CoffeeFiend

Firewall: My good hardware firewall is all I need AV: Kaspersky Win Tuning: regedit Download: GetRight/httrack/the one in firefox email (uh, does gmail web mail count?) Web Design: dreamweaver mx 2004 to throw things together quickly (although there's alot of good ones-not talking about frontpage here lol-and some nice utilities) Otherwise, for neat & clean code... even notepad works fine. Graphics Development: Photoshop CS HANDS DOWN (well, the whole adobe creative suite really) and a whole bunch of other stuff you need (like camera RAW software, plugins, utilities, ...) hd optimization: Just switched recently from O&O to Raxco PerfectDisk... windows error checking: nothing, if it works it works, if it's messed bad reinstall it/reghost. These utilities mess your PC more than anything usually. Anything else? hmm. *WAY* too much to list here hehe (lots of other categories you didn't touch) [edit: darn typos]

Roxio has it's own ASPI driver. I prefer to use Adaptec's, but then again, it's hard to guess if Roxio would use that one or it's own by default. In an office environment, the main thing that seems to matter with Roxio is having the updates on it, for new drive support and bug fixes. Anyways, if you choose to install adaptec's too, there's more to it than copying files, there's also some registry entries (added by REG_XP.EXE if you use XP) As for the service, I don't think it would interfere more than just causing a delay when opening the burning app, but I think it's a good idea to disable it. However, on WinXP, the most troubles I've seen with burning (and CD drives not working at all anymore and unstable systems) were caused by Roxio itself, not the ASPI layer or services.

Yet another tweak! (This is only like 80 pages long, gotta keep it going) After you install MS Office 2003, there's an annoying tray icon that asks you if you want to take the survey and such (I hate it). This gets rid of it nicely: REGEDIT4 [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Common\Internet] "UseOnlineContent"=dword:00000002 [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\Common] "QMEnable"=dword:00000000

Well, there's more to it than just speed. To be able to clone with ghost+sysprep, you have to have the same HLA, and not use diff mass storage drivers (scsi, raid or such). At work, I usually make the basic install with a unattended setup, then install most software, then sysprep/ghost and deploy. We do this for each major type of PC we have, as the hardware (and bundled software) changes and it's less hassle that way. Also, some software doesn't seem to like the way sysprep plays with the SIDs... Sometimes cloning like that causes issues. If you only cloned, you'd end up deinstalling and reinstalling software a lot, then running sysprep for the ?th time... and it's a pain, and it seems that PCs aren't so reliable anymore after playing that game for too long. You can easily update the software on your unattended setup, and all your basic images build from this will be up to date... There's many ways to deploy, many tools, and we all have preferences, there's not just one good answer when it comes to deploying. I guess it's a bit like patch deployment. Many ways to do it too.

Actually, I've tried Autopatcher XP many times before, thinking it was a nice way to do things (and if they maintain the patches and everything, less work/hassle for me). Now I'm quite glad I dumped it from my unattended setup. Just about every time, some installer would come up with an error while installing, I've had some odd reboots, and lots and I mean lots of issues with it. Latest problem I've ran througn is some weird error about no localizations for my version of windows (plain US english XP Pro VLK, nothing special by any means), and no arguments (including /english) managed to make it go away. Also, startup time tends to be quite long. And now with the even of XP SP2, it brings more frustrations and problems. No matter what switches you use, it WILL nag about your computer being SP2 so you cannot have a no-nag no user intervention setup (I've tried *every* switch possible). My success rate using it to patch typical computers is below 50%. Also, they seemed to be updating it often enough before, but the last one is starting to get a bit outdated now (I'm not that much of a "gotta have the very latest build" type of person, but it's pointless having to disable more and more stuff in Ap XP because they're outdated, and have to add the newer patches to your own install script instead). I've tried changing a couple things quickly on the disc, and it turns out they got some CRC checks on the database or something (never bothered looking deeper into it), and it wouldn't run at all... Their webpage says they're working on a new version. Hopefully it will address some issues, because in my case it was far more hassle and problems than help (although I still do appreciate them trying to make a nice app to do this job) So I took what was good from it (a couple registry tweaks that are around anyways and couple more odd things... most of stuff in it is pre-sp2 patches), and added it to my main install script. Took about an hour tops to do it all. Much faster, more customizable, and never failed so far.

