smurdock

I used to do things this way but since then I have created an installer. An installer will copy the fonts and register them with the system. Also in compiling the installer the fonts get compressed - saves space on my UXPCD. The installer also creates an listing in the AddRemove Programs control panel. This is nice if you ever want to clean out old fonts and install a new set i.e have several installers for different font packs list windings, formal fonts, fun fonts .... This installer process has worked so well I do it for other things as well like wallpaper and so on. Once you get the basic installer setup its easy to copy it and then modify for something else. All of my installers also support silent installs. Once you create you own pakages you wont go back.

An awsome tool is Windows Update List (along with other great utils) over at www.nirsoft.net. WUL tells you what updates you have installed, what files are associated with each hotfix and the versions of all of the files, and lets you save reports as txt, html, and xml. This is a great util and is alway in my toolbox. It also supports command line parameters which is great for automation and its FREE!! Windows Update List at Nirsoft.net

On your personal machine I think its up to you - it is nice not having to drag out the CD when you need it. At work I do not put a i386 on local systems. I dont want users to have access to it. It also prevents them from installing something without permission. I do have a copy of my unattend CD shared on a server with a hidden share that only I an my fellow IS guys have access to. This way if we are doing something and we need the CD and dont have one, we can attach to the share and continue on. I also do the same thing with my unattend Office CD. In both cases I have hotfixes and service packs slipstreamed in so whatever files get pulled of the share, should be the lastest versions. Enjoy

I create registry keys for everything I install like service packs, hotfixes, tweaks, misc programs, and utils so when I put my unattend windows cd into the computer the autorun interface gives me a report on what is installed on the computer. This also doubles as a kind of protection in that other people I work with use my unattend cds for deploying systems. They can also use the unattend cd to install stand alone apps. If they try to install custom made things like utils, the autorun will see the reg entry and warn the user that the util is already installed on the system.

896727 has been reposted!!! The original has corruptions.

I created a setpagefile.vbs file that I call from my unattended install. I can also run the script from my autorun interface. Dim strComputer, objWMIService, objSWbemServices, colPageFile, colSWbemObjectSet Dim objSWbemObject, SystemRAM, objPageFile strComputer = "." Set objWMIService = GetObject("winmgmts:{impersonationLevel=impersonate}!\\" & strComputer & "\root\cimv2") Set objSWbemServices = GetObject("winmgmts:\\" & strComputer) Set colPageFile = objWMIService.ExecQuery ("SELECT * FROM Win32_PageFileSetting") Set colSWbemObjectSet = objSWbemServices.InstancesOf("Win32_LogicalMemoryConfiguration") For Each objSWbemObject In colSWbemObjectSet SystemRAM = objSWbemObject.TotalPhysicalMemory / 1000 Next For Each objPageFile In colPageFile objPageFile.InitialSize = 1.5 * SystemRAM objPageFile.MaximumSize = 1.5 * SystemRAM objPageFile.Put_ Next You can change the values, this is that basic script that sets the page file to 1.5 times ram and sets the min and max size the same to make a static swapfile.

You could remove the TCP/IP protocol. The internet uses TCP for communication, without it no Internet. You will have to install another protocol like IPX or NetBui which come with XP but are not installed by default. Netbui is fast for small networks but IPX is routable for large or more complex networks. IPX is also used for Novell Netware networks.