tarquel

Dont think I've mentioned it yet - but a lovely new Acer came out not so long ago and its what I've ordered earlier today. Acer TravelMate 8104WLMi - visit the link for their info And if u want to look at a review of it, take a look at the very nicely presented one: ***here*** @ Hardware Zone Here's a snippet from the Acer site (for those who dont wanna delve into the links) showing the spec: Although not mentioned in that 'mini'-spec, its the new 'Sonoma' Centrino platform, it weighs 2.9Kg & avg run time is quoted at 4 hrs, but its more like 3 hrs I think - the review will give you more info on that, and of course, regarding pure intense gaming on the batt - it mentions that too 1.5 hrs which is pretty good aparently (but read the review if you wanna know more on that) and its got sooo many connections, that there's not much u cant attach to it hehe. I thought it seemed to be the best comprimise in gaming, business use & connectivity, and portablility. I also got the 3yr AcerAdvantage warranty inc. accidental damage for about £80-ish which i think is well worth it when your spending that much. Insurance is something I'll contemplate too (in the few weeks before it arrives) Ebuyer UK Link - current price is of this post is £1453.44 inc VAT (i got it for cheaper naturally) - not in stock, probably because they're like gold dust at the moment hehe I'll update here when i get it, to show my findings if anyone is interested Hope this has been useful to any one interested - and I cant wait to try it out and giving a hammering (not physically) on a few choice games. Regards & thanks again to all those who commented on their favourites - please carry on the thread tho as its always useful to note these things Cheers, N.

Really...thats a bit odd :S I dunno if it'll be much help but I'll *try* (and remember) to get a list of them from my two servers and see if theres anything since the failsafe hotfix list on the XPC website EDIT: This will probably be around Wednesday due to the easter holiday here and that I'm off for a few days so sorry about that. I'm using Srv 2003 Std tho, not SBS, so I *hope* it isnt any different. I wouldnt imagine it wud be really, not for the usual critical patches and so on but you never know. isnt 2003 lovely? - GP works soooo well (sorry - digressing hehe ) Regards, N. PS Service Pack 1 will be out before long remember - anyone know when it's estimated release date is?

try looking at the website of xpcreate, namely - the following link: http://xpcreate.com/current.htm and scroll down hehe Anymore hotfixes since that date will be in your Windows Update.log that (I think) will be in the installation dir of 2003 i.e. c:\windows You can look through that to find more hotfixes - providing you are running the server and have been keeping it up-to-date Regards, N.

on just 12, 13, and 28?? Come and see what I have to put up with lol Regards, N.

Hi avanderbeek - welcome to MSFN

well...i have a fairly similar setup at home... I'll have a look later when i get there My ATI stuff needs a reinstall anyhow ;) Regards, N.

Had to bump this and agree with puntoMX I have the Antec Super Lan Boy with a Antec TruePower 430W PSU and although it cost me around £100 - its well nice. Previously, my case was a Antec Performance II Series full tower - the very very tall and roomy ones - which I still have but unfortuntely the psu died one day. Might rehouse my little crappy pc when i get another psu and time to do it hehe Also, have built a fair few computers with Antec cases - the uk version of the one you are refering to as i recall or one similar to it - and have never had a problem with it. Definately a good choice You pay the moneys, you gets a stable system hehe Regards, Nath.

Welcome to MSFN Cr1t1k I do believe a search would have told you that tho, so please try to remember to use it first Cr1t1k. Nice one Weed Regards, N.

...and are you using a legal version of office 2000 premium? Every time i see Office 2000 Premium on peoples pc's, i have to wonder if it really is legit. What home user can afford that? Especially those with families and so on. hmmmm hehe Is the Sp2 XP CD a "proper" one i.e. a hologramed one with SP2 on it or is it a slipstreamed one from a previous build? (maybe therein lies the problem) But either way like GM says, I doubt it's because of using XPCREATE - i've never had trouble on any system where I used XPCREATE to install XP and then installed 2000. Good luck. Regards, N.

