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CelticWhisper

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Everything posted by CelticWhisper

  1. Urrrgg, not looking forward to that if it's more of the same for Office.
  2. I'm trying to get our corporate Office 2010 installer fully patched via dropping .MSP files in the \Updates folder and am running into a peculiar problem - updates seem to conflict with each other and undo one another's application. For example, if I drop SP2's extracted .MSP files in the \Updates folder and install Office, I can then run Windows Update and get a list of patches for Office 2010 that doesn't include SP2. Great, makes sense, I pre-installed it via the Updates folder. However, when I drop the MSP files from another patch into the folder, even if I rename them so as not to overwrite like-named files from the SP2 application, when I run Windows Update it shows SP2 as an available installation. It's a reduced filesize, but it's still there. This suggests to me that some component of SP2 is no longer installing once other updates are added to the folder. Complicating matters further, re-integrating SP2 then undoes some of the other patches and they show up in the WU update list. Has anyone had success in getting a fully-patched installation of Office made using offline patching, such that a "Check for Updates" operation will yield no missing patches? How did you do it?
  3. I'm sorry to resurrect such an old thread, I know it's terrible form, but I'm fighting with this very issue now. I've tried running setup.exe /a (as well as /A, with the uppercase a) and I get a "Preparing to install Office 2000" window, which stays up for a few minutes and then closes with a "Setup completed successfully" window. I can see no evidence of it creating another directory on the HDD to serve as an administrative install point and I am never prompted for any options. I did try running the Custom Install Wizard once before and there's an MST file in the directory. Do I need to delete this? Is there anything else I need to do in order to revert to a "clean" source? This is running from a folder "O2KSB" which contains the files on the Office 2000 Small Business install CD, as well as the install files for SP2 and SP3. I am extremely frustrated, I will admit that. I am not thinking clearly. I have been interrupted here at the office 12 times since I started trying to figure this out so it's a mess in my head. What am I doing wrong? Thank you and, again, I apologize for bringing back such an ancient thread. I figured it was better than spamming a new one.
  4. This is essentially a follow-up to my "Dot Net Demystified" thread. I'm trying to get WMP11 and the WindowsXP-WindowsMedia-KBabc123 updates integrated into my install source. I found Boooggy's WMP11 slipstreamer and it seems to work well. My question is this: If I integrate WMP11 with this tool, as future updates are released can I just run them with the /integrate switch pointed to C:\XPCD or do I always have to use the WMP11 slipstreamer for all WMP11 updates?
  5. Will check those out as soon as this test install is done. Thank you so much for this.
  6. I've been doing unattended-install work for a few years now, focusing mostly on automation and driver integration, but I've hit the point where I think I've got that stuff down to a science. The .NET framework, though, vexes me more and more with each passing install. I've searched for information on this forum and elsewhere about automating the install of .NET framework components and while I know the information is available, it's not terribly approachable. A lot of the discussions are at a very low level, involving people who've had sleeves rolled up and hands dirty for a long time and are using terms quite alien to me. Other times I'll find one suggestion, see a reply that it didn't work, and see no further replies on how to continue forward. I've heard of RyanVM Integrators, extracting .NET installers, the different stages (T-13, cmdlines.txt, /integrate switches) to run them at, but a lot of this seems either contradictory, inconsistent in results, or incomplete (e.g. I use this installer at T-13...'kay, but do I extract it or not? If so, what do I run? The EXE? The MSI? What?) and it's all starting to run together in my head. I guess what I'm asking is this: Is there a recommended starting point for taming .NET installers? The ones I'm most concerned with automating are version 2.0 because nLite requires it, the stonking huge 3.5 Family Update because it takes forgoddamnever to install and that gets tiring over multiple test-runs, and 4.0 because...latest and greatest? I know from reading that these are not the easiest things in the world to install and it seems a lot of people are fighting with them. If it's just the nature of the beast that they're not intuitive at all to install, I completely respect that and don't expect special treatment. My concern, though, is that there IS an easy solution out there and I've just been missing it. TL;DR Version: Where can I go for simple, explicit, straightforward instructions on how to integrate as many versions as possible of the .NET framework and its updates? I'm drowning in information overload and don't want to chase tried-but-disproved solutions. Thanks in advance for any help you can give. You'll have saved my sanity and that's worth a lot to me.
