

    To help ensure that your server is safe during recovery, you should make sure that it is not connected to the Internet.

    Issue

    Changed or new volumes are not backed up if the volume changes were made while the home computer was not connected to the Windows Server “Vail” network.

    Description

    In the following scenario, the affected volume(s) are not backed up:

    1.   A home computer is joined to the Windows Server “Vail” network long enough to generate at least one backup, and then is disconnected from the network.

    2.   A volume or volumes on the Windows Server “Vail” server are changed, added, removed, or reconfigured.

    3.   The home computer is joined to the network again.

    Solution

    To fix this issue:

    1.   On the Dashboard, click the Computers and Backup tab.

    2.   Click the name of the computer, and then in the Task pane, click Set up backup for this computer or Customize back for this computer

    3.   Follow the steps to configure back up again for the rejoined computer.

    Issue

    System restore wizard may hang or crash if wrong credentials are entered

    Description

    During full system restore of a client computer from a backup on an Windows Server “Vail” server, the user needs to enter server administrator credentials so that the system restore wizard can access the backup information on the server, and then restore a backed up computer. If you enter the wrong credentials, the wizard hangs and waits for a response from the server.

    Solution

    Restart the recovery CD, and then type the administrator password for the server. This is the password that you use to log on to the Windows Server “Vail” Dashboard.

    Issue

    After a bare metal restore of Windows XP with Service Pack 3 (SP3) to a computer from a Windows Server “Vail” backup, the first Volume Shadow Copy service may fail.

    Description

    After a bare metal restore of Windows XP with SP3 to a computer from a Windows Server “Vail” backup, the Volume Shadow Copy service may fail, causing the computer backup to fail.

    Solution

    Restart the computer one more time.

    Issue

    Cannot back up the server using Backup on a home computer

    Description

    Server backup must be performed using Backup on Windows Server “Vail”.

    Solution

    Backing up the server using a home computer is not supported.

    Issue

    Restoring a home computer backup from a backup database that is included in a backup of the Windows Server “Vail” server

    Description

    In Windows Server “Vail”, you can back up the home computer backup database to an external removable disk. The backups are useful for disaster recovery scenarios or when there is a server failure.

    Solution

    The following steps assume that a backup of the home computer backup database is available on an external disk.

    1.   Log on to Windows Server “Vail” using Remote Desktop Protocol, and then shut down the following services:

    ·      Windows Server Computer Backup Service

    ·      Windows Server Computer Backup Provider Service

    2.   Open Windows Explorer, and then browse to the Network Computer backups\Network Computer Backups\ folder

    Note

    Windows Server “Vail” creates a separate volume for the backup database that is named Network Computer Backups.

    3.   Delete all files in the folder.

    4.   Open the Windows Server “Vail” Dashboard, and then click the Computers and Backup tab.

    5.   Click the server name, and then click Restore files or folders for this computer in the Tasks pane.

    6.   Select the option to restore Files or folders on the computer

    7.   On the Select items to restore page, select the Network Computer Backups folder.

    8.   Wait for all of the folders to be displayed, select all of files in the Network Computer Backups folder, and then click Next.

    9.   Click Original location, and then confirm to start the restore process.

    10.  After the restore completes successfully, restart the following services

    ·      Windows Server Computer Backup Service

    ·      Windows Server Computer Backup Provider Service

    Issue

    The backup database is reset when you perform a factory reset or restore the server from a backup, and then home computers are joined again to the server. You must manually configure backup for the home computers.

    Description

    The home computer backup database maintains the list and configuration for all home computers that are backed up over the network.

    The backup database can be reset (cleared) using either of the following methods:

    ·      The server is restored from a previous backup but the home computer backup database is not restored.

    ·      The server is reset to factory defaults. This deletes all data on the server including the home computer backup database.

    ·      The backup volume is restored.

    ·      The backup database shared folder is deleted because of storage or other issues.

    When this happens, the backup application does not automatically rejoin the home computers. The home computer status is Not set up.

    Note

    Client computers are automatically configured for backup the first time that they join the server.

    Solution

    To resolve this issue, do the following:

    1.   Log on to Windows Server “Vail” Dashboard using the administrator account, and then click the Computers and Backup tab.

    2.   For each home computer that needs to be backed up, click the name of the computer, and then click Set up backup for this computer in the Tasks pane.