Apparent so from what I've read/heard too ...tho you never know with microsoft hehe Regards, N.

...and following on from Taggs's post, you can disable it via GP (Group Policy) if you have updated the adm templates of the 2003 server. Let me know if you want to do this - I'm not at work right now otherwise I'd let you know about this and which part of the GP alters this (tho I'm sure someone can step up to this task before me hehe) Regards, N.

C'mon guys - dont hassle the man. It'll be ready when its ready - no sooner, no later hehe Imagine trying to make it yourself, run efficiently on multiple OS's for multiple OS on different configurations, and the countless hours of tweaking, adding to & troubleshooting thats involved... ...we can wait Regards, N.

Someone has mentioned this before (atho maybe it was in a different section of the msfn forum) I will *try* and find the links later and in xpcreate's case, you would put the updated files in: FILESCD/i386 so that it will replace the old files Yes, the same location as your winnt.sif file in case anyone asks hehe Regards, N.

anyone had any more success with this yet and where to put it (and repack it if needed)? Also, there's a version 5.1 now: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details...&displaylang=en Regards, N.

hehe U sooooo evil GM Regards, N.

depends what you mean by users.... I just have a "Flat" directory shared so that I can install it to any OS on the domain - never figured a way to put it on a webserver to install from. Of course, if you "wrap" it into a single file that auto-installs, you could have it set up that way to install from a internal web server and install it on every machine with a click of a link. Any other method you have used people? Regards, N.

I've havent read this topic entirely yet, but I have been wondering about the share permissions myself... I've got a neat usermaker script which can create bulk users, create their home folder, and so on.... The problem I have is that although it creates the share i.e. testuser$, it doesnt assign share permissions. Folder permissions I've pretty much sorted with the cacls command but I cant find anything about creating share permissions by way of a script. I plan on making the script avaliable to those who would like it at a later date so any help on this would be really apreciated. I too get these created share permissions with Everyone - Read Access, but I'd like a way to add the Administrators group & %Username% as Full Access somehow. Best Regards, Nath.

hehe Oh dear..... ...somebody has been rumbled sneaky posting GM Regards, N.

Are you saying that you are trying to use a "already-slipstreamed-with-xpcreate" CD of XP SP2 to create a new cd? GM....surely that would create problems right? :S (I think i remember being advised against this about a year or so ago hehe) Regards, N.

Hi JK Hadn't noticed the reply sorry, or I would have replied sooner... Ahhh....as always, a inplace update/upgrade is always risky - no matter how they tell you its virtually faultless hehe. I didnt attempt it myself (mainly because it seemed more complex than my brain could handle but more importantly because the existing NT server wouldnt have been able to handle the requirements of 2003 and plus, I'd bought a brand new server for it hehe)What I did was to export the users & shares from the old (NT) server and perform a clean install on the new server and import the users and shares from the old one and configure as needed (using the ADMT & manual reg export/import). Providing you know how to set up all the relevent services correctly, its probably much easier to perform a clean install and configure it as needed - 2003 is very handy with its "guides" and "wizards" in setting up the "roles" so you cant go wrong really - a bit of advanced tweaking may be needed depending on the system and a knowledge of group policy would be helpful too, which I'm sure you have (I learnt slight after setting the system up hehe altho I could still use a course on it to help my "make-do" knowledge on it) IMO you may have error's or other aspects which may interfere with the upgrade process but they might not "rear their head" until you actually do it i.e. have no effect on the system currently but may mess up the system during the upgrade process. Like where an in-place upgrade on a client-style machine is less preferable to a clean install of the new OS, I would say the same is more appropriate. If you can, try and get a physical new server too if money allows. I'd always recommend HP/Compaq style server's but most the leading brands are good. Firstly, I have to say I have no experience with a ISA Proxy server - what is that exactly? hehe - so I cant say for sure. IMHO 2003 should always be installed as the DC, but I dont *think* it's particularly needed. Of course, if u want to run a true 2003 domain, you'll have to really. Dont know how many pc's/notebook's this is gonna server but i hope u realise that you can only server a certain number of clients attached to it - 75 (I think) is the limit. When you say the client licenses, what licenses are you refering to? the OS or the CAL's? If CALs, you may find buying Device CALs more appropriate as they may cost a tad more to buy, but they legally allow you to connect to as many windows server's as needed - except for microsoft "service" server's i.e. Exchange, etc. OS licenses you wont need to buy again - If they are 95 then yes, you will need to buy them. Although I havent really tried, I just took it for read that they dont work "efficiently enough" on a 2003 domain. 98/2000/XP Pro licenses should be fine - 98 wont be group policy (2k-style) but can still work well enough if there's no money to upgrade and locked-down too (dont let no-one tell you different). Visit my workplace and I'll show ya (and that half my pc's are better locked down on 98 than my XP clients - tho thats my lack of GP knowledge + time really) hehe NT W/S - I havent ever seen - once i think in someones house - so I'm not sure about this but I would "imagine" you would be able to use this OS too. Good luck and post back or PM if you have any more questions, tho i imagine you have already chosen your actions already. Sorry again. Regards, N.

