Br4tt3

imho it depends on what u r trying to do...

so far I also prefer a falt image when comparing with a static image. most of the issues can be solved with sysprep but the big downside is the HAL. Most comps work with tha ACPI HAL and MS has announced that they will support some kind of HAL replacement tool for the issue as they do via SMS OS Deployment package and the new WIM format... until they are done beta testing it on us customers, I think I will stick to the flat image distribution tech... regards

@ the time u install the app into the U.A CD, have u already installed the InstallShield runtime? this is the only thing I can think of... thats why installshield sucks, cuz u need a runtime instead of a clean MSI. I guess I am gonna get some upset answers to this one

winnt.sif = should be used for RIS (not unattend CD) unattend.txt = should be used for U.A CD please check the deploy.chm that comes with the deployment tools for WinXP SP2, it will tell u that repartition is only valid for RIS installations I think... Keep truckin...

Lo... had a similar problem. I have Dell PE 2800 / 1850 & 2850 machines that needed to use the Veritas IDR (Intelligent Disaster Recovery). U need to del the old mraid35x.sys and add the new one to the U.A CD. then u need to add the specific entries to the txtsetup.sif file within the i386 folder as mentioned in this forum or @ link: http://wug.lutteman.se/articles/ris-add-st...g_TXTSETUP.SIF_ then... when IDR questions u for the Win2003 CD, insert the new custom U.A CD so that the Veritas software can "absorb" the newly added driver.... Anyway, the thing u r looking for is the txtsetup.sif file. Do a search on the forum for it... worked for me atleast...

r u sure you have specified the correct value to the OEMFilesPath entry? as the path to the share correctly? also that the answer file is set to search for oem files... oempreinstall = yes? Regards...

Lo folks.. My users dont have local admin rights.. so when they surf into web appz that offer to install active x controllers for example java plugins they cant and the adidas peps goes to work.. any1 seen a nice way to get around this hassle?

i am running the same updates, using netbios, and havent gotten into troubble (yet)

like stated aboved, all Win components can be removed in [Components] section of the unattend file... if u wanna add a Win component once u have installed Windows in a unattended manner.... sysocmgr.exe and some switches to that.... the components have the same names as in unattend file which can be found in the ref.chm or deploy.chm files... some [components] are undocumented from M$ though..

create the user homedirectories using the %username% variable and it will end up with the correct permissions...

I changed my mraid35x.sys file included in native win2003 to a newer one using txtsetup.sif and nothing more... worked like a charm for me. link: DELL PERC 4/Di RAID On Motherboard Driver" using TXTSETUP.SIF http://wug.lutteman.se/articles/ris-add-st...g_TXTSETUP.SIF_

yup... here is atleast one way that would work... 1. from the GuiRunOnce section of your answer file (for the unattend install) launch a wmi script (.vbs) that will query the machine for its serial number (asset tag I think it is...). Then let the script rename ur machine from the temp name specified in ur answer file. 2. continue.. go to MS webby and get a sample wmi script for these kind of things...

Is it a new machine that u r trying to boot up? as hyperthreaded Intel or something? I got a similar failure on our new ones until realized it was a matter of of the ntoskrnl.exe on the WinPE.

Dunno.. this is a wild shot but should u not be able to do that with a kernel debugger utility? havent tried it thoguh...

do u get the error of: "u r not allowed to logon interactively" (or something like that?) when u try to logon using rdp? in that case it is a matter of permission... if you dont want the guy to logon to a server for example just to shut down the server.... add a service account that can do it for ya and then try to run within that security context from within a script for example. vbscript would it for u, where u could hide the pwd and user that u r trying to connect with using crypto (.vbe) and distribute the script to the user or run it remotely... or place in scheduler maby, what do I know... Hmm... something like this maby... CODE <Begin> : '******************************************************************* ' Purpose: Script for restarting a server (not DC) ' Author: Br4tt3 ' Date: 2004-09-22 ' Company: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX ' Version: 0.1 ' ' Requirement: Obtain RunAsPwd.exe (freeware) and place in system32. ' Also create an account with appropiate permission in correct ' OU structure. Must be run locally on machine. Remote exec ' not supported. '******************************************************************* Option Explicit Const DomainAccount="ShutdwnAdmin@company.com" Const DomainPassword="ShutdwnAdminpwd" '***************************************** ' Adding User "ShutdwnAdmin" from AD to ' local Administrator group of computer. '***************************************** Dim objInfo, objGroup, objUser, strComputer Set objInfo = CreateObject("ADSystemInfo") strComputer = "." Set objGroup = GetObject("WinNT://" & strComputer & "/Administrators,group") Set objUser = GetObject("WinNT://" & objInfo.DomainShortName & "/ShutdwnAdmin,user") objGroup.Add(objUser.ADsPath) '*************************************************************** ' Mark: Using RunAsPwd to run the .exe in another security context ' than logged on user. Obtain the .exe from inet as it is ' freeware. '*************************************************************** Dim WshShell, objSys, WshNetwork, Command Set WshShell = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell") Set objSys = CreateObject("ADSystemInfo") Set WshNetwork = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Network") Command = "%WINDIR%\system32\runaspwd.exe -u:" & DomainAccount & " -p:" & DomainPassword & " -e:" & "%WINDIR%\system32\shutdown.exe -r" WshShell.Run Command, 0, True '*************************************** ' Remove Global Account "ShutdwnAdmin" ' from local Administrators group '*************************************** Set objGroup = GetObject("WinNT://" & strComputer & "/Administrators,group") Set objUser = GetObject("WinNT://" & objInfo.DomainShortName & "/ShutdwnAdmin,user") objGroup.Remove(objUser.ADsPath) Tried it once here, atleast the machine rebooted... hopes this can solve it for u..