Glad I could help. It sure saves a lot of time Sounds like you got your MSI issues sorted out as well now.

AR Speedup works, but it doesn't necessarily keep the plugins you do/don't want and such. It's quite easy to script as well. Also, wheter you script it or use AR speedup, there's a lot more to be tweaked (registry entries). Personally, I used a vb script to get the job done (it's a bit ugly but it works, some day i'll rewrite it clean if i get some free time). Option Explicit On Error Resume Next 'Define variables Dim ProgramPath, FSO, objShell, objNetwork 'Define objects set FSO = CreateObject("scripting.filesystemobject") Set objShell=WScript.CreateObject("Wscript.Shell") 'Accept EULA objShell.RegDelete "HKCU\Software\Adobe\Acrobat Reader\6.0\AdobeViewer\EULA" objShell.RegDelete "HKLM\Software\Adobe\Acrobat Reader\6.0\AdobeViewer\EULA" objShell.RegWrite "HKCU\Software\Adobe\Acrobat Reader\6.0\AdobeViewer\EULA","1","REG_DWORD" objShell.RegWrite "HKLM\Software\Adobe\Acrobat Reader\6.0\AdobeViewer\EULA","1","REG_DWORD" 'no updates, no ads... objShell.regwrite "HKLM\Software\Adobe\Acrobat Reader\6.0\FeatureLockdown\bUpdater","0","REG_DWORD" objShell.regwrite "HKLM\Software\Adobe\Acrobat Reader\6.0\FeatureLockdown\bShowAdsAllow","0","REG_DWORD" objShell.regwrite "HKCU\Software\Adobe\Acrobat Reader\6.0\AdobeViewer\AdsInReader\bShowAds","0","REG_DWORD" objShell.regwrite "HKCU\Software\Adobe\Acrobat Reader\6.0\AdobeViewer\Originals\bDisplayAboutDialog","0","REG_DWORD" objShell.regwrite "HKCU\Software\Adobe\Acrobat Reader\6.0\AdobeViewer\Updater\bShowAutoUpdateConfDialog","0","REG_DWORD" objShell.regwrite "HKCU\Software\Adobe\Acrobat Reader\6.0\AdobeViewer\Updater\bShowNotifDialog","0","REG_DWORD" objShell.RegWrite "HKCU\Software\Adobe\Acrobat Reader\6.0\Originals\bDisplayAboutDialog","0","REG_DWORD" objShell.regwrite "HKCU\Software\Adobe\Acrobat Reader\6.0\AdobeViewer\Updater\iUpdateFrequency","0","REG_DWORD" 'internet connection speed objShell.regwrite "HKLM\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Acrobat Reader\6.0\AVGeneral\iConnectionSpeed","00989680","REG_DWORD" 'Delete shortcuts FSO.DeleteFile objShell.SpecialFolders("AllUsersDesktop") & "\Adobe Reader 6.0.lnk", True 'FSO.DeleteFile objShell.SpecialFolders("AllUsersPrograms") & "\Adobe Reader 6.0.lnk", True FSO.DeleteFolder objShell.SpecialFolders("AllUsersPrograms") & "\PrintMe Internet Printing", True 'delete old optionnal plugin folder FSO.DeleteFolder "c:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 6.0\Reader\Optional", True 'rename plugins to optional FSO.MoveFolder "c:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 6.0\Reader\plug_ins", "c:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 6.0\Reader\Optional" 'create a new plugin folder FSO.CreateFolder "c:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 6.0\Reader\plug_ins" 'move the desired plugins back to it FSO.MoveFile "c:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 6.0\Reader\optional\EWH32.api", "c:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 6.0\Reader\plug_ins\EWH32.api" FSO.MoveFile "c:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 6.0\Reader\optional\EScript.api", "c:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 6.0\Reader\plug_ins\EScript.api" FSO.MoveFile "c:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 6.0\Reader\optional\Search.api", "c:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 6.0\Reader\plug_ins\Search.api" FSO.MoveFile "c:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 6.0\Reader\optional\printme.api", "c:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 6.0\Reader\plug_ins\printme.api" FSO.MoveFile "c:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 6.0\Reader\optional\weblink.api", "c:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 6.0\Reader\plug_ins\weblink.api" It renames the plugins directory, creates a new one and move the desired plugins back, sets registry entries and deletes the annoying shortcuts. One file, no dependancies or anything. As ugly as it looks, it's never caused any problems either. [Edit] I forgot to mention. It seems that most people are running the .exe installers to install the app which takes ages (the FEAD optimizer thingy). Start the installer and look into %systemroot%\cache (ie c:\windows\cache in most cases). You'll get the extracted form in .msi format that installs a lot faster. Hope that helps too.

