tarquel

Thanks but we've already mentioned the port forwarding. I didnt mention it runs on win9x (or did I? lol can't remember) as the topic writer wasn't refering to win 9x. Regards and if no one has mentioned it before, welcome to msfn. N.

You didn't say whether you tried my suggestion: You havent said whether the clients are using the server as a proxy or not to connect to the internet. If there aren't/manually configured to go through a proxy service on the server and the router provides the access to the internet via the switch (i.e. not to the server only) then you should be able to load up the clients without the server connected/running, and access the internet automatically - but of course, like always, it depends on the setup. God...wish i could see your setup lol Try that and post back Regards, N.

yep - i use both realvnc & ultravnc - i said ultravnc as its meant to be faster for this sort of of connecting, and of the little 3rd-party guide i found Regards, N.

@Takeshi: thanks - its going well, tho ...dare i say it... i look forward to going back to work - itching to replace our old email server with a exchange 2k3 solution regards, N.

I've never tried it but does it need a secure connection to it i.e. https instead of http ? Just a random thought lol Regards, N.

Pls dont use all capitals - it is considered shouting and you may get in trouble if you so this. Not sure I followed all of that, but I'm also of the belief that learning by doing is the best way - with a few docs and guides along the way, you can accomplish most things.... ...tho I dont think it apply's to surgery and nuclear physic's lol I'm not gonna comment on SP2 now as thats not the topic of conversation - and I'm sure there's plenty of topics on how good it is (or not) in people's opinions. Regards, N.

@Gurgelmeyer: Wouldn't it just reassign a IP address after it expires tho? @JPry565: hmmm.... you must be usng dhcp somewhere - or are all the clients manually setup with IP addresses? I'm not too hot on dns but managed to configure it at work singlehandedly (somehow lol) - however, we get our internet feed from our county feed so its a little different with us. It does seem a little odd that it stops after two hours tho - on all at the same time. If you can, you could try borrowing a modem (or getting another - at least it'll be a spare if it isnt this) to see whether this makes a difference. Otherwise, It must be something on the network causing it. Can you disconnect the server from lan - phyiscally - and see whether the clients can still connect to the internet and use it for longer than two hours? Keep posting back Regards, Nath.

not to start flaming, but you didnt explain why you recomend not using batch files in logon scripts... Easy to use, understand and alter. kixtart scripting is not the same as a batch file but is run from a batch file with one command. Some of the commands look very similar to vbs but its alot simpler and works a treat. But each to their own of course... If you need a hand with batch/kixtart scripting for the task you asked about, feel free to PM me Regards, Nath.

@Ravashaak: thanks, and was gonna try that - so shall give it a whirl. Was gonna just allow the normal shutdown command but whatever works lol Love the dolphin pic lol I'm relaxing - well, spending most the time on this forum @JPry565: yep - gathered that lol welcome to msfn by the way. regards guys, Nath

Well... regarding xp home - its been fairly straight forward. Get the user to load up windows messenger (making a .net account if needed) and do the same thing yourself. Then providing you get them to add you as a buddy, they can then click the botton/choose the menu option to "Ask for remote assistance" and take it from there. You'll run into problems with firewalls here perhaps so if they are running anything like norton firewall or zonelabs, then they'll either need to make a program exception for the remote assistance side of things - both will probably pop something up asking whether to allow this and the answer is of course yes. Not that this is particularly great, but you may need to try disabling the firewall if you cant get it to work - maybe both on your end and on the target machine - but try just the target pc first. If you, or the target user, is using a router, you may need to open up certain ports - cant remember exactly what the deal was here and as I mention below, I cant find the MS article on it - but if anyone has it handy, pm me and I'll update this post. Here's a few links to help here, although I cant seem to find the one i'm after: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?...9&Product=winxp http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/h...sist/intro.mspx http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechn...ssist.mspx#ECAA You can always PM me if you wanna chat more on this - maybe a chat on msn or something. Regarding vnc, it was a matter of knowing the WAN IP address that you are assigned when you connect up to the internet via dsl. I'm not sure if it works the same way in every country but the ip address may be dynamically (different each time) or staticially (same each time) assigned depending on the isp and/or package chosen. All you need is the vnc viewer (on your end) which you dont have to install even - and the vnc server running on the target machine. A good one to use (as theres quite a few variants of it) is UltraVNC http://ultravnc.sourceforge.net/downloads.html and check out the Port Forwarding section - there's a link to a fan's page on a bit more info regarding it. Once your friend has the server installed, running, and get it password protected - there will be a password option in the server properties which makes it so that anyone trying to connect to the server - to control the machine - will have to type in the password first - very good idea to set this. It needs to be allowed also in whatever firewall is running, and the port open in the firewall of the router/windows - usually 5900 i think, but it can be whatever you like really if needs be. You can try installing that package yourself to get a feel as you'll have to explain it to the user on the target machine. See how you get on with that and good luck. Regards, Nath.

