You work as a Network Administrator at Site.com. Site.com has an Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) domain named Site.com. All servers in the Site.com
domain have Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 installed.
Site.com has a main office and a branch office. The two offices are connected by a WAN link.
Site.com has five domain controllers named Site-DC01, Site-DC02, Site-DC03, Site-DC04 and Site-DC05. All domain controllers are configured as DNS servers
and host an Active Directory integrated zone for Site.com. Site-DC01, Site-DC03 and Site-DC05 are located in the main office. Site-DC02 and Site-DC04 are
located in the branch office. Site.com has a Development department located in the main office. The manager of the Development department has asked you to
configure a new Active Directory integrated zone named SiteDev.com.
You need to ensure that the SiteDev.com zone is replicated to only the domain controllers in the main office.
What should you do?
A. You should create the SiteDev.com zone and add the main office domain controllers on the Zone Transfers tab.
B. You should create the SiteDev.com zone and modify the replication scope.
C. You should create an application directory partition that contains the main office domain controllers before creating the SiteDev.com.
D. You should create a global security group that contains the main office domain controllers before creating the SiteDev.com.
Answer: C
You work as a Network Administrator at Site.com. Site.com has an Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) domain named Site.com. All servers in the Site.com
domain have Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 installed and all client computers have Windows 8 Pro installed.
Site.com has users that often work away from the office at customer sites or from home. You have been asked to implement a remote access solution to enable
remote users to connect to the network when they are working away from the office. The remote access solution must ensure that users can connect to the network using TCP port 443.
You install the Routing and Remote Access role on a Windows Server 2012 R2 server.
Which VPN solution should you implement?
A. Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP).
B. Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol (L2TP).
C. Secure Socket Tunneling Protocol (SSTP).
D. DirectAccess.
Answer: C
Tuesday, 28 January 2020
Sunday, 29 September 2019
Microsoft 70-411 Question Answer
You work as a Network Administrator at Site.com. Site.com has an Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) domain named Site.com. All servers in the Site.com
domain have Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 installed.
A technician has created a vhdx file containing Windows Server 2012 R2 installation images. You need to view information about the images contained in the vhdx
file. You plan to use Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM.exe).
Which parameter should you use with DISM.exe?
A. You should use the get-imageinfo parameter.
B. You should use the get-mountedwiminfo parameter.
C. You should use the list-image parameter.
D. You should use the mount-image parameter.
Answer: A
You work as a Network Administrator at Site.com. Site.com has an Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) domain named Site.com. All servers in the Site.com
domain have Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 installed and all client computers have either Windows 7 Professional or Windows 8 Pro installed.
A group policy object (GPO) is assigned to an organizational unit (OU) named Sales. The GPO assigns several settings to the computers in the Sales department.
Some users complain that it takes a long time for their computers to start up or shut down. You suspect that group policy processing may be the cause of the issue.
You want to configure the computers in the Sales department to display status messages that reflect each step in the process of starting, shutting down, logging on, or logging off the system. How can you configure the computers to display the required information?
A. You should enable the "Activate Shutdown Event Tracker System State Data feature" setting in the GPO.
B. You should enable the "Display Shutdown Event Tracker" setting in the GPO.
C. You should disable the "Remove Boot / Shutdown / Logon / Logoff status messages" setting in the GPO.
D. You should enable the "Display Highly Detailed Status Messages" setting in the GPO.
Answer: D
domain have Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 installed.
A technician has created a vhdx file containing Windows Server 2012 R2 installation images. You need to view information about the images contained in the vhdx
file. You plan to use Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM.exe).
Which parameter should you use with DISM.exe?
A. You should use the get-imageinfo parameter.
B. You should use the get-mountedwiminfo parameter.
C. You should use the list-image parameter.
D. You should use the mount-image parameter.
Answer: A
You work as a Network Administrator at Site.com. Site.com has an Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) domain named Site.com. All servers in the Site.com
domain have Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 installed and all client computers have either Windows 7 Professional or Windows 8 Pro installed.
A group policy object (GPO) is assigned to an organizational unit (OU) named Sales. The GPO assigns several settings to the computers in the Sales department.
Some users complain that it takes a long time for their computers to start up or shut down. You suspect that group policy processing may be the cause of the issue.
You want to configure the computers in the Sales department to display status messages that reflect each step in the process of starting, shutting down, logging on, or logging off the system. How can you configure the computers to display the required information?
A. You should enable the "Activate Shutdown Event Tracker System State Data feature" setting in the GPO.
B. You should enable the "Display Shutdown Event Tracker" setting in the GPO.
C. You should disable the "Remove Boot / Shutdown / Logon / Logoff status messages" setting in the GPO.
D. You should enable the "Display Highly Detailed Status Messages" setting in the GPO.
Answer: D
Monday, 14 January 2019
Microsoft 70-411 Question Answer
You work as a Network Administrator at Site.com. Site.com has an Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) domain named Site.com. All servers in the Site.com domain have Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 installed. A group policy object (GPO) is assigned to an organizational unit (OU) named Sales. The GPO assigns several settings to the computers in the Sales department. You unlink the GPO from the Sales OU. You discover that some of the settings applied by the GPO are still in effect on the Sales computers while other setting applied by the GPO have been removed.
Which of the following statements is true?
A. The Restricted Groups security settings still in effect.
B. The unmanaged Administrative Template settings are still in effect.
C. The managed Administrative Template settings are still in effect.
D. The System Services security settings have been removed.
Answer: B
You work as a Network Administrator at Site.com. Site.com has an Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) domain named Site.com. All servers in the Site.com domain have Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 installed. Site.com has a Production department and a Research department. Each department has a separate subnet in the network.
A server named Site-SR11 and is configured as a Network Policy Server (NPS) server. Site-SR11 also runs the DHCP server role and has a DHCP scope for the Production subnet and the Research subnet. You need to configure NPS to ensure that computers on the Production subnet that do not comply with the NPS requirements receive a restrictive set of network policies. You also need to ensure that computers on the Research subnet that do not comply with the NPS requirements receive a more restrictive set of network policies than the non-compliant Production computers. You configure policies to apply to NAP-Capable Computers. How can you apply different restrictions to computer based on their subnet?
A. You should configure Connection Properties conditions.
B. You should configure NAS Port Type constraints.
C. You should configure MS-Service Class conditions.
D. You should configure Authentication Methods constraints.
Answer: C
Which of the following statements is true?
A. The Restricted Groups security settings still in effect.
B. The unmanaged Administrative Template settings are still in effect.
C. The managed Administrative Template settings are still in effect.
D. The System Services security settings have been removed.
Answer: B
You work as a Network Administrator at Site.com. Site.com has an Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) domain named Site.com. All servers in the Site.com domain have Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 installed. Site.com has a Production department and a Research department. Each department has a separate subnet in the network.
A server named Site-SR11 and is configured as a Network Policy Server (NPS) server. Site-SR11 also runs the DHCP server role and has a DHCP scope for the Production subnet and the Research subnet. You need to configure NPS to ensure that computers on the Production subnet that do not comply with the NPS requirements receive a restrictive set of network policies. You also need to ensure that computers on the Research subnet that do not comply with the NPS requirements receive a more restrictive set of network policies than the non-compliant Production computers. You configure policies to apply to NAP-Capable Computers. How can you apply different restrictions to computer based on their subnet?
A. You should configure Connection Properties conditions.
B. You should configure NAS Port Type constraints.
C. You should configure MS-Service Class conditions.
D. You should configure Authentication Methods constraints.
Answer: C
Sunday, 23 September 2018
Microsoft 70-411 Question Answer
Your role of Network Administrator at Site.com includes the management of the Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) domain named Site.com. All servers in the Site.com domain have Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 installed. Site.com has a Sales department and a Production department. An OU exists for each department. The OUs contain the user and computer accounts for the respective departments. A shadow group named SalesSG is configured for the Sales OU and contains all objects within the Sales OU. A password settings object (PSO) named SalesPSO is applied to the SalesSG group and applies a minimum password length of 6 characters.
You want to modify the PSO to require a minimum password length of 8 characters.
