Mitch Wheat - Treat the cause, not the symptoms!

Restarting the Microsoft Transfer Manager

If you have ever started a large download via the resumable Microsoft Transfer Manager, forgotten about it and shutdown your PC. You will no doubt have found yourself in the same situation I found myself in a few days ago. I started a download from the MSDN subscription site and later shutdown my PC.  No problem I thought, I’ll simply resume the download.

Except I couldn’t find the Microsoft Transfer manager to restart it! There was no shortcut or entry in the Programs menu.

So where is the download manager located! After some hunting around, it turns out it lives at %windir%\Downloaded Program Files\TransferMgr.exe.

[Note: If you open that folder in Windows Explorer and find garbled names, open a console window (cmd.exe), change directory (CD) to  C:\WINDOWS\Downloaded Program Files\, and run a list the contents (DIR). You should see TransferMgr.exe]

TIP: Once you have found and re-run Transfer Manager, there is an option to place a shortcut on the desktop. Click the Options button, and tick the checkbox “Place application shortcut on the desktop”.

Aligned with the SQL Azure October CTP release, Microsoft have published an updated version of the Windows Azure Platform Training Kit: Windows Azure Platform Training Kit - October Update

Among other things, the training kit contains the following SQL Azure related content:

Presentations

• Introduction to SQL Azure
• Building Applications using SQL Azure
• Scaling Out with SQL Azure

Demos

• Preparing your SQL Azure Account
• Connecting to SQL Azure
• Managing Logins and Security in SQL Azure
• Creating Objects in SQL Azure
• Migrating a Database Schema to SQL Azure
• Moving Data Into and Out Of SQL Azure using SSIS
• Building a Simple SQL Azure App
• Scaling Out SQL Azure with Database Sharding

Hands On Labs

• Introduction to SQL Azure
• Migrating Databases to SQL Azure
• Building Your First SQL Azure App

To try out SQL Azure you first need to obtain a SQL Azure token. Then there are a few differences connecting to the server, specifically using SSMS to connect to your DB in the cloud.

Microsoft have released the October preview of the Visual Studio 2010 & .NET Framework 4 Training Kit. This training content is ready to use with VS2010 Beta 2. You can download from here: Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4 Training Kit

In addition, Channel 9 has recently launched a free online learning centre that will host developer focused training courses created by developers for developers. The online training course allows developers to search for and browse the content without downloading the full training kit.

The Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4 Training Course includes videos and hands-on-labs designed to help you learn how to utilize the Visual Studio 2010 features and a variety of framework technologies including: C# 4.0, Visual Basic 10, F#, Parallel Computing Platform, WCF, WF, WPF, ASP.NET AJAX 4.0, ASP.NET MVC Dynamic Data.

Well almost!  OK, granted I’m a few hours early, but it’s a bit like waking up early on xmas morning :)

Bye bye Vista, Hellooo Windows 7!

[Looks as if Microsoft’s OS fortunes are going to be nicely aligned with the economic recovery…]

The single Windows 7 license that was part of the Windows launch ‘party’ pack will be one of the prizes for the Perth .NET User Group December’s DevJam community event (since a single license, a party does not make!).

I came across this useful list of Compact Framework Tips and Tricks posted by Chris Tacke on StackOverflow: .Net Compact Framework Tips, Tricks, and Gotchas

A few days ago I was re-awarded with a Microsoft MVP and would once again like to thank everyone for their support and encouragement.  A big thank you to Rose Stamell and Nick Ellery at Microsoft.

I was browsing over at Joe Albahari’s personal web site (Joe is the creator of the easy to use and very successful LINQPad, and one of the authors of O’Reilly’s excellent ‘C# in a Nutshell’) and noticed this 10 LINQ Myths: The ten most common misconceptions.

As well as being a C# guru, Joe is an active participant and supporter of the Perth .NET User Group. In fact, he will be presenting a session in November on the New features in C# 4.0 (More details will be posted shortly…).