PsiMoon314

Sorry I bothered.

Hi, Just a couple of thoughts on this, and I am prepared to be wrong here: 1. Does the /INTEGRATE option really work for KB960680-v2? Many other updates have broken /INTEGRATE functionality so I would not be surprised to see it was broken here also. If you do a clean OS install and then install KB960680-v2 does it work correctly? 2. Are you looking in HKEY_USERS\.Default ? If so then that is not the Default Users Hive. See here for more information: http://blogs.msdn.com/oldnewthing/archive/...02/1786493.aspx Kind Regards Simon

Hi, The Sysinternals PageDefrag package will defrag the Pagefile, Hibernate file and various registry hive files at the next reboot after running, similar to the way that CHKDSK (or AUTOCHK) will run before Windows is loaded. This tool will try to ensure that all parts of those file are contiguous, however it does not tackle the $MFT or other meta-files. Kind Regards Simon

Hi, You might want to look at the HDDErase package which uses the drives internal Secure Erase or Enhanced Secure Erase commands to wipe the drive: http://cmrr.ucsd.edu/people/Hughes/SecureErase.shtml This has the advantage of also clearing the data from reserved parts of the drive not accessible in any other way. Kind Regards Simon

Hi, Any major update such as installing a Service Pack is likely to cause fragmentation of your registry and other system files. Use of a good defragmentation package and the SysInternals PageDefrag tool should help to put things back into proper order. Kind Regards Simon

Hi, If they are not prepared to understand that they have been ripped off with a pirated copy of Windows then leave them to it and they can talk to someone else to get the same answer. Give them the contact number for Microsoft in your area and they can discuss it with them. The options for anyone who comes to me with a pirated copy of Windows are to are take the PC away or get the OS licence updated by what ever means are needed upto and including a licence purchase. Any retailers who sell pirated Windows installations in my area on their PC's are reported to Microsoft. Strangely most of them have either moved on or are no longer in business. Kind Regards Simon

Hi, As far as I know the option to skip the product key during XP SP3 installation is only available to Retail versions of the OS, not OEM ones. Most installs use OEM versions of XP, not retail ones. I specify a "dummy" but valid key in the WINNT.SIF file and then change this prior to activation. You can change the product key used for activation via the XP Activation Wizard. I also use a dummy Name and Organisation and then change this in the registry once the OS is installed. In this way XP will install unattended and then need only minimal changes once installed. Kind Regards Simon

Hi, The following reg tweaks will add a new menu to the Control Panel -> Folder Options -> View menu: Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced\Folder\InternetExplorerOnDesktop] "RegPath"="Software\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Explorer\\HideDesktopIcons\\NewStartPanel" "Text"="Show Internet Explorer icon on the desktop" "Type"="checkbox" "ValueName"="{871C5380-42A0-1069-A2EA-08002B30309D}" "CheckedValue"=dword:00000000 "UncheckedValue"=dword:00000001 "DefaultValue"=dword:00000000 "HKeyRoot"=dword:80000001 [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\HideDesktopIcons] [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\HideDesktopIcons\ClassicStartMenu] "{871C5380-42A0-1069-A2EA-08002B30309D}"=dword:00000000 [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\HideDesktopIcons\NewStartPanel] "{871C5380-42A0-1069-A2EA-08002B30309D}"=dword:00000000 Once applied you should then have two new options, under a new Internet Explorer section at the bottom of the above mentioned menu. Hope this helps Kind Regards Simon

Hi, Even if you had the origional Packard Bell Installation or Recovery CD/DVD's for Windows you may still find it fails to install. Packard Bell PC's often use a technique called "Tattoing" to mark the hard drive with special additional information to ensure you cannot install a Packard Bell version of Windows onto another PC. If you replace the hard drive with a new one (because the old one failed for example) the Packard Bell Installation or Recovery CD/DVD may not work without the tattoing in place on the new drive. Packard Bell is often reluctant to release information on how to tattoo a new hard drive; however a Google search may find useful information on this. Personally I would source a set of generic Windows XP MCE 2005 install disks and use the licence key on the product sticker to get this PC up and running again. Kind Regards Simon

Hi, http://support.microsoft.com/kb/329284 Kind Regards Simon

Hi Jatinder, After checking BIOS settings (although I doubt there will be any USB settings there) you might want to uninstall all USB hubs and ports from Windows Device Manager. To do this Right Click on My Computer, Select Manage and in Computer Management select Device Manager. In the USB section near the bottom you will have three or more entries for USB Hubs and similar USB items. Uninstall all of them and then reboot the PC. Once Windows restarts then this should force the Plug and Play process to re-detect your USB hardware and rebuild the list of hubs and adapters. This may fix the speed issue you reported. Kind Regards

Hi, Creation of the "Owner" account seems to be automatic on Windows XP Home. With Windows XP Professional you can logon to the Administrator account which is not permitted on Windows XP Home (except in Safe Mode). I suspect that the post install process for XP Home simply creates this account for you as a starting point. You can use Control Panel -> User Accounts to create another logon which is more suited to your needs or perhaps a script could be used. Kind Regards Simon

Hi, Well to quote myself, The answer seems to be something to do with the .NET 1.1 installation or it's updates. Following a lot of testing when these are commented in the SVCPACK.INF file, Windows XP Home OEM SP3 now installs correctly and the default "Owner" account is created. Clearly something about this way of installing .NET 1.1 is not 100% working with Windows XP Home OEM. Kind Regards Simon P.S. KB947864 does not install correctly for me either. QFECHECK reports incorrect versions for various files. It would appear that this install method will not work via SVCPACK.INF.

Hi, Is there a reason why using SVCPACK.INF would prevent Windows XP Home OEM SP3 from creating a default user name at first logon? The "Administrator" account is created however you cannot logon to this account in normal mode in Windows XP Home. This means that the XP Home logon screen is blank and there is no account available to select to logon to the PC. The usual "Owner" account which XP Home OEM creates when I do not use SVCPACK.INF is not being automatically created. Anyone have experience of this and can point me to a solution? Kind Regards Simon

Hi, I have been building a testing XP Home OEM SP3 integration with an unattended install I can cannot get the install to skip asking for the product key. I have tried using both no ProductKey entry and ProductKey= which is blank in WINNT.SIF and in both cases the SP3 unattended install always asks for a key during installation. How do you get an unattended install to skip asking for a Product Key? I am building on Windows XP and not Vista. Kind Regards Simon