CoffeeFiend

2 things: WScript.Shell has methods such as RegRead, RegWrite, and RegDelete. See the docs on MSDN here. It's very simple to use, and works better. There's no need at all to use reg.exe for this (and no need for the sleep "hack" either). There's plenty of examples around if you google for it, or you can check the scripting guy's columns, or the scripting center, or various community sites, tutorials and what not. There's no shortage of resources about scripting out there. And also, why not use silent switches on the msi installer too? Edit: and to start a MSI installer, I wouldn't exactly use "cmd" either, but rather msiexec.

You're welcome (not that I really helped ) Not sure if it's a recent issue (an OS problem perhaps, or caused by an update?) Well, troubleshooting database performance can be fairly complex. And what you can do varies greatly depending on which database it is. If I could, I'd try running the queries by hand, and see what happens (peek at their execution time and their execution plan). Or log the queries, and look at those. Slow DB performance can be caused by so many different things... Sometimes a tiny change in a query or in a schema can make a very big difference, or other small things like tweaking an index. Again, this could be a disk or network bottleneck too... So many possibilities. If I had experts on call for this type of problem, I'd consider giving them a call too (most people just don't have an experienced DBA, advanced sys admins and network gurus on hand)

Well, hopefully you can figure it out. I never really play with IOS myself (we have a network guy for that stuff) so I'm not much help there, but I'm pretty good with wireshark.

Yes, that switch does support it. And this page is a good read. There's likely way more resources, haven't looked around much, and I'm not much of a IOS person either...

You need a managed switch that supports it in the first place, i.e. a Cisco with the Switched Port Analyzer ("SPAN") feature or such. Otherwise, there's other solutions like a network tap from companies like netoptics, but those aren't cheap either.

Actually, it should only come in x64! I hope so at least. Why? Because, there's still too many devices without x64 drivers out there, and the amount of native x64 apps is still very low. This would force companies to release x64 drivers if they want to continue selling hardware (write x64 drivers, or go out of business). It would also generate a huge demand for native x64 versions of most apps. And software that don't really work well on x64 platforms (like some codecs) would likely be upgraded real quick too. It would finally make x64 viable for everybody. By the time Windows 7 is out, RAM will be even cheaper than it is now. And I already see kits like 2x2GB of PC6400 for as low as $73, like Corsair XMS2 at ncix right now. By then, 8GB will likely be like $50, so everyone's going to buy lots of it, and not be limited at 3.x GB. Besides, it's not like you'd want to run Windows 7 on a pre-64 bit CPU either, like an old P4 or Athlon XP. I mean, right now, you can build a basic quad core computer with 4GB of RAM for ~$500 e.g. Phenom X4 9550, Gigabyte GA-M78SM-S2H mobo, 4GB Corsair XMS2 PC6400, Antec NSK4480 case/psu, LG G-H20NS10 DVD writer, and a 500GB P7K500 hard drive -- $527 at ncix for all of it, and it's basically the same price for a Q6600, and only like $50 extra if you want a nice motherboard instead. Now imagine in 2 years or more. Faster quad cores will be even cheaper, same thing for RAM. At some point, we have to make the big switch to x64. New NTFS version? Well, it's only interesting if it brings new & useful features really. The current one is adequate right now. But hey, if they can improve some things, why not? As for people hoping they'll be able not to install WMP and such, good luck with that. They want everybody to use their WM codecs and such, and WMP is a way to do just that, and it's also part of their "strategy" for media stuff (think media extenders, the XBOX 360 and all them things). And seeing how there's been zero demand for the "N" flavors of XP, you can pretty much guess they're going to include it regardless. IE wise, I think they clearly demonstrated their unwillingness to unbundle it before, and some parts of it are used by other apps too. So there again...

Yes, the breadcrumbs nav isn't perfect. As for branching off of the desktop, I'm not quite sure. I haven't opened a link that locked me in there yet. To get to most of my stuff (documents, downloads, etc), I tend to mainly use a quick launch shortcut -- not by clicking on it, but by hitting windows key + the number of the quick launch icon (yes, no need to even click those darn things anymore!), which just brings me to c:\Users\MyUserName\ -- everything at my disposal by hitting 2 keys Then if you want to go to your desktop, press D, enter, and you're there (ok, 4 keys total), and it does let me get out using the bread crumbs nav. And yes, you can't go back to the root of a drive from a very deep path using bread crumbs nav in one click, but the up button didn't do that either. Quickest way IMO, is pressing alt-d to land in the address bar, and typing c:\ [enter] (yes, I do use the keyboard LOTS!) - or just using alt+up arrow a few times. But yes, it could be improved for sure.

