Phil Edry’s Dynamics CRM Blog

1. Read this quick guide on how to redeploy CRM 4.0 without uninstalling and reinstalling CRM. (Note that you won’t have to copy over the CONFIG database). http://blogs.inetium.com/blogs/tedh/archive/2008/05/20/15540.aspx

2. An oldie but a goodie, if you need dummy users to map to, use this script! FOR /L %i in (1,1,100) DO NET USER CRMUSER%i Pass@word /ADD

We ran into this issue at a client after the last Windows Update patch Tuesday. The Customer Effective Blog has a solution. However, this will not solve the problem in all environments. The only sure fire way to fix this issue regardless of corporate security policy is to uninstall the Windows Update for Internet Explorer.

Update: Mike has posted a comment with more information regarding this issue. Looks like you can edit the blank.aspx page as a workaround. Look at the comments for details.

Everyone’s favorite nightstand reading is now better than ever.

Thanks to the CRM Team Blog for pointing us to the new version. They advertise “Over 30 corrections and revisions”, but these are largely related to grammar and other minor changes. One welcome addition is help on using NLB to install CRM 4.0 on multiple computers.

The MSDN link doesn’t seem to work (at least not on Firefox) but this link works.

The Customer Effectiveness Blog links to a white paper that outlines Microsoft’s “plan of continuous innovation and capabilities for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0, which includes:
- Mobility
- Accelerators
- BizTalk Integration
- SharePoint Web Parts”

Download from Customer Source

Download from Partner Source

I found it a good read — it got me excited about what’s in the pipe.

According to an email I just received from “Microsoft Dynamics Training & Certification” (mbs-cert@microsoft.com), Extending MS CRM 4.0 should come out 8/30/08. Who among us will brave taking the exam on day one? Will this exam be more like the installation and customization exams, or more like the much-disliked applications exam? Tune in come September — same Bat-BLOG, same Bat-Blogger! (Man, am I dying to see The Dark Knight…)

Image from Flickr, Creative-Commons 

UPDATE:  “The release date for Extending Microsoft Dynamics™ CRM 4.0 has been revised and set as 10/16/08. Please keep in mind that this is still tentative and subject to change. We recommend checking with your testing center after 10/16/08 to verify the test is being offered.”

Also, The Dark Knight was awesome at the local IMAX.

Some folks have posted on this blog about using pass4sure to help them pass the CRM 4.0 Applications Exam (MB2-631). Everything I’ve heard about the Applications Exam is that it’s very difficult to pass not because the material is difficult, but because the test is poorly written. I cannot verify this first hand since I’ve yet to take the exam myself. Given an unjust exam, I could understand why folks would be looking for a brain dump.

I did a bit of research on pass4sure, and according to CertGUARD, using pass4sure to pass a test is illegal and could get you “decertified,” whatever that entails. So if it really is illegal, which it appears to be, let’s try to keep brain-dump-related content out of the comments from now on. If you’re upset about the exam, drop Microsoft an email asking them to revise it. Folks over there want the tests to be fair, so let your voice be heard if you feel it’s unfair.

I came upon this blog entry when attempting to configure CRM 4.0 Client for Outlook. I kept getting: “The configuration wizard cannot connect to the Microsoft CRM server. This might indicate that the server is down.”

Luckily, rmaclean has found a few ways to fix this. I’ve never seen so many positive replies to a blog post!

http://www.sadev.co.za/node/155

Thanks rmaclean!

p

Did this sneak up on anyone else? 

“Registration for the Second Shot offer has expired. However, if you registered for exam vouchers prior to May 31, 2008, you can use the vouchers for a second shot at any IT professional, developer, project manager, or Microsoft Dynamics certification exam through June 30, 2008.”

I guess I’ll have to study extra hard for the customization exam to try and pass it on my first shot!

 -p

Here are a few CRM blog posts that I’ve found helpful or interesting lately:

A quick intro comparing Workflows and Plugins: http://mscrmuk.blogspot.com/2008/06/differences-between-workflow-and.html

A description of how workflows are different in 4.0: http://crowechizek.com/cs/blogs/crm/archive/2008/03/26/differences-between-the-workflow-functionality-from-crm-3-0-to-crm-4-0.aspx

Internet Facing Deployment Lessons Learned: http://blog.customereffective.com/blog/2008/04/lessons-learned.html 

 Suggested steps for upgrading to CRM 4.0: http://blogs.msdn.com/crm/archive/2008/05/01/upgrading-to-crm-4-0.aspx

-p

I put in about four hours of quality time with the courseware and got nine more questions right than last time for a score of 72%, which was cutting it a bit close for my comfort.

When I clicked “End Test,” I thought I was comfortably in the mid-80’s, so this leads me to believe that some of the questions are trickier than they seem. My advice would be to study the courseware a little harder than you think you need to pass.

Given the comments on my last post, I think I’ll move onto the Customization exam before attempting the Applications exam.

But first, I’m off to Italy for a wedding. See everyone in two weeks!

-p