.net QPearl

Windows Mobile, iPhone, Android Killers, Really!!!

Ahmed Ramy — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 20:15:00 GMT

Chinese are very known for breaking copy rights whatsoever and cloning any well branded product with no mercy, after Dolly cloning the first thought came to me was Chinese well be the first to clone humans -if possible- .

In technology they start to prove that they are doing good enough job in cloning the hot products (remember the iPod Nano clone, I got one from Dubai for ¼ the price of the real nano at that time).

Here is a review that encourages the readers to buy the iPod clone over the real iPod:

CHIPOD vs. IPOD: 13 REASONS TO BUY A NANO CLONE

Hey, but Why the clones not becoming the killer of the real ones.

Well, first it was because the quality, but after lately seeing many Chinese clones that have decent quality and in most cases looks a like the real ones, that’s really hard to differentiate them.

Compare CECT P168 iphone clone (left) with the real iPhone (right)

Example: Apple iPhone (the real one) vs. Cect HiPhone (the clone)

The funny thing is one commented that “the clone is too dark” but another responded to him: “that’s the iPhone”. Irony, right!

After having a second thought I checked the Hardware specs and compared the features and guess what it turns out in many cases the clones had higher hardware specs, more features?!

So now what!!! Eureka it’s the software the OS, the apps that’s what’s missing for these clones to become the real ~~clones~~ killers.

One of the comments about the iPhone clone is its missing the soul of the iPhone, well its soul is the OS and the apps, so imagine if the manufacturers of the iPhone could load it with the same iPhone OS, now what you will miss is the Brand, and even for this Chinese are smart enough to make you feel better they called one of the iPhone clones: HiPhone, clever. :D

Now the surprise: the Chinese manufacturers seemed to finally realize that, and guess what? they started to license the Oses, I guess it was hard for them to take that step - licensing - (of course it’s against their culture, why license when you can copy).

But who did license their OS for them?, no not apple, maybe google Android? Well it’s already free. -Hey Chinese folks you can get that for free, go for it-, Yeah, you guessed its Microsoft it had licensed WM6.1 for them.

Check that post : Chinese smartphones run Windows Mobile 6

Now watch out Chinese are coming to ~~get you~~ sell to you :D

Microsoft Silver Light

Ahmed Samy — Sun, 06 May 2007 02:50:00 GMT

SliverLight Formally known as "WPF/E" is now released as beta version, more resources is found in microsoft web site

Microsoft ASP.NET Futures (May 2007): Compatible with both Visual Studio 2005 and Visual Studio “Orcas,” this package contains ASP.NET-based Silverlight controls.

Microsoft Silverlight 1.0 Beta Software Development Kit (SDK): create Silverlight Web experiences that target Silverlight 1.0 Beta. The SDK contains documentation, samples along with templates for Microsoft Visual Studio.

Microsoft Silverlight 1.1 Alpha Software Development Kit (SDK): Download this SDK to create Silverlight Web experiences that target Silverlight 1.1 Alpha. The SDK contains documentation and samples.

Versions of the .NET Framework and the IIS6 Application Pools

securesign — Sat, 31 Mar 2007 10:15:00 GMT

When a new version of any technology appears, there are always new rules to be considered.

As part of my job as a Web Administrator, I used to test the new web technologies on Testing Environment before applying it on the real one. Microsoft has made the .NET Framework starting with Version 1.0 followed by v1.1 and now there are new releases v2.0 and v3.0. Microsoft gave them the ability to run together on the same server at the same time.

Concepts

The same site can only run under one version of the .NET Framework. But if we have more than one Virtual Directory on that site, we can choose for each one of them to run on a different version of the .NET Framework.

IIS 6.0 uses the IIS 6.0 process model (w3wp.exe) and uses an isolation feature called application pooling. Application pooling enables applications to run together in one or more processes, as long as they share the same pool designation.

Applications that are assigned different application pools never run in the same process.

The Web Administrator can put the site and it's Virtual Directories in the same Application Pool.

He can also put each Virtual Directory in a different one.

When there is more than one version of the .NET Framework run on your server, they cannot be together on the same process. Every application pool have its own worker possess or/Processes. So every .NET Framework version must run on a different Application Pool.

