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Category: Technology

  • Camera warranty – not worth the paper it’s written on

    Last year, I bought a Canon Digital Ixus 70 to carry with me in my pocket when I don’t want to be lugging a DSLR and a bunch of lenses around. It’s been a great camera but, whilst we were on holiday a few weeks back, it stopped working.

    I got in touch with Amazon (who sold it to me) and they said to contact Canon. Canon said to send it to one of their repairers (at my cost) and the repairers have written back and said it will cost £124.55 to fix it (more than it cost to buy in the first place) because it has sand inside.

    I checked Canon’s warranty terms and conditions and, sure enough, there it is – the get-out clause is highlighted below (my emphasis):

    “[…] 7. Unless agreed in writing, the Warranty will not apply: (a) because you have not used, stored or handled the Product properly; or because you are in breach of the terms of this warranty or the Contract terms, or have not followed Our instructions in the product manual, or those of the manufacturer; or because of damage or defect due to willful neglect or negligence by anyone other than Us; (b) to loss of quality, degradation of performance or actual damage that results from the use of spare parts or other replaceable items (such as consumables) that are neither made nor recommended by Canon; (c) to a loss of quality, degradation of performance or damage that results from the installation of, damage to, or modification to the Product and/or Software by someone else other than Our representatives or because of damage that results from changes required by you or a Third Party; (d) to damage that results from your connection of other fittings or accessories to the Product which We have not approved or your connection of other equipment or software not approved by Us; (e) because of external causes outside Our control which shall include accident, fire disaster or burglary; (f) because of faults caused by shock or fall, sand, dust, dirt, damp or corrosion, leaky batteries, repair or cleaning by unauthorised personnel; (g) because of any mal function or specific requirement of any other item of hardware, or software which you have linked to the Product in respect of items not included in the Contract; (h) to correct errors in any non-Canon proprietary software or other software not provided by Us; (i) because data is lost or damaged; (j) to damage caused by your attachment of the Product to a network not approved by Us or because you have made changes to your Operating or Network system in a manner not approved by Us; (k) because you have not installed any error correction that We issue for the software or have otherwise not followed Our reasonable instructions or advice. […]”

    Basically, the warranty is useless. Dust will get into anything. Sand only got in because some blew onto the lens mechanism and was pulled back into the camera as the lens retracted. It’s not like I buried it on the beach and then expected it to work.

    I’m sure that other camera manufacturer’s warranties are equally useless, but when I do get the camera back, I’ll be trying to fix it myself. The parts are only £39+VAT – its the £60+VAT labour that’s stinging me. And then they want £8.23 to send the camera back when it only cost me £5.05 to send it to them, using the same Royal Mail Special Delivery service… hmm…

    In the meantime, does anyone know where I can buy spare parts for Canon cameras?

  • Preparing a 1st generation iPhone for resale

    In some ways, this post is of limited value – as it’s for a first generation iPhone, running on iPhone software v1.1.4 – both of which will become old technology on Friday 11 July 2008. Even so, I expect the market to be flooded with secondhand iPhones over the next few days and contract-free devices will sell for more money than those still locked to O2. In time, the hackers will unlock v2.0 iPhones but, for now, v1.1.4 is the one to get.

    I’ve been happily using my iPhone on an O2 contract since last November but, tomorrow, my iPhone auction on eBay will end and I wanted to get it ready for sale.

    iPhone working with a Vodafone UK SIMLast week, I unlocked (and “jailbroke”) the iPhone using iLiberty+ v1.5.1 for Mac and tested it with a Vodafone SIM (before listing it for sale) but tonight I followed the instructions to securely wipe the iPhone before I finally send it to the new owner.

    When I first jailbroke my iPhone, I found that I’d entered a whole new world of mobile application possibilities. When I first thought about getting an iPhone and using it with my previous (Vodafone) contract, I was concerned about the impact of unlocking and jailbreaking the device but I am amazed to see just how many applications the AppTapp installer provides access to (especially with the Community Sources package installed). I really hope this ecosystem of iPhone underground application development is not killed off as the official Apple App Store route to market takes over but I guess, as long as the device is tied to a particular operator in each market, there will always be people who want to use their iPhone on another network (and I found that jailbreaking takes no more effort than unlocking the device).

