Have you ever been troubleshooting IIS and need to check out the access log files? As you know by default they live at in System32\Logfiles under your Windows directory. There are plenty of ways to get there...type the path in the run dialog. Open explorer and browse there. But during a call with MS PSS the other day, I learned a handy shortcut. In the run dialog, type 'logfiles' and you will instantly open the System32\Logfiles folder. There are more logfiles here besides IIS generated ones...but that seems to be the best known.

Happy hunting, and hope this saved you some time!

For whatever reason, you may find that you need to bypass the Windows Server Udpate Services site in your organization to update your Vista machine. If you don't have ready access to Active Directory or your GPOs, there is a regkey you can flip that will allow your system to contact MS direct for your updates.

Here is the step by step:

1) Open your registry editor
2) Browse to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AU
3) Change the key UseWUServer from 1 to 0
4) Restart the Windows Update service
5) Voila! Update away...

I have an HP 8510p that I use daily at work. I currently am working in getting a demo running with ESX running in Workstation. (check out the attached white paper) One problem I immediately ran into was when I upgraded my system's RAM, I suddenly had problems booting. I was getting an error with Event ID: 1015 with the message "...C:\Windows\system32\lsass.exe, failed with status code 255..." What?!

I decided that I am tired of paying through the nose to have a lab setup at my house. Most of the features that I originally wanted out of it have not surfaced due to lack of time. So...I moved to Blue Host. Looks good so far...