All of those concepts will lead to one rule:

The Rule

You cannot run more than one version of the framework in the same application pool.

If you try to do so you will see this error appears:

Server Application Unavailable

The web application you are attempting to access on this web server is currently unavailable. Please hit the "Refresh" button in your web browser to retry your request.

Take a look at your event viewer and you will receive Event ID 1062 that says:

"It is not possible to run two different versions of ASP.NET in the same IIS process. Please use the IIS Administration Tool to reconfigure your server to run the application in a separate process."

How to make your Application Available again

When you need to run a different version of the .NET Framework on a different Virtual Directories inside the site, you need to create a different Application Pool and assign for each Virtual Directory one of the Application Pools that you have created. Then you can make each one of this Virtual Directory run on a different version of the .NET Framework.

Note: To reduce overhead and resource consumption. Just have a separate pool for each version of the Framework and run all like Virtual Directories in the same pool

In this example we have one site with two Virtual Directories and we need to run each one of them on a different version of the .NET Framework and assign for each one a different application pool.

Create Two New Application Pools

Start Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager.
Expand the Application Pools Node - Right-click the Node, - New > Application Pool.
In the Add New Application Pool dialog box, type "AppPoolName" in the Application Pool ID text box. Leave the Use default settings for new application pool option selected, and click OK. Your new "AppPoolName" will be created.

Application Pool 1:

Application Pool 2:

Assign for each Virtual Directory a different application pool.

Virtual Directory VD1:

1. Right-click VD1 Virtual Directory > Properties

2. On Directory Tab > Choose the VD1AppPool from the DropDownList in the Application Pool section.

Do the same for the VD2 Virtual Directory.

Choose for each Virtual Directory to run under different versions of the .NET Framework.

Right-click VD1 Virtual Directory > Properties
On ASP.NET Tab > Choose the .NET Framework 1.1 from the DropDownList in the ASP.NET Version section.

Do the same for the VD2 Virtual Directory.

Now your applications on each Virtual Directory will run successfully under different Versions of the .NET Framework.

Important Note:

In the example I have just assumed that we have just two Virtual Directories ...But if we have 10 Virtual Directories and we need to have a separate pool for each version of the .NET Framework, We will run all like Virtual Directories in the same pool.

If there are 5 Virtual Directories on .Net 1.1 and another 5 Virtual Directories are on .Net 2.0

there will be just two Application Pools:

"AppPoolFor1.1"

"AppPoolFor2.0"

All 5 .Net 1.1 Virtual Directories (Applications) are in "AppPoolFor1.1" and all the .Net 2.0 Virtual Directories (Applications) are in the "AppPoolFor2.0".

The Wow Starts now!!!

Samy — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 11:31:00 GMT

To Vista or Not To Vista?? This is NOT the Question "YOU DECIDE"

A lot of my Friends, Colleagues and users asking me about Windows Vista specially, it has some new features to improve Security, safety and Windows AERO, always I'm telling the requirements and they decide I will start to windows Vista from beginning till make it start and we will explorer the new Vista Features so if you are normal user or systems admin and not started with fista yet I think it will be usefull .

First: we need to know about Hardware requirements because it will cost $$$ then we need to know if the Applications and Software we have Supported or not, some people have Mission critical Applications if not supported by Visat maybe it will Cost $$$ again My God then we need to Image or backup the data we have sometimes more valiable than $$$ , then we need to kow about Support I mean Micro$oft, Wow My blog full with $$$ you see when poeple see alot of $$$ they say Wow maybe that's WHY Micro$oft says The "Wow" Starts now prices are "$99.95 to $259 for upgrades, $199 to $399 for the full product "

Hardware: Minimum: 800MHz processor with 512MB of system memory. Recommended: 1 GHz 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor, 1GB of system memory, a 40GB hard drive with 15GB free space Microsoft has listed the following requirements for what they call a Vista Premium Ready PC. a DirectX 9 compatible graphics processor, with a Windows Display Driver Model (WDDM technologies, DVD-ROM Drive, audio output and Internet access
Software: Make sure your applications and drivers are compatible with Windows Vista. Use Microsoft's compatibility tool to help determine what could cause problems.
Backup: It's essential to backup all your crucial files-and, ideally, create a full system backup or an image of your pre-Vista hard drive.
Support: If you don't have your own IT staff, pick up one of the new Windows Vista books on the market or download Microsoft's own Windows Vista Product Guide

You Decide now!! To Vista or Not??