    So, with my iPhone restored to it’s factory defaults, then jailbroken, installer added to the splashscreen, the handset activated and unlocked, I set to work installing the BSD Subsystem 2.1 and OpenSSH. At first, I was downloading applications over O2’s 2G network, which took a long time (the BSD subsystem is 5.1MB), but then I figured I could share my MacBook’s Internet connection over Wi-Fi and that speeded things up considerably.

    Even though I could ping the phone (the IP address is displayed in the Wi-Fi settings), I was having trouble connecting to the phone, with my terminal session reporting:

    ssh: connect to host 10.0.2.3 port 22: Connection refused

    Googling turned up various posts suggesting using the BossPrefs application to ensure that OpenSSH is running but I couldn’t get BossPrefs to complete its own installation.

    Eventually, I figured that I could use iLiberty+ to install OpenSSH, after which I was able to copy a previously-downloaded copy of the umount utility to the iPhone:

    scp ~/Desktop/umount root@ipaddress:/sbin/umount

    After entering this command, something similar to the following should be displayed:

    The authenticity of host ‘ipaddress (ipaddress)’ can’t be established.
    RSA key fingerprint is 8d:0c:46:44:6c:ff:25:7c:c3:d6:49:1b:6a:c5:31:8b.
    Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no)?

    To which the, answer is yes. Then you should see:

    Warning: Permanently added ‘ipaddress‘ (RSA) to the list of known hosts.

    Next up, should be a password prompt:

    root@ipaddress‘s password:

    The default password (at least for iPhone v1.1.4) is alpine and, once this has been entered, umount should finally be copied to the iPhone:

    umount                                        100%   15KB  14.6KB/s   00:00

    A few more commands are used to set execute permissions on umount, to do some Unix magic with mountpoints and then to copy lots of nothingness across both the partitions, as Jonathan A. Zdziarski describes:

    chmod 755 /sbin/umount
    umount -f /private/var
    mount -o ro /private/var
    mount -o ro /
    cat /dev/zero > /dev/rdisk0s2; cat /dev/zero > /dev/rdisk0s1

    This will take a while (I think it was about 45 minutes in my case) and when it’s done, you should see a couple of I/O error messages and a return to the shell prompt (#):

    cat: stdout: Input/output error
    cat: stdout: Input/output error

    The iPhone GUI is also likely to be unresponsive (that is expected).

    So, with all data removed, I could put the iPhone into recovery mode once more to restore its factory settings and then jailbreak/activate/unlock it for the final time. After a test with the Vodafone SIM inside the iPhone to call my O2 SIM (in another handset) I had confirmed that the handset was successfully unlocked and ready for its new owner.

  • Podcasts I listen to/watch (revisited)

    It’s certainly not a directory, but here’s a list of what I consider to be good for keeping up with tech news and general geekiness and what’s been chopped from my iTunes because it went downhill…

    What’s hot?

    • The Archers – the only soap opera worth bothing with!
    • Friday Night Comedy from the BBC. Taking over the Now Show’s feed, I get the News Quiz or the Now Show (whichever is in season), delivered to me automatically. Just a shame that licencing restrictions mean any commercial music is removed from the podcast version…
    • Guardian Tech Weekly – as the title suggest, a weekly technology update from The Gruniad. Definitely worth a listen.
    • Tekzilla. 1 minute daily tips with an end-of week tech magazine show.
    • Wired UK Podcast – a bit geeky at times and a bit too consumer-focused, but I like it.

    And what’s not?

