Letters to the Editor - 17 Sep 2001

Much Ado About WPA
Thank you for Michael Otey's Editorials: "Where the Real Monopoly Is" (June 2001) and "Windows Product Activation: The Enemy Within" (August 2001). I can't remember the last time I responded to an editorial, but Michael has perfectly described the problem with Windows Product Activation (WPA).

In the small network that I oversee, I save valuable time if I reload the OS and applications rather than try to fix a user's unstable system. Microsoft's plan is unworkable in the real world, unless the company can guarantee stability. With all the hardware and software choices we have today, we're years from that guarantee. I guess I need to start testing Linux, and thank goodness one of Corel WordPerfect's strengths is its file-conversion features. I've always thought Microsoft was an aggressive competitor—a consequence of a capitalist system—and I've supported the company. But Microsoft's software registration scheme is just like calling its customers crooks, and I don't know too many businesses that insult their customers and survive in the long run.

—Randy Glasnapp
[email protected]

Here's my take on WPA. Our company uses Windows NT Server 4.0 and NT Workstation 4.0 on Dell equipment. Purchasing a Dell computer with NT 4.0 on it is difficult because the company considers NT 4.0 an end-of-life product and will only sell it preinstalled on the flavor-of-the-month box the company wants to get rid of. Dell has even taken this approach with Microsoft Office 2000. I can't get that product anymore; I must buy Office XP, even though I'm not ready for it.

To me, forcing resellers to sell only the latest product is as big a problem as WPA. I understand the practice after a product has been out for at least a year (although making products available for at least 2 years is my suggestion). So, my point is that Microsoft and resellers are making it increasingly difficult not to upgrade, and systems administrators are caught between a rock and a hard place.

—Ken Hughes
[email protected]

I wonder whether Michael Otey has tried the phone-in method for activating Windows XP. I did with Release Candidate 1 (RC1), and even though I was switching from my desktop to my notebook (due to a hardware incompatibility on my desktop) and admitted so openly, the operator took my code and gave me an activation key. Within minutes, I was running XP on my notebook. (I could have continued to run XP on my desktop, and Microsoft would have been none the wiser.)

All philosophical and political issues aside, WPA just isn't that big a deal. I doubt that users will find it to be that onerous*certainly not so much that any user will be seriously inconvenienced.

The furor over WPA isn't about privacy, inconvenience, or any other real issue. Most people don't like WPA simply because it increases the difficulty of purchasing a single copy of the product and installing it on multiple systems. (People I know plan to stay with Windows 2000 just because they're not willing to buy multiple copies of XP for their home network.)

One final point: WPA will have very little impact on Microsoft customers. The biggest impact will be on those people who would rather not pay for Microsoft's products. And no one should be surprised that Microsoft isn't worried about the reaction of those folks to WPA.

—Mark R. Coppock
[email protected]

Beefing Up Passwords in Win2K
A few years ago, a Windows NT Magazine article helped me set up strong passwords on my Windows NT 4.0 domain. I used passprop.exe, a Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0 Resource Kit utility, with the /complex switch. The article showed me how to edit the registry to set up custom parameters for passwords. I was able to force my network users to use at least one alpha character, one numeric character, and only alpha and numeric characters in their passwords. (My company decided against using special characters so that we wouldn't have problems synchronizing with our other internal systems.)

I upgraded my NT 4.0 PDC to Win2K Server, which eliminated the registry setting for custom password parameters, so Win2K doesn't require my users to follow the requirements for strong passwords. I haven't found any way to enforce my current password policy in Win2K.

—Jim Venice
[email protected]

Strong password enforcement is integrated into Win2K. The behavior of the default strong password policy is the same as what you implemented on NT. To enforce strong passwords on a Win2K system, open the Microsoft Management Console (MMC) Local Computer Policy snap-in and enable the Passwords must meet complexity requirements setting in Security Settings, Account Policies, Password Policy. For a Win2K domain, you need to create a Group Policy Object (GPO) linked to your domain or edit the Default Domain Controllers GPO (by using the MMC Group Policy Editor), and specify Passwords must meet complexity requirements. For more details, see the Microsoft article "Enabling Strong Password Functionality in Windows 2000" (http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q225/2/30.asp).

—Tom Iwanski

Logged On Users
Good work on the Daily Answers columns.
How do I find out whether a person is currently logged on to my Windows 2000 or Windows NT domain without having to look for the logon entry in the Event Viewer log? Do you know of a way to see every user who is currently on the Win2K or NT domain?

—Ryan Dao
[email protected]

Alistair G. Lowe-Norris wrote about how to do just what you ask for the Windows Scripting Solutions newsletter. You can access "An ADSI Primer, Part 8: More About Manipulating Persistent and Dynamic Objects" online at http://www.winscriptingsolutions.com. Enter 5878 in the InstantDoc ID text box.

—Sean Daily

Quick Questions About ActiveSync
I've been following John D. Ruley's column since its premiere, Mobile & Wireless: "Synchronization Software" (April 2001). I have a few questions about Microsoft ActiveSync. First, will ActiveSync work over a Cellular Digital Packet Data (CDPD) network? Second, will ActiveSync work with a wireless LAN? And finally, can I configure ActiveSync to transmit any type of data files I want (including proprietary files)?

—Roger W. Harte
[email protected]

Theoretically, the answer to all three questions is yes: In practice, I've been unable to get ActiveSync to work over a CDPD network. ActiveSync should work over Wi-Fi, the 802.11b wireless standard (I've succeeded using a CompactFlash*CF*Ethernet card, and the device doesn't care whether the connection is wireless or wired). I don't know about proprietary file types, but I've copied a wide variety of PC file types*including many that Windows CE won't recognize--without problems.

—John D. Ruley

Recovering from B-Day
I enjoyed Sean Daily's Windows 2000 Pro: "Recovering from B-Day" (June 2001). I, too, have learned to boot into Safe Mode when the cause of a blue screen of death is elusive. Because Microsoft has minimized such crashes in Windows 2000, would I be politically incorrect to request that Windows 2000 Magazine devote a section of the magazine to blue screens? Other administrators' experiences would be invaluable to readers.

—Bill Roberts
[email protected]

Reader to Reader (page 21) provides one way for readers to share blue screen experiences and solutions. Send submissions to [email protected].

—Janet Robbins

OOPS
Reader to Reader: "User Manager Shortcuts" (September 2001) includes an invalid InstantDoc ID number. The correct ID is 21664.

News Analysis: "European Commis-sion Merges Microsoft Investigations" (April 2001) prematurely reported that the European Commission (EC) had decided to merge its two Microsoft investigations. The EC took such action in August. We apologize for any inconvenience these errors might have caused.