SysOp Tools - News
May, 2008 - Password Reset PRO still in the works!
Beta release of Password Reset PRO has definitely been far behind schedule. Our dev team is hard at work with finishing it up, and we're anticipating beta availability by
September.
There is quite a bit of complexity involved with ensuring the features and security function as expected within a wide range of infrastructures and AD architectures. We feel the added delay will be worthwhile to ensure ease of use, reliability and simplified deployment.
Password Reset PRO will allow a user to easily and securely change their password, reset their expired password, unlock their locked account and do so in a 'wizard driven' manner. PCI and various compliance requirements have been
designed into the product and include auditing / daily reporting capabilities. Password Reset PRO will be very unique in the respects that it will not require any changes to your AD schema, deployment of modified dll files to client PC's, limitation of use to windows-only computers, or create a change control nightmare with deployment planning. Password Reset PRO will be a web-based product using the latest in Web 2.0 / Ajax technology and leverage the full power of your Active Directory®.
If you would like to be notified when Password Reset PRO beta is
available be sure to sign up an account on our website. We'll email everyone when it is ready for download and we look forward to your feedback.
April, 2008 - Password Reminder PRO Featured in MS Technet!
MS Technet gave Password Reminder PRO a very nice brief writeup in the "Toolbox: New Products for IT Pros" column April issue.
Many thanks to the column editor for review and inclusion of our software.
Link to article, 1/2 way down page:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/cc434698.aspx
November 28 , 2007 - Password Reminder PRO Version 1.4 Released!  Download
Happy Holidays to all! It took significantly longer than expected to get version 1.4 of Password Reminder PRO out the door and into your hands. Some of the new features in version 1.4 such as auditing and alerts for expiring accounts, plus the new 'Expiring Accounts' daily report were fairly challenging to implement- We think you will be pleased with the results and will definitely enjoy this latest version release. Download it now- It is an easy upgrade from version 1.2 or 1.3.
Feature Additions
• View expiring user accounts and related data in the Report Console
• View expiring user accounts in the Daily Admin Summary Report
• New “A” command in the Test Console shows your default domain policy MaxPasswordAge
• New Organizational Manager data column to the Report Console
• New ‘Expiring Account’ daily report shows expiring and expired user accounts in the domain
• Include list of expiring user accounts in the Daily Admin Summary Report
• Most languages are now supported in the reminder emails and the Daily Reports
• Email reminder subject line text is changeable! Type your email subject line in any language
• Send email reminders with the high-importance flag enabled (!)
• Plug-in support for AD Query 1.3 in the Report Console. Double-clicking the left gray box of any user data row in the Reports Console to automatically launch an object search in AD Query (This feature will only work with AD Query v1.3, to be released in a couple of weeks)
Improvements:
• Support for domains with DC’s distributed across multiple time and date zones
• Installation support for Windows Vista
• Installer now requires local admin rights to run setup on supported operating systems
• Password Reminder PRO now installs to the All Users profile instead of Current User profile
• Minor bug fixes and other operational enhancements
August 2 , 2007 - ExchangeExchange.com reviews Password Reminder PRO!
Wow, thanks for the glowing review and full write-up ExchangeExchange (and 4 stars!), we appreciate your words of praise. Click the link below and see what Brendan Keane, Exchange expert and reviewer for ExchangeExchange has to say about our software: http://exchangeexchange.com/blogs/bkeane/archive/2007/07/29/sysop-tools-password-reminder-pro.aspx
June 17 , 2007 - AD Query v1.2 Released!
Continuing with development of our nifty free AD object data search utility, new version 1.2 is now available and boasts some cool new features.
- View Schema, Exchange-enabled ADUC, LDAP and AD
object attributes with one search.
- Switch queries between licensed (free license) root domain and sub-domains
- Uses data straight from Active Directory
Schema and presents all data in human-readable format
- Lightning-fast query of any user or computer AD object
- Shows primary SMTP email address and all email alias (proxy)
addresses
- Shows all listed SPN's for computer / server objects,
including DC's
- Read-only software. Look up Schema data without fear of breaking something
- Runs on any domain-connected Windows workstation or server
- Stand-alone executable - Does not require
a service or complex installation
- User-friendly UI, no coding or schema configuration
required
- Runs under credentials of logged-on user (must be local admin)
- Integrated search history buffer and export of search data to xml file
- FREE xml-viewer available on our website support page. View your exports in a friendly neat
structured table format
- API interface to integrate with next versions of Password Reminder PRO! Click a user in Password Reminder PRO and auto-launch user object search in AD Query!
*feature will be available in upcoming v1.4 of Password Reminder PRO
- AD Query is
designed for maximum compatibility with Windows 2000 / 2003 / R2
and Exchange 2000 / 2003 / 2007 and converts all 'binary' and 'tick string' values to a user-readable format!
