Mordac85

Join the domain w/sysprep? Always/daily. Join the domain using BDD? Nope, not sure I really want to go there either.

Yes, DVD's are going to be slower. Your's has a read speed of 16x for DVD's and 48x for CD's. Not quite 5x but a significant difference. It's the price we pay for the storage capacity. Good, fast and cheap. Pick 2 cuz you can't have all 3.

Stop, do not pass Go, do not collect $200. Re-installing or repairing an infected OS will not remove the infection. Even if it wasn't a virus, I have to side with Tasslehoff, the repair "feature" is pretty lame. I'd recommend you save your data and wipe it clean. Then start over with a fresh build from good media. Opinions may differ, but I'd rather take the time to start over fresh and have it over and done with than continually fix a variety of problems.

Yes, you should be able to use RyanVM's pack. Once you unzip it everything is there. I just haven't looked into exactly how to do that. An easier method would probably be to use the Windows Update Catalog to grab all the updates you may want. Then you have them local and can run them when time permits.

Is the BIOS up to date? Maybe try flashing it again?

This message is normally presented when there is a policy setting in effect. I would double check the policies under gpedit.msc (esp Computer config\Windows settings\Security settings).

I'll get a jump on your next question too. Check out the MSFN Unattended Guide for customizing the install before running sysprep.

Assuming the XP partition was the last one you built, you could create an image of the W2K partition on another drive, sys it and remove your dual boot drive. Then boot from the lone W2K drive, upgrade away and reverse the process.

If you can RDP into your server, why then can't you hit the workstations? I'm assuming there's a reason for the man-in-the-middle routine which would make these other recommendations problematic if you can't see the workstations. Assuming you're using a VPN connection, if you can ping the workstations you should be able to RDP them as well since the required ports do not appear blocked. Depending on how it's setup, you may have to use FQDN's to resolve them.

It does sound spam-ish, but very interesting and probably the reason for the post. It makes me wonder too if this is a poor man's smart card or what? What about domain user's when their passwords expire. Not much info on the vendor's site. Ummmm, I think I'm going to have to check this out too. Thanks for the link jaclaz

Take LLXX's advice and read the docs for whatever imaging app you get (I'll use Ghost as an example here). The basics below will still leave you with a lot of questions if you've never done this before. Read the imaging docs for your app and the Unattended Guide to get an idea of what you're doing. A lot of it is similar. Figure out where you can store the image you're going to create (no, it can't be on the same drive) Build your system, install any apps that you want (you don't have to install Ghost on this system) Get everything as you want it Get a copy of Sysprep (from the WinXP CD in Support\Tools\Deploy.cab or from MS) and copy it to a folder under C:\ called Sysprep Create an answer file (e.g. sysprep.inf) either manually or using the Setup Manager (from the WinXP CD Support\Tools\Support.msi) Create a boot disk that can access this location Copy ghost.exe to your boot disk (ghost32.exe if it's a PE based boot disk like BartPE) From your clean, newly built system, run sysprep -mini -reseal Before your system reboots again, use your boot disk and create your Ghost image Remove the boot disk and reboot Let the system run through mini-setup and you're back w/your orig system and a Ghost image of it I'd recommend testing your sysprep.inf before making the image, just to make sure it works the way you want. At some point you may also want to make a bootable DVD with your image on it and Ghost so you can pop in the disk and restore your system.

Depending on the power management support you have, you can define the actions of these buttons as well. Look under the Power management on the Advanced tab. In this case I'd set the sleep button to 'Do nothing'.

The error message is from a problem w/System Restore. From your description I don't know why this would be the case. Is this an imaged system or did you transfer it from one drive to another? I found this solution on the net, but I can't guarantee it'll fix your problem. Do step 6 and note how the System Restore tab looks and also note the state of the service before changing it in step 3. Click Start | Control Panel | Administrative Tools | Services. Right-click System Restore Service and click Properties. From the Startup Type drop-down, select Disabled. Click OK. Close the Services and Administrative Tools windows. Right-click My Computer, click Properties, and click the System Restore tab. The System Restore tab should now display properly; however, the System Restore service will be disabled. Enable System Restore and click Apply. Note: All previous restore points will be removed. Let me know how it turns out.

Try reverting to a System Restore point from before you started adding the sound cards or load bootvis to see what is causing the lag.

So the whole issue is over a difference of 7 sec? Enjoy your 27 sec boot, even w/the long prefetch. My corporate users average over a minute. Your boot time will change over time depending on what you do to the system also, but that isn't a problem as far as I can see.

Since you restored from a recovery partition I would assume you either have file problems or had data trransfer problems when you rebuilt your system. I would agree w/TD in this instance, you need to rebuild but I would use a regular XP CD or and nLited CD rather than Compaq's media.

To my knowledge, you need to use GP to execute the script after it starts the logoff. If you don't want to use an Enterprise level GPO, you can use gpedit.msc to edit the policy of the individual system and define the logoff script.

What did you change right before this happened and does it act the same for all accounts and/or previously defined profiles? If you're logging in for the first time it could be an issue w/the Default User profile. If it's w/an account that already had a profile on the box then you need to see if it happens to any other accounts w/an established profile to see if it's the profile or the system.

You're being a little too vague in your descriptions. When you say it's not working what is the exact error message that comes up? Are there any related event log entries on either system? Also, what kinds of firewall or security apps is the problem system running or is it behind any device that could act as a firewall?

Did you check the file associations? Maybe someone tried opening a css file and associated it w/something other than IE? PPT may be the same thing, but I'd try running a repair of Office first.

Be careful bonnie, as an admin you can do just about anything to your system. And the virus writers love to catch an admin account. You might want to remain a normal user and switch to the admin account only when you need it.

Instead of reformatting, wipe the entire drive w/fdisk or a similar utility like Ghost's gdisk. While it's possible to upgrade, downgrading is always problematic.

Or a virus that's slammin' the system. Try booting up w/o the network connected, or in safe mode, and run an AV scan. You do have AV installed, don't you?

FYI MS no longer has bootvis for dl at their site. But Major Geeks, and other sources have it.

Or did you alter the Windows display settings from what they were originally? Maybe set them back if you did. Regardless, something changed on your monitor or OS to cause the auto adjust to trigger.