That's not a program at all (still not many of those), so completely off-topic, but anyways. Actually, unlike XP, you don't have to use the status bar. You can use columns made specifically for that, like "copyright", "product name", "product version", etc (and many other very useful ones for other tasks). And this way, you see the infos for every single binary at once. Proper as in "the old way"? Being the old way doesn't make it proper. But hey, if you can't figure out the breadcrumb navigation (it's not useless at all), and that alt+up arrow doesn't work for you, then you can look into small addons like QTTabBar which will give you the old buttons (and more if you want), and tabs in explorer.exe too if you want that. There isn't a "My Documents" folder on Vista (it's just a junction). It's rather C:\Users\YourUserName\Documents, and on most installs, the downloads go to C:\Users\YourUserName\Downloads. Actually, you can even make a shortcut to it in the "favorite links" section at the top left of explorer.exe -- a big time saver compared to XP (just grab the Downloads folder, and drag it to the favorite links area, done). You can. The customizations you make to that in explorer.exe also show up in common dialogs. BTW, them links are stored in C:\Users\YourUserName\Links -- feel free to add/remove some this way too. It works just the same. The main cause I have seen for that, is the default printer not being online (PS' fault actually). This might not be your issue though, just saying.

Yes, it's certainly from solar roots (organic stuff that used solar power then turned into petrol). But with gas, the energy is already stored, ready to use. Hydrogen, you'll have to spend the energy first, before you have it. All that and the blub about efficiency was about, is that it costs a fair amount to produce. As for pipelines vs electricity, it probably depends on the place. There is no natural gas here. So digging everywhere to add those would certainly cost a LOT more than a upgrade to the existing electric network. And at a high enough voltage, line losses are acceptable too. So it probably depends on the location. Absolutely! But solar cells are VERY expensive. I did look at it before. The initial investment is quite high (not counting maintenance costs or "life expectancy" of the said panels), and with the illumination we get, even financed at a very good percentage, it wouldn't be cheaper than the local hydro company... Besides, I have no place for any of that stuff at my condo Heating wise, geothermal systems seem very good, but again, I can't exactly install that in my condo.

Indeed. Drilling in the USA won't really change the situation much. It wouldn't lower prices, nor last very long. The real problem with hydrogen is, it's not an energy source per se. You have to use energy for processes like electrolysis to generate it. So you still need a cheap source of energy (hopefully not coal) to replace it. And if you're using electricity (electrolysis) to create hydrogen, then why not skipping the electricity -> hydrogen part and just using electric cars instead? A single liter of gas contains about 35 MJ of energy, which is about 10 kilowatt*hours if I'm not mistaken. Then you have to look at the losses in the electrolysis process (about 60% efficient last I checked), which despite record-high gas prices here (about $5.25/gal) and cheap hydro power, still doesn't make hydrogen cheaper than gas yet. Transporting massive quantities of hydrogen and electricity would both require substantial investments, and both are dangerous to some extent. I don't think there's an easy answer to the problem yet, but we're slowly getting there.

Maybe NTLDR is located "too far" on the disc (i.e. near the end of the DVD track). Some boot loaders have issues like that. It sounds a lot like it's your issue at least. Not sure what you used to create your disc ISO either. Usually it works fine.

The index store stuff is part of the full blown Nero install (it tries to index all your stuff). I don't normally use the standard nero installer precisely because of that stuff. I recall it's a pain to get rid of though (they tend to "reappear"). Check under services in MMC, it might be there. As for AVP, you'd have to stop or uninstall kaspersky if it's using that much resources.

Like you say, numbers say otherwise. You have nothing to back that up. And indeed they are, the adoption is much faster than XP. We don't say it was a POS for the time it was out -- I don't at least. XP is still a fine OS. But by today's standards, some of the older OS'es sure are POS'es. You don't typically have the "normal" argument. You keep saying nobody uses it even the numbers say otherwise, that no apps run (again, blatantly false), that it needs a PC you built like an hour ago to run it (false again), etc. And you're surprised when people refute those claims. You're really asking for it. Non-stop, yes. And MS ain't listening to you on how to "improve" Windows either. You see how it feels after merely a week or so? Because the whining got old 10 years ago. Stop spreading lies about it (like how "Microsoft dropped support for its platform" and such nonsense), then people won't defend it. Hell no. That comes down to "being a whiner" or not like I mentioned before. I'm NOT the type that likes to whine and complain non-stop about everything. Besides, that would accomplish exactly NOTHING, except annoying the hell out of everyone.