    3.   Follow the instructions in the Set up Server Backup wizard

    Issue

    Computer backup database is corrupt

    Description

    If the computer backup database becomes corrupt, an alert instructs you to repair the backup database by clicking “Repair the backup database” on the Computers and Backup tab of the Dashboard. This link is not available in this version of Windows Server “Vail”. Instead, a command-line tool is available on the server.

    Solution

    To perform this procedure, you must be logged on to the server either locally or using a remote desktop connection.

    To repair the backup database

    1.   On the Windows Server “Vail” computer, click Start, right-click Command Prompt, and then click Run as administrator.

    2.   At the command prompt, type CD C:\Program Files\Windows Server\Bin, and then press Enter.

    3.   Type backupcontroller.exe /sg, and then press Enter. A list of options for working with the backup database is displayed.

    4.   To select the Start Repair option, type 8, and then press Enter. The backup repair operation runs.

    5.   To review the results of the repair, type 10, and then press Enter.

    6.   To exit the application, type 11, and then press Enter.

    7.   To close the Command Prompt window, type Exit at the command prompt, and then press Enter.

  • Link
    Windows Home Server Code Name "Vail" Public Preview - Known Issues - Storage
    Tom Ziegmann

    Issue

    After the storage check and repair task completes, the storage goes offline.

    Description

    If you continue to use Windows Server “Vail” after a storage check and repair task completes without restarting, the storage may go offline.

    Solution

    You should restart your server after running the storage check and repair task.

    Issue

    There may be compatibility issues between the server’s storage system and low-level storage tools.

    Description

    Running low-level software storage tools—for example, defragmentation, full disk encryption, or volume imaging—on server folders may cause issues. These tools have not been fully tested in this release.

    Solution

    Avoid running these tools on server folders.

  • Link
    Windows Home Server Code Name "Vail" Public Preview - Known Issues - Connector Software
    Tom Ziegmann

    Issue

    During connector software installation, pop-up window is displayed that asks if you want to install a device driver. When you click No, you receive an unexpected error.

    Description

    A backup virtual device driver is installed during home computer join. If you click No in the pop-up windows, the device driver is not installed causing the connector software installation to fail.

    Solution

    Click Yes in the pop-up window to install the device driver.

    Issue

    Cannot join a home computer to Windows Server “Vail”

    Description

    Computers that have non-ASCII characters in the computer name cannot join Windows Server “Vail”. You receive an error message that says An unexpected error has occurred.

    Solution

    Rename your computer with a name that contains ASCII characters only, and then run the Windows Server Connector Software again.

    Issue

    Auto logon does not work after the computer is connected to Windows Server “Vail”.

    Description

    If auto logon is set for the user account, it is overwritten when you install the connector software.

    Solution

    After you install the connector software, retain the password for the user account and reset auto logon for the account.

  • Link
    Windows Home Server Code Name "Vail" Public Preview - Known Issues - Installation and Initial Configuration
    Tom Ziegmann

    Issue

    After installing and configuring Windows Server “Vail”, the server does not work properly or you cannot connect computers to the server.

    Description

    This issue occurs when the following conditions are met:

    ·      The certificate is used to authenticate between components on the server or when connecting computers to the server.

    ·      The BIOS clock on the server is wrong or the BIOS clock is right but the installation takes place in a time zone located east of Pacific Standard Time (PST), between PST and the date line.

    Solution

    Before you install Windows Server “Vail”, set your BIOS clock to match the time and date for the Pacific Time Zone (PST) regardless of where you are located in the world. After successfully installing Windows Server “Vail” and joining client computers, do not reset the time, date, and time zone on the Dashboard for another day.

    If you do not set your server time to PST, you should not use the server or connect computers to it until the number of hours pass that equals the difference between your time and PST.

     

    Issue

    Cannot start from USB hard disk drive or USB flash drive or Windows Server “Vail” Setup fails when starting from a USB hard disk drive or a USB flash drive.

    Description

    ·      If USB devices are listed top-most in the BIOS boot order, Windows Server “Vail” Setup fails.

    ·      Some system boards have a built-in ordering for the USB connectors. For example, if you have 4 USB connector receptacles on the front of your computer and 4 USB connector receptacles on the back of the computer, 4 connector receptacles may be lower level. If you insert a USB hard disk drive or USB flash drive that contains the Windows Server “Vail” bits into a lower level USB connector receptacle, the BIOS skips the USB device.