  7. Allen2 - I figured as much regarding the intent of GPOs but GPO (or maybe just PO? LocalPO?) settings do make a difference on what will and won't happen even on a standalone PC. Locking out control panel pages, mandating proxy settings, freezing wallpaper, etc. are all quick examples. I am looking at implementing a domain but for the time being I still use gpedit on individual systems to force certain configurations. -X- - Thanks for the clarification. I'll definitely give Regshot a try and see what happens. Regarding the gpedit dialog boxes, do you know whether subsequent changes made via gpedit to settings initially configured by registry entries will cause conflicts? I imagine it wouldn't if it's a simple overwrite but I don't want to set myself up for headaches down the line. Thanks to both of you for the info.
  8. Anyone here have experience installing, and automating the install of, the Progression ERP client for Exact Software's Macola ERP system? It's a staple of my generic PC setup procedure and I'd love to be able to include it in my InitialSetup.bat script, but try as I might I've only found that setup.exe /s makes any difference at all, and at that it only seems to sit there and do nothing for a few seconds. Any Macola gurus able to advise?
  9. Hi all, long time no post. I'm getting back into the unattended-setup game lately and I had a couple quick questions about configuring GPOs automatically. First, as I'm unaware of any GPO/MMC scripting tools, I'm going to go out on a limb and assume the only way to configure these is by directly editing the registry entries to which they correspond. If anyone knows of a way to automate GPO settings, do tell as I'd love to have the resource available to me. Now, assuming I go and configure GPOs by registry edit, the question I have is as to whether those changes will be reflected in gpedit.msc if I load it after installation (assuming...I know, a lot of assumptions...I run the registry edits during cmdlines.txt execution). For example, if I configure IE to point to our local proxy (IP 192.100.100.45) via a .reg file, if I then load gpedit.msc and go to User Config-->Windows Settings-->IE Maintenance-->Connection-->Proxy Settings, will the box be checked and the address/port/exclusion info boxes be populated or will it show as the blank default despite the registry settings being in effect? Also, if it doesn't show, what happens if I then have to go and change the settings? Does GPEdit overwrite the registry settings or will there be a conflict? Aside from this question, is there a good, quick way to monitor the registry for policy-related changes so I can go through, apply the policy settings I want, and be told which registry keys were changed as a result of each one so I can create the requisite .reg files? Thanks, you guys are awesome.
  10. I'm wondering if a program exists that can monitor the size of files to which it's pointed and then generate alerts once they hit a specified threshold. I'm thinking PST files specifically, but a general-purpose utility would be fine as well. Alternatively, are there any server-side apps that would do something like this and then auto-Email sysadmins when a file grows too large? Thanks for any help you can provide.
  11. I'm having some difficulty forcing a spreadsheet to cooperate with how one of our users needs it to print. There's an extraneous column containing pricing info for a retailer she doesn't work with and she wants to exclude it from the print, scaling the remaining portion of the document up to fill the space left by the final column's removal. However, when I set a print area that excludes this unnecessary rightmost column, the remainder of the spreadsheet is not scaled up (using "Fit To" 1 wide, 5 tall). Instead, there's white space on the right side of the page that's exactly as wide as the unwanted column in prints that do contain it. Can anyone tell me how to get rid of the column and also scale up the remainder of the document to fill the page? It appears that deleting it won't work as there are merged cells in some rows that run across it. Can these be unmerged? Also, there's a dark outline that I presume is a table or group or some such meta-structure that is present in part of the column. Is there a way to get rid of that? Thanks very much.
  12. Hi all, I'm wondering if anyone here can point me to any language-translation tools, either Microsot-developed or third-party, for Office (Word) 2000. I'd prefer FOSS or at least free-as-in-beerware, but commercial solutions are okay as a last resort. I know later versions of office have the functionality built in, but 2000, alas, does not. Even if the software you point me to is a separate program and not a plugin, I think that'd be fine. The user really just needs some kind of text language translation for dealing with international orders. Thanks very much, everybody.
  13. If you want quality I'd use FLAC, APE, or SHN for lossless encoding without patent encumberments. If you want quality without filesizes requiring an 18-wheeler to tote around, try Vorbis. Not that widely supported, but you can always use something like RockBox on a portable device. Plus, most portables aren't listened to in optimal environments anyway.
