moongoon

Worked on a basic XP Pro system for me. I'm baffled at how cool this little utility is. One could distribute the means for making a silent isntaller without actually "distributing" the software product - so you don't mess with anyone's licensing terms. Awesome and works. Thanks!

Alas, it might not be as easy as it seems. Your hibernating PC thinks that it was never turned off. It has no way to "know" it has just been woken up. If you can't use a router and software proxy is out of the question, well.. Maybe those old dial-up programs with "keep-alive" as a feature would do the trick? Here is an example of one: http://fileforum.betanews.com/detail/1st_Dialer/988912347/1 I've heard nothing good or bad about that particular program, again, just an example.

Sounds like you need an Internet Gateway / Router that works with your DSL provider. Let it deal with the PPPoE and connection stuff. If you can't find anyone else that can recommend a good router for your Internet provider you may have to give them a buzz directly. If you really, really can't get an internet Gateway /Router thingie to work with your service you might consider using an old junk PC with your modem and a copy of WinGate. WinGate: http://www.wingate.com/products.php That way you just leave your junk PC on as the Internet Gateway and enjoy hibernation on your real PC. This is not the best solution as all software proxies /Internet Gateways can have security holes.

System Restore points are only valid for the current install of Windows. Your best chance is to manually peruse the old Documents and Settings folder. Under Documents and Settings you should find sub folders for each user account. You might even find duplicate accounts for each reinstall of Windows (for example Owner.MYWINPC) Under each user should be a My Documents and Desktop folder that contain your saved files. There is a chance that whatever corrupted your Windows install coupled with multiple system restores had wiped out the information you want I personally don't trust System Restore as it usually ends up being a mash up of the old and new configuration as opposed to a true restore. A good middle ground (for future reference) is obtaining and learning how to use disk imaging software such as Norton Ghost. Backup of important files to an external hard drive coupled with monthly DVD burns is ideal. Norton Ghost: http://www.symantec.com/norton/products/ov...mp;pvid=ghost12

I'd take a spare hard drive or a hard drive you think is still intact and install a fresh copy of Windows. Once you've got Windows up you can download and use PC Inspector File Recovery on those Partition Tragic'ed drives. PC Inspector File Recovery: http://www.pcinspector.de/file_recovery/uk/welcome.htm The other option is to have a Win PE disc handy with a legal copy of GetDataBack integrated.. but, I would assume you're not lucky enough to have those things on hand. BartPE: http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/ GetDataBack: http://www.runtime.org/

I specifically disable some updates but many of the people I help become worried when confronted with the "You've hidden important updates" message. Some people even purposfully download those updates I tried to prevent in the first place! A quick search on Google and in the forums didn't seem to turn up anything, although my caffeine buzz probably didn't help Any feedback on how to disable or replace that text? I know it's probably loaded directly from the M$ web servers.. but I was hoping for a workaround. Thanks in advance for any feedback!

Never heard of a magical registry entry that could do that. I have heard of an MSI editor that can remove version checking from a programs installation package called Orca. http://www.technipages.com/downloadview-de...MSI_Editor.html The only problem after that is that the program (you tweaked with Orca) may use newer/changed Win API calls that 9x doesn't have.

Making a small XP CD sounds cool but it rarely works like you want it to. Variations in XP CDs mean that every alteration has a chance to fudge up yer new installation. I use nLite to make GUI Unattended CDs and that's it. I can always come in after the fact and perform the tweaks and silent installs I need. When it comes down to it, it's not about the smallest install CD - just what applications and updates you choose afterwards.

Just some additional data points.. I had the same problem. I didn't find any hits on vccleanup.exe in the registry, but when I uninstalled some leftover Symantec components the error message went away.

Thanks for the heads up on a really, really free defrag. I do like a GUI though. I especially like a pause or stop button which jk doesn't have Although not open source Auslogics Defrag is free for personal and commercial use and works in a Win PE environment. http://www.auslogics.com/disk-defrag/index.php Auslogics can't beat the size of jk though.. wow!

Try Fab's Autobackup http://fabs.dyndns.org/index2.php?lang=en&...ction=freewares