    • The Anderson Tapes. Clive Anderson’s weekly podcast for the Telegraph. Only ran for one series and sometimes the humour was a little too predictable.
    • The Digital Story. Derek Story has a lot of advice but I also have a stack of unlistened episodes… I never did manage to get into this one.
    • FLOSS Weekly. Interesting interviews with pioneers and leaders from the world of open source software. Unfortunately Leo Laporte butts in a little too often.
    • FT Digital Business podcast. This one’s a new one on me… could turn out to be an interesting insight into the world of business IT. Probably really interesting but I have too many podcasts to listen to and so little time.
    • iLifeZone. Podcast about the iApps on the Mac. Too many of Scott Bourne’s Mac fanboy views. Too much Mac elitism.
    • In Business. Interesting insight into global business issues. Interesting, but another podcast that I never found enough time to listen to regularly.
    • Inside the Net. Amber MacArthur and Leo Laporte used to interview lots of interesting Web 2.0 people. Then it went over to a live format (Net at Night) and I stopped listening.
    • MacBreak Tech. Sometimes interesting. Sometimes dull. Sometimes displaying complete ignorance for anything not developed in Cupertino and given a fancy UI. Changed names to Inside the Black Box and then stopped.
    • MacBreak. Pretty cool video podcast with lots of tips and tricks. I prefer Tekzilla though…
    • MacBreak Weekly. This one nearly got the chop for getting too long and being too fanboyish. Still there for the time being but on probation… Would be cool if it was just Merlin Mann, Alex Lindsay and Andy Ihnatko.
    • MacFormat – This Week. A bi-weekly podcast with news, reviews and tech tips from the world of the Macintosh. Saved me from reading the print magazine, which is probably why they stopped producing it!
    • MAKE Magazine podcast. Still waiting for me to find the time to watch some episodes…
    • Pad Addicts. British iPad podcast. Terrible production and presenters lacked any kind of authority. Imagine Chris Moyles ranting on about the iPad, but worse.
    • PixelPerfect. Still waiting for me to find the time to watch some episodes…
    • Podgrunt. It promised to tell us how to create podcasts but sadly it never got past the first episode.
    • Red Hat Magazine. A bi-monthly podcast that promised much from the world of open source but stopped being updated in November 2006.
    • Security Now. Interesting reviews of security issues. Sometimes a bit ignorant to enterprise IT issues – but certainly worth a listen for Steve Gibson‘s view on security. Leo Laporte drove me mad – I had to stop listening to this.
    • Slashdot Review. A roundup of the day’s news from Slashdot but it sent me to sleep… (not good whilst driving!)
    • Systm. A cool video podcast featuring loads of tech DIY projects. Originally started by Kevin Rose (of Digg fame), then off air for a while but came back to our screens in May 2007. Disappeared again.
    • This Week In Photography. Great digital photography podcast with some interesting guests. Even Scott Bourne’s not too annoying on this one and lots of interesting videos in the feed between the weekly audio shows. Too bad they spend so much time bragging about top-end Nikon and Canon DSLRs that most of us can only dream about… The episodes started getting a little too long, Frederick Van Johnson seemed to always ask the same question of all the guests, and I tuned out…
    • This Week In Tech. Started out as a great review of the week’s news. Then got too big for it’s boots – too much “personality” and not enough news. Culled from my iTunes after 3 years of listening…
    • Videogrunt. Could have been so good but suddenly stopped broadcasting after just 5 episodes of (very high quality) content.
    • Windows Weekly. Microsoft-focused Podcast with Paul Thurrott and Leo Laporte. Slightly too consumer-focused for my liking but that’s the way it is. Luckily they stopped doing phone-in episodes but I fear they may well start again now that the TWiT network is going “live”. This was the last of the TWiT podcasts to drop out of my list, but I couldn’t stand any more of Leo.
    • You and Yours Environment. Topical “Green” consumer issues. The BBC changed the way they distribute this and I stopped listening.

    [Last updated 3 June 2008]
    [Updated 21 September 2008]
    [Updated 17 January 2009]
    [Updated 5 April 2011]
    [Updated 7 October 2011: converted from page to post; no longer “sticky”]

  • Accessing USB devices from within Microsoft virtual machines

    In my Hyper-V presentation on Wednesday, I said that USB support was one of the things that is missing from Hyper-V. That is correct – i.e. there is no ability to add USB devices as virtual hardware – but, in a conversation yesterday, Clive Watson pointed out that if you connect to a virtual machine using RDP, there is the ability to access local resources – including hard drives and smart card readers.

    The way to do this is to use the Local Resources tab in the Remote Desktop Connection client options, where local devices and resources may be specified for connection:

    Accessing local resources in the RDP client

    If you click more, there is the option to select smart cards, serial ports, drives and supported plug and play devices (i.e. those that support redirection). In this case, I selected the USB hard drive that was currently plugged into my computer:

    Accessing local resources in the RDP client

    And when I connect to the virtual machine using RDP, it is listed the drive as driveletter on localmachine:

    Accessing local resources via RDP - as seen on the remote machine

    This is really a Terminal Services (presentation virtualisation) feature – rather than something in Hyper-V – and so it is true to say that there is no USB device support in Hyper-V for other access methods (e.g. from a virtual machine console) and that the RDP connection method is a workaround for occasional access. Microsoft see USB support as a desktop virtualisation feature and the only way that will change is if they see enough customer feedback to tell them that it’s something we need on servers too.