    Solution

    1.   Verify that the boot order in the BIOS does not list USB devices first.

    2.   Press F12 after the BIOS finishes Post to get the boot order menu, and then select the USB device as the boot source. If the boot menu is not displayed after pressing F12, check the manufacturer’s information to determine which function key to press to display the boot menu.

    3.   If the computer does not start from the USB device after selecting it from the boot menu, verify that the USB device is not inserted in a lower level USB connector receptacle. Check the manufacturer’s information on the system board to determine which USB connector receptacles are lower-level. If you do not have information about the system board, move the USB device to another USB connector receptacle, and then restart the computer until the computer starts from the USB device.

     

    Issue

    Server installation may fail when using Western Digital hard disk drives with Advanced Format

    Description

    Depending on the exact Western Digital hard disk drive model and firmware, Windows Server “Vail” setup may fail because of compatibility issues with the sector sizes that are reported by the hard disk drive.

    Solution

    It is recommended that Western Digital hard disk drives with Advanced Format not be used as the primary hard disk drive on the server.

     

    Issue

    Computers with Windows language packs installed cannot join the server.

    Description

    Connecting a client computer to a server will fail unexpectedly if you have any Windows language packs installed and one of them is in use.

    Solution

    Change your Windows display language to match the underlying parent language of your Windows installation.

Windows Live OneCare – Off Topic announcements

  • Link
    DO NOT POST HERE! Folder used by moderators to move off topic items
    Stephen Boots

    This folder was created for the Windows Live OneCare forum moderators to move off topic posts into.


    Discussions in this folder are discouraged as it is unlikely that a question posted here will receive a reply.

    If your question applies to Windows Live OneCare, please use the appropriate forum folders.

    If your question does not apply to Windows Live OneCare, please consider using the appropriate Microsoft Public newsgroups or other community forums found throughout the Internet.

    -steve

Joulemeter announcements

  • Link
    Version 1.2 available
    A Kansal
    Fixes issues for machines where the firmware does not report CPU frequency. Has some ore enhancements for correct operation on a larger variety of Windows 7 computers.
  • Link
    New version available.
    A Kansal

    A new version (v1.1) is now available, linked from http://research.microsoft.com/joulemeter/

    New features, based on some of the requests from prior feedback

    • Application energy metering feature added (see user manual for why only CPU energy is tracked for applications).
    • Save to file option is provided to save power data.
    • Manual editing of power model is supported.
    • A single application is used for calibration and power usage monitoring (instead of a background service and a taskbar based application).
    • Several improvements have been made to the calibration process, making it more likely to succeed on a variety of computers.

     

Zentity announcements

  • Link
    Welcome to the new Zentity Forum!
    Derick Campbell [MSFT]

    Hi and welcome to our new forum for discussing Zentity.  If you have questions and comments on Zentity - this is the place!

    Zentity is a digital library repository from Microsoft Research. It can help organizations create, maintain, and visually explore library objects and their relationships. Your library can contain digital objects and relationships of any kind. In the scholarly or academic field, this might include information about papers, patents, researchers/authors, research findings, and even works of art or cultural significance.

    With Zentity, researchers can easily access, analyze, and unlock the previously hidden structure and relationships in your data - enabling new insight.

    Zentity is flexible and extensible, taking advantage of the optimizations and performance features available in Microsoft SQL Server 2008. It also leverages powerful data visualization capabilities of the Silverlight PivotViewer and the MSR Visual Explorer (which is also used by Microsoft Academic Search).

    For more information on Zentity, including an intro video, access to downloads, and source code, please see: http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/projects/zentity

    Thanks,

    Derick Campbell | Research Accelerators | Blog | Fourth Paradigm | Microsoft Research Facebook | Microsoft Research Twitter | Microsoft Open Source |

Tark announcements

Microsoft Research Project Hawaii announcements

Infer.NET announcements

Microsoft Research Face SDK announcements

Windows Home Server 2011 announcements

Data Science Virtual Machine (DSVM) announcements

  • Link
    DSVM forum will be migrating to a new home on Microsoft Q&A!
    sammmmmy1

    We’ve listened to your feedback on how we can enhance the forum experience. Microsoft Q&A allows us to add new functionality and enables easier access to all the technical resources most useful to you, like Microsoft Docs and Microsoft Learn.

