TIPS & TRICKS: AppleCare Support Page

Been administering Macs for quite some time. In the past, to view all the machines I manage under one Apple ID I used this page:

http://www.apple.com/support/applecare/view

However, today I learned about a tool I had not encountered before:

http://supportprofile.apple.com

This page is different than the page I've used in the past. It also seems to give me more information than than the old page and more ways to manage the information.

One important note to mention is these two sites are two completely different sites. Information on one site does not necessarily show up on the other as I found out in attempting to register a custom MacBook Air with Auto-Enrolled AppleCare that was purchased from an Apple Authorized Reseller. I had to get on the phone with AppleCare Agreement Administration in order to address this disparity. I assume Apple is in a transition between these two sites. Until they get past the transition, I would recommend making sure that the information for all your machines show up in both areas.

Hope this helps you. Happy computing.

TIPS & TRICKS: Free E-Books for Windows Administrators

There's a lot of free information out there. I always figured if I really wanted to learn something, I didn't necessarily need to go to school for it. Don't get me wrong, the structure of school is something that I require to streamline my learning. However, the information can, often times, be found for free in our information age. As a systems administrator, part of my job is to keep learning and staying abreast of the latest technology. As a frugal individual, I strive to find the free stuff that works for me (not all free stuff holds value for me). I did come across this site that has free e-books on topics that are relevant to my role as a systems administrator:

http://4sysops.com/archives/free-e-books-for-windows-administrators/

Hope this helps you too in the quest for free, yet valuable information...