  • So much for Apple’s legendary build quality

    Readers of this blog may recall that I bitched about the time it took for Apple to deliver my new MacBook recently. It was ordered on 5 February, finally arrived on 14 February – and broken on 31 March. What did I do to break it? I rested my hands on the palm rest. Is that a user error?

    Seriously, I was in the pub last night with Alex and Simon (from ascomi, who are helping me work on a new version of this site) and there was a fair degree of Mac vs. PC banter going on when all of a sudden there was a crack under my right palm and I saw that part of the top cover/keyboard assembly was split at the edge. I had only had the computer in my possession for 6 weeks and have really looked after it – to say that I was not happy is a bit of an understatement. So much for Apple’s legendary build quality.

    Split top cover on nearly-new MacBook after 6 weeks of light (and careful) use

    As it happens, some people regard the MacBook as the ugly step child of the Apple family – I disagree (hence the reason I bought one) but I do think that it is a little pricey and for that premium pricing I do expect premium build quality. It may not be as bad as the last Dell notebook I used but it is nowhere near as good as my IBM ThinkPad T40 and I have never had a case crack through normal use (drops and inadequate protection in transit maybe).

    It seems that the MacBook case crack is a common defect and, whilst Apple refuses to acknowledge it as a design fault (it seems to occur next to the small bevel that keeps the screen and keyboard apart when the MacBook is closed, suggesting that may be causing undue pressure on that part of the top case) but Brian Ford wrote about the same problem four days ago and although getting picked up by John Gruber (Daring Fireball) will have helped, last night had 144 comments on his post. On that basis, this does not appear to be an isolated issue.

    Furthermore, the problem has been around for a while now and whilst some reports suggest that Apple has changed the affected component and it does not occur on new models, I see no evidence of that as my computer is less than two months old – I call that pretty new.

    I phoned AppleCare as soon as they were open this morning and spoke to a really helpful guy. He asked me if I had taken out AppleCare protection (no, but I have a warranty) and then proceeded to make an appointment with an Apple “Genius” at the Apple Store (I don’t know what’s worse – Apple’s idea that their tech support guys are all geniuses or Microsoft’s idea that there are IT departments full of heroes all across the world) . When there were no slots available, I asked which store he had tried and he said “Oh, most people ask for Regent Street in London”. I said “I’d like an appointment at my local store please” and suddenly there were lots of slots free and I just needed to pick my time!

    So, I set off to the Milton Keynes Apple Store, arrived a couple of minutes early, booked in, and saw my name top of the Mac queue at the Genius Bar. Then I waited, and waited, and pestered the sales staff until a (very helpful) genius called Simon came over to help. It seems that the iPod queue and the Mac queue are actually one, and that there was only one genius, who was very very busy with a lot of people to see this morning, meanwhile the shop was littered with trainers and sales staff apparently doing very little.

    Thankfully, Simon the genius noted that my MacBook was in “mint” condition (although the Genius Bar Work Authorisation will only allow it to be recorded as “As New”) and there was no argument that it had been mistreated in any way. Apple will be replacing the top cover/keyboard assembly and say that it will take 5 to 7 days but why so long? It should be a 1 hour job (maximum), plus the time to obtain parts and schedule the work – so, 2 to 3 days would be more reasonable. Doubtless I will hear from support technicians who say “you try our job for a day – we work really hard” (to which I say “I’ve been there – and so do lots of people”). In the meantime, I’ll be without my MacBook for a week.

    I’ve posted my picture of the issue to the Flickr group that has been set up to highlight this issue. In the meantime, if you are having similar problems, I urge you to do the same and to leave a comment on Brian Ford’s Newsvine article so that he can build enough evidence to (hopefully) get Apple to actually do something about this issue.

