Mordac85

IMHO I think the UI is pathetic. Even when I go to customize it, M$ has decided what is the "most popular" actions, which of course aren't mine, so I have to guess at what the name of the command/action is so I can find it in that huge honking list. If I need larger icons I can resize my screen accordingly. To follow what they perceive is the 'hot' trend is pathetic. I'd rather see innovation from the industry leader, rather than bloated cloning.

A little more info please. What happened to make your system give an I/O error? Did you have a hardware failure or just install some software or an update? Can you reproduce it and under what circumstances? I'm just not sure your problem, or what information you're looking for, is very clear.

%~dp0 expands to the current directory, so C:\ in front of it is not needed. As for multiple files, just modify the time stamp with the time as needed since we already have the entire time defined. I picked up this snippet from WindowsITPro and it's explained in detail here. And Yzöwl's idea makes a lot of sense if you ever have to go back and sort through the data. I didn't think about it before but the exported reg file is unicode, and your ftp server must be doing some kind of translation/conversion on it. But an extra step converting it to std ASCII solves the problem. @echo off setlocal For /f "tokens=1-7 delims=:/-, " %%i in ('echo exit^|cmd /q /k"prompt $D $T"') do ( For /f "tokens=2-4 delims=/-,() skip=1" %%a in ('echo.^|date') do ( set dow=%%i set %%a=%%j set %%b=%%k set %%c=%%l set h1=%%m set m1=%%n set s1=%%o ) ) :: Add the time to the stamp Set PRE=%dd%-%mm%-%yy%_%hh%-%min%-%ss% REG EXPORT HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\BABLA.reg %temp%\dump.reg type %temp%\dump.reg>%~dp0%PRE%_systemlog.txt del %temp%\dump.reg set user=... set pass=... set srvr=... echo open %srvr%>>%temp%\sendtoftp.log echo %user%>>%temp%\sendtoftp.log echo %pass%>>%temp%\sendtoftp.log echo put %~dp0%PRE%_systemlog.txt>>%temp%\sendtoftp.log echo bye>>%temp%\sendtoftp.log ftp -s:%temp%\sendtoftp.log del %temp%\sendtoftp.log endlocal I'd also recommend keeping the setlocal/endlocal lines so you don't keep the unnecessary variables around in the environment. Run your batch as is and then type 'set' at the command prompt to see what I mean.

IF you just want to get your feet wet I'd recommend using a Live CD. You just boot to it and it's pretty much a running system. To start out, I'd recommend something well rounded and stable (Ubuntu/Kubuntu, Slackware, Fedora). Start at Linux Documentation Project or the forums at Linux Questions. Learn the file structure and where linux puts everything in relation to what you know about Windows and then you should be able to start playing with the various applications and configurations. Work from the command prompt as much as possible and use the man pages when you get stuck.

OK, this could be a rather complex question, but I'm not sure what you mean. Logon scripts are assigned to a user account and the DC you hit depends largely on costing as it's defined in the domain. But I think you mean something else entirely. Do you mean you want to determine where a user is logging in from (in the office or on the road) and from that perform some tasks? If so is there a particular IP subnet(s) associated with the VPN/RAS connections or are the clients only using a dial-up connection?

I can understand your resentment of your dad, but it doesn't sound like he intended her to hurt herself. Sometimes it's the littlest actions that bring about the most dramatic change in people's lives. Just try to be there for each other and work through it. She sounds like a fighter so I really hope she pulls through and comes home soon.

Either Mwave or Newegg, depending on price. They are reputable and don't screw you on shipping.

A friend of mine worked there a few years ago and said it was really going down hill then. Guess the slide either isn't that long or is real steep!

I'm not sure about the documentation, but yes it will only create in the specified OU, not move it if it already exists. I always recommend deleting the account and let your answer file handle it, but it really depends on how you wnat to go about it.