Which of the following cmdlets should you use?
A. You should use the Get-ADAccountResultantPasswordReplicationPolicy cmdlet.
B. You should use the Set-ADDefaultDomainPasswordPolicy cmdlet.
C. You should use the Set-ADFineGrainedPasswordPolicy cmdlet.
D. You should use the Set-ADAccountPassword cmdlet.
E. You should use the Set-ADDefaultDomainPasswordPolicy cmdlet.
Answer: C
You work as a Network Administrator at Site.com. Site.com has an Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) domain named Site.com. All servers in the Site.com
domain have Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 installed.
Site.com has a main office and a branch office. The two offices are connected by a WAN link.
A server in the main office named Site-SR21 runs the DNS Server role and hosts an Active Directory Integrated primary zone for Site.com. You install a server named Site-SR22 in the branch office. Site-SR22 runs the DNS Server role. You plan to configure a secondary zone for Site.com on Site-SR22. What do you need to do first?
A. You should modify the Site.com zone on Site-SR21 to be a non-Active Directory Integrated primary zone.
B. You should log in to Site-SR21 and configure an MX record for Site-SR22.
C. You should log in to Site-SR21 and configure a zone delegation for Site-SR22.
D. You should log in to Site-SR21 and in the properties of the Site.com zone, add Site-SR22 as a name server.
Answer: D
You want to modify the PSO to require a minimum password length of 8 characters.
Which of the following cmdlets should you use?
A. You should use the Get-ADAccountResultantPasswordReplicationPolicy cmdlet.
B. You should use the Set-ADDefaultDomainPasswordPolicy cmdlet.
C. You should use the Set-ADFineGrainedPasswordPolicy cmdlet.
D. You should use the Set-ADAccountPassword cmdlet.
E. You should use the Set-ADDefaultDomainPasswordPolicy cmdlet.
Answer: C
You work as a Network Administrator at Site.com. Site.com has an Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) domain named Site.com. All servers in the Site.com
domain have Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 installed.
Site.com has a main office and a branch office. The two offices are connected by a WAN link.
A server in the main office named Site-SR21 runs the DNS Server role and hosts an Active Directory Integrated primary zone for Site.com. You install a server named Site-SR22 in the branch office. Site-SR22 runs the DNS Server role. You plan to configure a secondary zone for Site.com on Site-SR22. What do you need to do first?
A. You should modify the Site.com zone on Site-SR21 to be a non-Active Directory Integrated primary zone.
B. You should log in to Site-SR21 and configure an MX record for Site-SR22.
C. You should log in to Site-SR21 and configure a zone delegation for Site-SR22.
D. You should log in to Site-SR21 and in the properties of the Site.com zone, add Site-SR22 as a name server.
Answer: D
Wednesday, 21 February 2018
Microsoft Wants Kinect to Die, But This Fan Has a Hack to Keep It Alive
Microsoft has suspended the production of adapters that make its advanced camera work on the new models of Xbox, so this man created his for $ 40.
The Kinect is officially dead. Microsoft first released the advanced motion sensor as a complement to the Xbox 360, but consumers revolted when they tried to make them standard for the Xbox One. Microsoft stopped manufacturing the device in 2017 and made them more difficult to use shortly after .
Users who wish to connect their Kinects to the new Xbox Ones or Xbox One Xs need to buy an adapter, the company is no longer a manufacturer. Those adapters now sell between $ 130 and $ 200 in the secondary market. But an astute Kinect fan has another option.
As Hackaday first discovered, Redditor Mitch Davis opened his Kinect and designed his own adapter for the cost of approximately $ 40. All he needed was a 12V AC adapter, a USB 3.0 cable and a soldering iron. Kinect fans who already own the latter can do this project for around $ 20.
Davis is a mechanical engineer, but he does not have much experience with computer hardware. He said the trick was easy. Someone with experience in welding could complete this project in 15 minutes, "he told me in the Reddit message." It took me about 25 years with the practice cable and redoing the job after my first unsuccessful attempt. "
The original Xbox Ones had a special plug for the Kinect that carried signal and power. The adapters work by running that through a USB 3.0 port on the newer systems and feeding it with a 12-volt AC adapter. To keep his Kinect moving, Davis opened it, soldered the 12V cable to the device's plate and resealed it. Once he received power from an external source, the Kinect turned on and his Xbox One X recognized him immediately.
Which is good, because Davis loves the Kinect. "I used my Kinect every day," he said. "It was very convenient in terms of hands-free operations features ... I even took my last successful job interview using Kinect Skype."
Davis is a devotee of Microsoft and bought his new Xbox One X console at launch, and was upset when he did not have the port for his Kinect. "It seemed like a compromise, and an unnecessary one considering that Microsoft had a solution, but inexplicably decided to suspend it basically in line with the launch of One X," he said.
That pushed him to see if he could find his own solution and got a great response. Many players rebelled against the Kinect when it came out, but its fans are devotees. "I know I'm not the only person who was looking for a cheaper solution than the resale market," Davis said.
It was a device that was always more popular among the DIY maker crowd than it was with the players. The designers have used the Kinect to convert their bodies into controllers, such as a 3D scanner to place data in AutoCAD and the input device for a simple hologram projector.
Davis' trick is good news for Kinect fans and, despite Microsoft's apparent desire to bury the previous device, it does not care about the repercussions. "In the worst case, it voids the guarantee," he said.
Wednesday, 20 December 2017
Microsoft 70-411 Question Answer
You work as a Network Administrator at Site.com. Site.com has an Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) domain named Site.com. All servers in the Site.com
domain have Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 installed.
Site.com has a Research department.
A server in the Research department named Site-SR25 runs the File and Storage Services role and the File Server Resource Manager role service. Sensitive
information is stored in shared folders on Site-SR25. You want to be notified by e-mail when an executable file is stored in a shared folder on Site-SR25. The
notification must include information about the user who stored the file and the exact location of the file. What should you do?
A. You should enable Encrypted File System (EFS) on Site-SR25.
B. You should modify the permissions of the shared folders on Site-SR25.
C. You should configure a File Screen Exception on Site-SR25.
D. You should configure a File Screen on Site-SR25.
Answer: D
You work as a Network Administrator at Site.com. Site.com has an Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) domain named Site.com. All servers in the Site.com
domain have Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 installed.
Site.com has a Research department. All user and computer accounts in the Research department are located in an organizational unit (OU) named ResearchOU.
A server in the Research department named Site-SR23 runs the File and Storage Services role and the File Server Resource Manager role service. Sensitive
information is stored in shared folders on Site-SR23.
All users in the Research department are members of a global security group named ResearchUsers. The ResearchUsers group has full control access to a folder named D:\Data which is shared as \\Site-SR23\Data. You link a group policy object (GPO) to the ResearchOU. The GPO configures the Audit File System and Audit File Share settings to Success and Failure. You need to ensure that all file deletions in \\Site-SR23\Data by members of the ResearchUsers group are logged. You delete a test file in the shared folder and verify that an event log entry is added. You discover that when a user in the ResearchUsers group deletes a file, no event log entry is added.
What should you modify?
A. You should modify the share permissions of \\Site-SR23\Data.
B. You should modify the audit settings in the GPO.
C. You should modify the discretionary access control list (DACL) D:\Data.
D. You should modify the system access control list (SACL) of D:\Data.
Answer: D
domain have Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 installed.
Site.com has a Research department.
A server in the Research department named Site-SR25 runs the File and Storage Services role and the File Server Resource Manager role service. Sensitive
information is stored in shared folders on Site-SR25. You want to be notified by e-mail when an executable file is stored in a shared folder on Site-SR25. The
notification must include information about the user who stored the file and the exact location of the file. What should you do?
A. You should enable Encrypted File System (EFS) on Site-SR25.
B. You should modify the permissions of the shared folders on Site-SR25.
C. You should configure a File Screen Exception on Site-SR25.
D. You should configure a File Screen on Site-SR25.
Answer: D
You work as a Network Administrator at Site.com. Site.com has an Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) domain named Site.com. All servers in the Site.com
domain have Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 installed.