NO? Then its ok Windows XP still fantastic, most of problems solved and of course it's more stable now, but don't forget that the clock is ticking-Microsoft will lapse its extended support of Windows 2000 in 2010 and of Windows XP in 2013

YES? "The WOW Starts Now" that's great join to us through Vista World and then we going to start from beginning step by step till finishing Clean Install or Upgrading to Vista.

If you decide to move to Windows Vista Then Clean install or Upgrade? A clean install means you start from beginning is like building a new house. An upgrade is like a home renovation

If you decide to Upgrade then check those three Questions

Do I have adequate hardware now?
Are my mission-critical devices-such as scanners and printers-supported, or do I need to upgrade them as well?
Are all of my mission-critical applications supported by Vista, and if not, how much of a burden will it be to revise them?

To answer those three Questions you need two tools downloadable from Microsoft web site

Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor if there any problem with your system. The Upgrade Advisor will spot it before.
Application Compatibility Toolkit can evaluate applications across a network of computers to determine which ones may have conflicts with Vista.

Everything is fine and you decided to Upgrade then don't forget to do the next. "URGENT"

Back up all important files or Image you Hard Disk all
Update your antivirus and Antispyware programs and do a complete system scan
Defragment your hard disk and check for errors
Investigate and correct all items flagged by the Upgrade Advisor

What is Vista Editions to decide which Edition Is Right for You!!

Home Basic targeted at home or individual users.
Home Premium includes multimedia and entertainment features.
Business designed specifically to meet the needs of small businesses.
Enterprise designed to meet the needs of large, global organizations with complex IT infrastructures.
Ultimate incorporates all features across the board.

Allow your ASP.NET to Access your Resources

securesign — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 13:50:00 GMT

As a web administrator; I used to deploy the web applications changes on the production server, two days ago I have stayed about 6 more hours than my normal working day, me and our developers trying to solve a problem that appears when we tried to deploy a new feature in our application that allow the online users to write articles and upload photos on a specific folder on the server.

The problem starts with this error when we tried to test the application to upload an image file.

Access to the path "d:\visitorsUpload\Vu01.jpg" is denied

Exception Details: System.UnauthorizedAccessException: Access to the path “d:\visitorsUpload\Vu01.jpg " is denied.

I have made sure that all the permissions on this folder are on the right place, ASPNET Account will have read-write permissions and the iuser_machinename will have Read, the virtual directory of that folder will have read.

(The error is still showing up).

We have searched the internet as much as we can to find any solution, but we didn't find any acceptable one!

In that case there must be an account that is responsible for access local and network resources in ASP.NET. What is that account? How it works? How can we know more about it and its useful uses to Access Resources in ASP.NET?

Let’s have a tour together to learn the restrictions imposed by using this account to access resources.

Use this account to access the following resource types:

· Local file system

· Windows event log

· Windows registry

· Local and remote databases

About Network Service Account

The Network Service account is a local account used by the service control manager (SCM), this account is not recognized by the security subsystem, so you cannot specify its name in a call to the Lookup Account Name function. It has minimum privileges on the local computer and acts as the computer on the network. The name of the account in all locales is NT AUTHORITY\NETWORK SERVICE. This account does not have a password. If you specify the NetworkService account in a call to the Create Service function, any password information you supply is ignored.

A service that runs in the context of the NetworkService account presents the computer's credentials to remote servers. By default, the remote token contains SIDs for the Everyone and Authenticated Users groups.

By default, Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) 6.0 on Windows Server 2003 runs ASP.NET applications in application pools that use the NT AUTHORITY\Network Service account identity. This account is a least privileged machine account with limited permissions. An application that runs using this account has restricted access to the event log, registry, and file system. The account does have network credentials, which means you can use it to access network resources and remote databases by using Windows authentication. The network resources must be in the same domain as your Web server or in a trusted domain.

