Vista Step-by-step Guides for IT Professionals

Microsoft now has step-by-step guides available for download on its website.
The guides are designed to aid IT professionals in deploying Windows Vista. Some of the guides included are Deploying Vista, Performance Monitoring and Tuning, User Account Control and Trusted Platform Module Services. The guides are in Word document format.

BitLocker™ Drive Encryption

An exciting new frontier in hardware-based security is being unleashed in Windows Vista. BitLocker™ Drive Encryption promises to provide stronger data protection by attaching a microchip to the motherboard. The microchip, called Trusted Platform Module (TPM), contains passwords, digital certificates, keys and other vital security information. Due to the manner in which BitLocker™ encrypts and unlocks data, Microsoft feels this will ensure your computer is even protected while offline, lost or if it’s stolen. One of the neat things about TPM is that is relies totally on hardware to provide software encryption/decryption. Because it does not rely on the operating system, and rather its own internal circuitry, it is not vulnerable to software attacks.

An interesting side note: According to an article I read at PCWorld TPM theoretically could be used in some pretty nefarious ways to circumvent the long arm of the law gaining access to your PC. Considering that we often see news footage of PC’s being carted away to aid the prosecution, this technology could prove to be quite a bump in the road. Do I hear a Justice Department review getting started already?

For those of you who are already running Vista, you can enable BitLocker™ Drive Encryption even without the TPM. I must warn you, this is not for the light-hearted. It can render your machine unusable if done incorrectly. So kids, don’t try this at home. And the rest of you, if you must, do this on a test machine. For the complete set of instructions, check out this site.

Totally Awesome Vista News!

I just read that DELL is boosting the memory in their XPS systems to 1GB without raising the prices. This is great Vista news because Vista really requires that much memory, so for those of you planning on buying new systems, manufacturers are getting ready.

Another COOL Vista Launch Contest

Over at VistaBabble.com, where I'm a moderator, they are giving away a free copy of Windows Vista Home Premium Edition upon its release. Get Contest details here.

VistaBabble.com is an awesome forum where you can get great tips, help installing Vista and a whole lot more.