  • Top quality service from Crucial memory – and a new Mac memory advisor tool

    I’ve written before aboutand, yet again, I have been blown away by the competitive prices and speed of service. In the early hours of yesterday morning I ordered 4GB of RAM for my new MacBook. With free shipping, it came to a bargain price of £72.83 (Mac:Upgrades are currently selling the equivalent Kingston RAM for £83.82). The free shipping is for an estimated 3-5 day delivery but it arrived this morning - just over 24 hours after placing the order! A few minutes later I had the RAM installed in the MacBook. Mac with 4GB RAM installed Some people will say that you need to use OEM-specific RAM because it's the best available. Nonsense. If third party memory was unreliable then major OEMs wouldn't be prepared to sell it and Crucial is a division of Micron - one of the largest memory manufacturers in the world. Most of my computers now have Crucial RAM inside and I've had no problems. There is only one notable exception - when I upgraded my Dell Server a few weeks back, the Dell memory was horrendously priced but they would also sell me the equivalent Kingston RAM if I wanted it. Some people have reported problems with value memory (e.g. Kingston ValueRAM) but this was the full-quality item. Ironically, I only bought from Dell to keep things simple - whilst I was waiting for the memory to be shipped the price for equivalent RAM at Crucial dropped to a lower level. There's one more thing I wanted to mention - Crucial now have a memory advisor tool for MacOS X. You could always browse by manufacturer to find memory for a Mac but this makes the process even simpler, querying the computer to see what model it is, how much RAM is already installed, and exactly which components to buy. Apple Memory upgrades from Crucial

  • Delays when purchasing Apple hardware

    After the disappointment that was Macworld 2008, last weekend I decided to bite the bullet and buy an Apple notebook. A MacBook Pro would be great, but it is also an old design and very expensive, so I decided to buy a MacBook.

    My employer is a member of Apple’s employee purchase programme (EPP) so I bought the computer from the UK online Apple Store (EPP discounts are not valid in brick and mortar stores). Somewhere in the purchase process I’m sure that I was quoted 3-5 days for delivery (24 hour shipment for non-customised orders) – right up until the order was finalised, at which point it got a lot longer.

    I also purchased some accessories (a mini-DVI to DVI adapter and iPhone headphone adapter) but that’s not really customisation. Is it? Apparantly is is, at least according to Apple. Checking the site now, it seems that adding accessories like this increases the ship time from 24 hours to 3 days.

    My order was shipped within 48 hours but is currently estimated to take 11 days for delivery. I could walk from my house to Apple’s UK distribution centre in Leicestershire and back in that time (most couriers that come to my door have a nice big diesel van to make it faster for them…). I was confused, especially as the shipment status page has displayed “In transit to final destination – carrier details to be updated shortly” for a couple of days now and I’d expected it to be with UPS/DHL/insert-name-of-courier-here, allowing me to track its progress (and to make sure I’m here to sign for it).

    So I called Apple and it turns out that my Macbook is not from stock in the UK. It’s being made in China. Shipping within 24 hours is all very well but when it’s shipped from the other side of the world it’s kind of irrelevant. Meanwhile, this was not clearly communicated to me at the time of order (I might have foregone my EPP discount for the sake of picking one up from a store) – making me a very dissatisfied customer – particularly as if I decide to cancel or return the order it will cost me another £60.

    Apple has traditionally enjoyed a loyal fanbase and, more recently, has increased market share by encouraging many consumers to switch to their product range. I know that in my case the original decision to buy an Apple computer was based on style and the surity that if I didn’t get along with MacOS X, I could always install Windows on the Intel hardware. I’m now buying my second Mac and am extremely disappointed by the service I’ve received. It’s not as if the MacBook is inexpensive either – from a cursory glance around it seems that comparibly specified PC notebook from another vendor can be purchased for significantly less money and other major OEMs are happy to talk to me about product roadmaps so I know I’m not buying a white elephant (no chance of that with Apple).

    It seems to me (and to friends who have experienced Apple’s customer service of late) that, as Apple grows its market share, attention to detail on the things that matter most to customers declines. Maybe that is just a reality of capitalism. Maybe it’s a reflection on corporate American business practices. Or maybe Apple have just taken their eye off the ball (again).

  • Looking forward to Windows Server 2008: Part 2 (Setup and Configuration)

    Back in October, I started to look at the next version of Microsoft’s server operating system – Windows Server 2008. In that post I concentrated on two of the new technologies – Server Core and Windows Server Virtualization (since renamed as Hyper-V).

    For those who have installed previous versions of Windows Server, Windows Server 2008 setup will be totally new. Windows Vista users will be familiar with some of the concepts, but Windows Server takes things a step further with simplified configuration and role-based administration.

    Using a technology known as Windows PE, the new setup model allows multiple builds to be stored in a single image (using the .WIM file format). Because many of these builds will share the same files, single instance storage is used to reduce the volume of disk space required, allowing six operating system versions to fit into one DVD image (with plenty of free space).

