Gmail Contacts Missing on Microsoft Surface or Windows 8 Mail App – Step by Step Guide For Getting Them Back

Updated 01/18/2013 – I recently noticed that my Gmail contacts were not synced to my Microsoft Surface.  It appears that the contacts are not something that are pulled over when you set up your Gmail account on the Surface.  You have two options, first you can remove the Gmail account and when you re-add the account select the checkbox during the setup wizard that states: “Include Contacts and Calendar.”  It seems I missed this the first time around.  Your other option is to follow this article below to permanently migrate those contacts to your Microsoft Live account.  So what we can do is import the contacts into the Microsoft Live account, and from that point forward, we will use Read more

Browsing Hyper-V VM Folders in Hyper-V 2012: Think Datastores for VMware Admins

 

During my Pro Camp events I often get asked about Hyper-V “Datastores,” in that VMware administrators want to know how to access them, search through the contents, and move files around.   Since Hyper-V doesn’t really use the term “Datastores” I will often take a tangent at this point in the conversation to discuss the differences, as well as point out some of the similarities.

So for sake of this article I will use the term “Datastores” rather loosely.  Datastores hold not only the virtual disk files that a VM utilizes as virtual hard drives, but also the configuration file for the virtual machine itself(in VMware: the VMX file).  Sometimes the configuration files are held on different datastores than the virtual hard drives(in VMware: the VMDK files). So there are definitely occasions where the disk files and config file may not Read more

31 Days of Servers in the Cloud – Building Free Lab VMs in the Microsoft Cloud (Part 2 of 31)

Want to play with Server 2012 but you don’t have the hardware readily available, well here’s your chance to do so for free.  Windows Azure IaaS allows for the creation of virtual machines in the fastest public cloud service on the market today.  To get started, simply sign up here.  This will require a credit card for verification purposes, but don’t worry, you will only be charged if you allow the system to do so.  Meaning, if subscribe to more services beyond what is available in the free trial period then it will let you know the new services have fees associated.  Now to get started with creating a VM, you should have landed at this page, then select “Virtual Machines.”  Next click Read more

Early Experts Program Now Launching In the Southeast!

Windows Server 2012 “Early Experts” Challenge

The Windows Server 2012 “Early Experts” Challenge provides a FREE online study group with certification exam preparation materials for quickly learning about the latest version of Windows Server! The Challenge involves a series of Knowledge Quests – starting with the Apprentice Quest below – and each Quest ends with a special completion certificate for you to promote your new knowledge! To make it easy to participate, each Quest is developed in a modular format that you can complete based on your own schedule and availability.

The first five Knowledge Quests are available now – Apprentice, Installer, Explorer, Networker and Virtualizer. These Knowledge Quests target the objectives in Exam 70-410: Installing and Configuring Windows Server 2012. Coming soon, we’ll be continuing on to provide study materials for the other exams in the MCSA: Windows Server 2012 certification track. Learn more about this here.

New Windows Phone 8 App by Brian Lewis – US IT Pro Blogs

One of the things my peers and I do in our roles as “IT Pro Evangelists” for Microsoft is write blog articles on technologies we find interesting. There is a lot of great information contained on these 11 blogs so Brian Lewis decided to write an app for Windows Phone to access these blogs.

To install the app you can search for the title “US IT Pro Blogs” in the Windows Phone Market place from your Windows Phone or you can get it here: http://www.windowsphone.com/en-us/store/app/us-it-pro-blogs/ea7a6547-0d3e-46a1-ac8a-a771fa2b69fd

Want to host the next IT Pro Camp in your area?

I am currently rounding out my event list for January – June 2013, and I know many of you have approached me during the events this past few months about possibly hosting an IT Pro Camp.  I’m currently looking to add a few camps in South Carolina, North Carolina, and Alabama.  Possibly a few in Georgia, but not in the Atlanta area, we have those covered so far. If you are interested let me know soon, spots will fill up fast.  You can contact me here.

Powershell Script Search Tool – If you do Powershell you want this one

Microsoft® Script Explorer for Windows PowerShell® (Release Candidate) helps scripters find Windows PowerShell scripts, snippets, modules, and how-to guidance in online repositories such as the TechNet Script Center Repository, PoshCode, local or network file systems and Bing Search Repository. You can grab it here: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=29101

 

Connecting to a Non-Domain / Workgroup Windows 2012 Server with RSAT for Windows 8

Hey folks, just a simple post on a common topic that I receive at my Pro Camps.  In this blog post we will be connecting to a non-domain joined Windows 2012 Server with the Remote Server Administration Tool(RSAT).  In order to do this requires a Powershell command to be run on the Windows 8 client machine before attempting to connect to the workgroup server.  You will need to launch Read more