Noise

Spacesurfer, this is awesome. Are the vdisk files dynamic in size, or can you set them to be one huge size initially to avoid fragmentation?

You don't need to copy any files over to your C: drive after you partition it. Simply run Winnt32.exe from your network share. Winnt32.exe will copy all the files over to the freshly formatted C: drive and presp the system to start the install after the next reboot. Your command line should be: WINNT32.EXE /S:<SOURCEDIR>\I386 /SYSPART:C /TEMPDRIVE:C /MAKELOCALSOURCE /COPYDIR:I386 /UNATTEND:<PATH_TO>\UNATTEND.TXT

Post in the vlite forums. ...mumbles to self... "**** stupid a** vlite/nlite users"

Let me translate for you, I speak foreign.... "Do I need to pre-install the decompression programs (WinRar, Innounp, UHARC, etc) for Uniextractor to work?" The answer is "No". The Uniextractor installation program will install all needed support applications for you.

Sounds like you already have a top-notch install there. Sounds a lot like some of the setups I've developed. You should be proud of yourself. Anyhow, I've never had a problem loading my reg files in to Win2K3 R2 SP2 64 Bit. Here's what I do, I throw all my reg files (simple, everyday normal reg files) in to $OEM$\C\Install\settings directory on the source media (CD, DVD, USB, PXE, whatever). The I load them during cmdlines.txt (t-12 actually). In cmdlines.txt I call a very simple batch file that loops through all the reg files in the C:\INSTALL\Settings directory and loads them. A trimmed down version is below. Note that setup.cmd is in the same directory as cmdlines.txt. CMDLINES.TXT [Commands] ".\SETUP.CMD" SETUP.CMD echo *** Default Registry Settings for %%i in (C:\INSTALL\SETTINGS\*.reg) do regedit /s "%%i" This method of loading registry settings has the added benefit that it modifies the default user registry hive. That means that any registry file with HKCU entries get propagated to all users on that system automatically. T-12 (cmdlines.txt) is the only time you can do this trick.

I agree 100 percent DeathNACan. Interesting that I have about the same experience level as you. And I am not now, nor have I ever been, a Mac user. I support them, but I don't use them for the same reasons I don't use Vista. The Windows 2000/XP interface was perfect for productivity. It was fast, efficient and somewhat easy to figure out. A novice could futz around right-clicking things in XP and figure out how to change their IP Address without help. Microsoft seriously needs to fire their marketing staff in charge of OS "humanization". Windows isn't a Mac, and it shouldn't be a Mac. Windows is popular because it had a great simple interface, one that the IT department could walk people through on the phone. I had to use Vista recently for a deployment project (WinPE 2.1 needs Vista). After about 2 hours of configuring the god-awful eye-candy away I got it to a usable configuration. But there are two "deal killers" with me and Vista. 1. Search sucks. Call me old-school - but I have a hard drive light on my computer and I don't like it going off suddenly for no reason. It reminds me of viruses. So I disable indexing. I've never seen an OS b***h so much... constantly reminding me that indexing is off. But with it on or off, it's completely unusable to me. Vista's search function is strictly for finding MP3's and pictures - it's good for nothing else. 2. Explorer. It's horrible. They have ruined the best part of Windows. Again, Explorer is just designed to look for MP3's and Pictures. The way they did the tree structure in two-pane view is asinine, the "+"'s all over the place, no guiding lines - it hides folders on the same level you're viewing. I make me want to throw it against the wall. If MS want to make Vista and Windows 7 an OS for MP3's and Pictures, they can count me out. It's not a professional operating system anymore. They can count me out, and they can count out all the thousands (literally) of people I support. This is their last chance with me - either make Windows 7 at least as productive to advanced users as Windows 2000 was, or I start pushing OSX and Linux.

If Microsoft removed the classic start menu from Windows 7 I will be really p***ed. Please don't tell me they are that stupid! Did those idiots also remove the ability to right-click a folder in Explorer and select search? I bet the search function is all screwed up like in Vista. You will need the index service spying on all your files constantly to do simple basic searches. Can someone try this for me, I do it all the time in XP with the standard search function (without indexing enabled): search the Windows directory and find all INI files with the term "sata" in them. In XP this would bring up the inf files that supported sata controllers.

As long as it is not IDE you should be fine

And problems like these are exactly why I abandoned imaged deployments in 1994. And IceMan, you're a master at scripting - why are you still using imaged deployments?

Thanks for the tip!

You know, most everyone hates that dog. As a matter of fact I put him to sleep with the following command: regsvr32 /s /u %windir%\system32\srchui.dll So I suppose you can get him back with: regsvr32 %windir%\system32\srchui.dll

What type of filesystem are you using on the SAN? Are you using multipath on your fibre switches? Either way, you shouldn't be using images (sysprep) for deploying these servers, you need to do a scripted deployment (unattend.txt).