    The first stage of the setup process is about collecting information. Windows Setup now asks fewer questions and instead of being spread throughout the process (anybody ever left a server installation running and then returned to find it had stopped half way through for input of some networking details?) the information is all gathered at this first stage in the process. After gathering details for the language, time and currency, keyboard, product key (which can be left and entered later), version of Windows to install, license agreement and selection of a disk on which to install the operating system (including options for disk management), Windows Setup is ready to begin the installation. Incidentally, it’s probably worth noting that SATA disk controllers have been problematic when setting up previous versions of Windows. Windows Server 2008 had no issues with the motherboard SATA controller on the Dell server that I used for my research.

    After collecting information, Windows Setup moves on to the actual installation. This consists of copying files, expanding files (which took about 10 minutes on my system), installing features, installing updates, two reboots and completing installation. One final reboot brings the system up to the login screen after which Windows is installed. On my server (with a fast processor, but only 512MB of RAM) the whole process took around 20 minutes.

    At this point you may be wondering where the computer name, domain name, etc. is entered. Windows Setup initially installs the server into a workgroup (called WORKGROUP) and uses an automatically generated computer name. The Administrator password must be changed at first logon, after which the desktop is prepared and loaded.

    Windows Server 2003 included an HTML application called the Configure Your Server Wizard and service pack 1 added the post-setup security updates (PSSU) functionality to allow the application of updates before enabling non-essential services. In Windows Server 2008 this is enhanced with a feature called the Initial Tasks Configuration Wizard. This takes an administrator through the final steps in setup (or initial tasks in configuration):

    1. Provide computer information – configure networking, change the computer name and join a domain.
    2. Update this server – enable Automatic Updates and Windows Error Reporting, download the latest updates.
    3. Customise this server – add roles or features, enable Remote Desktop, configure Windows Firewall (now enabled by default).

    Roles and Features are an important change in Windows Server 2008. The enhanced role-based administration model provides a simple approach for an administrator to install Windows components and configure the firewall to allow access in a secure manner. At release candidate 1 (RC1), Windows Server 2008 includes 17 roles (e.g. Active Directory Domain Services, DHCP Server, DNS Server, Web Server, etc.) and 35 features (e.g. failover clustering, .NET Framework 3.0, Telnet Server, Windows PowerShell).

    Finally, all of the initial configuration tasks can be saved as HTML for printing, storage, or e-mailing (e.g. to a configuration management system).

    Although Windows Server 2008 includes many familiar Microsoft Management Console snap-ins, it includes a new console which is intended to act as a central point of administration – Server Manager. Broken out into Roles, Features, Diagnostics (Event Viewer, Reliability and Performance, and Device Manager), Configuration (Task Scheduler, Windows Firewall with Advanced Security, Services, WMI Control and Local Users and Groups)and Storage (Windows Server Backup and Disk Management), Server Manager provides most of the information that an administrator needs – all in one place.

    It’s worth noting that the Initial Tasks Configuration Wizard and Server Manager do not apply for Server Core installations. Server Manager can be used to remotely administer a computer running Server Core, or hardcore administrators can configure the server from the command line.

    So that’s Windows Server 2008 setup and configuration in a nutshell. Greatly simplified. More secure. Much faster.

    Of course, there are options for customising Windows images and pre-defining setup options but these are beyond the scope of this article. Further information can be found elsewhere on the ‘net – I recommend starting with the Microsoft Deployment Getting Started Guide.

    Windows Server 2008 will be launched on 27 February 2008. It seems unlikely that it will be available for purchase in stores at that time; however corporate users with volume license agreements should have access to the final code by then. In the meantime, it’s worth checking out Microsoft’s Windows Server 2008 website and the Windows Server UK User Group.

    [This post originally appeared on the Seriosoft blog, under the pseudonym Mark James.]

  • Office 2007 Customisation and Deployment using BDD 2007

    Over the years, the various methods available for customising and deploying Microsoft Office have advanced considerably and so here are a few notes on customising and deploying the 2007 Microsoft Office System using the Microsoft Solution Accelerator for Business Desktop Deployment (BDD) 2007:

    • The first step is to create a network distribution point.  This is easily achieved using the BDD 2007 workbench (Distribution Share, Applications, New), with the additional advantage of integrating the Office 2007 files into the BDD distribution folder structure (e.g. D:\Distribution\Applications\Office2007).
    • The BDD workbench will also enable the application (by default) and allow the entry of additional information on the General tab.  The Dependencies tab can be used to control the order of application deployment within the BDD logic.  There is also a tab for Office Products which can be used to configure the deployment of Microsoft Office.
    • To save disk space, additional Office System components may be added to an existing distribution point.  Multiple languages may be integrated in the same manner – i.e. by adding the files to the application within BDD Workbench.
    • Office 2007 is always installed via setup.exe rather than with individual Windows Installer (.MSI) packages.
    • The Office Customization Tool (OCT) is used to create or edit Windows Installed Patch (.MSP) files to customise Office installations:
      • It may be launched from the command line using setup.exe /admin or within the BDD Workbench using the Office Customization Tool button in the application properties.  The OCT replaces the Custom Installation Wizard and Custom Maintenance Wizard tools in previous Office versions.
      • The OCT language interface will match the regional setting for the application (rather than the operating system language).
      • OCT allows the specification of multiple network sources (in case the primary is not available). By default, all necessary files are copied locally first and setup is launched from this cache – the local installation source (LIS).  If the installation is modified later then setup with use the LIS before attempting to locate network sources.
      • By default, .MSP files are saved in the Updates folder on the application distribution point.  Setup scans this location when it runs and will retrieve application settings from .MSP files.  If multiple .MSP files exist then the first one (in alphabetical order) will be used.
      • When editing .MSP files with the OCT, those areas that have changed from the defaults are highlighted in bold.
    • Microsoft Office updates and service packs can be copied to the Updates folder on the application distribution point for automatic application during installation.
    • Settings may be specified within a config.xml file (via the application properties in BDD Workbench) or using a .MSP file:
      • Sensitive values such as product keys should be stored within an .MSP file rather than as clear text in config.xml.
      • The command line to use a config.xml file is setup.exe /config applicationsubfolder\config.xml.
      • Settings in config.xml will take precedence over duplicate settings in a .MSP file.
    • Office setup writes a log file to %temp% on the destination machine.  The filename for this log will be prefixed with setupexe.
    • Microsoft Systems Management Server (SMS) 2003 can also be used to deploy Microsoft Office 2007:
      1. Create a package using the source files from the BDD distribution point.
      2. Create a program for Office 2007:
        • Within the package, create a new program and edit the properties to include the program name (e.g. Office 2007) and the appropriate command line (setup.exe /config applicationsubfolder\config.xml).
        • If the program is hidden (on the General tab) and the installation requires user input then it will never complete.  Similarly if the option to allow users to interact with this program option (on the Requirements tab) is not selected then installation will fail, unless the package has been created for silent installation.
        • If users have local administrator rights on their workstations then he program may be configured to run with user rights; however this is generally not desirable and a run mode of run with administrative rights should normally be selected.
        • The Windows Installer tab can be used to define a .MSI file that is used when clients with the package installed make updates to the Office installation (e.g. install on first use or repair).
      3. Create a distribution point (within SMS – not to be confused with the BDD distribution point) and copy the package to the distribution point.
      4. Check the distribution process using the SMS report for the distribution status of a specific package.
      5. Define a collection to receive the package based on membership rules and specific resource attributes.
      6. Create an advertisement for the package/program and schedule accordingly.
      7. If clients are taking a long time to receive an advertisement, check the schedule and also try initiating both machine and user policy actions within the systems management applet in control panel (installed by the SMS client).

  • The great iPhone insurance swindle

    A few days ago, I wrote about my purchase of the latest consumer gadget – the Apple iPhone.

    Unlike many others, I didn’t queue and the transaction was smooth but I was concerned that I was mis-sold insurance for the device. The conversation went something like this (I didn’t record the exact words at the time – but I wish I had):

    O2 sales representative – let’s call her Emma (because, according to my sales receipt, that was her name): “Would you like any insurance for your iPhone? It’s only £7.50 a month and covers you for theft, accidental loss or damage not covered by the warranty but it’s only available at the time of purchase – not afterwards – so you would need to take it out now.”

    Me: “No thanks – I know I’d be committed to the contract but even so that that’s a lot of money over 18 months. I’ll take the risk of another £269 to replace the iPhone.”

    Emma: “Are you sure, because it wouldn’t be £269 – it’s more like £600 for a new iPhone from O2?”

    Me: “How can that be – the handset isn’t subsidised, so I should only need to pay for a new handset at the normal retail price?”

    Emma: “We don’t make the rules… that’s Apple.”

    I subsequently agreed to buy the insurance, after checking that I could cancel at any time.

    Yesterday, I asked about insurance in a Carphone Warehouse store and was given a similar response. I also asked in an Apple Store and was told that they thought it was just the cost of a new iPhone but that I’d need to check with O2.