    Now until November 9, 2020

    From November 9, 2020 until November 23, 2020

    • New posts – Post any new questions in the DSVM forum’s new home on Microsoft Q&A. The current forum will not allow any new questions.
    • Existing posts – Interact here with existing content, answer questions, provide comments, etc.

    November 23, 2020 onwards:

    • This forum will be closed to all new and existing posts and all interactions will be in Microsoft Q&A

    We are excited about moving to Microsoft Q&A and seeing you there.

    Learn More

  • Link
    Windows Data Science VM (15-NOV-2016) Update
    Gopi Kumar (MSFT)

    A new refresh of the Windows Data Science Virtual Machine Image has been released to the Azure marketplace. You will see the version as 1.6.1 on the marketplace listing page of the VM on Azure.

    The following are the highlights in this release:

    1. [BREAKING CHANGE] Jupyter Notebook Server is disabled by default. A new script (c:\dsvm\tools\setup\JupyterSetPasswordAndStart.cmd) has been created to help you set the Jupyter password and start the Jupyter server. This is a one time process. There is a convenient shortcut on the desktop that you can double click to do this operation. You may have to wait a few seconds after setting the password before accessing Jupyter from your browser. 

    2. The following are the major new software on the VM:

    • Microsoft Cognitive Toolkit 2.0 (also known as CNTK). Now a Python interface (Python 3.4)  is available to build your deep neural networks. Comes with lots of samples, notebooks and hands-on labs. 
    • Weka 3 - An open source Visual Data Mining Software in Java. 
    • Apache Drill - An open source schema-free SQL Query Engine for Hadoop, NoSQL and Cloud Storage.  Supports ODBC and JDBC interfaces to enable querying NoSQL and files from standard BI tools like PowerBI, Excel, Tableau.
    • eVince PDF reader
    • Side-by-side install of  Microsoft R Open 3.3.1 (Enhanced Open source R distribution based on and 100% compatible with R-3.3.1). This is in addition to the default R instance which is Microsoft R Server developer edition (which in turn is based on R-3.2.2). You can switch to Microsoft R Open 3.3.1 if you need to run R programs that depend on the latest R version. 
    • OpenJDK 1.8.0_102 : An open source implementation of Java  Standard edition platform.
    • A new conda environment for Python 3.4 in addition to the existing Python 2.7, Python 3.5. 
    • R libraries: RSQLServer library to access SQL Server databases through the dplyr interface; dplyrXdf library to work with Microsoft R Xdf files using the dplyr paradigm. 
    • Mozilla Firefox browser. Jupyter notebook software is better tested and supported on Firefox. If you are see issues with running notebooks on default IE browser, please retry with Firefox. 
    • Visual Studio Code - An open source code editor supporting several popular programming languages and extensions. Particularly useful for editing / previewing markdown and a lightweight client to work with Git repositories.
    • Libraries to access objects stored in Azure Data Lake Store (WebHdfs) from Microsoft R Server using the R functions RxHdfsFileSystem, RxTextData.

    We have a few more new samples. They are can be found on the Jupyter notebooks home (c:\dsvm\notebooks on the VM instance) when you login to the Jupyter server on the new data science VM. Non-notebook samples are found in c:\dsvm\samples. You can also download detailed labs for Cortana Intelligence Advanced Analytics labs and Microsoft R Server from shortcuts found on desktop or from c:\dsvm\samples\Labs. 

  • Link
    Welcome to the official community forum for the Data Science Virtual Machine (DSVM), monitored by the DSVM team at Microsoft
    Barnam Bora [MSFT]

    If you are already using or are planning to use the Data Science Virtual Machine (DSVM), you are definitely not alone.

    A rapidly growing number of people and organizations globally from across different industries with diverse skills and requirements have started to use the DSVM. This is quickly expanding the number and types of problems that people are trying to solve using the DSVM. It is our intention to build and grow this community and promote the healthy sustainable conversations, community based problem solving and knowledge sharing that Microsoft forums have always been known for. The DSVM team is committed to being actively engaged in the conversations and responding whenever possible and required.

    The forum is intended to be the central location for our customers to interact with their peers and the DSVM team. This dialogue greatly helps not only the community and new users but also the DSVM team to make the right decisions about what direction to take the product, in future releases.

    We encourage you to ask a question today.

    Click to Download the 2-page DSVM Handout as PDF.