Site.com has a Research department. All user and computer accounts in the Research department are located in an organizational unit (OU) named ResearchOU.
A server in the Research department named Site-SR23 runs the File and Storage Services role and the File Server Resource Manager role service. Sensitive
information is stored in shared folders on Site-SR23.
All users in the Research department are members of a global security group named ResearchUsers. The ResearchUsers group has full control access to a folder named D:\Data which is shared as \\Site-SR23\Data. You link a group policy object (GPO) to the ResearchOU. The GPO configures the Audit File System and Audit File Share settings to Success and Failure. You need to ensure that all file deletions in \\Site-SR23\Data by members of the ResearchUsers group are logged. You delete a test file in the shared folder and verify that an event log entry is added. You discover that when a user in the ResearchUsers group deletes a file, no event log entry is added.
What should you modify?
A. You should modify the share permissions of \\Site-SR23\Data.
B. You should modify the audit settings in the GPO.
C. You should modify the discretionary access control list (DACL) D:\Data.
D. You should modify the system access control list (SACL) of D:\Data.
Answer: D
Monday, 6 November 2017
Microsoft 70-411 Question Answer
You work as a Network Administrator at Site.com. Site.com has an Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) domain named Site.com. All servers in the Site.com
domain have Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 installed.
Site.com has a main office and a branch office. The two offices are connected by a slow WAN link. A server in the main office named Site-SR21 runs the File and Storage Services and Distributed File System roles. A server in the branch office named Site-SR22
also runs the File and Storage Services and Distributed File System roles. Shared folders on Site-SR21 and Site-SR22 are replicated to each other using DFS
Replication (DFSR). You discover that DFS replication between the two servers is using too much bandwidth over the WAN link. How can you limit the amount of bandwidth used by DFS replication?
A. You should run the Set-DfsrConnectionSchedule cmdlet.
B. You should run the Set-DfsrGroupSchedule cmdlet.
C. You should run the Set-DfsReplicatedFolder cmdlet.
D. You should run the Set-DfsReplicationGroup cmdlet.
Answer: B
domain have Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 installed.
Site.com has a main office and a branch office. The two offices are connected by a slow WAN link. A server in the main office named Site-SR21 runs the File and Storage Services and Distributed File System roles. A server in the branch office named Site-SR22
also runs the File and Storage Services and Distributed File System roles. Shared folders on Site-SR21 and Site-SR22 are replicated to each other using DFS
Replication (DFSR). You discover that DFS replication between the two servers is using too much bandwidth over the WAN link. How can you limit the amount of bandwidth used by DFS replication?
A. You should run the Set-DfsrConnectionSchedule cmdlet.
B. You should run the Set-DfsrGroupSchedule cmdlet.
C. You should run the Set-DfsReplicatedFolder cmdlet.
D. You should run the Set-DfsReplicationGroup cmdlet.
Answer: B
Thursday, 21 September 2017
Sunday, 10 September 2017
Microsoft 70-411 Question Answer
You work as a Network Administrator at Site.com. Site.com has an Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) domain named Site.com. All domain controllers in the Site.com domain have Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 installed. Several Sales users spend most of their time away from the office. You implement DirectAccess to enable the Sales users to connect to the network when they are away from the office. All computers used by the Sales users are joined to the domain. You create a DirectAccess client group named SalesDirectAccess and add all the computer accounts for the Sales users' computers to the SalesDirectAccess group. Some Sales users report that they are unable to access the network using DirectAccess. Other Sales report that they can connect successfully. You discover that only users using laptop computers can connect using DirectAccess. Sales users are unable to connect when they use desktop computers. How can you enable all Sales users to access the network using DirectAccess?
A. You should add the computer accounts for the Sales user computers to the RAS and IAS Servers group.
B. You should add the user accounts for the Sales users to the SalesDirectAccess group.
C. You should modify the group that the Direct Access Client Settings GPO applies to.
D. You should modify the WMI filter that the Direct Access Client Settings GPO is linked to.
Answer: D
You work as a Network Administrator at Site.com. Site.com has an Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) domain named Site.com. All servers in the Site.com domain have Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 installed. Sales users often work away from the office. The Sales users have portable computers that have Windows 7, Windows Vista or Windows XP installed. All client computers are members of the Site.com domain. You have been asked to implement a remote access solution to enable the Sales users to connect to the network when they are working away from the office. The remote access solution must ensure that all Sales users can connect to the network. Which VPN solution should you implement?
A. Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP).
B. Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol (L2TP).
C. Secure Socket Tunneling Protocol (SSTP).
D. DirectAccess.
Answer: B
A. You should add the computer accounts for the Sales user computers to the RAS and IAS Servers group.
B. You should add the user accounts for the Sales users to the SalesDirectAccess group.
C. You should modify the group that the Direct Access Client Settings GPO applies to.
D. You should modify the WMI filter that the Direct Access Client Settings GPO is linked to.
Answer: D
You work as a Network Administrator at Site.com. Site.com has an Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) domain named Site.com. All servers in the Site.com domain have Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 installed. Sales users often work away from the office. The Sales users have portable computers that have Windows 7, Windows Vista or Windows XP installed. All client computers are members of the Site.com domain. You have been asked to implement a remote access solution to enable the Sales users to connect to the network when they are working away from the office. The remote access solution must ensure that all Sales users can connect to the network. Which VPN solution should you implement?
A. Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP).
B. Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol (L2TP).
C. Secure Socket Tunneling Protocol (SSTP).
D. DirectAccess.
Answer: B
Tuesday, 13 June 2017
Microsoft Office malware: Banking trojan downloads if you hover over PowerPoint hyperlink
Malware gangs add mouse downloads to their arsenal of social engineering tricks to infect PCs.
Spammers are testing a new way to trick victims into installing malware that they download after the user sits on a link in a PowerPoint slide show.
The new infection method adds a twist to the common advice of not clicking on links from suspicious sources and evolves the malicious threat of Office macros that resurfaced in 2015, which fools e-mail recipients to run a malicious macro or a Script that downloads and installs malware.
BleepingComputer recently discovered the new twist on Office malware, which does not require macros, but rather abuses an action in PowerPoint slideshow mode to install malware. If the recipient opens the PowerPoint file and places it over the hyperlinked text in the document, it will execute a PowerShell command that connects to a malicious domain and downloads malware files.
Malware is delivered as junk e-mail with subject headers and attachment names that suggest an invoice or purchase order. Attachment formats are the open source version of the Microsoft PowerPoint (PPSX) slide show, which can only be viewed and can not be edited like normal PPT or PPTX files.
The examples of PPSX seen so far show the hyperlinked text "Loading ... Please Wait". Hovering over it will automatically download malware unless Office Protected View is enabled. Fortunately, the protected view was enabled by default in Office 2010, in which case Office displays a security warning that blocks the download.
The PowerPoint file downloads a banking trojan that calls Gootkit or Otlard. SentinalOne calls Zusy malware.
Trend Micro detected a spam campaign with malicious PowerPoint files in late May primarily targeting organizations in the UK, Poland, the Netherlands and Sweden. The gang behind this spam has previously used malware macro documents to deliver different payloads.
The current campaign was not widespread, but Trend Micro researchers believe it is a "dry race for future campaigns," which may include a payload of ransomware.
"While features like macros, OLEs and mouse hovers have their good and legitimate uses, this technique is powerful in the wrong hands. A social and engineering email and mouse hover - and possibly a click if the latter is disabled - are All would need to infect the victim, "wrote Trend Micro.
The new infection method adds a twist to the common advice of not clicking on links from suspicious sources and evolves the malicious threat of Office macros that resurfaced in 2015, which fools e-mail recipients to run a malicious macro or a Script that downloads and installs malware.
BleepingComputer recently discovered the new twist on Office malware, which does not require macros, but rather abuses an action in PowerPoint slideshow mode to install malware. If the recipient opens the PowerPoint file and places it over the hyperlinked text in the document, it will execute a PowerShell command that connects to a malicious domain and downloads malware files.