    Hmm… I smell a rat here. Especially when the O2 website says that:

    “[…]insurance must be purchased within 28 days of activating your iPhone account with O2.”

    So, not at the time of purchase then.

    If got even worse when I read a PC Pro article about iPhone first impressions, from which I quote:

    [in respect of] “O2 pushing £7.50/month insurance, to cover the situation that in the case of a lost iPhone, O2 will require the unlucky punter to buy a new phone and undertake a second contract”

    […]

    We checked with O2 this morning and, unbelievably, this is true. If you lose your iPhone without insurance, then you will have to splash out on a new handset, and take out a new contract, paying two monthly tariffs at once. Now that is a costly mistake.

    UPDATE

    O2 has changed tack this morning, and is now claiming that customers won’t have to pay for two contracts at once, but they will have to source an iPhone on their own.

    Now, the exact wording in the terms of service (under “Ending the agreement”) is:

    “8.3 If this Agreement is ended during the Minimum Period, you may be required to pay us the monthly subscription charges up to the end of that Minimum Period. This does not apply if you end the Agreement for the reasons in paragraph 8.4 or if you purchase a new iPhone from us, but in this case you agree that a new Minimum Period will apply.

    8.4 You may end this Agreement by giving us written notice if:

    (a) we break this Agreement in any material way and we do not correct the situation within 7 days of receipt of your written request;

    (b) we go into liquidation or a Receiver is appointed over our assets; or

    (c) we increase charges for calls, messages or data that form part of your inclusive allowance or your Line Rental Charges, or change this Agreement to your significant disadvantage, in accordance with paragraph 9.2 of the General Terms, provided you give us a minimum of 30 days’ written notice (and provided you notify us within one month of our telling you about the changes). This does not apply where the increase or change relates solely to Additional Services in which case you may cancel, or stop using, that Additional Service.”

    [Emphasis added by the author for clarity]

    I’m no lawyer (so please don’t interpret anything written here as legal advice) but that sounds like I can just buy a new iPhone (from O2) and connect it to the account whereby a new 18 month contract will start but, crucially, there is no mention of the price of the replacement.

    After spending much of the day responding on the Apple discussion forums (and not having received a response to my online query via the O2 website), I called O2’s customer service department on 08705860860. After a 20 minute discussion, I got confirmation that:

    1. A replacement handset would be available at the current recommended retail price of the iPhone.
    2. The original contract would be ended if a new iPhone was purchased; however a new 18 month contract period would commence.

    The exact text of the response I received from O2 was:

    “Hello Mark,

    As per our discussion today. If you were to purchase a replacement handset you would pay the Recommended Retail Price for the replacement (as of the 13/11/07 it is £269, this price is subject to change). However, please be assure that you will only have to pay the same price as any new customer and would not be required to pay a premium due to the lose [sic].

    The only concession you would need to make is that your contract would have to start again from the time of purchasing the replacement please see terms and conditions (relevant section follows).

    “8.3 If this Agreement is ended during the Minimum Period, you may be required to pay us the monthly subscription charges up to the end of that Minimum Period. This does not apply if you end the Agreement for the reasons in paragraph 8.4 or if you purchase a new iPhone from us, but in this case you agree that a new Minimum Period will apply.”

    […]

    Kind regards and enjoy your I-phone [sic],

    [Name removed to protect the O2 employee’s privacy]
    O2 Customer Service.”

    That sounds perfectly fair to me, so why are the iPhone retailers pushing insurance on people who probably don’t need it? Sure, £269 is a lot to stump up if you lose your phone but it’s a big difference from the £600 that I was quoted for a new handset and £135 is not a small amount for insurance that I probably don’t need (chances are my household contents insurance covers me – albeit with a large excess). It seems to me that O2 are preying on consumers’ insecurities (and Carphone Warehouse seem to be even worse, based on the contents of an Apple forum thread).

    I’m surprised that Apple would risk their strong brand dealing with companies that operate in this manner (I guess that’s what happens when you deal with the Devil – i.e. pretty much any telecommunications company) but I’m now seeking confirmation that my insurance has been cancelled without charge (I believe that UK law gives me 14 days to cool off from any insurance policy and I’ve yet to receive any written details of the cover) as well as a goodwill credit on my O2 account to cover me for the worry and inconvenience that this has caused. I’ll post an update if there’s any significant news on this…