You mention that you've changed the switch but have you tried another/bought a new cable/dsl router? Another thing is that it could be the server - what services/roles is it running? have you set up a dns on the server? Is port forwarding "disabled" in the dns? have you got both dhcp running on both the server and the router? - this would probably be causing conflicts too. Can you ping say an external address or use tracert to see if you can traverse your way out of your network i.e. to see if you can "reach the outside world"? Few things to consider there. Regards, N.

dont quite understand that one myself, but hey, if its solved then great stuff all the best, N.

a fair point - the server OS' have always been more stable - they need to be after all hehe - than the desktop/workstations (tho i believe NT 4 workstation was pretty stable but never saw that os it myself). All that said, if treated right, XP is as stable as you can get, providing you keep it up to date, firewalled, and protected from viruses & malware. Also, only my opinion too, and you right, microsoft should make its desktop os' as stable as its server counterparts - although they do get more crap thrown at them than servers get. All the best, Nath.

installing over itself is never good - its probably messed up the domain settings, along with the moving it to another pc that is. dont know what sort of network u have there but if its only a small one and they dont mind the down time - i'd wipe it and start from scratch (after backing up the files and info you need) You could also try removing the AD, and various roles that go with a domain, then installing/setting them up again. A few ideas for you. Regards, N.

yep - was gonna try that then went into hospital and had a op lol recovering now so still not tried it does it go thru the windows firewall ok? do u need to put inclusions in for it via GP or will it work without exclusions? Regards, N.

cant say for sure 100% as i use the kixtart script in logging on which is soooo much better but yeah, theoretically, it shouldnt matter what the port is called on the client machine. With XP, domains and printers, me and my colegues in the other schools use kixtart for attaching printers in the logon scripts so i'm not sure you see, having never done it any other way. You can try it, but your best bet would be to try the kixtart way if u have time to have a play with it. cheers, Nath

ah ha - i knew i never really understood that download lol well c'mon - it is very early in the am here lol I failed to mention it but VNC is good when the user isnt using xp - works for me Regards, N.

Have you considered using a cable/dsl router? instead of using ICS, and not reliant on the server working then Get one with DHCP & a firewall and it'll be so much easier for you, so long as you want all the pc's to have internet access - although I think there's ways of changing that if you set up a domain & use group policy Regards, N.

I'd have thought that the Remote Desktop isn't in Windows 2000 by default - its a seperate download I believe (tho I havent that much experience in 2000 so cant say for sure). This might be a start: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details...&displaylang=en As mentioned, XP Home Edition should be no problem - I've remote controlled a few home edition-based pc's from XP Pro. Routers & firewalls may be an issue here to keep in mind - you might want to search the microsoft KB for info on that - norton firewall being one surefire way of stopping it working if not configured right. Regards and please post back either way. N.

exactly... so long as the share name (\\server\printersharename) is correct, it should be fine. You might want to look up the kixtart scripting way of doing things - works great for me with servers set up on the server and shared for users to print using.... http://www.kixtart.org/ http://www.scriptlogic.com/Kixtart/htmlhel...ord-index.asp#A I cant provide an example at the moment as I'm off work after an operation, but in 3-4 weeks, I might be able to help you further with it. Regards, N.

maybe so but by definition, Windows Server 2003 is designed to be just that - a server, not a desktop OS. As it seems a service pack issue, you could try calling MS and asking for support on that i.e. Was there before SP1 and now after installing SP1 it isnt there? as I'm led to believe from other posts that you can get free support for issues relating to installing Service Pack's. One thing, is the audio driver(s) still installed correctly? Regards, N.

I dont want to add to any flaming here but MerlinTheWizard was right - I know I wouldnt backup everything on our DC, just to install a slipstreamed server 2003 SP1 CD hehe Why not? You try explaining it to the 300+ users of the system, plus the time it would take putting everything back as it was hehe klasika is also right in saying not to mislead others into not installing a Service Pack on a OS - after all, by definition, a service pack is a pack of services lol which should be treated as such - hotfixes and so on. So long as you have the system as clean, drivers up-to-date & as stable as it can possibly be before running the SP install, then it should be fine to preform the SP install. In a server's case, it shouldnt be used for anything else than serving - as in what it is designed for. Installing Office on a DC is, for example, a silly idea - use a workstation for that and other software. In short: SP's are good - bar none lol And like mentioned, if you have a problem when installing, you can call MS for free help. Can't say fairer than that really Regards everyone Nath.

alhussainnet... if you dont have SP1 for Windows Server 2003 installed, then it shouldnt matter as there is no firewall in 2003. Even if you install sp1 now, it wont enable the firewall (by default unless it is slipstreamed I read somewhere) and if you do enable it afterwards, then u should follow the advice given above. Regards, N.

I'm not at my server so cant say for sure about this. You may need to state what server os u r running as it may differ depending on the server OS. I've never heard of converting a object like this but it may be possible. Regards, N. PS Welcome to MSFN.

virtual servers? its no replacement for the real thing IMHO I've never tried Virtual server's so i cant really help with that, but how about just having less physical servers? How about a little more info - how many servers have you got? what they running? what tasks does each one perform? etc Regards, N.