Malware is delivered as junk e-mail with subject headers and attachment names that suggest an invoice or purchase order. Attachment formats are the open source version of the Microsoft PowerPoint (PPSX) slide show, which can only be viewed and can not be edited like normal PPT or PPTX files.
The examples of PPSX seen so far show the hyperlinked text "Loading ... Please Wait". Hovering over it will automatically download malware unless Office Protected View is enabled. Fortunately, the protected view was enabled by default in Office 2010, in which case Office displays a security warning that blocks the download.
The PowerPoint file downloads a banking trojan that calls Gootkit or Otlard. SentinalOne calls Zusy malware.
Trend Micro detected a spam campaign with malicious PowerPoint files in late May primarily targeting organizations in the UK, Poland, the Netherlands and Sweden. The gang behind this spam has previously used malware macro documents to deliver different payloads.
The current campaign was not widespread, but Trend Micro researchers believe it is a "dry race for future campaigns," which may include a payload of ransomware.
"While features like macros, OLEs and mouse hovers have their good and legitimate uses, this technique is powerful in the wrong hands. A social and engineering email and mouse hover - and possibly a click if the latter is disabled - are All would need to infect the victim, "wrote Trend Micro.
Thursday, 27 April 2017
Tuesday, 18 April 2017
Microsoft 70-411 Question Answer
You work as a Network Administrator at Site.com. Site.com has an Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) domain named Site.com. All servers in the Site.com domain have Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 installed. You want to clone a domain controller to create another domain controller. Which two of the following steps should you perform first? (Choose two).
A. You should run the Install-ADDSDomainController PowerShell cmdlet.
B. You should run the New-ADDCCloneConfigFile PowerShell cmdlet.
C. You should run the sysprep.exe /oobe command.
D. You should run the dcpromo.exe /adv command.
E. You should place a DCCloneConfig.xml file in the %Systemroot%\NTDS folder.
F. You should place an Unattend.xml file in the %Systemroot%\SYSVOL folder.
Answer: BE
You work as a Network Administrator at Site.com. Site.com has an Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) domain named Site.com. The Site.com network has a Windows Server 2012 R2 domain controller named Site-DC10 which hosts the Web Server, DNS and DHCP services.
You create a snapshot backup of Site-DC10 using the Ntdsutil utility and mount the snapshot.
How would you access the contents of the snapshot?
A. You should run the Ntdsutil.exe utility with the partition management parameter.
B. You should run the Dsamain.exe utility with the /allowupgrade parameter.
C. You should run the Dsamain.exe /dbpath command from the command prompt.
D. You should run the Ntdsutil.exe utility with the files parameter.
Answer: C
A. You should run the Install-ADDSDomainController PowerShell cmdlet.
B. You should run the New-ADDCCloneConfigFile PowerShell cmdlet.
C. You should run the sysprep.exe /oobe command.
D. You should run the dcpromo.exe /adv command.
E. You should place a DCCloneConfig.xml file in the %Systemroot%\NTDS folder.
F. You should place an Unattend.xml file in the %Systemroot%\SYSVOL folder.
Answer: BE
You work as a Network Administrator at Site.com. Site.com has an Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) domain named Site.com. The Site.com network has a Windows Server 2012 R2 domain controller named Site-DC10 which hosts the Web Server, DNS and DHCP services.
You create a snapshot backup of Site-DC10 using the Ntdsutil utility and mount the snapshot.
How would you access the contents of the snapshot?
A. You should run the Ntdsutil.exe utility with the partition management parameter.
B. You should run the Dsamain.exe utility with the /allowupgrade parameter.
C. You should run the Dsamain.exe /dbpath command from the command prompt.
D. You should run the Ntdsutil.exe utility with the files parameter.
Answer: C
Monday, 14 November 2016
How to Pass Microsoft 70-411 Exam
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Wednesday, 31 August 2016
Pass4sure 70-411 Question Answer
Your network contains an Active Directory domain named contoso.com. The domain contains two servers named Admin1 and Server2. Both servers run Windows Server 2012. Both servers have the File and Storage Services server role, the DFS Namespaces role service, and the DFS Replication role service installed. Admin1 and Server2 are part of a Distributed File System (DFS) Replication group named Group1. Admin1 and Server2 are separated by a low-speed WAN connection. You need to limit the amount of bandwidth that DFS can use to replicate between Admin1 and Server2. What should you modify?
A. The cache duration of the namespace.
B. The staging quota of the replicated folder.
C. The referral ordering of the namespace.
D. The schedule of the replication group.
Answer: D
A. The cache duration of the namespace.
B. The staging quota of the replicated folder.
C. The referral ordering of the namespace.
D. The schedule of the replication group.
Answer: D
Monday, 11 July 2016
Scorpio Rising: Microsoft's Plans For Xbox One and The Future of Video Games
Xbox execs Phil Spencer, Mike Ybarra and Shannon Loftis talk about Xbox One S, Scorpio, virtual reality – and why diversity is central to modern gaming
In short, Spencer wanted to use E3 to reach the whole development community and pique its interest in the new hardware. Of course, the counter-argument would be that Microsoft could have done that in secret, with a whole bunch of NDAs, but then, the industry has changed a lot, even since the last hardware generation. There’s much more appreciation for – and even reliance on – the vast, global independent sector, and it’s unlikely Microsoft would have kept its new platform secret for long while communicating with such a large community. So the thinking was perhaps, why not go big? Why not light the powder keg at the biggest show in gaming?
Meanwhile Microsoft remains confident in its Xbox One S proposition. The company has seen the decent uptake of 4K televisions, and knows consumers are looking for compatible content. “A lot of people are missing the fact that Xbox One S is a 4K, UHD physical Blu-ray player too,” says Mike Ybarra, director of program management for Xbox. “Well, those are retailing at $399. With Xbox One S, at $299, you’re getting 4K Blu-ray, a 4K upscaler for games and video, it’s 40% smaller than Xbox One, and has the power supply built in. I think people are going to be blown away when they see HDR games and video, frankly. It’s a pretty big difference.”
VR – the future, as usual, is hazy
One element of the future that Microsoft is not so certain on is virtual reality. Unlike Sony, the company has not developed its own headset, concentrating instead on augmented reality via its Hololens project. It has a partnership with Oculus, and we’ve seen the excellent virtual reality version of Minecraft that runs on Rift and Windows 10 PC. Furthermore, at E3 we saw Phil Spencer on stage saying, “The next step change for gamers and developers must deliver true 4K gaming and high-fidelity VR.”
So was VR support a key part of the Scorpio vision? “I think the capability in the consoles that are on the market today to play high-fidelity true console-like experiences in VR ... they’re just not powerful enough,” he says. “To deliver the experience that console gamers expect, that’s really a six-teraflop problem at least. You kind of need to get there.”
But there’s a problem here. Microsoft has said that there will be no Project Scorpio exclusives, that all games will be compatible across the whole range. But if publishers begin to create high-end virtual reality titles that will only run on Scorpio-level hardware – that’s market fragmentation, right? “I will say, we’re very focused on console games and what console gamers want, and I see VR as something different,” he says. “Like, other people might try to say, ‘VR is the future of console gaming.’ I’m not saying that. I’m saying if you’re an Xbox One console gamer, we are so focused on making your experience the best experience you’ve ever had with the best lineup of games. We’re not getting distracted.”
Perhaps then, we’re looking at a future market where Xbox One titles will feature VR modes and augmentations that will only be accessible to Scorpio owners – but not a future where we’ll see totally dedicated VR titles. If this at first seems limiting and appears to show a company attempting to sideline VR, there are interesting hints that this is not the case. When asked about the idea of multiplayer VR games and virtual social spaces like AltSpaceVR running on Xbox, Ybarra is unguardedly enthusiastic. “We’re focused right now on what we announced on Scorpio, but Xbox Live and VR opens a lot of doors that we’re looking into for sure,” he says. “The opportunity of VR and Xbox Live together is boundless – we’re just starting to consider what that will look like. We have teams looking at what’s coming and how we apply that.”
