All speeches 1.25 – 1.5 hours unless otherwise noted

Making the Transition — Windows 2000 or .NET Server?
Are you ready for .NET Server with Windows XP Professional clients? Or should you stay with a Windows 2000 Server and Windows 2000 Professional environment? Unless you join us for this talk, you'll be in the dark! This discussion will highlight some of the things you'll need to know before making the decision to go with Windows .NET Server — or to simply continue rolling out your Windows 2000 systems. Does Windows .NET bring additional security features to the table? You bet — but are those features worth the additional cost of the systems and labor to put them in? When you join us for this session, you'll know the score!

Group Policy Groove (Part I of II)
Just getting started with Windows 2000 Group Policies? Or have you already gotten yourself in a heap of trouble? In this session you'll learn just what Group Policy is, and how you can deploy it correctly! You'll see how to modify Group Policy objects to lock down desktops and manage your user environments. You'll gain insights into the thorny issues surrounding permissions. You'll discover how to delegate the job of creating Group Policies. Last, you'll learn how to troubleshoot Group Policy — through tools and with your bare hands!

Group Policy Master Class (Part II of II)
So what's really going on under the hood to make the Group Policy magic happen? Do you know when to use Loopback Policy Processing (and when not to)? Learn how to deploy some heavy-duty software via Group Policy. How does Windows XP process Group Policy different than Windows 2000? Without coming to this session, you'll be in the dark! Lastly, learn what free and not-so-free troubleshooting tools are at your disposal when the going gets tough!

Desktop Magic — IntelliMirror deployment with Group Policies
This intensive session will demonstrate how Windows 2000's new IntelliMirror features will reduce the amount of running around an administrator needs to do on a daily basis. Want users' settings to follow them? You'll learn how. Want to vanquish home-drives from your environment? You'll lean how. Want to enable your executives to keep working on their networked data while at 30,000 feet? You'll learn how. Want to stop running around to each desktop to deploy software? You'll learn how. Want to deploy full images of machines without third-party tools? You'll witness how to do all these things in this session using the built-in features of Windows 2000's IntelliMirror.

Backup and Recovery for Windows 2000, Windows Server 2003, XP, and Active
You know about that "Backup Applet." But what are its real capabilities? Would you know how to recover one object in your Active Directory if you had to? What would you do if you had to recover your entire Active Directory — quickly? Windows 2003 and Windows XP have a new "Advanced System Recovery," but what is it good for? And Windows 2003 comes with a new collection of tools called "Emergency Management Services." What third-party tools are "must haves" for your environment? Will you know what to do when your servers fail? Come to this session to find out how to "Get it back!" Note: This is a demo-intensive session which will actually demonstrate the backup and recovery of Active Directory objects, as well as demonstrations of the new Windows 2003 Emergency Management Services.

Windows 2003 Group Policy — What's new and cool
It's likely that the most single changed aspect of Windows Server 2003 from Windows 2000 is Group Policy. This 90-minute session explores what the differences are. Come see the (freely downloadable) Group Policy Management Console. Learn where to install it, when it's most useful, and where it has its limitations. Learn about the new Group Policy Object scripts Microsoft has provided. Oh, and learn how to save a bit of dough — by not calling Microsoft — as you learn how to get out of a well-known Group Policy trap.

The Security and Configuration Manager Toolkit (or Implementing Security with Group Policy)
If you had to lock down 100 machines in 5 minutes, could you do it? With Windows 2000 Group Policy along with the Security and Configuration Manager Toolkit — you can! Learn how to lock down all your systems in the Active Directory or how to specifically tighten down just one machine. Learn how to set up Windows 2000 auditing and which Group Policies have special "Super Powers"! Learn to get the right balance between security and usability on your Windows 2000 machines. With just a little know-how from this session, you can do it!

Active Network Management: An introduction to MOM, SMS, and IntelliMirror
So you've got that snazzy new network. Maybe you even have AD installed. But how do you keep it all running smoothly? How do you know that server in your remote office is working as it should? How are you going to get the latest service pack on a machine in your overseas office? What offerings from Microsoft could help you tame your savage network beast? This introduction to enterprise manageability discusses the high-level design strategies behind Microsoft Operations Manager (MOM), Systems Management Server (SMS), and Windows 2000's built-in IntelliMirror. Do you need to spend a lot to get a lot? Come to this session and find out!

Secrets of Windows 2000 Administration
Once you lay the groundwork for keeping your users happy, you can move on to keeping yourself (and your servers) happy. Start off by preventing users from eating all your disk space with Disk Quotas. Then keep disaster at bay with the new Services Recovery features, the new Windows File Protection mechanisms, and the new Recovery Console. Perform all your work from the beach with the new Terminal Services and Telnet Server features. Finally, use the resource kit's Setup Manager to create hands-off server and workstation deployments so you can put your time toward more creative things — like your tan.

Fifteen Suggestions for a Better Windows 2000 Migration
Should you do an in-place upgrade or create a totally new network? Should you worry about Servers or Workstations first? Are you thinking about Exchange 2000 already? Do you have an existing DNS you need to interface with? This session will provide 15 tips, suggestions, and topics for discussion that you and your staff should work through to ensure the best stance for whatever migration path you choose.

Effective Active Directory Design
This session will discuss many of the elements necessary to plan an effective Active Directory. Topics will include: hierarchical naming strategy, trees vs. forests, domain controllers and domain controller placement, global catalog server placement, and when to create sites, domains, and/or Organization Units. Additional discussion on the use of the Delegation Control Wizard, and suggestions about controlling costs by minimizing and scheduling replication traffic.

Building a Windows 2000 Lab (That Works)
This session will discuss the most important link in your critical path to Windows 2000: the test lab. We'll investigate the dos and don'ts of a Win2k lab that will ensure a smooth transition to Windows 2000. Have only a small budget? You'll learn how to maximize your current investment.

Inside the Windows 2000 Registry
This session starts off by introducing the ins and outs of the Windows 2000 Registry and ramps up quickly to show some demonstrations, discuss some registry tools you can do use to protect your machine, and how to get out of registry jams if you get stuck.

Gems of the Resource Kits
The Windows 2000 Server Resource Kit is full of utilities to ease your daily chores and to make you more productive. In this session, you'll see lots of cool tools in action that will help you with your administrative tasks and give you ideas on how to do your job more efficiently and effectively. Learn about the technical information and tools you need to deploy, manage, and maintain your enterprise server systems with the aid of the Resource Kit.