  14. I agree with everything you just said. Except about you mentioning the game consoles. What could they be able to track from a game console anyway? What you should be most worried about with the game consoles and online play is the advertising the publishers are agreeing to infuse into the games. Every time you go online, the console downloads new trash from the Advertising server. Not sure what they'd track outside of how much I play each game, but I don't even want them knowing that. It's my business what I play when, and even if they only want the statistics, too bad. As for downloading ads, I file that under "nefarious." The FBI warning you have to sit through everytime you pop in a DVD already makes you feel like a criminal for buying it into the first place. I think they're trying to one-up themselves and make the content even less worth purchasing. Seconded. I was watching Twin Peaks with my girlfriend this weekend and we got to Season 2, and I found out that the DVDs were UOP'd. Wouldn't be a problem on my Mac or my Linux box, as VLC will kindly tell UOPs to go stuff it, but her DVD player decided to bend over and respect the wishes of content owners. Time, methinks, to rip and re-author.
  15. I posted this when Neowin had this article in their news section. My sentiment still applies. I followed up a response pointing out how the discs would also have embedded ads in case the player couldn't phone home with this: I will not tolerate advertising being shoved in the middle of what I'm doing. Marketers do NOT have a right to my attention and I will respond increasingly aggressively until they get the picture. I'll probably stop short of driving up to the ad firm's office with a HERF gun attached to a large parabolic dish to fry their servers, but almost anything else is fair game to stop the deluge of marketing the world is being subjected to.
  16. I'm going to check on that 7-zip tutorial. Many thanks for the tip. One other question about this: it's been said that this contains both .Net 2.0 and .Net 3.0 so this one package should do both of them. However, in the past, I've had some trouble getting .Net 2 and 3 to install alongside .Net 1.1 without rebooting or otherwise interrupting a string of installations. I finally got .Net 1.1 to self-install at T-13 via a batch file called from cmdlines.txt. Will I, assuming the 7-zip repackage goes smoothly (which it should), be able to install this in the same section of my unattended install as .Net 1.1 or will I need to reboot, wait until GuiRunOnce, set it up earlier/later, etc...? Thank you all so much for this. .Net was the last major thorn in my side in getting this unattended install working. If this works, plays nice with 1.1, and takes care of 2.0 and 3.0, I'll be golden. You're the best, all of you. EDIT: Argh, just reread the first post. Seems I do need to reboot after 1.1. What would be the best way to get this to install as part of an unattended setup?
  17. I'm very sorry to complicate things, but is there any way to get this to self-install without repacking, or at least by repacking with 7zip? I don't have access to WinRAR at this workstation. Thanks a bunch.
  18. Passwords can be cracked and, if your intended recipient is going to read it, he'll need the password himself. Then he can just pass the password on. Failing that, he can just take screenshots of all the contents of the PDF. Self-destructing files cannot self-destruct if burned to write-once CD/DVD media. Remember Schneier: Trying to make bits uncopyable is like trying to make water not wet.
  19. No way. There's FoxitPDF The free version is awesome, but for a little bit of cash there's the Pro-Pack which gives you editing features, the text extractor is awesome, and you can put sticky notes and stuff. Its pricy, but it helps keep the regular version free for all. There's also a great app I use. Lite. Its called go2pdf Virtual printer that 'prints' anything to PDF format. I tried Foxit, but I much prefer Sumatra over it. I love how unbelievably lightweight it is.
  20. Add in .wma, .wmv, .wmf as they can contain executable code. You might want to add in some archive formats (.zip, .tar, .bz2, .rar, .gz) and some graphic formats (.bmp and .jpg). Also, I don't know if it's still a problem, but MS Outlook .pif files used to be a common vehicle for viruses to move around. You could add those in as well.
  21. Ah, excellent. Thanks very much, I'll start poking around with that one then.
  22. I'm wondering about changing this graphic during a "classic" style WinXP setup. Is this an MSGINA.DLL hack?
  23. I went back to working on my unattended install this week after letting it sit for a long time and, when I did a test install on Virtual PC, I got an error that I never remembered getting in the past. While XP was still loading files from CD (blue screen phase), it threw an error saying that setup could not copy the file .ds_store from CD. I've only ever seen .DS_Store files on my Macs, and am wondering where in the nine hells it could possibly have come from. I searched my install source directory ("C:\Copy of XPCD") for files named .ds_store and got no results. I did, however, get results when I searched for files containing .ds_store. Here's the kicker, though: when I opened the file (I think it was DOSSETUP.INF) and excised the references to .ds_store, I remade the ISO with nLite and tried again...and it still gave the same error! Anyone know where it could be getting the idea that there's a ".ds_store" file to be copied? EDIT: Also, it prompts for the file 5 times before giving up and continuing with the installation.
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