When Phil Spencer addressed the press at Microsoft’s Xbox Spring showcase earlier this year, he spoke about the concept of the Universal Windows Platform – about applications that could run seamlessly across Xbox and PC; and he seemed to be hinting at an almost modular future for consoles, where players could swap in more powerful components as the years went on. It looked to be a radical departure from the traditional console industry. Post-E3, the message is more nuanced, that vision of an extremely PC-like machine, played down.
“I push a button, the console turns on – it’s appliance-like in the way it works,” says Spencer. “I don’t end up at a PC desktop, I end up at a curated UI experience that gets me to the things that I’m gonna want to do on my TV. That is critical to us, and we remain focused on that console experience.
“I live inside of a company with 100,000 other people working on a bunch of different things. Five years ago I was sitting here, and most of the questions I would get were, ‘Isn’t all gaming going to phone? Are people really gonna buy consoles?’ Now, Sony’s doing incredibly well, we’ve sold more Xbox Ones than we sold 360s at this point in the generation, and Nintendo is getting ready to talk about NX. You know, the console business is very, very healthy right now.”
So Microsoft’s vision of the future is highly social, highly scalable, but also highly inclusive, both in terms of hardware functionality and the game design. Whether this will be enough to compete against Sony’s combination of a hugely popular machine and a well-priced entry-level VR headset remains to be seen. Microsoft has always been obsessed with carefully interpreting and segregating its markets; it’s done that with its OS and Office packages for years. Can it do the same with consoles? Can the Xbox One S and Scorpio co-exist? Can it communicate that vision to consumers? That’s a huge, huge ask.
“I’m excited,” says Ybarra of the coming challenges. “I think with the games, the hardware and service that we have, it’s the best time to be an Xbox gamer.”
At the end of this year’s E3 conference in Los Angeles, one thing seemed clear: although a lot of journalists left feeling that Sony had “won” the hype war with its games-focused press conference, everyone was actually talking about Microsoft. The company choose the event to announce, not one, but two new consoles: an updated version of the Xbox One with a simple “S” suffix, and a more powerful upgrade – codenamed Project Scorpio – due out next year.
The question on a lot of lips was, why? Why did Microsoft start its press briefing with Xbox One S, promising 4K compatibility, a new 40% smaller body and support for HDR gaming, only to apparently undermine the package by revealing Scorpio at the end? Due in late 2017, this intriguing iteration packs in eight CPU cores and promises six teraflops of processing power. And while Xbox One S will run 4K movies and promises to upscale games to that resolution, it’ll be Scorpio that delivers true, native 4K gaming. So why not keep it secret for a few more months? Why instantly cannibalise the Xbox One S market before it has even launched?
Phil Spencer, the man who’s been in charge of the Xbox business plan since Don Mattrick’s ignoble departure in July 2013, has a stock answer for this. “I mean, there are definitely business minds that would say, ‘You should keep everything as close to the now-now-now answer as you can’,” he says. “Talking about the future is always a challenge.”
OK, so why do it, and why now? “Creators, given time, will come up with amazing transformative ideas that I’m not smart enough to come up with,” he says. “So sharing the vision with our creative partners and our internal teams, putting the tools and the capability out there, will lead to those breakthrough experiences. There are now games like Rocket League, where I can play against people on a different platform. That is one of the ideas that people have definitely been thinking through. Being able to detail our vision and talk about it here at E3 will kickstart those conversations, and I know you will see some of the best creators thinking through ideas just like that.”
AdvertisementThe question on a lot of lips was, why? Why did Microsoft start its press briefing with Xbox One S, promising 4K compatibility, a new 40% smaller body and support for HDR gaming, only to apparently undermine the package by revealing Scorpio at the end? Due in late 2017, this intriguing iteration packs in eight CPU cores and promises six teraflops of processing power. And while Xbox One S will run 4K movies and promises to upscale games to that resolution, it’ll be Scorpio that delivers true, native 4K gaming. So why not keep it secret for a few more months? Why instantly cannibalise the Xbox One S market before it has even launched?
Phil Spencer, the man who’s been in charge of the Xbox business plan since Don Mattrick’s ignoble departure in July 2013, has a stock answer for this. “I mean, there are definitely business minds that would say, ‘You should keep everything as close to the now-now-now answer as you can’,” he says. “Talking about the future is always a challenge.”
OK, so why do it, and why now? “Creators, given time, will come up with amazing transformative ideas that I’m not smart enough to come up with,” he says. “So sharing the vision with our creative partners and our internal teams, putting the tools and the capability out there, will lead to those breakthrough experiences. There are now games like Rocket League, where I can play against people on a different platform. That is one of the ideas that people have definitely been thinking through. Being able to detail our vision and talk about it here at E3 will kickstart those conversations, and I know you will see some of the best creators thinking through ideas just like that.”
In short, Spencer wanted to use E3 to reach the whole development community and pique its interest in the new hardware. Of course, the counter-argument would be that Microsoft could have done that in secret, with a whole bunch of NDAs, but then, the industry has changed a lot, even since the last hardware generation. There’s much more appreciation for – and even reliance on – the vast, global independent sector, and it’s unlikely Microsoft would have kept its new platform secret for long while communicating with such a large community. So the thinking was perhaps, why not go big? Why not light the powder keg at the biggest show in gaming?
Meanwhile Microsoft remains confident in its Xbox One S proposition. The company has seen the decent uptake of 4K televisions, and knows consumers are looking for compatible content. “A lot of people are missing the fact that Xbox One S is a 4K, UHD physical Blu-ray player too,” says Mike Ybarra, director of program management for Xbox. “Well, those are retailing at $399. With Xbox One S, at $299, you’re getting 4K Blu-ray, a 4K upscaler for games and video, it’s 40% smaller than Xbox One, and has the power supply built in. I think people are going to be blown away when they see HDR games and video, frankly. It’s a pretty big difference.”
But with a huge majority of consumers still playing games on standard HD televisions, is 4K compatibility really a selling point? Spencer thinks so – and he claims the developers themselves helped set the specifications required. “When we look at what’s happening from a hardware and games capacity in the PC space, 4K gaming has become a real benchmark,” he says. “So when we were talking to gamers about what they expected, 4K was a natural next inflection point for hardware. We talked to the creators about the capability they needed in order to deliver games at 4K and at great frame rates. Six teraflops was what they told us.”
“We had the ability to look at doing an interim console this year if we wanted to. We thought about that. But we didn’t think we could deliver, with the silicon that’s out there, a true 4K gaming six teraflop machine this year. So we decided to wait until we hit the real spec that people were asking for.”
“We had the ability to look at doing an interim console this year if we wanted to. We thought about that. But we didn’t think we could deliver, with the silicon that’s out there, a true 4K gaming six teraflop machine this year. So we decided to wait until we hit the real spec that people were asking for.”
The seven-year cycle is dead
What’s clear is that the old console model – the seven-year cycle – is dead for Microsoft and Sony. PlayStation Neo will do some of the same stuff as Xbox One S, bringing HDR and 4K compatibility as well as other tweaks – this is all happening halfway through the normal lifespan. Ybarra is unambiguous about where the inspiration for this tick-tock approach comes from:
“In the phone market, people are more used to upgrading fast and wanting the latest of everything,” he says. “But with phones, your new apps had better work on that phone and the next one. According to what they’re telling us, the consumer expectation is: games and apps had better work even if I upgrade. We’re looking at the console business and asking how do we provide that choice to users? It resonates with them because other devices are doing that.”
Microsoft is promising that there will be no Project Scorpio-exclusive titles. Games will ship with components that will take advantage of whatever hardware you’re loading them on – just like PC games have done for years. “Our commitment is to make sure every single game and every single accessory works across all of those platforms,” says Ybarra. “When we picked the silicon to go into all those devices, that’s the first question the engineering team that I’m responsible for asked themselves. Will this enable the compatibility and great games we’re promising? Can we deliver those? Everything is built from the ground up with this in mind. One game will run on the entire family of devices.
