I recently added a printer connection to a Windows Server 2003 R2 machine. In the past, this has meant re-training each user on how to connect to a network printer. Surely this connection can be defined centrally for all users and/or computers?

It didn't take me long to find Mitch Tulloch's excellent article, Deploying Printers With Group Policy in Windows Server 2003 R2. Everything you need to know is in that article or in his previous article, Managing Printers with Windows Server 2003 R2. I followed his procedure and everything worked like a charm. Thanks Mitch!

One of my misconceptions about the Microsoft virtualization options was that if I wanted to have access to server management tools, I would need to run "regular" (paid) Window Server 2008 so I could install those tools, then enable the Hyper-V role for the virtual clients. It turns out that that is not the case.

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Part of my testing of Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 will be the built-in backup solution. But although Windows Server Backup it is a built-in feature, it is not enabled by default. Here's how to activate it and to register the VSS writer so it will tell your virtual machines to do a snapshot for the backup.

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I'm testing Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 as a virtualization platform. This is the free version that only includes the Hyper-V role and a command-line interface.

Here are a few notes I made on setting things up so I can manage the server from Windows 7 (Professional, Ultimate, or Enterprise only):

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I've been thinking about virtualizing a couple of desktops at a small non-profit customer site. The desktops are five years old, due and budgeted for replacement. There's an under-utilized server available. Why not run Windows XP or Windows 7 as virtual desktops on the server, and replace the desktops with thin clients?

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