In some scenarios, using a custom domain service account is a better approach than using the Network Service account. You should use a custom domain service account if:

You want to isolate multiple applications on a single server from one another.
You need different access controls for each application on local and remote resources. For example, other applications cannot access your application's databases if access is restricted to your application's account.
You want to use Windows auditing to track the activity of each application separately.
You want to prevent any accidental or deliberate changes to the access controls or permissions associated with the general purpose Network Service account from affecting your application.

This is how to show you how you can use the Network Service account to access a variety of resources types including the event log, registry, file system, and databases.

File Access

The Network Service account has Read and Execute permissions on the IIS server root folder by default. The IIS server root folder is named Wwwroot. This means that an ASP.NET application deployed inside the root folder already has Read and Execute permissions to its application folders. However, if your ASP.NET application needs to use files or folders in other locations, you must specifically enable access.

Granting File Access to Network Service

To provide access to an ASP.NET application running as Network Service, you must grant access to the Network Service account.

To grant read, write, and modify permissions to a specific File or Folder

1. In Windows Explorer, locate and select the required file.

2. Right click the file, and then click Properties.

3. In the Properties dialog box, click the Security tab.

4. On the Security tab, examine the list of users. If the Network Service account is not listed, add it.

5. In the Properties dialog box, click the Network Service user name, and in the Permissions for NETWORK SERVICE section, select the Read, Write, and Modify permissions.

6. Click Apply, and then click OK.

Your ASP.NET application can now write to the specified file.

Note: If you need to allow the same level of access to a file resource for all accounts that run ASP.NET applications (Network Service or a custom service account), you can grant access to the IIS_WPG group instead of specifically to the Network Service account. Any account used to run ASP.NET is required to be a member of the IIS_WPG group.

Security Tip: you can restrict access to this account by using NTFS Special permission:

1. In Windows Explorer, locate and select the required folder.

2. Right click the folder, and then click Properties.

3. In the Properties dialog box, click the Security tab.

4. Click advanced button.

5. Chose the Network service account from the permission entries and click Edit button, this will open the special permission entry for your folder.

6. Deny (Delete Subfolders and Files, Delete), Uncheck (Full Control, Traverse Folder/Execute File, Read Permissions, Change Permissions, Take Ownership)

7. Click Apply, and then click OK.

Your ASP.NET application can now write to the specified Folder but with the most restrictive permission.

Event Log Access

Applications that run using the Network Service identity can write to the event log by using existing event sources, but they cannot create new event sources because of insufficient registry permissions. When you use the EventLog.Write method, if the specified event source does not exist, this method attempts to create the event source and a security exception is generated.

Note It is useful to use application specific event sources so that your applications' events can easily be differentiated from other applications' events.

To enable your ASP.NET application to write to the event log using an event source that does not already exist, you have two options:

· Create new event sources at application install time.

· Manually create new event source entry in the registry.

Create a New Event Source at Install Time

With this option, you create a specialized installer class that you run by using the install utility to create a new event source at install time when administrator privileges are available. You run the install utility using an administrator account so it has permission to create the new event source.

To create an installer class to create event sources

1. Use Visual Studio .NET 2005 to create a class library project named InstallerClass.dll. Add a reference of System.Configuration.Install to the InstallerClass project.

2. Name the class CustomEventLogInstaller, and derive it from System.Configuration.Install.Installer.

3. Set the RunInstaller attribute for the class to true.

4. Create a System.Diagnostics.EventLogInstaller instance for each new event log your application needs, and call Installers.Add to add the instance to your project installer class. The following sample class adds one new event source named customLog to the Application Event Log.

using System;
using System.Configuration.Install;
using System.Diagnostics;
using System.ComponentModel;

[RunInstaller(true)]
public class CustomEventLogInstaller: Installer
{
   private EventLogInstaller customEventLogInstaller;
   public CustomEventLogInstaller()
   {
      // Create an instance of 'EventLogInstaller'.
      customEventLogInstaller = new EventLogInstaller();
      // Set the 'Source' of the event log, to be created.
      customEventLogInstaller.Source = "customLog";
      // Set the 'Event Log' that the source is created in.
      customEventLogInstaller.Log = "Application";
      // Add myEventLogInstaller to 'InstallerCollection'.
      Installers.Add(customEventLogInstaller);
   }
   public static void Main()
   {
   }
}

5. Compile the code for the InstallerClass.dll library.

6. Use an account with administrative privileges to run the InstallUtil.exe utility, supplying the name of the DLL on the command line. For example, open the Visual Studio command prompt and enter the following command.