whenever the ordinary troubbleshooting ends cuz there are no more logic options to try.... upgrade the firmware / BIOS of the devices and try again... could be some wiered incompatible issue...

i hope u r talking about variables / entries for the unattend files (unattend.txt or winnt.sif). In that case then there is no absolute rule for it... in most cases it will work either one but in MS documentation (ref.chm and deploy.chm) they ALWAYS use ENTRY = VALUE (with spaces that is.. ) more important are the quotation marks then....

First of all @ "un4given1", check out MS Zero Touch Provisioning; included in MS BDD 2.0 if u havent done that already because the make heavy use of the SPS to provide a friendly web interface for users within the company. The provisioning part might also hold some intressting information and ideas when it comes to how to utilize SPS for the company. At the company where I am @ we use SPS as the front end UI for handling processes within the company. We run a strict MS infrastructure, thus having quite a integrated feature stack of MS offers when it comes to backoffice applications. The heart / brain behind the SPS is BizzTalk Server 2004 which is integrated to communicate / translate "almost" with any other system used within the company. This way we can often provide a user friendly interface for deployment of applications, new employees, user that quits and so on... best of all for the suits at the company that loves that they keep getting reports on how often certain things happens, how often pepz requests resinstallation of their comps and so on. Once again. everything can be found in the BDD 2.0 white papers.

****... Go and install a IIS 6.0, get a virtual dir, upload a .osc that fits into ur environment and create a http link for it. The webby should of course try to prestage an account into ur AD with a password linked to it. Publish the webb for ur adidas helpdesk pepz so they can create computers... then, ppl can install their comps just specifying their password and "the scripts" will take care of the rest for u. Nice 1 link for how it could work/look below: http://ist.uwaterloo.ca/~etbain/RIS_Notes.html

True... I had the same discussion with M$ regarding this matter which turned out to be true. Then again I really must say that these things can realy turn RIS into an unattended trip for most admins using RIS compared with the out of the box solution from MS. If one prestages a comp i AD and hook a code(password) that will make it unique onto the object, one can really chill after the implementation when it comes to deploying large scales of clients with RIS. Sausage eater out for a bratwurst...

SP1 for Win2003 is around tha corner with the same FW as in WinXP SP2... Buy a new graphic card for ur gaming and wait for this update.

There is no right answer to this.... easiest way to have all in the same workgroup but u could solve the issue of having name resolution set up on the machines and browsing. But most defintly, it is the main idea to have them in tha same workgroup...

Hi folks.. If the troubble is that u can "only" use the prementioned / preconfigured naming standards that are included with RIS (as in MAC address / %username% and so on) but there is a need to have a more generic solution to it then.... a power feature of the RIS implementation is the .soc files: these are basically html files which one can self write custom .osc screens. By having a .osc screen with a "input" box in it (for example: variable ACTIVATIONCODE) could be handled in this textmode by %ACTIVATIONCODE%. The generic action handled by this variable could then be read in, for example GuiRunOnce by a script to place the computer in the correct OU in AD at once with no manual hands on. It will definitly help when providing a custom naming standard outside the MS naming standard provided with RIS. I combine the solution of custom written .osc screens with prestaged object to handle installation from a webb site for the helpdesk personal instead of the AD MMC ( cuz then they could mess up my lovely AD )

Yup, any diskpart script for example would do the trick for u in ur VPC environment...