Sure. But up to the point where all some members seem to do on this forum, is bashing Vista (without having a point either)? There's having some complaints, and there's incessant compulsive endless bashing... It's not about what I like. It's about "not being the same old whining we're all tired to hear", and having actual valid points instead for a change. They were saying the EXACT SAME crap about Win3.x, and Win95, then 98, (ok, criticism of ME is forgiven ), then 2k, XP, and now Vista. That whining got old YEARS ago. There's plenty of things that could be improved/be better, and lots of little issues with various things -- no shortage of it, like for any previous version of windows. What some people seemingly want, is an older version of windows ("simple" -- as in "without the new stuff", and "super duper lightweight" as in "an older version"). I think they should just use MS DOS 3.3 or CP/M if that's what they're looking for, and stop the endless whining and negativity for once. Edit: And it's not just a Vista thing. I get just as annoyed by people doing the same old whining about XP, but they've mostly stopped by now. Hell, I can't wait for v7 to come out now, just so they change their whining to "Windows 7 sucks!" -- just for a change. And we already know what they'll be whining about too... Edit2: actually, for a different analogy: I don't like new games, I think they're too complicated, the focus is too much on the graphics instead of the game play, and then I could whine about vid card requirements too (hey, doom ran on a 486 without a 3D accelerated card, so no game should need this surely? I mean, it just displays stuff, right?) But guess what? I don't register on gaming forums, to whine about those things everyday. In fact, you won't ever hear me whine about that (besides this time, as an example). You want new games? You buy the new vid card and live with the new ways. You don't like them like me? Than you just don't play them -- NOT go on forums whine non-stop about how much they suck, how the FPS sucks on a 500$ vid card, how the old ones were more fun, and how games should be exactly like they were 10 years ago and only then would people like it and want to buy them, that you need a PC less than a year old to run them, that new games are too expensive, etc.

You shouldn't even need a script of any kind for this. Use the /VERYSILENT /SUPPRESSMSGBOXES /NORESTART /SP- switches to install silent. As for the reg infos, export them with regedit (clean in notepad), and apply them back using regedit /s as usual.

Strange. It's not there on my install of Vista. Perhaps it might be WMP adds that, as I don't have the 2 entries above it either (I don't use WMP). Thanks for the screenshot, much appreciated.

Is that a rhetorical question? Of course nothing is truly perfect (nor 100% future proof). Everything can be improved. Everybody has their own complaints about any version of Windows -- sometimes very good points actually. Personally, my main complaint about Vista is about Aero Glass. I was hoping for something more like compiz fusion (viewports/virtual desktops, on a cube if possible, with various "task switchers", a expose-like thing, window grouping, windows that can roll up and all that, and why not some nice animations too?) But instead it needs a recent video card (plus more RAM for desktop composing) for truly fugly transparent title bars, some thumbnails in the taskbar, and Flip3D seemingly. So I use the Vista Basic theme instead. It's funny how people all said Vista was just eye candy, and that's the one place where it actually fails to deliver... But, some people (like one poster whose nick I won't even mention) don't really have any real points, other than the same old whining that we've been hearing since, well, forever pretty much. Nothing will ever make them happy, and they'll always be whining. It's not the same thing at all.

Any old Vista disc/ISO image will work just fine. The license information for your computer is embedded in the BIOS anyways.

There's some electronics resources/sites for monitor repair. But, it's not exactly the easiest thing. It requires solid electronics knowledge, equipment you probably don't have, and often shop manuals which can be hard to find (not free). Besides, I don't recommend people open their CRT TVs or monitors as they're VERY dangerous. The voltage generated by the flyback is often around 30000 volts. You could easily kill yourself if you do something wrong. Besides, it's just a 19" model. You can get high end 24" LCDs around 500$ now. If you go for the lesser models (using TN panels) or smaller ones, then it'll be even cheaper (you can find some 22" models around $200). Most new models are also widescreen, and I find that helps a lot with photoshop. On a 4:3 monitor you don't have a whole lot of space left between the toolbars, but with the new 16:10 LCDs you got LOTS of screen real estate left.