Windows HPC Server Academia and Research - General announcements

Windows HPC Server Developers - General announcements

Windows HPC Server Deployment, Management, and Administration announcements

Windows HPC Server Message Passing Interface (MPI) announcements

Windows HPC Server Job Submission and Scheduling announcements

Microsoft Research AutoCollage announcements

  • Link
    Useful Links
    cjoprey

    Microsoft Research AutoCollage Links

    For more information on the AutoCollage product, please click on the links below.

    Support

    Contributors

    Research Topics

  • Link
    Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
    cjoprey

    Microsoft Research AutoCollage Frequently Asked Questions

    AutoCollage comes with a comprehensive help system which describes how you can use the application to generate pleasing AutoCollages. Please read the help first if you have a question as it may solve your issue. Below are some of the most frequently asked questions on how to best use the application. Microsoft Research AutoCollage 2008 has an update, released on February 2009. A description of the update features and instructions on how to obtain it is available at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/961855.

    1) How do I select which images I would like to use in my AutoCollage?

    The application will automatically choose the best images from the selected folder for inclusion in the AutoCollage. If you have a preference for a certain set of images we recommend that you create a new folder and place the images you would like to include there. You can then select this folder in the application's Image Browser and create a new AutoCollage.

    AutoCollage 2008 v1.1 includes the ability to select images for an AutoCollage, which is described in the help topic "Changing Image Ranking".

    2) How can I redisplay the original images after I created my AutoCollage?

    Once you have created an AutoCollage you may decide you would like to redisplay the images used to create it. To do this you simply have to press the "Esc" key.

    3) How can I stop the application from loading all the images in the currently selected folder?

    If you have selected a folder with a large amount of images in error you don't have to wait for it to complete loading all the images. At any time during the loading process you can select another folder in the Image Browser. It will stop processing the images in the previous folder, clear the loaded images, and start loading the images from the new folder.

    4) How can I use images on my website/remote PC through AutoCollage?

    If you wish to use images from a remote PC, you may copy those to a local folder first, what improves the performance of the AutoCollage process. Then you can select this new folder in the application's Image Browser as normal. AutoCollage 2008 v1.1 supports the use of network folders.

    5) How can I register AutoCollage once I have my key?

    When you purchase AutoCollage, you receive an AutoCollage product key you can use to register your copy of AutoCollage. In order to register your copy of AutoCollage:

    • a. Select the Options button.
    • b. Select the Registration tab in the dialog which appears.
    • c. Select the Register... button. This invokes the registration dialog where you can enter your product key.
    • d. Enter your 25-character product key in the white product key input box. You can type it in, or cut-and-paste by copying your product key from another window, then pasting into the first part of the input box.
    • e. Select OK to save your product key.

    Once your copy of AutoCollage is registered, the trial time limit and watermark are disabled.

    6) How do I install AutoCollage once I have bought it from the Microsoft Store (EU only)?

    If you purchase AutoCollage in the EU, your download will be a 'self-extracting archive' file rather than the AutoCollage Installer. In order to use this archive to install AutoCollage:

    • a. Download AutoCollage normally. This will download a file named 'Research_Autocollage_English_NWA-00003.exe' or something similar.
    • b. Run the file you just downloaded, and a self-extractor appears.
    • c. Click on 'Browse...' and select a folder you can easily locate. This is the folder the AutoCollage installer will be saved to.
    • d. Click on 'Unzip.' You should receive a message indicating the AutoCollage installer was 'unzipped.'
    • e. Navigate to the folder you specified in step c., and run 'MicrosoftAutoCollageSetup.msi'
    • f. Follow the prompts to install AutoCollage

    7) How can I find and install the software downloaded from the Microsoft Store?

    In some cases, when you download software from the Microsoft Store, the software is stored in a local folder on your machine without your being prompted to install it. To view your download and potentially install it follow the steps below. Before installing ANY software, make sure you downloaded it from a trusted source.

    • a. Click on your 'Start' menu
    • b. Choose 'Documents' or 'My Documents', depending upon whether you're on Windows 7, Windows Vista or Windows XP. This should open a file folder which contains your documents, and several subfolders.
    • c. Double click on the 'Downloads' folder. Your view should switch to the contents of that folder, and it should include a sub-folder named after the software you downloaded. Double-click on that folder.
    • d. You should see the file you downloaded. You can install your software by executing that file.

