Mordac85

I'm just trying to point out that while it is possible to struggle with forcing the issue of permanently deleting these empty folders, is it worth the effort? Unlike other OS's, XP is requiring these folders to be present (most likely b/c they can't be monitored if they don't exist). I'm just suggesting that you don't obsess over it b/c if you Google around you'll see many people ask the same thing and have to jump through hoops to achieve a "clean" directory structure. If the cost is crippling part of the OS and causing unknown future issues, is it really worth it? If you can accept the fact that, for some issues, you need to reboot, why not accept that WinXP requires certain empty folders to be present? If you want an OS you can have granular control over like that you wouldn’t be running Windows. Of course, if we could find a hack to adjust what WFP monitors, this would be a moot point.

Are you talking about Office or Windows? If it's Office just use the ORK to make a trasform w/o listing the product key. For Windows, just leave the product key field blank and it should prompt you to supply the info, depending on the install mode.

You could either use something like regshot to compare what registry values under HKCU are being changed. Then alter that for HKU\.Default. OR Log in w/a new account, run the app and let installshield do it's thing. Then log in as an admin, other than the new account. Assuming this is WinXP, under System Properties go to the profiles section on the Advanced tab and copy that profile over Default User (setting 'Allowed to use' to everyone). You can do the same thing w/NT or W2K but I can't remember where the GUI function is located.

Senior Systems Engineer (i.e help desk/local support whipping dog and general stupid question answerer)

fwiw, you don't really want to wipe out ALL of those directories. They are part of other services and are protected by Windows File Protection (WFP). I'll list what I know about them and then you can choose how best to deal with them. Common Files - Contains files shared with, or used by multiple Microsoft applications. It's also the location of the InstallShield info store for your installed apps. Required, don't waste your time trying to get rid of it. ComPlus Applications - Contains files used by COM+ applications. If there are no COM+ applications installed, this folder will be empty. If it's empty, why bother with it? Internet Explorer - Self-explanatory. Try uninstalling the program rather than trying to rip it out by the roots. Microsoft Frontpage - Similar legacy directory as Xerox, needed in case it's ever used. Movie Maker - A std app that can be removed in your answer file or w/nLite. MSN Gaming Zone - A std app that can be removed in your answer file or w/nLite. Netmeeting - Online collaboration/conferencing app can also be used for remote assistance (a poor man's remote control). Outlook Express - Self-explanatory, see IE above. May still be there even if uninstalled due to WFP protection b/c it's needed as a basis for other MS apps. Windows Media Player - Self-explanatory, see IE above. Windows NT - Contains any applications that were ported from Windows NT, like Pinball. Again, if you don't need it, uninstall the app. Xerox - From what I can tell this is a legacy directory (from 98) used by Windows Image Acquisition and protected by WFP just in case it's ever used by whatever MS licensed from Xerox. I understand how one's Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder kicks in and starts nagging at you to clean up that useless stuff. But if it's not doing anything, or never will, is permenantly disabling WFP a reasonable trade-off?

We finally had to settle for 70-80% and left the others to attrition and/or reimaging. Scripting it and making it hands-free for our remote users was the biggest chore. Sounds like you're way ahead of us w/the tools you have now. Wish I had known a lot more back then. You may want to review your path to see why it can't find files that are there. Maybe a temp adjustment to point directly to them, or copying them locally to a defined folder before the upgrade?

Maybe a quick ref to the BMP size restrictions? I always forget them and have to google to find it again. Nice app, really makes my job easier!

I'd opt for Safe mode w/o networking. I've never had any luck w/last good settings saving me from anything.

Are you on the same network or going through MS for the connection?

Did you enable remote connections to your box (bottom option on the Remote tab in System props)?

