Alexander’s Blog

Here’s the procedure for configuring remote access client accounts for lockout. Keep in mind that the account lockout for remote access accounts is managed differently than the Active Directory user account lockouts. If you are using Windows authentication on your RAS server then edit the registry on that server, if you are using RADIUS authentication then you need to configure the registry on the RADIUS (IAS) server. Here’s the step-by-step procedure.

1. Run regedt32.exe
2. Go to HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\RemoteAccess\Parameters\AccountLockout. By default the MaxDenials value is set to 0 (i.e. account lockout is disabled). Enter a new value (e.g. 3) for MaxDenials to configure the number of failed attempts before the account is locked out.
3. Double-click “ResetTime (mins)” and enter a new value in minutes. The default value in hexadecimal is 0xb40 (2,880 minutes), or two days. You could leave this value alone so once the account is locked out it won’t be reset for at least two days. Or you can enter a shorter time period, such as 60 minutes, to unlock the account automatically after one hour.
4. You could wait for the timer to reset the account lockout parameter, depending on the value you configured, or you can manually unlock the account. To manually unlock the remote access user’s account you’ll have to delete the registry key HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\RemoteAccess\Parameters\AccountLockout.

Microsoft has unveiled a new Community Technology Preview of its forthcoming Windows Vista operating system.

The release includes enhancements to security, performance and the user interface, claimed Shanen Boettcher, a senior director with Microsoft’s Windows Client Group, in a conference call with reporters.

The preview includes an updated version of Windows Defender, formerly known as Windows AntiSpyware, offering better detection and removal of spyware and malware and an improved user interface.

It will also run on a standard user account in Windows rather than requiring access in administrator mode.

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BBEdit is pne of the leading professional HTML and text editor for the Macintosh. It was created in response to the needs of Web authors and software developers. This award-winning product provides an abundance of features for editing, searching, and manipulation of text. BBEdit transforms text with high performance.

An intelligent interface provides easy access to BBEdit’s best of class features including grep pattern matching, search and replace across multiple files, function navigation and syntax coloring for numerous source code languages, FTP and SFTP open and save, AppleScript, Perl and Mac OS X Unix scripting support, glossary support, and a complete set of HTML tools.

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If you are preparing for the MCDST exam, you might be interested in this clinic. This exam preparation clinic provides an overview of the knowledge and skills necessary to achieve the Microsoft Certified Desktop Support Technician credential. This course prepares individuals for MCP exam 70-271 and 70-272. For additional MCDST resources check out Exam Preparation Tools on TechGalaxy’s Microsoft Training and Certification page.

Title: Clinic 2263: Exam Preparation for the MCDST Certification
Course Type: Self-paced Course
Available Offline: Yes
Estimated Time of Completion: 6 Hours
Language: English

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Common Criteria, which is a set of well-known standards of assurance for sharing classified information among government agencies, has blessed Microsoft with their Evaluation Assurance Level (EAL) 4+ for several of Microsoft products. Common Criteria is an international standard and achieving EAL levels (which range from the low of 1 to a high of 7) is important for organizations interested in winning federal contracts.

In the past the following Microsoft products received EAL 4+ certification.

1. Windows 2000 Server and Advanced Server
2. Windows 2000 Professional
3. Exchange Server 2003
4. Internet Security and Acceleration Server 2004

The following products received the EAL 4+ rating just recently.

1. Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition (32-bit) with Service Pack 1.
2. Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition (32-bit and 64-bit versions) with Service Pack 1.
3. Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition (32-bit and 64-bit versions) with Service Pack 1.
4. Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Certificate Server, Certificate Issuing and Management Components (CIMC) (Security Level 3 Protection Profile, Version 1.0).
5. Microsoft Windows XP, Professional with Service Pack 2.
6. Microsoft Windows XP, Embedded with Service Pack 2.