“Compatibility has always been the thing that makes console generations define themselves: when you leave one and got to the next, you give up your games, you usually give up the hardware or throw it in a closet – that’s what we want to remove. We’re focusing more on how do we deliver gaming in a boundless way to our players. We announced three platforms – today’s Xbox One, Xbox One S and Scorpio. We’re giving gamers the choice to say, ‘I want to invest in these particular games and this particular hardware, and I want those to work going forward, I don’t want to have to worry about giving that up’”.
According to Shannon Loftis, general manager of Microsoft Studios, the idea of producing one game disc that will service a range of platform capabilities is familiar to dev teams. “Many of our developers are already doing it - they’re already working to bring 4K gaming to the PC environment,” she says. “We can use the work they’ve done and bring that to console. We can make sure that, through the Windows 10 development environment, they can put one or two features into a game to future proof it against Scoprio. Taking advantage of dynamic scaling and things like that, a game they make for Xbox One today will run beautifully on S and run beautifully and look better on Scorpio”.
What’s clear is that the old console model – the seven-year cycle – is dead for Microsoft and Sony. PlayStation Neo will do some of the same stuff as Xbox One S, bringing HDR and 4K compatibility as well as other tweaks – this is all happening halfway through the normal lifespan. Ybarra is unambiguous about where the inspiration for this tick-tock approach comes from:
“In the phone market, people are more used to upgrading fast and wanting the latest of everything,” he says. “But with phones, your new apps had better work on that phone and the next one. According to what they’re telling us, the consumer expectation is: games and apps had better work even if I upgrade. We’re looking at the console business and asking how do we provide that choice to users? It resonates with them because other devices are doing that.”
Microsoft is promising that there will be no Project Scorpio-exclusive titles. Games will ship with components that will take advantage of whatever hardware you’re loading them on – just like PC games have done for years. “Our commitment is to make sure every single game and every single accessory works across all of those platforms,” says Ybarra. “When we picked the silicon to go into all those devices, that’s the first question the engineering team that I’m responsible for asked themselves. Will this enable the compatibility and great games we’re promising? Can we deliver those? Everything is built from the ground up with this in mind. One game will run on the entire family of devices.
“Compatibility has always been the thing that makes console generations define themselves: when you leave one and got to the next, you give up your games, you usually give up the hardware or throw it in a closet – that’s what we want to remove. We’re focusing more on how do we deliver gaming in a boundless way to our players. We announced three platforms – today’s Xbox One, Xbox One S and Scorpio. We’re giving gamers the choice to say, ‘I want to invest in these particular games and this particular hardware, and I want those to work going forward, I don’t want to have to worry about giving that up’”.
According to Shannon Loftis, general manager of Microsoft Studios, the idea of producing one game disc that will service a range of platform capabilities is familiar to dev teams. “Many of our developers are already doing it - they’re already working to bring 4K gaming to the PC environment,” she says. “We can use the work they’ve done and bring that to console. We can make sure that, through the Windows 10 development environment, they can put one or two features into a game to future proof it against Scoprio. Taking advantage of dynamic scaling and things like that, a game they make for Xbox One today will run beautifully on S and run beautifully and look better on Scorpio”.
But hardware proliferation is only part of Microsoft’s vision for the future of Xbox. Integration between console and PC is a more pressing ambition. The Xbox Play Anywhere program will allow you to buy one digital version of a game which will give you access to that title on both PC and Xbox. You’ll also be able to cross-save, starting a game on one machine and continuing it on another. There will be more cross-platform multiplayer, there will be a consistent version of Xbox Live across PC, console and smartphone, where all your friends and achievements are stored together. From this summer’s update, PC titles like League of Legends, Dota and XCOM 2 are coming to Xbox Live and will have hubs on the console.
“We’re really getting to a world where, as a game creator, you can focus on building one game and then selling it to both a console audience and a PC audience and connect those two via Xbox Live and the Universal Windows Platform,” says Spencer. So is this about creating a united front against the dominant PlayStation 4? Is Microsoft seeking to combine its markets to provide a user base that competes?
“We’re really getting to a world where, as a game creator, you can focus on building one game and then selling it to both a console audience and a PC audience and connect those two via Xbox Live and the Universal Windows Platform,” says Spencer. So is this about creating a united front against the dominant PlayStation 4? Is Microsoft seeking to combine its markets to provide a user base that competes?
‘I’m not trying to turn PC gamers into console gamers’
Spencer is not keen on that supposition. “PC gaming and console gaming are different, and the customer segments have capabilities and expectations that are unique to the platforms they play on,” he says. “With Xbox and Windows, there are some common things that we can put in the hands of creators and gamers – like Xbox Live, like your friends list – that help unify your gaming experience and put you at the centre as the player.
“But I bristle at the idea we’re bringing the platforms ‘together’. It’s not that I’m trying to turn PC gamers into console gamers or console gamers into PC gamers. We just know, and I’m sure you’re tracking it, the health of PC gaming is incredibly high right now, and we know some of our best and most active customers on Xbox One are also PC gamers – so we see this opportunity to service the customer and where they actually play, and they want to stay connected to their friends wherever they are. Things like Xbox Play Anywhere are really about choice and where they want to play. So if you’re at school and want to play a couple of rounds of a game and then you go back home and want to continue on your couch, that seems normal. Every other kind of media – your music, your movies – everything else works that way.
“Sony is doing incredibly well with the PS4 but they’re doing something fundamentally different from us. We’re not building a strategy in response to what they’re doing, we’re building a response to what I see customers and gamers asking us for.”
Clearly though, behind all the talk about hardware iterations, what Microsoft is really trying to do is double down on the quality that has always symbolised its games hardware: connectivity. Xbox Live was a revolutionary service when it premiered, not only providing a smooth, reliable multiplayer gaming platform but also introducing asynchronous socially competitive elements like gamer scores and achievement points.
Spencer is not keen on that supposition. “PC gaming and console gaming are different, and the customer segments have capabilities and expectations that are unique to the platforms they play on,” he says. “With Xbox and Windows, there are some common things that we can put in the hands of creators and gamers – like Xbox Live, like your friends list – that help unify your gaming experience and put you at the centre as the player.
“But I bristle at the idea we’re bringing the platforms ‘together’. It’s not that I’m trying to turn PC gamers into console gamers or console gamers into PC gamers. We just know, and I’m sure you’re tracking it, the health of PC gaming is incredibly high right now, and we know some of our best and most active customers on Xbox One are also PC gamers – so we see this opportunity to service the customer and where they actually play, and they want to stay connected to their friends wherever they are. Things like Xbox Play Anywhere are really about choice and where they want to play. So if you’re at school and want to play a couple of rounds of a game and then you go back home and want to continue on your couch, that seems normal. Every other kind of media – your music, your movies – everything else works that way.
“Sony is doing incredibly well with the PS4 but they’re doing something fundamentally different from us. We’re not building a strategy in response to what they’re doing, we’re building a response to what I see customers and gamers asking us for.”
Clearly though, behind all the talk about hardware iterations, what Microsoft is really trying to do is double down on the quality that has always symbolised its games hardware: connectivity. Xbox Live was a revolutionary service when it premiered, not only providing a smooth, reliable multiplayer gaming platform but also introducing asynchronous socially competitive elements like gamer scores and achievement points.
Now it wants to remind us of all that with a bunch of new Xbox Live features, designed to better organise social play. This autumn, there will be three new services: Clubs, Looking for Groups and Arena. Clubs lets you set up themed groups of players who can meet up online and play whatever they like. During an E3 demo, Tom Langan, a group program manager on Xbox services, showed a few examples of possible Club titles such as “West Coast Players” and “Women Only”. Club members are able to communicate via real-time chat, and can track what other members are playing, and these social options work on any Xbox Live app, so you can quickly check on your phone what people are up to.
“When I was in college, I had a regular group of people I always played with,” says Ybarra. “We sat in IRC channels to talk to each other - it was like Slack is today. Even when you weren’t playing you were still communicating with these people, because your friendship goes beyond just gaming. I thought, how do we bring that back? So now you can create a club, you can manage it, invite people, kick people out, but it’s a persistent place that’s sort of a home – it’s a set of friends you can always go back and talk to”.
