In-Depth Features


Books: Elevate VB.NET With Power Coding

Visual Basic .NET Power Coding offers concise discussion and helpful examples of VB.NET's most complex topics, such as delegates, threading, remoting, Reflection, and security.

Group Policy Strategy and Tactics

Group policy is constantly evolving and has new functionality within Windows Server 2003. Here’s some basic training on what it can do.

Bursting the Pop-Up Bubble

Two tools that stop popups dead in their tracks

Build Menus Dynamically

Enhance your UIs' flexibility with dynamic coding that uses runtime conditions to determine menu behavior.

Tame Your Storage with NAS

Buying new servers and more direct-attached disks solves short-term storage issues but creates a bigger problem—the storage management nightmare. Network attached storage, which separates disks from servers, is one answer. We evaluate three top NAS solutions running Windows Storage Server.

File Replication Service: User-Friendly at Last

The File Replication Service (FRS) has a justifiably bad reputation for bugginess and indecipherable logs. But recent changes from Redmond make it worth another look.

MCSA Specializations

Sysadmin titles for those whose jobs focus on messaging, security.

MCSE Specializations

Systems engineer premier specialist titles for those whose job roles focus on messaging, security.

Bind Data to WinForms Controls

Display data programmatically with only a few lines of code, using the databinding features built into the .NET Framework's WinForms controls.

Do You Need Multiple Forests?

One forest is easier to manage than multiple forests, but it might not be secure enough.

Q&A: Use Word's Spell Checker in .NET

Use Word's spell check from within your .NET application.

WinFS: The Longhorn Data Layer

WinFS offers new ways to interact with data that redefine how the operations system offers up data. Check out what's new with a snapshot of its current architecture model.

Unshackled: Wireless Administration

Admin tasks don’t end the moment IT pros step out of the office. These devices and software solutions can keep servers shining, no matter where you are.

Monitor Your Systems Easily

Use free tools from Microsoft to monitor your systems and make sure they are running properly

The Mirror Crack’d

This author figured that mirroring his e-mail drive was solid insurance against data loss. That theory was tested to the max when a drive failed.

Avalon: The Longhorn Presentation Layer

Avalon is a core part of Microsoft's presentation layer for its next major version of Windows, code-named Longhorn. Drill down on what it contains in this architecture model.

Indigo: The Longhorn Communications Layer

Indigo is the core for communication in the next generation of Windows, code-named Longhorn. This model of its architecture gives you a good sense of what to expect from it.

Storm Stories

It’s a truism in IT that various parts of your network—servers, hard drives, video cards, that mission-critical software program—will grind to a halt eventually. Here we present four disaster-recovery scenarios and how to recover from each.

Serialize Arrays and ArrayLists to XML

The XmlSerializer class provides a great way to convert objects to XML and back. However, it can be difficult to serialize collections such as Arrays and ArrayLists properly unless you know a few tricks.

Longhorn: The Base Operating System

The complex model for Longhorn's base operating system illustrates how Microsoft has organized it, as well as where any piece you're interested in fits into the larger view.