Professor Frink

To follow up on my post last week... This makes no sense. I added the following to my tweak file: [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop] "ScreenSaveActive"="0" "ScreenSaverIsSecure"="0" "SCRNSAVE.EXE"="" But those changes were never applied. So I also added a separate .reg to my final batch file with the same keys (so now it's being applied twice). Still nothing. But if I log on and double click that SAME .reg file and reboot, it works. What the heck?!? It is doing what I want -- turning off the default screensaver but allowing it to be turned back on. But why won't it work during my unattended install?

Was the 9800 Pro ever included in the deal? That's the card I plan to get based on the advice I received HERE

That voucher for a free copy of Half-Life 2 with select ATI video cards -- that deal is long gone, right? No more vouchers?

Has anyone found a full installation package for 6.0.2, instead of just applying the patch?

@r0sWell: You say it starts, and then gives you errors? So I'm assuming that you're using the correct file path?

Well, I finally got it. You definitely need to extract the contents. Then use the following syntax: start /wait msiexec /i "file location\Adobe Acrobat - Reader 6.0.2 Update.msi" /qb

I just noticed that there is a 4.2 MB update for Adobe Reader, making it version 6.0.2 : Adober Reader 6.0.2 I tried installing it with /s and /qb switches, but they didn't work. Is there a way to apply this update silently? Edit: I did a /a extraction, and the resulting folder included a file called Adobe Acrobat - Reader 6.0.2 Update.msi Again, I couldn't get it to work with any switches, but there has to be a way...

That's good to know. I was afraid that a re-install of C: would cause a problem, like missing registry keys or something. Thanks!

Well, as long as everything plays properly, I think I'll go with the RP alternative. It's too bad it has to play in the old Windows Media Player. I'm surprised that no one's developed a way to incorporate Real files into WMP9...

Does Real Player 10 support the creation of .iss files, via the /r switch? I tried it and it didn't work, but maybe I did it wrong... Or perhaps it is like Quicktime, where you can adjust your settings via a txt file? Side note -- I'm torn between this and the Real Alternative. I wouldn't have considered Real Player a year ago, but it seems like a cleaner program, without as much bloatware. If I go with Real Player 10, will I ever regret it? Pop-ups, bleeding of system resources, crap in my startup folder and system icon tray, anything like that? FYI -- this would be installed on all of my office machines.

Is there really any problem with this? I always install programs on C:, but some newer games take up a LOT of hard drive space. When you have a multiple-CD game that has a system installation, is it OK to do it on my larger "data" partition? I guess my real concern is every once in a while when I re-image my C: drive. Will that in any way screw up the games installed on D: ? Other than the meaningless Start > Programs entries?

This is bizarre. In any application, if I go to "send to" > "mail recipient" (as attachment)" , it creates a new Outlook message with that particular file as an attachment. Fine. But for some reason I can't minimize the e-mail window, and I can't go back to Outlook until that e-mail is closed or sent. It's like Outlook is treating that new e-mail window as a dialog box. Has anyone else ever noticed this?

Someone posted these keys once to disable the screensaver: [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Control Panel\Desktop] "ScreenSaveActive"=dword:00000000 [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop] "ScreenSaveActive"="0" "ScreenSaverIsSecure"="0" "SCRNSAVE.EXE"="" But I found out that it sets it so the screensaver can NEVER be turned on. And that won't fly in my office. All I want to do is make it so that by default the screensaver is set to "None" (by default it is set to "Windows XP", as it is called in the list). Can this be done?

Slightly OT question: does Intellipoint work with a Logitech mouse? Nothing fancy, just a regular 3-button optical. I want to include Intellipoint in my setup, but I have both MS and Logitech optical mice in my office.

I had a similar problem, although for me it was with "aefdisk" and "Format". The problem was because this was via an MS-DOS bootdisk, and it could only create a FAT16 partition (which by its nature can't be larger than 2GB). For me, the solution was doing my business with a Windows 98 bootdisk, which can create and format a FAT32 partition larger than 2GB. The only catch I had was that this was a network bootdisk, and I now didn't have enough room on the floppy disk for the networking components! That led to creating and extracing a .cab file, and a few other headaches...

Hell, there are actually a bunch of 9600XTs available. I guess they're all pretty much the same. But is it a good gaming card for the money?

I kinda figured it was the video card. I don't want to spend too much, so how about the 9600XT? Is that a good card for the money, and something that will last me for the near future (such as Half-Life 2 and FarCry)? And if the 9600XT is good, then what is the difference between these two on Newegg? They seem the same, just different colors and different prices. GIGABYTE ATI RADEON 9600XT ATI RADEON 9600XT

So you just have one driver folder and nothing else, with all driver files bundled together? I wonder if that will work, or if you'd need separate folders for each one. I'm not sure, but maybe someone else here can answer that...

As part of my network install, I have this in my answer file: [SetupMgr] DistFolder=c:\winxp\I386 DistShare=winxp$ Do you have something like that?

I had a similar problem. It started fine, but then the drivers didn't install correctly. As a result of that, it couldn't reconnect to the server for the application installation. Are you sure that each driver path is exactly where the .inf file is? So instead of "Drivers\Network", it might be something like "Drivers\Network\3com\e1000\W2K_XP", or whatever.

Thanks for the tips! I tried Manhunt over the weekend, and it is sweeeeet! I also tried the FarCry demo. Even at the low settings it is a bit of a strain for my system, but nevertheless it is beautiful, with some good gameplay.

I'm looking for some new games to play, and I'm looking for some pointers. These are some of the ones I've tried and liked: Halo Max Payne (1 and 2) Metal Gear Solid (1 and 2) Aliens vs. Predator (1 and 2) Resident Evil (all versions) Silent Hill (all versions) If I like those, what else should I try?

Thanks for the tips. I'll admit, I haven't defragged lately. The HDD is a 7200'er, and my temps are always pretty reasonable -- idle at mid-30's, full load at low 40's For gameplay, I usually use 800 x 600 resolution (not great, I know, but I figure I'll get better performance that way). Are there any hardware-type settings I should set for better performance, either in the control panel or the bios?

Here is my current setup: mobo = Asus A7N8X Deluxe (rev. 2) CPU = AMD XP 2500+ (Barton) RAM = 512 MB PC3200 Video = Radeon 9200 *nothing is being overclocked* I guess that's all that is necessary to know. I recently tried playing Halo (not online, just regular), and it seemed OK until I got to any part with multiple soldiers and multiple ememies onscreen at the same time. Then it started getting real choppy. Is there one thing in my setup that really jumps out as the cause for a bottleneck? None of the game's settings seem to make any difference when I change them, but perhaps there is something hardware-wise I can do? (BIOS settings, video settings, etc). FYI -- 3DMark03 gives me a score of 1000-1100. Is that really low? FYI2 -- I have fps problems with other games, so it's not just Halo.

Maybe to be safe I'll install my patches through a batch file at the end (when I install my applications). But should I be able to install DX9 and WMP9 through svcpack.inf?