You can use SC to start/stop a service as well as disable it. sc stop spooler sc config spooler start= disabled Returns: [SC] ChangeServiceConfig SUCCESS Just beware that the space between the equal sign and disabled is not a typo. SC will bomb out if you don't use it.

QED, you just need to handle them one at a time like so: copy %userprofile%\Desktop\1 %SystemRoot%\system32 copy %userprofile%\Desktop\2 %SystemRoot%\system32 And then to delete: del %SystemRoot%\system32\1 del %SystemRoot%\system32\2

How about something like this? @echo off setlocal :: Create the date and time elements. For /f "tokens=1-7 delims=:/-, " %%i in ('echo exit^|cmd /q /k"prompt $D $T"') do ( For /f "tokens=2-4 delims=/-,() skip=1" %%a in ('echo.^|date') do ( set dow=%%i set %%a=%%j set %%b=%%k set %%c=%%l set h1=%%m set m1=%%n set s1=%%o ) ) Set PRE=%dd%-%mm%-%yy% :: Export the key(s) REG EXPORT HKLM\BLABLABLA %~dp0%PRE%_BLABLABLA.reg :: Build the ftp command file echo [UserName]> %~dp0send2ftp.txt echo [Passwd]>> %~dp0send2ftp.txt echo prompt n>>%~dp0send2ftp.txt echo put %~dp0%PRE%_BLABLABLA.reg>> %~dp0send2ftp.txt echo bye >> %~dp0send2ftp.txt :: Send the file ftp -s:%~dp0send2ftp.txt [ftp server] :: Delete the command file del %~dp0send2ftp.txt endlocal

You're correct so far, but I'm not sure what kind of ideas you're looking for. The only way around the MachineObjectOU issue is to use some kind of script during post processing.

I'm not sure, but I believe you can specify multiple languages in the unattend.txt file if the source/distribution was the Multilanguage User Interface (MUI) version. If you just want Turkish, I think you just need to add the language pack to the source/distribution.

They're talking about virtualizing desktops here and there so I hope that doesn't come to pass. But since it probably looks good on a spreadsheet somewhere we'll have to deal w/virtualization sooner or later. I've just now tested building on a Multi proc, changing it to ACPI and the UpdateUPHAL line changes to the Multi proc HAL just fine. I need to try it out to make sure it works on a Uni and ACPI HAL, but I think it should work just fine. So i guess I'll be able to add our M60's to the image as well (sigh)

He He He It actually does make sense, but it just depends on how many systems you're doing this to and what your situation is. For a single home system, or one that you're constantly changing/updating then no it isn't the way to go. However, if I'm doing this for work, or my own home use where I have 8-10 systems in use by the entire family, it does make sense to have a build ready to deploy in a matter of minutes. The extra time running sysprep and creating an image is a one-time cost that is recovered in time saved each time I deploy the image. There is no shorter distance to the opposite corner of a square, just another way to get there. And that's fine, just as long as the solution meets your needs to resolve your problem. In some situations it's better to just go with an unattended install, for others sysprepping one and reusing it fits the bill. @bouncer2007 - How's it going with your initial issue?

What account do you need to use to run this to update the logged in user's wallpaper tho? I haven't gotten into playing w/tasks to this extent before, but since it's altering the wallpaper for the user I would assume you need to run the task in that context, which would mean setting up the task w/their user/pass and then again when/if they change their passwords. Or would a domain service account be able to do this? A bit of a quandry since you can't reliably fall back to a logon script either. Maybe a GPO would be a better route, but again, will the context play a part in how it operates?

What was used for the master image system and did it have similar hardware? You may already have the enumerations defined in the CriticalDeviceDatabase, but I would still think it would see the unknown devices and rescan to install them. Possibly the option to not attempt drvier installation is set from the image master?

Forgot you'd have to load their profile and run under the user's credentials to get it to change the wallpaper. Maybe the logon script is the easier route, checking for the template modify timestamp or run at each logon no matter what. That way it would be pretty much hands off, and all you would need to do is just maintain the BGinfo template.