I've had 0 issues installing v3 or any other version on XP SP3 so far. If you look around, you'll see that some people repackaged them too. You can get a silent/switchless all-in-one installer for 1.1 SP1, 2 SP1, 3 SP1 and 3.5 (about 50MB total IIRC).

Yes they sure are. It's usually "waah! waah! bloat!", "waah! waah! slow!", "waah! waah! the old one works better!" and "waah! waah! too expensive!". Overall, I've seen no change at all in the whining over the years. Most of them concerns DON'T need to be addressed. And whiners will whine regardless. They'd make Vista run on a Vic 20, and they'd still manage whine about something. I don't really see that. LOL. Whatever. We've been over this before, do you need me to spell it out? Vista adoption rates are BETTER than XP's. Sales are a lot higher too. XP wasn't nearly as successful by any metric. Looks like I'm gonna have to repeat myself again! A direct quote of something I said before: Analysts did say XP adoption rates were quite bad, and Vista's is lots faster. Maybe in your world 50% faster adoption rates and nearly 6x higher sales isn't a success... I dunno. It's NOT. Again, it's about problem solving, on time and on budget. Of course it has to run on available hardware (DUH!), but hardware is dirt cheap, and talented programmer time isn't, the amount of talented developers isn't infinite, and man-months aren't exactly linear (having 2 guys on the same job won't take half the time). But hey, what do I know? I only do this for a living... Yes, nobody's buying it, except they have record sales, and record adoption numbers. Makes perfect sense. No, I said I would have, IF I wanted to run Vista with all features enabled (as in, aero glass) on my 5 year old P4 (Intel GMA 950 wouldn't exactly cut it). My main box (the one running Vista) didn't need any upgrades at all. I don't know why you have to turn every topic where I see you post into an endless vista bashing session (especially when most of it is nonsense). I think you need to find yourself a new hobby. Now, excuse me while I go call the whambulance.

You may be completely right. Same as any VPN. If the files are small, accessing the files remotely (many ways) will be MUCH faster. If they're huge, then RDP (or VNC or what have you) would be faster. You can use both methods over a VPN, it's just like if you were connected locally (albeit, with a slower link).

logmein might be the easiest thing, but there's plenty of other solutions. I use OpenVPN myself. Cross platform (linux, windows and others), VERY secure: it uses the industry standard openSSL for encryption instead of a closed-sourced implementation which you can't even be sure is used properly in logmein's case, it can even use certificates and smart cards if you want (a LOT more secure than just a password, but you pick what mode you prefer), it runs on whatever protocol you want it to (UDP or TCP, any port you want), they don't try to lure you with their free product to later on sell you their commercial one like logmein and others -- it's completely free and open source. There's lots of help, documentation and how-to's online, there's commercial books written about it, etc. Over a VPN, you can access ANY remote computer, transfer files to/from them, use remote desktop, vnc or anything you so please, just like if you were physically there. Yes, it is more work, and definitely more complicated to setup (you need to have basic networking knowledge and such), but you only have to do it once, and the results are definitely worth it IMO. Don't get me wrong, the logmein service works, and I'm sure they have lots of happy customers, but there's lots of other solutions out there.

There's more than just txtsetup.inf and asms. There's many more inf files, various cabinet files, registry hives, etc. There's several different stages, where different things are done. There's WAY more to it than just coping files listed in one inf file. And it's not as much weird as undocumented. They never meant the installer to be toyed with pretty much, so there is no documentation (back in those NT 3.1 days, there hardly was any docs for anything in the first place). They put in place some ways to tweak what most people would have to (e.g. winnt.sif) and that's about it. I don't think you could make that happen, not that easily at least. Windows normally doesn't let you screw around with WinSxS too much, and assemblies need their catalogs & manifests (they wouldn't match with the other DLL). They do have a specific way they build the WinSxS store from different assemblies. It wouldn't let you just overwrite anything blindly like that, in special/protected spaces. And automatic updates don't quite work in the same way. It's been a good while since I really looked at the installer itself in depth, and since now we've essentially ditched that old POS, I can't really see myself waste too much time over that again. A custom winnt.sif + the $OEM$\* directories is pretty much all I ever needed to make any install disc do exactly what I wanted it to (well, along with some reg tweaks, batch files and scripts). Anyways, I wish you luck in your quest for the perfect disc

Why do you have to repost the same crap again? You posted the same drivel 5 days ago -- only ONE word changed. spacesurfer had a good answer to that too.