InstallUtil.exe <dll path>\InstallerClass.dll

When the install utility is called with the installer class, it examines the RunInstallerAttribute. If this is true, the utility installs all the items in the Installers collection. This creates the specified event sources for your ASP.NET application.

Manually Create New Event Source Entry in the Registry

If you are unable to create an event source at installation time, and you are in deployment, the administrator should manually create a new event source entry beneath the following registry key

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Eventlog\<LogName>

To manually create a new event source entry beneath this registry key

1. Start the Registry Editor tool Regedit.exe.

2. Using the Application Event log, expand the outline list in the left panel to locate the following registry subkey:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Eventlog\Application

3. Right-click the Application subkey, point to New, and then click Key.

4. Type a new event source name for the key name and press Enter.

The Network Service account can use the new event source for writing events.

Note You should not grant write permission to the ASP.NET process account (or any impersonated account if your application uses impersonation) on the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Eventlog\ registry key. If you allow write access to this key and the account is compromised, the attacker can modify any log-related setting, including access control to the log, for any log on the system.

Health Monitoring

ASP.NET version 2.0 health monitoring writes to the Windows application event log to report significant lifetime and security events, if configured to do so. You can raise custom events in your code to write to the event log by using ASP.NET health monitoring. This approach does not use EventLog.WriteEntry, but you are restricted to use a predefined event source.

Registry Access

The Network Service account does not have Write access to the registry. If your application needs to write to the registry, you must configure the necessary access control lists (ACLs) on the required registry keys.

Granting Registry Access to Network Service

In the following example, an application needs to change and display the name of the Internet time server that Windows is automatically synchronized with. An operator can change this setting by using the Internet Time tab from the Date and Time item in the Control Panel.

Your application needs to modify the following registry key:
HKLM\SOFTWARE\ Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\DateTime\Servers

To allow the Network Service Account Write Access to the preceding registry key

You need to use an administrator account with permission to alter the registry security to perform the following steps:

1. On the taskbar, click Start, and then click Run. Type regedit in the Open box, and then click OK.

2. Expand the outline list in the left panel to locate the DateTime folder icon at the preceding registry path.

3. Right-click the DateTime folder, and then click Permissions.

4. In the Permission for Servers dialog box, click the Add button.

5. In the Select Users, Computers, or Groups dialog box, type NETWORK SERVICE in the text box, and then click Check Names. The Network Service name will be underlined; this indicates that it is a valid security principal. Click OK.

6. In the Permissions for Servers dialog box, click the Network Service user name from the list, and in the Permissions for NETWORK SERVICE section, click Advanced.

7. In the Advanced Security Settings for Servers dialog box, click Network Service, and then click Edit.

8. In the Permission Entry for Servers dialog box, select the Set Value and Create Subkey check boxes in the Allow column to permit write access. Click OK several times until the Permissions dialog box closes.

Note You should be careful while editing the registry because any mistake can lead to system instability.

Your ASP.NET application could now use code similar to the following sample to change and display the name of the Internet time server.

using Microsoft.Win32;
...
protected void Button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
//change the time server
RegistryKey rk = Registry.LocalMachine.OpenSubKey(
              @"SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\DateTime\Servers",
              true); //writable - this will fail without proper access
string sDefault = (String)rk.GetValue("");
int iDefault = Convert.ToInt32(sDefault);
//this an array of all the server names
string[] sServers = rk.GetValueNames(); //requires enumerate sub keys
iDefault++;
if (iDefault >= sServers.Length)
      iDefault=1;
rk.SetValue("", iDefault.ToString());
// update display
Response.write(rk.GetValue(sServers[iDefault]).ToString());
}

SQL Server

ASP.NET applications should use Windows authentication while connecting to a database. By using Windows authentication, you avoid storing database credentials in connection strings and you avoid passing passwords over the network to the database server.