hi Blam-O! A very handy post - especially for people after general advice. In fact, I was thinking pretty much everythng you said I'll comment on some of the posts tho - just for fun... Indeed....very nice laptop's - very good value stuff.However, for the spec I'm sort of after, they become more expensive than others tho. Again, very true, although have noticed them noticably more expensive than a HP laptop in comparison. Really? Never seen or known anyone that has one so I didnt realise this.......guessing that you have one then!? Yet again, I know that. I'd hope most people also know that too Indeed... i hear and have read in the past that they are very good. I had a look but the Centrino-based ones only have the option of the Intel Extreme graphics chipset - not particularly a good thing is it? hehe If i had that sort of money tho, i'd definately go for the mid or high range laptop's they produce. If i needed to, I'd go for a decent desktop from them also - tho i can make a decent gamer machine for a lot less ....plus, there's no fun if u dont make it yourself hehe Wouldnt even an attempt at "making" a laptop lol Would have to agree that a good warranty is definately worth it - unless its stupidly expensive and yes, to a repair some problem's with laptop's are hard at best when hardware is concerned - most would require specialist repairing. somwthing which is very costly so its always better to get a warranty of 3 yrs if u can afford the extra. And also true is that there's no reason to spend a silly amount of money on something which is the best when you buy it, only for it to be out of date shortly afterwards. I follow the same rule with building my pc's too. Getting quality mid-range stuff which is alot less that the top-spec stuff, which is good enough for most of the games/software out at the current time and for a long while afterwards. You can always crank-up the detail when u next buy a new system/custom-make a new one. As I havent really so far, this is (roughly) the sort of spec i'm after: - Intel Centrino M 1.6/1.7 - 15" or higher screen - approx 4 hrs batt runtime (obviously not the Batt time of constant gaming/wireless use hehe) - 40G HD 5400 or higher preferably - 512MB PC2700 DDR - CD-RW/DVD combo drive or better - ATI Radeon Mobility 9700 or better (or Nvidia equivelent) with 64 or more RAM (not shared) - XP Home (Professional is prefered tho) 3yr Warranty wud be good also but I'm probably gonna get notebook insurance if i can which wont cost that much so that the quite probable accidental damage is covered - has any had the acer extended warranty with accidental damage before and if so, anyone claimed on it and was it worth it? I'm after a good rucksack style case as it'll be more handy that the carry case variety - i have some in mind already tho but if there are any recomendations, that's always welcome too Regards N.

i guess we'll find out the answer to that one in future posts hehe (no, i dont mean from me ) Regards, N.

hehe

Whoopsy.... I did indeed misread the Small Business Edition bit Sorry, N.

Good news You never mentioned the laptop you have tho. I'd be interested in details of it and how much u got it for - for my little topic on the very lovely subject here The ol' forum has helped out again!! Regards, N.