Nice find! I'll probably give that a try tonite. Thanks

That's very close to what I do. I also add the unsinstall info to the registry via a .reg file Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Mozilla Firefox (0.9.3)] "DisplayName"="Mozilla Firefox (0.9.3)" "UninstallString"="C:\\WINDOWS\\UninstallFirefox.exe /ua \"0.9.3 (en)\"" "DisplayIcon"="C:\\Program Files\\Mozilla Firefox\\firefox.exe,0" "DisplayVersion"="0.9.3 (en)" "Comment"="The Browser, Reloaded." "InstallLocation"="C:\\Program Files\\Mozilla Firefox" "NoModify"="1" "NoRepair"="1" "Publisher"="Mozilla" "URLInfoAbout"="http://www.mozilla.org/" "URLUpdateInfo"="http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/" and i also recopy the UninstallFirefox.exe to %systemroot%. I find it important to have the uninstall information in there I customize my firefox (settings, various search plugins, web developper toolbar, checky, adblock, needle search, ...) before copying the main directory and app data directory as well. Any more than that, I might as well make 2 system snapshots and repackage it all altogether as a .msi file instead (either ways you get to redo it all over again next time)

I was going thru a lot before to get it installed nicely too Editing the .ini files (and the next time you can't remember for sur what excatly you had to change), AutoIt scripts, ... Then plugins and all.. I now do like MCT does, with the exception that I xcopy the shortcuts from the install disk instead of creating new ones. It's easy to make you disc install the software, then mass xcopy icons for all these apps like that, with the entire tree structure. Anyways, I've basically given up even considering installing it in any other ways.

Yes, it work in any scenario, but just a note, I did an error while copy/pasting. It should have been: for %%a in (C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z) do if exist %%a:\i386\winnt.exe set CDROM=%%a: (With a : at the end) That way your CDRom letter is say, J: istead of J ... You get the idea anyways. If you don't want to search thru all these drives, just remove the ones you don't want but eithe way it's pretty quick and never fails me. You could make it look for win51ip.SP2 or winnt.sif or whatever too... I use that to launch my main installing script from a a directory full of installers (not located in $OEM$ at all). I just don't see a point of copying the installers to the HD first during the setup phase like lots of guys seem to do. Also, I much rather have one big script that launches the installers, adds registry entries, and launches more "sub"-scripts to tweak the installation instead of other methods. Some people seem too see GUIRunOnce as a n00b method, I just see it as more versatile and better adapted for my needs...

Yes, that's what I use also. Most testing with VMWare, then once it seems to work fine I burn it on a -RW. They've come down in price a lot and they're handy. There's new versions/builds coming out every month of just about every program mine installs, so it's definately worth it

Of course it is. It's by far the best way to go too. Have it install XP SP2 unattended, office 2003 SP1, and all your other usual software, configs, tweaks and everything. You never look back

I have to say I find this poll mostly useless because of the "n00b factor". Instead I'd look at virus oriented magazines, testing, and certifications... And usually Norton is at the bottom of the list

There has been a couple methods listed already but neither work for me. I use GUIRunOnce for a main installer script that launches more scripts. Using GUIRunOnce, the first method won't work, and somehow, the other method in this thread doesn't return the right drive for me... So even if it might work sometimes, I don't trust it, and to be honest, I never thought of doing it that way. There is a much simpler way. Have a unique file on your CD, and look for it: @echo off for %%a in (C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z) do if exist %%a:\path\to\yourfile.xyz set CDROM=%%a (where \path\to\yourfile.xyz is the path to your uniquely named file called yourfile.xyz or whatever it might be, with no drive letter of course) I GUIRunOnce to start command.cmd, after that, command.cmd uses that code to find the CD Rom drive letter, and starts %CDROM\whatever.cmd that does the installs directly from the CD (Actually, a DVD-R but that's besides the point). Simple to do and works reliably at every stage. Might not be news to most people, some people might like other methods better, it might have been posted 150x before... But anyways. I hope it helps someone... Just "contributing" hoping to make someone else's life easier.