Try using /USER: instead of /u: Make sure the username and password don't have spaces in them

Your NIC is configured to boot RPL not PXE. You need to go in to the NIC's setup and configure it for PXE booting.

Ok, if you want to use long filenames go ahead. I'm just saying I've seen issues in the past. It's not an issue with the CD's filesystem, It's an issue on the way Windows does the textmode copy process. We used to have to make a rename.txt file to copy long filenames: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc757895.aspx

It should be set to 8 - not zero! You run into weird problems with sub-menu lockups if you set it to zero.

Ah, good ol Windows 2000. I take it from your directory structure you are deploying from CD/DVD. If I was you I would throw your Unattended directory in Source\$OEM$\C\INSTALL - This will copy all your installation files to the C: drive during TextSetup mode. It has the added plus that you can remove the CDROM after the first boot. You also want to limit yourself to short file names. In NT4 days short file names were mandatory with these types of deployments. I've found that is still true sometimes with Win2K. Also, remember that cmdlines.txt runs at T-12, before any user profiles are setup (it uses the "Default User" profile). Some applications don't install well (or at all) at that point in Windows setup. I suggest you do what I do: use cmdlines.txt to call a script in the $OEM$ directory. Install your registry settings in that script along with other simple things like powertoys, etc. Add the following to your WINNT.SIF file: [GuiRunOnce] Command0=C:\INSTALL\AUTO.CMD And use AUTO.CMD to install your applications.

I have to throw my 2 cents in here. I used to be a big fan of imaging, back in Windows 3.1 days. When Win95/NT came out I battled with imaged deployments for a year. I finally started doing it the "right" way by using scripted deployments. Look, it's plain and simple, and it's been a fact of Windows deployments for over 10 years - Imaged deployments suck! If you want to properly deploy Windows NT/2000/2003/XP you use unattended scripted installations. Yes, they're hard to do, Yes - they take forever to install. But it's the only way to the best Windows installation possible. However, once you got it setup it's easy to maintain. Imaged deployments are inherently unstable - especially if you image the applications along with the OS installation. I always argue with inexperienced admins about imaged deployments, because they are just being lazy. They always mention "well so and so does it", or "HP and Dell use images to deploy their systems". Well, ya they do - and they are idiots. They hired noobs to do their deployments. Recently HP got bit in the a** because they stupidly use imaged deployments to roll out XP. Imaged deployments actually get me angry, from having to deal with their issues over and over again throughout the years. They make Windows unstable and I firmly believe that the reputation of Microsoft Windows being unstable is directly related to crappy imaged deployments. So get off your a** and learn to do scripted installations!

Basically they are telling you to futz around with your CMOS settings. This type of problem is almost always related to your BIOS. Try flashing your BIOS to the latest version. Disable your on board sound in your CMOS, try fiddling with power management settings... stuff like that.

NetBIOSOptions=0

Did you try: Net user "K %& S Towne" ....... ??? Sometimes the percent sign helps

I've done this a million times. It's easy - just follow these's directions: http://www.msfn.org/board/Unattended-insta...ATA-t13173.html Works great. Basically, you copy the drivers to your I386 source, you add a few lines to txtsetup.sif, and you're done.

Remember, the default location for your $oem$ folder, when you're using winnt32.exe to install windows, is at the same directory level as your I386 directory. It's not the same as when you use the $oem$ directory on a boot CD.

It's all nicely explained in ref.chm [params.MS_TCPIP] DNSSuffixSearchOrder=mydomain.com UseDomainNameDevolution=No EnableLMHosts=Yes AdapterSections=params.MS_TCPIP.Adapter1 [params.MS_TCPIP.Adapter1] SpecificTo=Adapter1 NetBIOSOptions=0 DHCP=No WINS= IPAddress=192.168.1.12 SubnetMask=255.255.255.0 DefaultGateway=192.168.1.1 DNSServerSearchOrder=192.168.1.1 DNSDomain=mydomain.com WinsServerList= EnableAdapterDomainNameRegistration=Yes

I've asked this before, I know nihu and crowd bring a lot of love to these forums. People clicking links, buying cdrom's, whatever. I'm a busy man, I have people to see scripts to write, places to go. MSFN has helped me immensely in the past, and I pay respect occasionally. I like to hop on a couple times a week and see if someone noobier (it is a word) than me needs help. I like clicking the "view new posts" link when I logon. All I see now is MSFN is vlite and nlite requests. Look, let's be honest here, vlite and nlite are fine programs if you don't know what the hell youre doing and need something quick and simple. But the program(s) is/are crap. I'm over 40, I've been in IT for over 20 years. Give me a way to filter the sections of the forums when I click "view new posts". Seriously Xper, you have to know what I'm talking about here.