    8) How can I get my product key once I have purchased AutoCollage?

    Some AutoCollage customers may need to install the application on a newly purchased machine, taking advantage of the license for 5 machines, or to reinstall the application after upgrading to Windows 7. On these occasions the product key is needed to register the new installation, as per the instructions in the product help, also available online.

    Customers that misplaced their key may easily retrieve it following these steps:

    • a. Connect to your local Microsoft Store website in the USA, UK (for countries in the European Union), Australia, France, Germany, Canada, Norway or Denmark.
    • b. Sign into the store with the same ID you used when purchasing AutoCollage.
    • c. Near the top of the page there are a few rows of links. Click on the "Account" link.
    • d. You will see a page entitled "Microsoft Store Account - Purchase History." The date and time of your order of AutoCollage should be listed. In the right side of this entry, under "Items:", you should see Microsoft Research AutoCollage 2008, along with a line which says "License:" and shows your product key.

    Remember that the trial version of Microsoft Research AutoCollage 2008 can be converted into the full version just by registering it, without the need of a new installation.

    9) When will AutoCollage be available for purchase in my country?

    Due to high demand, we are taking every effort to make AutoCollage broadly available as soon as possible. The list of countries supported by the Microsoft Store is constantly growing, as you can verify at http://www.microsoftstore.com. We will post updates about availability in our support forum.

    10) I'm having problems purchasing AutoCollage. Where do I go for help?

    For US based purchases: You can contact Customer Services by phone at 1-877-MY-MS-STORE (877-696-7786). Further contact information is available at: http://store.microsoft.com/Help/Contact-Us

    For EU based purchases: Customer Support is available on email, phone and by post. For further information, please go to http://emea.microsoftstore.com/UK/Help/Contact-Us

    For Australia based purchases: Customer Support is available on email, phone and by post. For further information, please go to http://www.microsoftstore.com.au/shop/Help/Contact-Us

    For France based purchases: Customer support is available by website. For further information, please go to http://emea.microsoftstore.com/fr/Contactez-nous

    For Germany based purchases: Customer support is available on phone and by website. For further information, please go to https://emea.microsoftstore.com/DE/de-DE/Kontakt

    For Canada based purchases: Customer support is available on phone and by website. For further information, please go to https://www.microsoftstore.ca/shop/en-CA/Contact-Us

    For Norway based purchases: Customer support is available on phone and by website. For further information, please go to https://emea.microsoftstore.com/europe/nb-NO/Kontakt-oss

    For Denmark based purchases: Customer support is available on phone and by website. For further information, please go to https://emea.microsoftstore.com/europe/da-DK/Kontakt

    11) Why does my AutoCollage creation stop in stage 1 (“loading images”)?

    When creating a new AutoCollage, each used image is checked to see if it has changed since it was added to the application by checking its “Date Modified” setting. If so, the image is updated. A possible side-effect of this, if the image has its “Date modified” mistakenly set in the future, is that the creation process may stop responding. While uncommon, files with this invalid “Date modified” setting are sometimes created while importing photos from digital cameras.

    If AutoCollage is not finishing the collage creation process, verify if any of the used image files have their “Date modified” set in the future by looking at the file properties (right-click the image file using File Explorer, and choose the menu item “Properties”). This problem can easily be fixed by opening it in any common image editor and saving back over the original file. Microsoft Paint is available in most Windows environments, and will properly fix this issue.

Worldwide Telescope announcements

CRM Labs Solutions announcements

Windows Home Server announcements

Windows Live Writer (General) announcements

Microsoft Money announcements

  • Link
    Welcome to the Microsoft Money forum
    MarkVan_ms

    As you are probably aware, Microsoft stopped development and sales of Microsoft Money on June 30, 2009.

    This forum is intended for Microsoft Money users to discuss all versions of Money: tips and tricks, problems encounted, requests for assistance/suggestions, etc.

    - Enjoy.

MSR Software Radio Academic Kit announcements

  • Link
    Register NOW! The First Sora Tutorial will be held Aug 13 in Helsinki, Finland, colocated with ACM SIGCOMM 2012
    Kun Tan

    For more information, please find in ACM SIGCOMM 2012 Web site.

    http://conferences.sigcomm.org/sigcomm/2012/#/sigcomm/2012/sora.php


    The number of attendees are limited. Please register ASAP!
  • Link
    Sora SDK ver 1.6 is now available!
    Kun Tan

    We are pleased to announce the new release of Sora SDK ver 1.6 - the best Sora software we have released so far!

