bj-kaiser

the hostname should be read from sysprep.inf by mini-setup if I am not mistaken. So if you get a script to query your DHCP or DNS for a hostname and set the computername setting in sysprep.inf with that value before you reboot into mini-setup, you should be all done.

2 options: - use a .BAT or .CMD script to start winnt32.exe from the i386 folder with an answer file (unattended installation) - create an unattend.xml for the Setup routine of Vista and have it lay down a sysprepped image of XP

you only need the MassStorage section when it comes to different hdd controllers windows doesnt know out of the box or had installed before imaging. Everything IDE should work under all circumstances (also sata in "compatible" IDE emulation mode). But if you have a different SATA controller in native mode before the hdd on which the system partition is, it will bluescreen without it.

yep, that should be the right place to search. usually it is some "iahci.inf" or something like that.

i dont see a mass-storage driver section. if the system that reboots does use a different hdd controller, you need the controller drivers. vernalex driver scan tool only adds Plug and Play drivers, hdd controllers are a different story! The docs in the deployment toolkit should explain the settings you need. (SysprepMassStorage section) Another tip: turn off the "reboot on bluescreen" 'feature' in your image, at least until it works! They do contain helpful information, and personally i'd rather see a BSOD than a restart where I cant make out the reason. HTH

ok, looking at autoit3 and kixtart, its all the same. the "script-to-exe" 'compilers' of both work by packing the interpreter into an exe with an optimized script code (machine readable). I would think there is no more protection than this sort obfuscation/optimization of the scripts. no matter what, somehow they have to be run. if you really wanted to make it hard for others to read your stuff, you'll have to use a compiled language. and even that doesnt totally rule out people getting access to the principles of the program (decompilers). autoit and kixtart recommmend to never include administrative or otherwise important credentials in their scripts!

I guess he is looking for something like FrontRange NetInstall or other similar products.

maybe you need the "tempdrive" switch (I'd guess the win2k installer has it too). I got weird errors running the XP winnt32.exe from PE 2.0 without that IIRC. Just guessing.

no experience but an idea, wdsutil.exe is a commandline tool to modify settings of the WDS server. one of those settings is the boot program. hint: "wdsutil /set-server /?" idea: set the bootloader to pxelinux, which in it's default config then chainloads pxeboot.com (WDS). now if you want to install linux, you just have to create the appropiate MAC-linked settings file.

question: any special reason to hack around with newsid.exe instead of using sysprep? also, if you use sysprep/minisetup there should be an option to automatically choose different names for the PCs, not only the autogenerated ones. You have to build some sort of data source though, binding some hardware ID to a specific name. IIRC Have to read the XP deployment docs again. Weird, I dont know where I got the idea with autoassigning usernames. The deployment docs dont say anything about this, so it's autogenerated names or all the same or wait for user input.

WMI isnt scripting. WMI = Windows Management Instrumentation. And I bet there is an API to access it.

never mind. it seems to work now.

I'm trying to install Windows 7 on a Fujitsu-Siemens Esprimo P5720 PC by means of using an autounattend.xml file on an UFD. Setup seems to happily load and go through the file, however at the very end of the installation I get an internal error stating "windows setup couldnt locate or read an answer file". The UFD was still plugged in even though the file should be copied to the hdd already. The setup logs dont help me in any way, they look pretty unsuspicious. Any ideas? unattend.xml

I may have found something Protocol: Microsoft-Windows-Networkprofile/Operational EID 4002 Network identified Interface GUID EID 10000 Network connected Name, Description, Type, Status EID 10001 Network disconnected Name, Description, Type, Status Note: I use the german localized version, so I had to translate the text. I'm not 100% sure I got it right, but I guess it is close.

This may be of interest: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/823659 First thing that fell into my eyes: "Domain member: Require strong (Windows 2000 or later) session key" active by default. there may be more things set to bite you.

well, if you or your workplace own some licenses for the commercial version, it may be a good idea to ask them for unattended installation support. Be it by making NSIS read an answer file (you have to implement that yourself as it doesnt by default) or convince them to switch to MSI or any other installation system that allows answer files by default (first thing I remember, InnoSetup, also free). Other than that there's only repackaging I guess.

another one for UltraVNC. it allows you to run the repeater on your own systems and you have the choice between 3 encryption modules. (MSRC4, ARC4 and AES)

windows supports command concatenation with "&" or "&&". This allows you something like this: cmd /c "imagex /apply ...&& type success.txt" cmd1 & cmd2: in this case cmd2 will always be run after cmd1, no matter if it was successful or not cmd1 && cmd2: in this case cmd2 will only run if cmd1 was run successfully.

if you dont need any fancy features like firewall and on-access scan, ClamWin should do the job. According to their homepage it does support Win98. http://www.clamwin.com

Not fair! Linux is already enough of a punishment And today's bug: Yep, eth0 doesn't exist (yet, it's there, it has valid settings and it even half works!) now that raises the questions: "what did you do?" and "did you report it or confirmed a report of that bug?" Since you seem to be sort of anti-FUD (when it comes to Vista at least, according to your signature) you should have some answers on those, dont you think? quick edit: yes, I know this is getting OT here

I really have to wonder what else they tried out in college. *cough* *cough* oh and here is the source of all of that: http://linuxlock.blogspot.com/2008/12/linu...-kids-back.html have a good laugh at the stupidity.

well, the funny thing about peimg and driver integration is, that on the first run it will always give you some error message. but it doesnt seem to be troublesome in any way. I think I dealt only with Intel and NVidia HDC drivers so far, the hardware set where I work isnt that big.

peimg /inf works on XP images if you have the right folders (that is, users and windows) in the filesystem root. However, only tried it for HDC drivers.

Doesn't look like the worst idea to me. I'd call that an improvement. Especially that you dont have individual dialogs/windows for each settings group, but instead a "page" in the control panel. Personally I find that easier to use.

isn't there some "golden rule" or best practice saying, "RAID doesnt replace backup!"?