Just depends on how much time you want to stare at the screen. Personally, I prefer to automate routine tasks like that as much as possible.

Unfortunately, you need a user logged in to have BGinfo update the wallpaper. But there are a number of alternatives if you're running into issues with a scheduled task on all systems, which is not a preferable solution. You can use a simple text file, stored anywhere, an unused field in the AD computer object that just has a line for the date your update was last run or the date the BGinfo template file was last modified. Then just check the text file or AD field for its value. If it's say > 90 days or the template has been modified, re-run the script. * OR * Why not just have your script query AD for all computer objects, skip the ones where AD attribute operatingSystem contains "server", then use psexec to run the BGinfo update on the system remotely. This way you can make whatever changes you want and just kick off the script to push the update and you have a single point to manage the process.

EULA status aside, have you checked HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\CriticalDeviceDatabase to see if you have a listing, pointing to the corresponding service under HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services, for that device ID? I just got done wrestling with a similar issue with a SAS controller. Maybe it would help to make a vanilla XP build and see if the issue duplicates? nLite is great for making a quick, customized XP install but may be doing something to cause this based on what you've added/removed. Some choices in nLite can lead to unintended consequences. @Arie - Sysprepping after an unattended install is used for imaging, which saves you on the build time of a system. I maintain an image for home, as well as @work, so I can have a base system up in under 10 min w/o jumping through all the unattended install hoops every single time I build a system.

Personally, I'd use schtasks.exe instead of AT b/c, imho, it's a more robust alternative. I don't know what kind of environment you have, but you may want to consider either: Adding a routine to run said app every x days to their logon script (maybe a tag file on their system w/last run date or an unused field in AD) Using a GPO

What I was getting to w/devcon was to verify you actually are using the Intel controller and not the SI one. But from the list it looks like you may have the Intel one. As for PE, I'd recommend BartPE, but that's assuming you can't currently boot to the system in any way. You can use a utility like devcon or Unknown Devices to scan the system's hardware. Both can give you the PCI ID of the RAID controller and from there we'll know if we're trying to run the SI controller with the Intel drivers. If you have the Intel controller I'd recommend pulling the driver from them directly (link in previous post) and verify the PCI ID string you found is listed in the driver's INF. If so, that should work just fine. Warning: Technical Geek stuff ahead As for the DEV section, I was referring to the PCI ID string found in the driver INF file. No menus or GUIs to make it simple, you just need to use notepad and read the file. A PCI ID is broken down into standardized sections. There is a hardware ID and a specific device ID. The hardware ID can be such things as PCI, ROOT, HDAUDIO, USB, etc, followed by a slash and the device ID string. The Device ID, for specific hardware, will usually have a vendor (VEN_8086) and a device (DEV_2922) at the very least and sometimes seperated by additional items like subsystem (SUBSYS_02111028), revision (REV_02) and, in some instances a specific instance (\3&172E68DD&0&FA) separated by ampersands (&). MSDN ref is here. String all that together and you get something like: PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_2922&SUBSYS_02111028&REV_02\3&172E68DD&0&FA The driver INF will normally only need to match on the vendor and device (PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_2922), but sometimes may be defined more specifically if they need to do something special for a particular chip. If you find that part of the PCI ID in the driver INF you're trying to use, then you have the correct driver and the problem most likely lies elsewhere in the build process.

F6 will show the drivers it finds on the floppy, but doesn't tell you if they're the one(s) you need. That's the correct method in this case, since the notes from the current driver from Intel says you have to unpack the drivers, v7.8.0.1012 avail here, and use the F6 method. However, if you look at the drivers for this MB it shows the Intel Matrix Storage Manager, but also an integrated Silicon Image controller. Maybe you can boot to a PE CD and run devcon to find the actual PCI ID of the controller? Then check the INF's for the PCI ID (grep up to the DEV section usually e.g. PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_2922).