Looking for Groups, meanwhile, is more like a matchmaking app, which lets you quickly discover like-minded players to compete beside or against. When you load it up, the UI shows how many people are currently looking for groups. If you select something you want to play, it narrows down the list to similar people, then you go through a set of filters – such as ‘No trash talking’, ‘Must be experienced’, ‘Mic required’ – so you can gradually narrow in on a select group. You can then enter tournaments as a group, and can invite people to play with you at certain times.
“With Looking for Groups you can say, ‘I’m looking for a group at 8pm to play Gears’ – and you’ll get notifications saying, here are the people who applied, here is their level of experience and you can select a group and you’re ready to go,” says Ybarra. “Groups already exist today, but a lot of people have to go off their console, get on their PC, open a browser and go to, say, DestinyLFG.net for example. Looking for Groups kind of answers that. We’re just taking the best of the PC gaming world, uniting it with console, and delivering an experience that lets people find other players who fit a specific criteria.”
Finally, Arena is a sort of eSports for All section of Xbox Live which lets players enter public tournaments and win prizes. “The heart of Xbox has always been competitive multiplayer so this is a tournament platform that lets developers and tournament operators like FaceIt, ESL, etc, to be able to say we’re going do a Gears 4 competition this weekend, we can take 1000 players and the prize is, say, 12 months free Xbox Live Gold membership for your whole team, and you just start competing. It’s going back to the LAN days of 15 years ago when people brought their PCs into a conference room, wired them up and played together. That’s what we’re trying to get at.”
“When I was in college, I had a regular group of people I always played with,” says Ybarra. “We sat in IRC channels to talk to each other - it was like Slack is today. Even when you weren’t playing you were still communicating with these people, because your friendship goes beyond just gaming. I thought, how do we bring that back? So now you can create a club, you can manage it, invite people, kick people out, but it’s a persistent place that’s sort of a home – it’s a set of friends you can always go back and talk to”.
Looking for Groups, meanwhile, is more like a matchmaking app, which lets you quickly discover like-minded players to compete beside or against. When you load it up, the UI shows how many people are currently looking for groups. If you select something you want to play, it narrows down the list to similar people, then you go through a set of filters – such as ‘No trash talking’, ‘Must be experienced’, ‘Mic required’ – so you can gradually narrow in on a select group. You can then enter tournaments as a group, and can invite people to play with you at certain times.
“With Looking for Groups you can say, ‘I’m looking for a group at 8pm to play Gears’ – and you’ll get notifications saying, here are the people who applied, here is their level of experience and you can select a group and you’re ready to go,” says Ybarra. “Groups already exist today, but a lot of people have to go off their console, get on their PC, open a browser and go to, say, DestinyLFG.net for example. Looking for Groups kind of answers that. We’re just taking the best of the PC gaming world, uniting it with console, and delivering an experience that lets people find other players who fit a specific criteria.”
Finally, Arena is a sort of eSports for All section of Xbox Live which lets players enter public tournaments and win prizes. “The heart of Xbox has always been competitive multiplayer so this is a tournament platform that lets developers and tournament operators like FaceIt, ESL, etc, to be able to say we’re going do a Gears 4 competition this weekend, we can take 1000 players and the prize is, say, 12 months free Xbox Live Gold membership for your whole team, and you just start competing. It’s going back to the LAN days of 15 years ago when people brought their PCs into a conference room, wired them up and played together. That’s what we’re trying to get at.”
When it launches, Arena will be restricted to events organised by major tournament operators, but Ybarra says the vision is to extend outwards so that publishers, developers and players can set up their own themed competitions. Microsoft has already announced that Electronic Arts is supporting the platform with its Fifa series. According to Ybarra, future versions of Fifa may have a Arena area on the main hub, showing all the upcoming tournaments. You can then register for one and you’ll receive regular notifications reminding you of the date and time. Then when your match is due to begin, the game will automatically take you into the competition. Afterwards, the result is automatically reported to the system, you get a bunch of stats about the match, and a preview of your next opponent, showing their previous results and more stats about their abilities. “It’ll be as seamless as we can make it,” says Ybarra. “We’re fleshing out the UI now.”
For Spencer, what this is all about is inclusivity – it’s about taking the intimidation and uncertainty out of online multiplayer for a new generation of players. “Devices like phones and tablets have broadened the audience for games,” he says. “Whether it was Candy Crush or Angry Birds or whatever, they have made the artform and the medium more accessible to more people. I think we have a responsibility as the industry to accept that, acknowledge that, and build the features that let people play. Clubs is really about letting people create the environment they want to play online in. I do think as an industry it’s our responsibility to recognise that we need to make games for everyone, not just people who grew up with a controller in their hands playing Diablo.”
This sense of inclusivity is something Microsoft Game Studios seems to be thinking about at the very top level. The issue of diversity regularly comes up during and after the E3 conference, and Microsoft claims to see it as a vital element of game design going forward. “Entertainment is a fundamental human need and the best forms of entertainment provide everyone with the chance to escape the ebb and flow of daily pressures,” says Loftis. “What I love about games is how quickly they allow people to achieve that sort of flow state.
“As game development tools have become more democratised, new voices have entered into the development market in ways they’ve never been able to do before. With engines like Unity and even Twine, as well as the super high-end of technology with VR and 4K, [developers are] unlocking a whole new world of story telling. Our commitment as studios is this – we’re going to make sure gamers have a diverse and expansive portfolio to choose from. Everything that comes from Microsoft Studios and our partners will be super inclusive. I love the unlimited potential of games to tell stories.”
On that note, Loftis also says that, despite the closure of the Xbox Entertainment Studio in 2014, the company is keen to work on more products that combine interactive and television content – like Quantum Break. “Actually it’s getting easier,” she says. “As performance capture becomes more sophisticated, the work to bridge the gap between the linear entertainment and the interactive element is becoming less and less. I would love to work on another mixed-media game.”
For Spencer, what this is all about is inclusivity – it’s about taking the intimidation and uncertainty out of online multiplayer for a new generation of players. “Devices like phones and tablets have broadened the audience for games,” he says. “Whether it was Candy Crush or Angry Birds or whatever, they have made the artform and the medium more accessible to more people. I think we have a responsibility as the industry to accept that, acknowledge that, and build the features that let people play. Clubs is really about letting people create the environment they want to play online in. I do think as an industry it’s our responsibility to recognise that we need to make games for everyone, not just people who grew up with a controller in their hands playing Diablo.”
This sense of inclusivity is something Microsoft Game Studios seems to be thinking about at the very top level. The issue of diversity regularly comes up during and after the E3 conference, and Microsoft claims to see it as a vital element of game design going forward. “Entertainment is a fundamental human need and the best forms of entertainment provide everyone with the chance to escape the ebb and flow of daily pressures,” says Loftis. “What I love about games is how quickly they allow people to achieve that sort of flow state.
“As game development tools have become more democratised, new voices have entered into the development market in ways they’ve never been able to do before. With engines like Unity and even Twine, as well as the super high-end of technology with VR and 4K, [developers are] unlocking a whole new world of story telling. Our commitment as studios is this – we’re going to make sure gamers have a diverse and expansive portfolio to choose from. Everything that comes from Microsoft Studios and our partners will be super inclusive. I love the unlimited potential of games to tell stories.”
On that note, Loftis also says that, despite the closure of the Xbox Entertainment Studio in 2014, the company is keen to work on more products that combine interactive and television content – like Quantum Break. “Actually it’s getting easier,” she says. “As performance capture becomes more sophisticated, the work to bridge the gap between the linear entertainment and the interactive element is becoming less and less. I would love to work on another mixed-media game.”
VR – the future, as usual, is hazy
One element of the future that Microsoft is not so certain on is virtual reality. Unlike Sony, the company has not developed its own headset, concentrating instead on augmented reality via its Hololens project. It has a partnership with Oculus, and we’ve seen the excellent virtual reality version of Minecraft that runs on Rift and Windows 10 PC. Furthermore, at E3 we saw Phil Spencer on stage saying, “The next step change for gamers and developers must deliver true 4K gaming and high-fidelity VR.”
