Q&A for Adding Windows Vista Clients to Your Windows SBS 2003 Environment

Hello Everyone, below are the follow-up questions & answers from the Adding Windows Vista Clients to Your Windows SBS 2003 Environment webcast presented on Thursday, June 21, 2007. To download the PowerPoint presentation, please visit BOB Wired at: https://oem.microsoft.com/script/contentpage.aspx?pageid=4078. There you will find a link with a username & password to access a number of BOB Team documents.

Q: Did you say only 32-bit versions of Windows Vista can use the Connect Computer wizard?

A: No, both 32-bit and 64-bit Windows Vista clients are supported. However, when creating Active Directory computer accounts using the Set Up Client Computers wizard, during the mobility options section, you can select to deploy the Connection Manager to your clients—the Connection Manager is not compatible with the 64-bit version of Windows Vista.

Q: What is the best practice about deploying Outlook 2003 with the Connect Computer wizard if Windows Vista is preloaded with Outlook 2007? In other words, should we still install Outlook 2003 using the wizard?

A: No, Outlook 2003 should be unselected during the Assign Applications section when creating the computer accounts on the server using the Set Up Client Computers wizard.

Q: Do these updates to Windows SBS 2003 appear in the normal Microsoft Updates site or must they be hunted down per these links?

A: Currently the patches must be downloaded manually.

Q: When adding Windows Vista to a Windows SBS 2003 domain, how can we configure and push Outlook 2007 down instead of Office 2003?

A: Use the Set Up Client Applications wizard to add the Outlook 2007 application, and then use the Assign Applications wizard to deploy it.

Q: All versions of Windows SBS to date require the user to have "local admin" rights…users should not be required to be local admins. Don't you think?

A: An excellent point, and very true. Unfortunately for current and previous versions, this will remain the case. However, looking forward to Windows Small Business Server codename “Cougar,” this exact issue is being addressed!

Q: Three of my clients will be adding Windows Vista PCs to their network, must these clients also upgrade their Windows Small Business Server 2003 machine to R2?

A: No, however you need to install at least SP1—although SP2 is the latest available service pack and is recommended.

Q: Does the Exchange Server 2003 update to support OWA for Windows Vista clients effect Windows XP clients?

A: No, the functionality of Windows XP clients will not change.

Q: Are there any issues with using Outlook 2007 instead of Outlook 2003, as in Office 2007 is installed on the client?

A: No, Outlook 2007 is fully supported with Windows SBS 2003 and Exchange Server 2003.

Q: How can we set the Administrator to use “elevated” privileges all the time?

A: You can turn off the User Account Control (UAC) feature using Group Policy. See \Computer Configuration\Windows Settings\Local Policies\Security Options to set the UAC options. This is, of course, not recommended.

Q: How can I troubleshooting issues with migrating user profiles that use redirected folders?

A: Please see https://download.microsoft.com/download/5/6/1/561c9fd7-0e27-4525-94ec-4d2d38f61aa3/TSHT_SBS.htm. Search the page for “user profiles.”

Q: Are there Group Policy scenarios that have been put together as learning examples?

A: Yes. Please see https://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/WebCastEventDetails.aspx?culture=en-US&EventID=1032329674.

Q: Why do Windows Vista connected systems to Windows SBS 2003 take forever to start up? Constantly loading background stuff causes the workstation to not allow for Outlook 2003 or other programs to load.

A: If you are experiencing this behavior consistently (not just the first boot after joining the domain), you may need to look at resource availability—additional memory, a faster CPU, or a faster hard drive. Note that Windows Vista introduced low-priority I/O and several system components take advantage of that, which may result in more continuous hard drive activity. However, applications such as Outlook 2003 have a higher priority for I/O, so they will take precedence over background tasks, for example disk defragmentation or anti-virus scans.

Q: Can you configure the new GPOs from the Windows SBS 2003 server or does it need to be done from the Windows Vista client?

A: In order to use the new XML-based templates, the GPOs must be managed from a Windows Vista (or Windows Server 2008) machine.

Q: I've had trouble using folder redirection with Windows Vista clients to a Windows SBS 2003 server. Do we need to have the patches mentioned during the webcast in order to make it run properly?

A: The patches for updating the Connect Computer wizard do not effect folder redirection. I am not aware of any patches that address issues with that functionality.

Q: What are the effects of having printers published on the Windows SBS 2003 server that do not have Windows Vista drivers?

A: In order to allow Windows Vista clients to successfully use these printers, it is necessary to obtain updated driver files from the manufacturer.

Q: Is there a significant client (speed) advantage to the Windows Vista 64-bit version?

A: Yes. Overall, a 64-bit OS on a 64-bit capable processor does have some performance advantages over 32-bit computing.