Doug Seven's Blog

Developers to get first taste of 'Longhorn'

News.com - http://news.com.com/2100-1016_3-5067243.html?tag=fd_lede1_hed

After months of speculation, Microsoft plans to give developers their first hard look at the next version of Windows in October.

The Redmond, Wash., company expects to release a "developers preview" of the new operating system, code-named Longhorn, at its professional developers conference in Los Angeles. Although it won't be a full beta, or test, version, Microsoft executives have promised it will be more than just "slideware," software that companies haven't been using and don't know when it will be coming.

The company is expected to hand out a development kit that will give developers their first look at the inner workings of the much-heralded new operating system. Longhorn will usher in a raft of changes from previous versions of Windows.

What is Whidbey?

What is Whidbey (besides an island in the Pacific Northwest)?

“Whidbey“ is the codename for the next release of Visual Studio .NET scheduled to release in 2004. This release of Visual Studio and the .NET Framework will offer innovations and enhancements to the class libraries, common language runtime (CLR), programming languages, and the integrated development environment (IDE). In addition, this product will provide deep support for the next version of SQL Server (code name "Yukon") by enabling developers to write stored procedures using Visual Basic and C#.

You can read a little about it from Chris Maunder at Code Project - Visual Studio 'Whidbey' and VSIP - the VSLive keynote in New York.

You can also read the Microsoft Developer Toools Roadmap 2003-2005.

PRB: "Access denied" Error Message When You Run an ASP.NET 1.0 Application in IIS 6.0

Full Knowledge Base (KB) Article: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;Q817033

The information in this article applies to:

• Microsoft ASP.NET (included with the .NET Framework) 1.0, when used with:
  the operating system: Microsoft Windows Server 2003
  Microsoft Internet Information Services version 6.0

SYMPTOMS
When you run an ASP.NET Web Application project on a computer running Windows Server 2003 with the .NET Framework 1.0 installed, and the Internet Information Services (IIS) 6.0 is running in IIS 5.0 isolation mode, you may receive the following error message if you do not grant the seImpersonatePrivilege function to the ASPNET account:

System.Web.HttpException: Access denied to 'd:\inetpub\wwwroot\ImpersonateTest\WebForm1.aspx'. Failed to start monitoring file changes.

RESOLUTION
To resolve this problem, grant the seImpersonatePrivilege to your ASPNET account. To do so, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
2. Double-click Administrative Tools.
3. Double-click Local Security Policy. Under Local Policies, click User Rights Assignment.
4. In the details pane, double-click Impersonate a client after authentication.
5. Click Add, and then assign the permission to the local account that you name ASPNET.
6. Open a command prompt, and then type iisreset.

STATUS

This behavior is by design.

"Server Application Unavailable" Issue on Windows XP

I heard about the following from Scott Guthrie (Product Unit Manager for ASP.NET):
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We have identified an issue with the recent MS03-32 Security Update for Internet Explorer security patch and ASP.NET V1.0 running on Windows XP. This patch can be installed manually or by obtaining recent critical updates from the Windows Update site.

The symptom of this issue is that after installing the patch, all requests to ASP.NET result in an error message saying "Server Application Unavailable".

This issue only impacts installations running ASP.NET V1.0 on Windows XP Professional. It *does not* impact machines running Windows 2000 or Windows Server 2003. It also *does not* impact machines running Windows XP with ASP.NET v1.1 installed.

We are working hard on a permanent solution for this issue. In the meantime, you can visit the below page to learn about the problem as well as a safe workaround you can apply immediately to fix the issue:

http://www.asp.net/faq/ms03-32-issue.aspx

Included on the page with the details is a link to a new forum dedicated to the problem (http://www.asp.net/Forums/ShowForum.aspx?tabindex=1&ForumID=128). Please post any questions or issues you run into with this issue in this forum -- we on the ASP.NET team will be actively monitoring these posts and will be able to provide technical help to hopefully address them.

Many apologies for the inconvenience that this has caused. We'll post additional information as it becomes available.

Thanks,

ASP.NET Team

What Do/Did You Think of Blaster?

I'm trying to collect a little info:

1. What do you believe were the ‘big concerns’ when the Blaster Worm hit last week?
2. What are your concerns about the worm today?
3. Has there been any change in opinion?

Blaster Notice from Stacey G.

Purpose:      Help Protect Your Computer Today (Immediately)

Action:         Read about the Blaster worm and update your software immediately. Check the Security site for more information and steps you should take to help protect your systems.

URL:            http://www.microsoft.com/security/incident/blast.asp

How do I remove W32/Blaster-A manually?

http://www.sophos.com/support/disinfection/blastera.html#3

To remove W32/Blaster-A manually on Windows 95/98/Me and Windows NT/2000/XP:

• ensure you have installed Microsoft patch MS03-026 and implemented as many of the other steps from Sophos as is feasible.
• press Ctrl+Alt+Del
• in Windows NT/2000/XP click Task Manager and select the Processes tab
• look for a process named msblast.exe in the list
• click the process to highlight it
• click the 'End Process' (in Windows 95/98/Me 'End Task') button
• close Task Manager.

Search for the file msblast.exe in the Windows system folder (usually a subfolder of Windows or WINNT) and delete it.

In Windows NT/2000/XP you will also need to edit the following registry entry. The removal of this entry is optional in Windows 95/98/Me. Please read the warning about editing the registry.

• At the taskbar, click Start|Run. Type 'Regedit' and press Return. The registry editor opens.
• Before you edit the registry, you should make a backup. If in doubt, contact your network administrator. Incorrect editing of the Windows Registry can cause system failure.
• Locate the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE entry:

  HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

  in the righthand pane select

  windows auto update = msblast.exe

  and delete it if it exists.
• Close the registry editor.

You should reboot your computer and repeat the above process to ensure all traces of the worm have been removed from your system.

If you have any problems removing W32/Blaster-A after following these instructions, please contact technical support.

To remove W32/Blaster-A on other platforms please follow the instructions for removing worms.

Project H General Update

We did a test code drop of The Hive on Friday, the same day we finally got a comleted spec document :) This week we are finishing off the administrative section of the site, performance testing, and debugging. We have to have another code drop on Friday, and the final code complete drop on 8/15/03. We have two primary challenges at this point:

1. We cannot get Passport to work on our dev machines (WinXP Pro) to implement and test the Passport Authentication. We have tried everything we can think of, but it seems MSFT did not design Passport to run on an XP dev machine.

2. We have to integrate a storage system that MSFT built. We will be interacting with it using Web Services, which is no big deal. We are still not entirely convinced this storage system is the correct choice, but it is what will be used, so we have to do our best with it.

On a related note, a read-only (i.e. no user uploads) version of The Hive can be found at: http://www.msnmessenger-download.com/themes. THis “Mini Hive” is intended for the promotions people to make “themed” image sets for MSN Messenger 6.0.