With Windows authentication, your application's process account is used by default for authentication. To be able to access a database, your account requires:

· A SQL Server login on the database server.

· Permissions to the required objects (for example, stored procedures, views, or tables) in the required database.

Granting Access to a Local SQL Server

When the SQL Server is on the Web server, you must create a database login for the NT AUTHORITY\Network Service account.

To access a local SQL Server database using Network Service

1. Start SQL Server Enterprise Manager.

2. Expand the folders in the left panel and locate the Security folder for your local SQL Server.

3. Right-click Logins in the Security folder, and then click New Login.

4. In the SQL Server Login Properties - New Login dialog box, in the Name box, enter NT AUTHORITY\NETWORK SERVICE. Accept the defaults for the other settings, and then click OK.

5. Expand the Databases folders, and then expand the Pubs (or equivalent) database.

6. Right-click Users, and then click New Database User.

7. In the Database User Properties - New User dialog box, select the NT AUTHORITY\NETWORK SERVICE account.

8. In the Permit in Database Role list, select the db_datareader check box.

9. Click OK, and then close the SQL Server Enterprise Manager.

The Network Service account now has permission to read the data in the tables of the designated database.

In practice, your application's requirements may be more complex. For example, you might want to allow read access to certain tables and allow update access to others. The recommended approach to help mitigate the risk posed by SQL injection is to grant execute permissions to the Network Service account on a selected set of stored procedures and provide no direct table access.

Granting Access to a Remote SQL Server

If you are accessing a database on another server in the same domain (or in a trusted domain), the Network Service account's network credentials are used to authenticate to the database. The Network Service account's credentials are of the form DomainName\AspNetServer$, where DomainName is the domain of the ASP.NET server and AspNetServer is your Web server name.

For example, if your ASP.NET application runs on a server named SVR1 in the domain CONTOSO, the SQL Server sees a database access request from CONTOSO\SVR1$.

To access a remote SQL Server using Network Service

To grant access to a remote database server in the same domain or a trusted domain, follow the steps described earlier for a local database, except in step 4, use the DomainName\AspNetServer$ account to create the database login.

Note In production environments, you should place the network service account into a Windows group and create a SQL Server login for the Windows group.

War is over now (Microsoft Expression)

Ahmed Ramy — Thu, 09 Nov 2006 14:37:00 GMT

When I first saw Microsoft Expression Web Designer Beta, I went through a flash back more than 6 years from now, when I was a junior web developer I had to work tightly with web designers, giving them our asp pages so they can dress it with their fancy designs, most of the time what we got is broken pages and inconsistent html code since i was new to web development my mind was screaming WHY! WHY! WHY!, Why they do this to our work? the answers was obvious they are designers the way they look to the pages is different from the way we look to it, they see it as a painting place how it looks is his job so if it looks cool then his job is done even if it had lost its functionality :-(

Things had been changed since that time designers start to master HTML more than before, they got the idea (COOL) using more professional tools Like Macromedia Dream weaver things start to work better for web development, after all the .net Web development boom we start to face the same problem again designers are getting our pages and corrupt it (NO NO NO not again plz), now I have more experience to figure the reason its the lack of easy to use Professional design tools,
Try to convince one of them to work on Visual Studio and you will cause a disaster :-).

Hay man they are designers maybe they need some designer friendly tool, maybe Dreamweaver, sure they are happy now but wait why are Custom Server controls are missed here ooh no they delete it why? Cause they are designers they are not responsible about it its all Macromedia dreamweaver fault it doesn't show our asp.net pages as the Visual Studio do.

Now back to the future Microsoft came with the long waiting solution Microsoft Expression Web Designer hoping to fill the gap between the developers tools like Visual Studio and the designers tools like Macromedia Dreamweaver with tight support for asp.net.

Now let’s open a project in it and c how it looks like:

Blank Page

Let’s open a web site

U can call it Visual Studio for web designers ;-)

Normal Web Design and Code and Preview split, enjoy

Master Page Design, a piece of cake

Standard VS Controls, u have no excuse now designers :-)

So now with expression designers now have the same power developers used to have with visual studio, now finally I can say let's relax war is over now let's live in peace together developers and designers.