June 11 , 2007 - Password Reset PRO in Development!
SysOp Tools is rapidly developing new and innovative software that will save you time and money. Password Reset PRO for Active Directory will provide ability for users to easily and securely manage their passwords whether inside the LAN or working remotely.
Features included: Reset expired password, unlock own account, change expiring password, two-factor secure authentication, full admin email alerting and audit capability, admin ability to make changes on user's behalf, secure HTTPS web-based access, no need for SQL databases to store user data, state-of-the-art user interface technology using aspx and ajax, and more!
A secure two-tier application architecture allows the web front end to be completely separate from the internal application which handles the security mechanisms, eliminating risk of security breach should the web server become compromised.
We are currently in development right now, and will send out beta invitations when Beta 1.0 release is ready by early November.
May 23, 2007 - Password Reminder PRO v1.3 Released, Now Available for Download!
Yes, it is finally out and it is official! Password Reminder PRO version 1.3 has introduced several new features, making this the best version yet. Already using v1.2? No problem- V1.3 is a simple upgrade! Don't have it yet? Sign up and download it now, use for 60 days and see what you've been missing!
For a complete overview and list of advanced feature settings please download the PRP v1.3 Features and Advanced Settings document from our Support Page
- Audit Mailbox: Version 1.3 adds support for a second administrative mailbox called the "Audit Mailbox". This is useful for companies who wish to have user replies to the password expiration emails sent to a Help Desk or support mailbox, while having the Daily Admin Summary Report sent to the system administrator only.
- Send password expiration reminders as text: You have an option now to change the mime-type and format of the sent email reminders from HTML to as text-only. This is useful for government agencies or other secure organizations which do not support HTML email. The default setting for password expiration reminder emails is HTML. All email sending and formatting is 100% RFC compliant.
- Display more data about your users in the User Reports console: We've extended the User Reports console to show more data about your user objects. If you make use of the City field and the Department field in each AD user object's properties, this data is displayed in the User Reports console and the Daily Admin Summary. Additionally, the full OU path is displayed for each user object in the User Reports console.
- Powerful pre-planning tool: For companies that have not yet implemented a domain change-password policy, you may use Password Reminder PRO to determine the password last set date of all your user objects and plan deployment of your domain password change policy in the least disruptive manner. Password Reminder PRO is now able to be used as a powerful pre-planning tool, saving administrators time and frustration with deploying a change password policy in an existing domain.
- Optimized for large domain infrastructures: Password Reminder PRO's engine has been revised and performance-optimized, and is able to support use in extremely large active directories. Have 20k password-expiring user objects or more? No problem! Password Reminder PRO handles this with ease and will not over-burden your server or mail system.
- Behind the scenes support for future plug-ins: Password Reminder PRO's core has been extended to plug-in with future product releases from SysOp Tools. For example, we'll be releasing an external self service password-change and reset portal and an updated version of AD Query. Both of these new applications will integrate with Password Reminder PRO and allow for integrated reporting / alerting. For more information about our exciting upcoming product releases and how you can get on the beta testers list, contact our Support Team.
- Support for all mail systems and clients: Password Reminder PRO functions well with Exchange 2000, 2003 and 2007, and now adds support for use through all other mail systems and clients. Using Notes, Qmail, Postfix, Domino, etc. as your email system? No problem! As long as you have a functional Active Directory and an implemented domain change-password policy, Password Reminder PRO can send password expiration reminders to everyone, everywhere.
- Support for Office 2003 / 2007: The User Reports data is completely exportable to Excel 2003 or 2007, and results are neatly organized in tabbed sheets. Getting a handle on your AD user objects no matter how many you have has never been easier!
May 10 , 2007 - Password Reminder PRO featured in Windows IT PRO® Magazine!
May 2007 issue of Windows IT PRO magazine "Readers Review Hot Products" section features a full 1/2 page review of Password Reminder PRO. We loved and appreciated the glowing review of our software, particularly the line that states "Frankly, it rocks". Yeah, we think so too! Thanks to all at Windows IT PRO for the page space.
If you are a Windows IT PRO subscriber, you may view the full article here: http://www.windowsitpro.com/Authors/AuthorID/1593/1593.html
If you are not a subscriber, you can download a pdf scan of the May article here: Password Reminder PRO Review
May 9 , 2007 - Password Reminder PRO v1.3 official release almost ready (we promise!!)
New version 1.3 will be publicly available by end of the month. We have been distributing the pre-release of version 1.3 to our existing customers, and to many of our new potential customers during their evaluation period. Ok so why the official release delay??? Put it on the site already!!
Again we apologize for the delay. We decided to incorporate some of the features / fixes slated for version 1.4 into the 1.3 release, and code in support for upcoming plugins to Password Reminder PRO.
