Import and Export Windows Firewall Configurations

Windows Firewall is very important part of all Microsoft Operating Systems. It provides extra protection layer frommalware, viruses and other unwanted threats. Firewalls also blocks prohibited programs from accessing the system and networks. Only per-defined and authorized applications are allowed to communicate between networks

Most organizations that use clients running Windows 7 apply firewall rules through Group Policy. In the event that you need to support a number of stand-alone clients running Windows 7, you can replicate complex firewall configurations using the WFAS Import Policy and Export Policy options. 

Importing and exporting policy also allows you to save the current firewall configuration state before you make changes to it. Exported policy files use the .wfw extension. Exported policies use a binary format, not Extensible Markup Language (XML) format like many other Windows 7 configuration files. You can also export and import firewall policies in the same .wfw format using the netsh advfirewall export or netsh advfirewall import commands.

Configure TCP/IP from the Command Prompt

Netsh.exe is a command line utility that allows you to, either locally or remotely, display or modify the network configuration of a computer that is currently running.


You can use the Netsh.exe tool to perform the following tasks:

• Configure interfaces
• Configure routing protocols
• Configure filters
• Configure routes
• Configure remote access behavior for Windows-based remote access routers that are running the Routing and Remote Access Server (RRAS) Service
• Display the configuration of a currently running router on any computer
• Use the scripting feature to run a collection of commands in batch mode against a specified router.

The following command configures the interface named Local Area Connection with the static IP address 192.168.0.100, the subnet mask of 255.255.255.0, and a default gateway of 192.168.0.1:

""netsh interface ip set address name="Local Area Connection" static 192.168.0.100 255.255.255.0 192.168.0.1 1""

IExpress Technology

IExpress is a technology designed to simplify creation of a setup program. Using the step-by-step IExpress Wizard, you can create self-extracting files that automatically run the setup program contained inside. The setup program can be an .inf file or an executable program. IExpress technology automatically removes the setup files after installation, saving the user time and frustration.

IEXPRESS.EXE is used to create a single self-extracting package from a set of files. Such packages can be used to install applications, executables, drivers, other system components

Manage Internet Explorer 9 with New Group Policy Settings

When you roll out Internet Explorer 9 to client systems throughout your organization, there are some things you should keep in mind when it comes to managing those systems with Group Policy.

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Capture and Analyze Network Traffic with IE 9

With Internet Explorer 9, the F12 developer tools have added a new Network tab, which allows you to analyze network traffic. You can capture and analyze data about network traffic save the captured data, search for specific elements, and more.

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Startup sequence for Windows 7

The normal start up sequence for Windows 7 is:

1. Power-on self test (POST) phase.
    As soon as you turn on a computer

2. Initial start up phase.
   After the POST, the settings that are stored in the nonvolatile memory, such as boot order,
   determine the devices that the computer can use to start an operating system.

3. Windows Boot Manager phase.

• For computers that have a single operating system, Windows Boot Manager never displays a message It wait for a few moments to allow the user to press a key to display the standard boot menu or to press F8 (Advanced Boot Options) If the user does not press a key Windows Boot Manager starts the Windows Boot Loader.
• For computers with multiple operating systems, Windows Boot Manager displays a menu of operating system choices at start up. Depending on what you choose, Windows Boot Manager will start:
  
  
  • If you choose Windows Vista or Windows 7, Windows Boot Manager starts the Windows Boot Loader to open Windows.
  • If you choose Earlier Version Of Windows, for example Windows XP, Windows Boot Manager starts Ntldr, which then proceeds with the hardware detection phase.

4. Windows Boot Loader phase.
    The Windows Boot Loader does the following:

• Loads the operating system kernel, Ntoskrnl.exe.
• Loads the Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL), Hal.dll
• Loads the system registry into memory.
• Scans for device drivers and loads all drivers that are configured for the boot class into memory.
• Enables paging. 
• Passes control to the operating system kernel, which starts the next phase

5.  Kernel loading phase.
The Windows Boot Loader is responsible for loading the Windows kernel (Ntoskrnl.exe) and the HAL into memory. Together, the kernel and the HAL initialize a group of software features that are called the Windows executive.

6. Logon phase.
The Windows subsystem starts Winlogon.exe, a system service that enables you to log on and
log off. Winlogon.exe then does the following:

• Starts the Services subsystem (Services.exe), also known as the SCM
• Starts the Local Security Authority (LSA) process (Lsass.exe).
• Parses the Ctrl+Alt+Delete key combination at the Begin Logon prompt (if the computer is part of an AD DS domain).

This sequence will vary if the computer is resuming from hibernation or if a non–Windows 7
option is selected during the Windows Boot Manager phase.

Disk Partitions (MBR - GPT)

In Windows 7 systems we have two different partitioning systems.

1. The Master Boot Record (MBR). (supported by all versions of Windows
2. The Globally Unique Identifier Partition Table (GPT). (supported on Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows Servers 2003 and 2008)

GPT offers several advantages over MBR such as:

• It can support up to 128 partitions, while MBR supports only four.
• GPT can support larger partition sizes. In theory, a GPT disk can be up to 18 Exabyte’s in size (about 18,000,000 terabytes)
• GPT uses primary and backup partition tables for redundancy and CRC32 fields for improved partition data structure integrity. MBR does not have redundant partition tables.

 

You can change a basic disk from MBR to GPT partition style so long as the disk does not contain any partitions or volumes. You first need to back up the data on the MBR disk so you can restore it after the conversion.