192.168.1.0 is a network address so you'll need to change it to something other than the ending 0, like 192.168.1.3. Then verify that the router IP is the same as your gateway IP. netsh interface ip show config Which gives an output similar to this: Configuration for interface "Local Area Connection" DHCP enabled: Yes InterfaceMetric: 0 DNS servers configured through DHCP: 192.168.1.15 192.168.7.12 192.168.7.10 WINS servers configured through DHCP: 192.168.9.49 192.168.10.49 Register with which suffix: Primary only this will give you information on your current settings. Record the name of the interface which should look something like Configuration for interface "Local Area Connection" then if DHCP is not enabled, you can run netsh interface ip set address name=<the name of your network card> source=<static> addr=<your IP address> mask=<your mask> Example: netsh interface ip set address name="Local Area Connection" static 192.168.1.3 255.255.255.0 192.168.1.254 OR You can use the GUI under Start \ Settings \ Network Connections and adjust the TCP\IP properties under the connection's properties.

Could you post your ipconfig for both systems?

From the product page here, the BiPAC 5102 does indeed have a firewall feature. However, I don't think these SOHO routers can firewall the individual ports, just the internal from the external. I'm guessing the router's factory default settings are causing problems, either by it's internal config or changes to the IP settings on the systems, if it was also the DHCP server.

If using XP Home and trying to share an internet connection this would be true, to be able to resolve another system on the same segment, I don't think so. I may be wrong here since I don't use XP Home and nfanrekurb hasn't really said much about his setup, but it sounds like he's having issues with name resolution or routing, not internet connection sharing. @nfanrekurb If you can hit the router from one system can you do the same from the other? Also, you may want to compare the IP settings on both systems to ensure they are similar. Are you using DHCP or static? Also, were you able to ping anything by name?

But if the device is no longer connected, will there be anything listed in either device manager or the registry?

Sounds like you need to start some basic troubleshooting and start eliminating pieces of the chain. Can you ping the other system by name? If not by name, how about by IP? ping hanabishior ping -a 10.0.7.14 If you can't get a response from those two, then try pinging something outside the suspect switch, like google or your router.

We have a highly customized unattended install w/several aspects integrated into our AD schema, so after troubleshooting various issues I need to rebuild a couple times a year. I could do my own unattended install, but I like to work from the same type of build the user's are working on and my system lacks the butt to run a virtual device.

How about Perl (my personal favorite)? If you're trying to set known values remotely any decent scripting language should be able to handle that.

A word of warning, make sure you have your test box isolated. I wasn't paying attention and hit a crack site w/IE and it trashed my system before I could stop it. Hate to think what it could've gotten into if I was @work on the production network. ScubaSteve has a point, granted a heavily biased one it seems, but Opera is great for a simple browser that doesn't have a lot of froo-froo stuff thrown in and isn't a heavy target of the malware moguls... yet.

Yeah, I checked it out and I don't have perms to use the File Replication Service (just a lowly admin drone in our large corporate hive) so I have to do it the hard way. Back to your issue, do you get the same error when trying to edit the file through the share itself (\\Tesla\files)? I'm not sure why DFS would be cauing the issue since it's basically an alias service. Also, you may want to go to the DFS root and check the DFS tab un der the folder properties to see which server you're actually connected to when you get the error. That would be the place to start. Once the share is working normally on each server it should function fine in DFS. Do you possibly have different permissions across the 3 servers (different users/groups on each share)?

To my knowledge DFS has no inherent replication, like the DC's have. I had to resort to robocopy until we got our SMS task going. Basic, but it works. If there is a replication engine in DFS I don't know about it or have no rights to it.

What you're looking for is the SP2 pkg for IT admins and developers here. They estimate the 266MB pkg will take 11 hrs @56K Not knowing your wireless network config, let me ask if the card has drivers installed? If you go into Device Manager does it have a warning icon next to your wireless NIC? If it does, you need to get drivers for it before you can do anything else. If your drivers are OK, you may want to get your admin to review ALL of the settings to ensure you have it setup correctly and haven't missed something.

Going out on a limb I'd say the SP2 disc isn't an original, right? Sounds to me as if the data was just copied over and therefore you don't have the bootsector.

I guess my vote would be for Exchange also. Microsoft has made it proprietary enough that trying to emulate it with another package is going to be troublesome. I'd save the admin and support dollars you'd expend on an alternate and put them into the licensing.

I just had a similar issue this AM and had to remove the server from the domain and re-join. Still looking into why it wouldn't authenticate properly, but that fixed the problem for me. Assuming you're in a domain environment, you may want to try the same thing on WorkOne.