    You can download it from MSR Web site: http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/downloads/ca9a93a1-2a38-4e3d-b87c-b7e8ddc46eae

    Sora SDK ver 1.6 newly introduces following prominent features:

    • New UMX API. Sora SDK ver 1.6 introduces a new set of UMX
      API that is more flexible, secure and has better performance.
    • UMX Reflection. Sora SDK ver 1.6 now supports a new reflection mechanism that allows the
      programmer easily integrates the user-mode software radio modem into the
      Windows network stack.
    • Brick library. One most prominent feature in Sora SDK ver 1.6 is the Brick library. Brick is a
      modular programming library for high-performance digital signal processing. It is easy to program,
      flexible and highly extensible.
    • UMXSDRab utility. UMXSDRab is a powerful SDR 802.11 modem
      based on UMX reflection. It supports both client mode and adhoc mode. So it can
      easily connect to a commercial 802.11 AP or device. UMXSDRab has an easy-to-use
      interactive interface to configure and monitor the status of SDR modem
      application.
    • DbgPlot tool. DbgPlot is a versatile tool that allows a
      program to dynamically generate various graphics in real-time. It is a very
      useful tool for real-time monitoring or debugging DSP programs.

    For updated Sora manual, please find at http://research.microsoft.com/apps/pubs/default.aspx?id=160799

    The Brick Specification can be found at http://research.microsoft.com/apps/pubs/?id=160800

    The DbgPlot manual can be found at http://research.microsoft.com/apps/pubs/default.aspx?id=160801

    Thank you and enjoy,

    Sora core team

    MSR Aisa

  • Link
    Sora Manual is available!
    Kun Tan

    Hi,

    It takes quite some time for the team to edit a full document for the Sora platform.

    And now, here it comes. The latest Sora Manual contains the latest information of the Sora platform, including the basic usage, tools, programming samples and references of APIs.

    We hope it will give you a handy reference to understand Sora better and help you get hands on it.

    We'd say the manual may still contain many mistakes and miss some information. So if you have any questions or suggestions, please let us know.

    You can download the manual here at http://research.microsoft.com/apps/pubs/?id=144847

    Thanks,

    The Sora Core Team

     

  • Link
    Sora Dump File Format
    Kun Tan

    Dut tool or dot11config can capture a snapshot of the wireless channel and store the raw I/Q samples into a file located at c:\. The post explains the format of the dump file.

    The dump file is basically a binary file that contains an array of RX descriptors. A RX descriptor (RX_DESC) is defined as follows:

    typedef union ___RX_DESC
    {
    #pragma warning(disable: 4200 4214 4201)
        struct
        {
            union{
                struct
                {
                    UCHAR   __IsValid     : 1;
                    UCHAR   __IsScanned   : 1;
                    UCHAR   __Reserved    : 6;
                };
                UCHAR   __Flags;
            } u;

            UCHAR    __Reserved2;
            USHORT   __DataSize;
            UCHAR    __Reserved3[12];
            UCHAR    __bData[0];
        };
       
        COMPLEX16    Samples[SORA_RX_SIGNAL_UNIT_COMPLEX16_NUM];
        COMPLEX8     SmallSamples[SORA_RX_SIGNAL_UNIT_COMPLEX8_NUM];
    #pragma warning(default: 4200 4214 4201)
    }RX_DESC, *PRX_DESC;

    The signal block is of 128 Bytes, with a header (RX_DESC) and 28 complex samples (COMPLEX16).

    For detailed information of signal blocks, please refore _rx_manager.h.

  • Link
    Welcome to the MSR Software Radio Academic Kit forum!
    Qiufeng YIN

    Hello and welcome to the MSR Software Radio Academic Kit forum!

    MSR Software Radio Academic Kit forum provides you an opportunity to join a community of MSR Software Radio Academic Kit customers where you can share knowledge, get questions answered, and learn from others. Start by posting software radio related questions in the forum and leverage the knowledge available in your new forum community.

    If you have any suggestions or feedbacks to MSR Software Radio Academic Kit, please feel free to post in our forums.

    You can also visit http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/projects/sora/ for lastest news, release and document of MSR Software Radio Academic Kit.