We feel that this extra bit of delay will pay off greatly to all of you once you get your hands on it- As many of you 'early adopters' who are already using version 1.3 can attest to.
Want a copy of version 1.3 right now?? Just email our friendly Support Team from our Contact Us page. We'll gladly email you a copy of version 1.3 to install and use. (1mb zip file, super easy install).
May 5 , 2007 - Password Reset PRO v1 coming soon
Many of you have asked us to come up with a secure, compliant and reasonably-priced web application that would allow remote users to self-service their password changes / resets / unlocks. Well, we have heard you and it is on our roadmap for Q2. Now for the BEST part- We will be offering Password Reset PRO v1.1 totally 100% FREE to all existing Password Reminder PRO customers who also have a current annual maintenance agreement in effect. This will be our first major "plugin" release for Password Reminder PRO, and we feel that this offering will be extremely beneficial for supporting your remote users effectively and further reducing password-change related support overhead.
We will email everyone when Password Reset PRO is available for beta testing, stay tuned!
March 29 , 2007 - Password Reminder PRO v1.3 pre-release Available!
New version 1.3 will be publicly available shortly. YES! We know it has taken a bit of extra time to get this release ready, and we apologize for the delay. We wanted to ensure that v1.3 improved on the overall Reporting and Reminder performance in very large AD environments (10,000+ user objects). And, we've done it- With an anticipated 50% increase in speed and efficiency!
All current customers and signed-up trial customers may request a pre-release copy of version 1.3 by emailing us through any of the 'contact us' links on the site. Give us your site-registered company name so we can look you up, or if you have
not done so yet, sign up now to access our downloads and create a trial license key.
Your existing trial license key or purchased license key will work fine with new version 1.3.
We know you are going to love this new release!! New Features? Read previous news entry below-
February 11 , 2007 - Password Reminder PRO v1.3 coming soon. New features added!
2007 seems to be a very busy development year for Password Reminder PRO, due to the wonderful suggestions and feedback regularly received from our enterprise customers. You ask- We deliver.
New version 1.3 will be available within a few weeks. All current customers and signed-up trial participants will receive an email notice when it is available for download.
This will be offered as a free upgrade to all current v1.1 and v1.2 users.
Version 1.3 feature additions include:
• Send Daily Summary Report to different Admin email address. V1.3 now allows you to use one email address for the ‘reply to’ in the sent password expiration reminder emails to users, and use a separate admin email address for receipt of the Daily Summary Report and other new alerts.
• Connect to a non-standard SMTP port on your mail relay server (for customers who run MailMarshall or other SMTP firewall software on port 25 of their Exchange server).
• Text-mode email reminders!! We’ve added ability to switch the mime-type and formatting of the password reminder emails to text-only for secure government / military use, or large organizations that do not support receipt of inbound HTML email. And yes, you can still customize the text email message and retain the dynamic insertion of username and days remaining!!
• Admin notification email alert sent if password-expiring user account has no email address! We’ve added logic to send an email reminder alert to the Admin email address if one of your user objects is password-expiring in x days and the account does not have an email address. Perfect for alerting on service or resource accounts accidentally set to password-expire, or allows you to set service and resource accounts to password-expire and be safely notified in advance when to change them!
• Daily Admin Summary Report shows more data for users! The Daily Summary Report shows any user accounts that are (1) password-expiring soon and were emailed a reminder notice, (2) are unable to receive an email reminder due to no email address on the account, and (3) expired password accounts. We’ve now added the location field (City information field in the objects' AD properties) next to the user's name, and a rollup-summary total of all events at the bottom of the summary email. The report is reformatted and easier than ever to read.
• Sort data by column in the Reports Console When reviewing data in the Reports Console. You can now click on and column heading to sort data in ascending or descending order.
• Reports Console shows more data fields in each tab. You can now view more user object data in the Reports Console such as: PasswordLastSet date, Department, Location (city), FullName as well as First,Last, and the user objects complete OU path.
• Reports Console now has improved export to Excel function. Data export is compatible with Office 2003 / 2007, and is user-selectable to either save or open.
• New code added to support future extended feature plug-ins Coming soon: a web-based password self-service portal for users...AD Query PRO version integration...stay tuned!
• Several other low-level compatibility fixes and operational enhancements. We listen to our customers! Your regular feedback and input has helped to make Password Reminder PRO v1.3 the best version yet!
Password Reminder PRO v1.3 now has greatly improved efficiency and lower resource requirements for large-object-count domains (10k +).
February 2 , 2007 - Password Reminder PRO maintenance release 1.2.2587 available
The latest v1.2 build is available for download through your secure customer page. Log in from our home page and click the Password Reminder PRO download link to get the latest installer.
What’s New in Build 2587?
