Becoming a master. – But why?

Becoming a master. - why? The Microsoft Certified Master (MCM) program offers exclusive, advanced training and certification on Microsoft server technologies to seasoned IT professionals. Complete the program and you can help validate your skills as a technology...

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Being a candidate now

Now that all dues are paid I finally became a candidate. A few days ago I received the welcome letter, with information on hotels, schedule, flights, parking, and a lot more in it. The rotation will be from February, 3rd till February 19th. Being there 2 days earlier...

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Time to pay

After receiving the acceptance mail, my CIO paid the program fees yesterday. I will attend the rotation in February 2012. So I'm going to travel to the States from February 6th till February 19th. Now that everything is fixed, I can book my flights and the hotel -...

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Telephone interview

I just had a 45 minutes talk to the Microsoft Certified Master on Windows Server 2008 R2: Directory program manager - and here are the results: I AM IN! My application was accepted and I can attend one of the next rotations in October or February. So I think it will...

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Telephone interview next Monday

Last night I received a mail from the program manager. He is on vacation at the moment but he will review my documents on Monday and is asking for a telephone interview on Monday in the evening hours. Now I have to wait the whole weekend - that is so nail biting...

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Documents uploaded

I just uploaded my documents to the sharepoint website I previously created an account for. They'll need about 5 days to review my resume and the documents provided. Now it is not up to me anymore...

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Application results: Part 2

After 4 mails and 1 call I got a second "Application: Results" mail last night. I passed it! Congratulations! You have met the pre-requisite exam requirements [...] Now I will have to create an account for a sharepoint site, where I can upload my resume and...

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Application results: Part 1

Last night I got the results for my application. We’re sorry. You currently have not passed all of the Microsoft Certified Exams required for the Microsoft Certified Master Program. You are currently missing: Exam 70-219 or 70-297 Please re-apply when you have...

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Documents ready

Finally I got my application documents ready. 22 pages of documentation and explanation, plus my first cv since 2005. Now I can apply for the program. The application form can be found at...

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Preparing for application

Now that I know what I'll need to apply for the masters program, I just began to write documents or to translate them from German to English. The documents required for application are: Applicant Resume / Curriculum Vitae Two single page documents describing a recent...

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Interview with a master

After the last weeks talk to our TAM I got the desired information today. I just had a call with a current MCM. 45 minutes full of information on the program. That was really really valuable to me!

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Collecting information

Today I had a talk to our Microsoft Technical Account Manager. He will prepare some information on the masters program for me and send it over in the next weeks. Let's see what it is all about...

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How it began.

How it began.

In April 2011 I completed my MCITP: Enterprise Administrator on Windows Server 2008. When I saw the Microsoft "Chart your Career – IT Professional" - Poster (© 2010 Microsoft Corporation) I thought there has to be more than that. 3 weeks of classroom courses, 5...

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iPhone apps won’t open after update to 4.3.3

Yesterday I updated my Apple iPhone to iOS 4.3.3 (no, it is not jailbreaked). After that I noticed that none of the installed apps run any more. Of course the built-in apps ran fine (like Maps, App Store, Calendar, Mail, Messages, Clock, Contacts, iTunes, Calculator,...

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How to reset HP ILO (Integrated Lights Out)?

How to reset HP ILO (Integrated Lights Out)?

Sometimes it happened to me that the HP ILO (Integrated Lights Out) is unresponsive. Not only the remote console but the whole web interface. In the past I used to shut down the server, unplugged it, plugged it in again and booted it. Well this is pretty uncool in...

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How to disable Windows 7’s default printer management?

When working with hundreds of computers and users you may have found 'your' way of managing printers. But Windows 7 sometimes (may be together with its users) thwart your plans. Since there is a configuration dialog in the start menu called Devices and Printers from...

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How to (re-)set identity column value in SQL Server?

When you use identity columns in SQL server you may have recognized that when deleting all table data your identity value stays at its latest position. Sometimes this is useful, sometimes it is not. Then you need to set this value to your preferred starting point....

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What to do with ‘suspect’ tapes in MS DPM 2007 and 2010?

Sometimes it happens that Microsoft Data Protection Manager 2007, 2010 and 2012 mark a tape as 'suspect'. Normally this should happen when 2 different tapes have the same barcode... If you do know that there are not 2 identically labeled tapes in your library then you...

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Certificate problems with vbscript and xml http calls

Certificate problems with vbscript and xml http calls

May be some of you already got stuck with the problem about xml http calls, vbscript and secured websites with certificate problems - the others surely will... There are some problems occurring right often. For example the host name does not match the subject name of...

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SCCM failes to login at SQL database

Sometimes it happened to me, that our Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007 R2 (sccmsrv01) failed to login at our dedicated MS SQL 2005 2 nodes cluster (cluster: sqlclu, node 1: sqlclu01 and node 2: sqlclu02). Everything you could find in the sql logs...

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How to do ‘replaceall’ in VBScript?

As you might know the vbscript replace function does always search only "one round". Here is an example, what exactly I mean: Lets assume you want to correct the following string by replacing all "double-l's" by "single-l's": str = "Littllllle worllllllld!" The code...

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How to use environment variables in Powershell?

Sometimes you need to use an environment variable (eg. username, userprofile, computername, ...) in Powershell. The location where environment variables are stored is "env:". This behaves similar to a hard or flash drive. You can list its content or browse it by using...

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