So was VR support a key part of the Scorpio vision? “I think the capability in the consoles that are on the market today to play high-fidelity true console-like experiences in VR ... they’re just not powerful enough,” he says. “To deliver the experience that console gamers expect, that’s really a six-teraflop problem at least. You kind of need to get there.”
But there’s a problem here. Microsoft has said that there will be no Project Scorpio exclusives, that all games will be compatible across the whole range. But if publishers begin to create high-end virtual reality titles that will only run on Scorpio-level hardware – that’s market fragmentation, right? “I will say, we’re very focused on console games and what console gamers want, and I see VR as something different,” he says. “Like, other people might try to say, ‘VR is the future of console gaming.’ I’m not saying that. I’m saying if you’re an Xbox One console gamer, we are so focused on making your experience the best experience you’ve ever had with the best lineup of games. We’re not getting distracted.”
Perhaps then, we’re looking at a future market where Xbox One titles will feature VR modes and augmentations that will only be accessible to Scorpio owners – but not a future where we’ll see totally dedicated VR titles. If this at first seems limiting and appears to show a company attempting to sideline VR, there are interesting hints that this is not the case. When asked about the idea of multiplayer VR games and virtual social spaces like AltSpaceVR running on Xbox, Ybarra is unguardedly enthusiastic. “We’re focused right now on what we announced on Scorpio, but Xbox Live and VR opens a lot of doors that we’re looking into for sure,” he says. “The opportunity of VR and Xbox Live together is boundless – we’re just starting to consider what that will look like. We have teams looking at what’s coming and how we apply that.”
“I push a button, the console turns on – it’s appliance-like in the way it works,” says Spencer. “I don’t end up at a PC desktop, I end up at a curated UI experience that gets me to the things that I’m gonna want to do on my TV. That is critical to us, and we remain focused on that console experience.
“I live inside of a company with 100,000 other people working on a bunch of different things. Five years ago I was sitting here, and most of the questions I would get were, ‘Isn’t all gaming going to phone? Are people really gonna buy consoles?’ Now, Sony’s doing incredibly well, we’ve sold more Xbox Ones than we sold 360s at this point in the generation, and Nintendo is getting ready to talk about NX. You know, the console business is very, very healthy right now.”
So Microsoft’s vision of the future is highly social, highly scalable, but also highly inclusive, both in terms of hardware functionality and the game design. Whether this will be enough to compete against Sony’s combination of a hugely popular machine and a well-priced entry-level VR headset remains to be seen. Microsoft has always been obsessed with carefully interpreting and segregating its markets; it’s done that with its OS and Office packages for years. Can it do the same with consoles? Can the Xbox One S and Scorpio co-exist? Can it communicate that vision to consumers? That’s a huge, huge ask.
“I’m excited,” says Ybarra of the coming challenges. “I think with the games, the hardware and service that we have, it’s the best time to be an Xbox gamer.”
Friday, 6 May 2016
Pass4sure 70-411 Question Answer
You have a server named Admin1 that runs Windows Server 2012. Admin1 has the File Server
Resource Manager role service installed. Admin1 has a folder named Folder1 that is used by the
human resources department. You need to ensure that an email notification is sent immediately
to the human resources manager when a user copies an audio file or a video file to Folder1.
What should you configure on Admin1?
A. A file screen.
B. A file screen exception.
C. A file group.
D. A storage report task.
Answer: C
Resource Manager role service installed. Admin1 has a folder named Folder1 that is used by the
human resources department. You need to ensure that an email notification is sent immediately
to the human resources manager when a user copies an audio file or a video file to Folder1.
What should you configure on Admin1?
A. A file screen.
B. A file screen exception.
C. A file group.
D. A storage report task.
Answer: C
Thursday, 14 April 2016
A Look at Microsoft's Upcoming Word Flow Keyboard, Now in Closed Beta Testing
Rumors in January suggested Microsoft was working to bring its Word Flow Windows Phone keyboard to iOS, and now the company's keyboard project has entered a private beta testing phase. Starting this week, a limited number of testers have been given access to the Word Flow iOS keyboard.
MacRumors reader Ruben has shared some images and information with us, giving us our first look at the design and the features Microsoft plans to implement. According to Ruben, the keyboard is "incredibly reliable for a beta," with features like sounds, themes, and the much-anticipated one-handed "Arc" mode, accessed with a drag gesture.
In its default mode, the Word Flow keyboard looks a lot like a standard iOS keyboard, but its one-handed mode sets it apart from other offerings. With one-handed mode turned on, the keyboard morphs into a half-moon shape, arranging the letters to one side of the device for easy thumb access. The Word Flow keyboard supports both standard typing and swipe-based typing, as is one on third-party keyboards like Swipe and SwiftKey.
MacRumors reader Ruben has shared some images and information with us, giving us our first look at the design and the features Microsoft plans to implement. According to Ruben, the keyboard is "incredibly reliable for a beta," with features like sounds, themes, and the much-anticipated one-handed "Arc" mode, accessed with a drag gesture.
In its default mode, the Word Flow keyboard looks a lot like a standard iOS keyboard, but its one-handed mode sets it apart from other offerings. With one-handed mode turned on, the keyboard morphs into a half-moon shape, arranging the letters to one side of the device for easy thumb access. The Word Flow keyboard supports both standard typing and swipe-based typing, as is one on third-party keyboards like Swipe and SwiftKey.
Standard keyboard features like auto correction and word prediction are included, with options to enable or disable a word learning feature that improves word predictions by sending keyboard usage information to Microsoft. Multiple Word Flow themes are included, including light and dark options, and there are also tools for creating custom themes based on images taken from the iPhone's Photo Library.
Additional information shared by iMore yesterday covers other features like quick access to Contacts through autofill and a free built-in image library that Microsoft plans to add to over time.
Monday, 4 April 2016
Pass4sure 70-411 Question Answer
Your network contains an Active Directory domain named contoso.com.
All user accounts reside in an organizational unit (OU) named OU1.
You create a Group Policy object (GPO) named GPO1. You link GPO1 to OU1. You configure the Group Policy preference of GPO1 to add a shortcut named Link1 to the desktop of each user.
You discover that when a user deletes Link1, the shortcut is removed permanently from the desktop.
You need to ensure that if a user deletes Link1, the shortcut is added to the desktop again.
What should you do?
A. Enforce GPO1.
B. Modify the Link1 shortcut preference of GPO1.
C. Enable loopback processing in GPO1.
D. Modify the Security Filtering settings of GPO1.
Answer: B
Your network contains an Active Directory domain named contoso.com.
You have several Windows PowerShell scripts that execute when client computers start.
When a client computer starts, you discover that it takes a long time before users are prompted to log on.
You need to reduce the amount of time it takes for the client computers to start. The solution must not prevent scripts from completing successfully. Which setting should you configure?
To answer, select the appropriate setting in the answer area.
All user accounts reside in an organizational unit (OU) named OU1.
You create a Group Policy object (GPO) named GPO1. You link GPO1 to OU1. You configure the Group Policy preference of GPO1 to add a shortcut named Link1 to the desktop of each user.
You discover that when a user deletes Link1, the shortcut is removed permanently from the desktop.
You need to ensure that if a user deletes Link1, the shortcut is added to the desktop again.
What should you do?
A. Enforce GPO1.
B. Modify the Link1 shortcut preference of GPO1.
C. Enable loopback processing in GPO1.
D. Modify the Security Filtering settings of GPO1.
Answer: B
Your network contains an Active Directory domain named contoso.com.
You have several Windows PowerShell scripts that execute when client computers start.
When a client computer starts, you discover that it takes a long time before users are prompted to log on.
You need to reduce the amount of time it takes for the client computers to start. The solution must not prevent scripts from completing successfully. Which setting should you configure?
To answer, select the appropriate setting in the answer area.
Answer:
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