•Backwards-compatibility support fix for NT4/2000 mixed mode and 2000 native mode domains, where user last-logon date field was showing “########” instead of a valid date in the Reporting Console.
•Updated licensed-user check utility for easier determination of number of password-expiring user accounts in your domain. This tool helps with estimating approximate number of client licenses to purchase.
•Typo fixed in the default email reminder templates.
•Code added to application that will support added features in v1.3.
NOTE: This version requires an uninstall of any previous versions. Your settings and email templates will be saved and show in the new version, however you must re-enter the domain\user credentials in the Password Reminder PRO service. Be sure to restart the service after inputting new credentials.
January 16 , 2007 - Password Reminder PRO pricing quotes available!
We have finalized our software and support pricing structure. Request Sales Contact
Fair pricing points are available for all customer levels whether small office, mid-market or Fortune 500. We will begin offering quotes and accepting sales for Password Reminder PRO by Friday, January 18. You may reach Sales via the contact links throughout our site, or for more expedited service please use the quote request contact link inside your secured customer login portal.
Don't have a site login? Sign up to access all software downloads and enter our secure customer area.
January 16 , 2007 - Password Reminder PRO version 1.2 (final) released!
We did it! Password Reminder PRO has successfully moved out of beta and into final release status. Many thanks to our beta program testers! Your feedback, bug reports and suggestions have helped to make this newest version of Password Reminder PRO the best ever! Sign up to download Password Reminder PRO today and use in your environment completely full-featured and free for 60 days! We'll be here to answer any technical or operational questions while you are evaluating our software, and get you on your way to eliminating password-change-related user support headaches.
Some of our new version highlights:
-Supported functionality in native 2003 R2 domains
-Supported functionality for Outlook 2007 users
-Supported licensing functionality for International (non-USA) computer date settings
-Improved user report and auditing functionality, for the reporting portion of Password Reminder PRO
-'Debug mode' built in to the Test Console, which allows easy mail relay and LDAP connectivity testing
-International computer date formats supported for our non-USA customers
Already using Beta v1.1? Log in and get new v1.2! Read the upgrade guide before installing v1.2!
January 14 , 2007 - Password Reminder PRO Beta Program Closed!
Password Reminder PRO final release version 1.2 will be published for download in a couple of days. At this time we are ceasing acceptance of beta program applications. We greatly thank you for your interest in participating! If you have recently applied for beta but have not received an acceptance email do not despair! We know who you are and will automatically enroll you into our 60-day evaluation program. You will be receiving a welcome email from us very soon.
January 9 , 2007 - New Version 1.2 of Password Reminder PRO to be released soon!
SysOp Tools will soon be releasing new version 1.2 of Password Reminder PRO. This version update improves accuracy and functionality of the reporting console, supports international date / time zone (non-USA) operation, supports operation within a native 2003 R2 domain and adds RFC822-compliant addressing to the reminder emails. We expect to have version 1.2 posted for download by end of this week / beginning of next week. We will send an email to all of our current signed up beta participants when it is ready.
January 1 , 2007 - Happy New Year to
all from SysOp Tools!
2007 is upon us, and we look forward to the year ahead. Thanks to all of the wonderful feedback on Password Reminder PRO from our beta program testers, we will be providing an updated build within the next couple of weeks. We may at that time decide to close the beta program to new members and move the software to RTM status, at which time we will have pricing set and begin accepting sales. For our testers who have been inquiring on pricing and sales, we thank you for your patience!
For those of you who have not yet signed up for the beta program, we urge you do so before the program closes.
December 21 , 2006 - Happy Holidays to
all from SysOp Tools!
Sample HTML email reminder template set for Password Reminder PRO! Download Here!
We put together a zip file that contains a nice example of a well thought out email reminder notice. It is ready to use with minor editing (your company name, etc) and should give you some ideas for what you can do with Password Reminder PRO! Instructions on how to use included in the download- Check it out!
December 12 , 2006
New updated help pages have been
published for Password Reminder PRO
and AD Query, and can be accessed
via links on the main page or
product pages. Check it out!
SpeedyQuery and the PRO version
of AD Query have been pushed out
until beginning of Q1 2007. Our sincerest
apologies for the release delay,
we've been primarily focusing efforts
on Password Reminder PRO, making
some changes to portions of the SysOpTools
site, and reviewing feedback from our beta
users.
November 26 , 2006
SysOp Tools is pleased to announce that AD Query is now absolutely
FREE!
Please visit the AD Query product page, register and download before we come
to our senses!
September 30, 2006
Applications to join the Password Reminder Pro Beta team are currently
being accepted.
Please visit our Password Reminder PRO Beta
Request page.
September 20, 2006
Password Reminder Pro is in alpha
release and will move to beta
soon
September 19, 2006
AD Query Pro and Speedy Query for
MS SQL added to product pipeline
and will be available for beta
testing early October
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