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Posts Tagged Gotchas

Using BitLocker To Go (and what to look out for)

Feb 1

Posted by Justin in Technology Related, Troubleshooting, Windows 7, Windows General, Windows Server 2008R2 | No Comments

As the world becomes overrun by USB keys and more and more people leave their data behind in black cabs, we need ways to protect this data.  Windows Vista introduced BitLocker drive encryption and with Windows 7, we’ve got BitLocker to Go, the ability to take drive encryption and encrypt our portable/USB devices.  Here’s how it works – and a few things to look out for along the way (if you’re comfortable as to how to encrypt devices with BitLocker to go, you can continue to the “what to look out for” area further down in the document)

  1. Insert your USB key and let it be recognised by Windows.
  2. Open explorer (either by going Start –> Computer or by pressing the windows key and E)
  3. Right click on the drive you’d like to encrypt and choose Turn on BitLocker…
    turn on bitlocker to go
  4. Choose how you’d like the drive encrypted:
    bitlocker to go encryption options
  5. Save the recovery key somewhere other than the USB drive ;-)
    bitlocker to go recovery key
  6. Begin the encryption process
    begin encryption process
  7. Sit back and wait patiently as it encrypts the drive
    bitlocker to go encrption process
  8. When it’s all encrypted, you’ll now see a logo that shows it’s encrypted:
    bitlocker to go encrypted drive

Now, here are things to take in to account:

Q. Can I use BitLocker To Go to encrypt USB keys on all versions of Windows 7?

A. No, the full functionality of BitLocker To Go is only part of the Enterprise and Ultimate SKU’s.  You can read BitLocker To Go encrypted drives on Windows 7 Home Basic, Home Premium and Professional, but you cannot write to them.

 

Q. Once I’ve set up BitLocker To Go on a device, can I disable it?

A. Yes you can.  Click on Start and type “BitLocker Drive Encryption”.  Inside this control panel applet you can remove drive encryption.

 

Q. Can BitLocker To Go enabled devices be read on Windows XP and Vista (automatically)?

A. They can, but ONLY if the drive is formatted as FAT.  If it isn’t formatted FAT, the utility that allows the removable storage to be read will not be seen.

 

Q. Can I write to my BitLocker to Go enabled device on Windows XP and Vista?

A. No, you’re device, provided you can gain access to it, is Read-Only on XP and Vista.

 

Q. Can I download a utility in lieu of using the BitLocker to Go partition (again, provided my data is FAT)?

A. Yes, there is a utility you can download which will enable the partition to be read – again – providing it is formatted FAT:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=64851943-78c9-4cd4-8e8d-f551f06f6b3d&displaylang=en

 

Q. Windows 7 and Server 2008 R2 use the same codebase so can I use a BitLocker To Go encrypted device on Server 2008 R2?

A. Yes, you can, however, you MUST first install the BitLocker feature on Server 2008 R2 you’re wishing to read the BitLocker To Go encrypted device on

feature install

If you’re aware of any other “gotcha’s” with BitLocker To Go that aren’t listed above, please let me know and I’ll be happy to add them.

CREDITS:
Thanks to @xpworld for his inclusion on versions.

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Windows Live Export –> Outlook Import = Missing Headers

Jan 25

Posted by Justin in Applications, Office 2010, Technology Related, Troubleshooting, Windows 7, Windows General | 1 Comment

For the past 18 months I’ve been using Windows Live Mail.  It has some great functionality and capabilities (newsreader, outlook like effects, etc) however it just wasn’t Outlook.  As I’ve been fully in to my Office 2010 testing, I thought, let’s export my Windows Live Mail to Outlook and start using the full monty.  First thing to be made aware of – Windows Live Mail only works 32 bit and the new Outlook has 64 bit capabilities.  You can’t export from WLM on an x64 machine to Outlook x64.  The MAPI handlers just don’t like it.  Therefore I built a 32 bit VM and exported WLM to Exchange (which in essence makes a .pst file).

Presto, the .pst contained all of my mail and I was happy as Larry (where does that saying come from?).  Any way, I went to respond to a mail and found out the export wasn’t really a true export.  In the mail listing pane I saw this:

outlook-import-icons

You’ll notice a difference between the top mail and the bottom two.  The icon on the bottom signifies I haven’t opened the mail…Well, not really true.  I had opened the mail, but I had done so in WLM.  The preview pane showed positive signs of transferral:

outlook-mail-header

It showed the mail name, but I couldn’t double click on it and if I chose reply, it put the full name, but there was no GAL to cross-reference it to, hence it wouldn’t send.  I though to myself, I wonder if it exported all of the details…I opened the mail to look at the headers and what did I find:

missing-headers

Oops, nothing!

So, when choosing your mail tool of choice, if at any time you wish to swap to and or fro, realise that as with any program, when exporting or migrating the data, there are “quirks” to be aware of, and this is one of them (well two if you take in to account the x64 compatibility issue).

Happy e-mailing :)

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Solution Collections

Oct 14

Posted by Justin in Technology Related | No Comments

The book is written in to Solution Collections and subsequently broken down based on the collection.  Each Collection starts with an introduction entitled “Scnearios, Pains and Solutions”.  From there it takes you directly in to how to address the solution albeit with scripting, logic, or a specific approach.  Throughout it points out notes and informational tid bits that might be normally overlooked or classed as “gotchas” when trying to execute day-to-day tasks.  So far, what I’ve read I really like, although I will say it does go in to some extensive detail although a slimmed down version of the detail would suffice fine…At any rate, please keep reading on about Solution 1 and its collections…

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