DirtDevil

Just wanted to say that installing McAffe VirusScan on Windows 2003 is possible... for some people didn't recognized it. McAfee VirusScan can be installed in Windows 2003 compatibility mode. Right click the setup.exe -> properties -> compatibility -> set to Windows XP.

Open Task Manager and switch to processes to see what more backround services you might have running... System Tray doesn't show them all!

During phase one the installation just copies all files to hard disk. Open dosnet.inf to see which files the dos installation part will copy. Open txtsetup.sif to see where the files get copied to. The first number behind the file declaration will point to the folder. Which number stands for which folder is declared at to top of txtsetup.sif.

Yep, I bet so, too. Why don't you install Windows 2003 and convert it to a workstation. This is even easier to do and less risky...

To find out a system file's version (.dll, .cpl .ax, .exe etc.): -> right click the file -> choose properties -> hit the tab "Version" -> choose file version from elementname

I had this problem times before. Installing DirectX a second time always fixed the problem. Sometimes the registering just gets skipped...

Simple that is... C:\WINDOWS\explorer.exe /e,c:\

Didn't think about that... I once had a problem with IE and just reinstalled it. It solved my problem... But this doesn't solve most of the problems... Try to execute these line to uninstall: RunDLL32 advpack.dll,LaunchINFSection C:\Windows\inf\ie.inf, Base.SysDir.DelFiles RunDLL32 advpack.dll,LaunchINFSection C:\Windows\inf\ie.inf, Base.AppDir.DelFiles RunDLL32 advpack.dll,LaunchINFSection C:\Windows\inf\ie.inf, Base.WinDir.DelFiles RunDLL32 advpack.dll,LaunchINFSection C:\Windows\inf\ie.inf, Base.DelReg Warning: I didn't try this myself... cause I don't wanna uninstall my IE. Maybe it works, maybe it doesn't... I hope it does...

Reinstall Internet Explorer? Edit sysoc.inf (C:\Windows\inf\) first. Remove any hide or HIDE. for example: Cluster=clusocm.dll,ClusOcmSetupProc,clusocm.inf,hide,7 --> Cluster=clusocm.dll,ClusOcmSetupProc,clusocm.inf,,7 Now, you can delete the component: Start -> Control Panel -> Software -> Add/Remove Windows-Components look out for Internet Explorer and unselect it. Download Internet Explorer here.

I think you can run Visual Studio on your machine. Maybe you have to use that compatibilty think I mentioned above. Don't know what else you have to do to get it running. I use Visual Studio 2002 and it runs perfectly... To find out which virus scanners support Windows 2003 search the Windows 2003 sub forum. I think it was mentioned there...

Here it is... win2003.bin

I use Windows 2003 almost half a year now and I never had any serious problems. Some drivers do not wanna install because of compatiblity reasons. These drivers recognize a system they were not made for. All you have to do then is: rightclick the executable -> settings -> compatibility and set it to Windows XP. Driver will now install corectly. That's it! Another option would be to install drivers manually via control panel -> hardware detection... Another problem you may experience is that Windows 2003 actually is a server. Some software are made in two different versions, a workstation version and a server version. For example most virus scanner won't install on your machine as they recognize that you are running a server operating system. But you can get alot of information on what scanners will support your system. Beside that I don't know any more difficulties handling Windows 2003. Like I said... I never experienced any real problems. Any problem can be solved easily if you experience some nethertheless

Well, make full unattended installation... it can't get any easier You've got to use Setup Manager: CDRom: SUPPORT\TOOLS\deplay.cab/setupmgr.exe Create your unattended file. Rename unattend.txt to winnt.sif and copy it to the I386 folder. Burn you new compilation...

USetup.exe will guide you through the setup part of the installation. It's the GUI installation part that is started right after windows restarts the for the first time during installation... So it's the modul that applies the setup to Windows. Hope you got it. It's kinda hard to explain for a german

For digital image editing you have to use Macromedia Fireworks. Freehand is a vetcor based editing tool only!

For digital Image Editing: Adobe Photoshop, Macromedia Fireworks, Jasc Paint Shop Pro For vectors... scalable logo and symbol creation: Adobe Illustrator, Macromedia Freehand

twizt3d, please tell if this works. I'm thinking about modifying setup.exe and usetup.exe, too!

I was playing a little bit with my optional components... But there is something I can figure out. At the end of each line you have a number. e.g.: msmq=msmqocm.dll,MsmqOcm,msmqocm.inf,,6 e.g.: aspnet=aspnetoc.dll,AspnetOcmProc,aspnetoc.inf,,7 What exactly are those numbers for?

Yeah! Special Thanks to mazin. Allthough I don't need VBS... I figured out how to edit the registry myself using your idea. It works! Let's say you want to add userprofiles to your controlpanel. This is what I added to my registry: Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\ControlPanel\NameSpace\{D14ED2E1-C75B-443c-BD7C-FC03B2F08C18}] @="Users" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{D14ED2E1-C75B-443c-BD7C-FC03B2F08C18}] "InfoTip"="Add/Remove Users" @="Users" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{D14ED2E1-C75B-443c-BD7C-FC03B2F08C18}\DefaultIcon] @="C:\\Windows\\System32\\shell32.dll,160" [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{D14ED2E1-C75B-443c-BD7C-FC03B2F08C18}\Shell] [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{D14ED2E1-C75B-443c-BD7C-FC03B2F08C18}\Shell\Open] [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{D14ED2E1-C75B-443c-BD7C-FC03B2F08C18}\Shell\Open\Command] @="rundll32 netplwiz.dll,UsersRunDll" That's it!

Thanks for your work RayOK but this is not what I need. Actually I have to create a CPL that launches a specify command. That's what I could need a CPL-Creator for... But thank you very much. I saved your list to my disk

Well, the CPL-Loader sounds good... Can you post a link, please?

Simple question I hope : Does someone know how to add a custom shortcut to the control panel?

Don't know if this could be done by reg tweaks... This works for Windows 2003, too!

Absolutly... I followed the MSFN tutorial "How to convert your Windows Server 2003... to a Workstation!" and tried to do that unattended! What is about CD IDENTS? The structure of files and directories is the same on both CDs... XP and 2003. I don't exactly know what you are talking about but I can't find entries in the inf file which I would have to change... Could you give me more details, please?

I tried to install XP Games unattended in Windows 2003. I edited the sysoc.inf und added these lines: games=ocgen2.dll,OcEntry,games.inf,,7 Pinball=ocgen2.dll,OcEntry,pinball.inf,,7 ZoneGames=zoneoc.dll,ZoneSetupProc,igames.inf,,7 Then I copied all game files from the I386 directory from my XP-CD into the I386 directory of Windows 2003. There are no files missing... no doubt. All files are compressed (makecab) and are added to dosnet.inf and txtsetup.sif. Now the installation runs fine but when Windows Setup tries to install the games it asked for the source. So I have to select the I386 directory from my unattend Windows 2003 CD manually. What do I have to change/add to make Windows Setup find the files itself?