jaclaz

Maybe in order to have that emulation working decently they might end up removing some of the bloat from Windows .... (Hey, a man can dream ... ) Just as a reminder, "average" base OS install size: NT 4.0 180 Mb 2K 650 Mb XP 1500 Mb Vista 16000 Mb ... jaclaz

It depends. Ross, Joey or Chandler are suitable names IMHO, Gene or Clint are probably better, "The Hulk" not so much. http://uncutfriendsepisodes.tripod.com/season4/418uncut.htm Seriously now, in which sense would you expect that to be a problem? jaclaz

Well, just for the record and for your interest (and in case you are wanting to experiment) junctions and hardlinks are available since NTFS was invented and also symlinks are available since XP[1], only - wisely - they weren't used or weren't used so extensively in the base OS install. In the case of a hardlink you cannot really say "which one is the original" as the whole point of the hardlink idea is that only one original exists, with more than one pointers to it. So are the files in the system direectory hardlinks to files in WinSXS or is it the other way round? Chicken and egg problem. As a side note, ever wondered why you cannot install Vista (let alone 7) on FAT32 normally? Here: http://reboot.pro/topic/19643-winsxs-hardlinked-files/ once again it is the stupid WinSXS mechanism, a "solution" for DLL Hell that actually creates more problems jaclaz [1] You will find n sources telling you that symlinks were introduced with Vista (which is false, they were introduced in NTFS in XP times, only the good MS guys didn't provide a suitable driver), the truth is here: http://schinagl.priv.at/nt/hardlinkshellext/linkshellextension.html#symboliclinksforwindowsxp more generally the page is a very interesting resource: http://schinagl.priv.at/nt/hardlinkshellext/linkshellextension.html

Yes. it is usually possible. Check if the links and procedures detailed here: apply to your particular case. The actual procedure is around here: but you should check the whole thread jaclaz

A large part of the "crazy" prices come - I believe - from automatic/automagic price adjustments (gone bad). It is not at all uncommon to find a given item priced with a multiplier of 10, 100, 1000 or 10000, and this cannot but be the result of a badly made algorithm or some really lousy typing. If you want some fun, check here: http://www.themostexpensivestuff.com/ Of course some of the stuff prices are legit or at least *possible* (think antiquities. collector items, etc.) but what about - say - a (Cisco 1700) 16 Mb MFC for a mere US$ 478,000? http://www.ebay.com/itm/Intel-MEM1700-16MFC-5V-16-MB-Flash-Cisco-1700-Router-/161116972180?_trksid=p2141725.m3641.l6368 or a lot of 400 1Tb Seagate HDD's at a bulk price of 437.5 US$ apiece? http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/152136317127?vectorid=229466&lgeo=1&item=152136317127&rmvSB=true A steal when compared to a $1,164,057.99 (+ $2.95 Shipping, BTW ) for some VARISCITE BARREL BEADS (not even a "proper" necklace)? http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/201653393925?vectorid=229466&lgeo=1&item=201653393925&rmvSB=true jaclaz

HOW exactly? (it might be useful to know for other members having your same or similar issue). IF someone managed to find a way to diagnose an offline system and automagically fix it (for next boot) from a PE he/she would not be here on the Forums, but rather sunbathing on the deck of his/her new yacht. The most you can do from a PE is to read the events logs of the offline system, but from that to have an actual diagnosis and from the diagnosis applying the proper remedy there is a huge leap. In most cases the events logs are not anyway enough, you need to attempt rebooting the system creating a "crash dump", and then you need to analyze the crashdump (something that very few people I know can do properly and successfully) and usually attempt several tries anyway or you need to trace the booting (examples): again not something easy-peasy. jaclaz

Sure symlinks are different from hardlinks, and possibly they are counted differently by different tools. And of course a single sparse file can account for as large as you make it. Just in case: http://superuser.com/questions/823959/how-to-view-all-the-symbolic-links-junction-points-hard-links-in-a-folder-using You can use a forfiles or for similar loop with fsutil to find sparse files (if any). jaclaz

Hardlinks/symlinks/Sparse files anyone? jaclaz

Anyway it has to be seen how (technically) they are going to make it work. The same principle is used for Child Pornography images, and it has IMHO already a number of drawbacks/issues, JFYI: http://www.forensicfocus.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=14573/ but here we are talking of ALL the images in the world, it is a completely different dataset, both in size and scope. jaclaz

As a side note, but relevant, a recent international study confirms the gut feeling that only 1/15 to 1/20 people actually know where their towel is (provided that the "level 3", which seems to me anyway basic enough, corresponds to knowing where your towel is ): https://www.nngroup.com/articles/computer-skill-levels/ More or less the direct consequence of this is that in the name of popularity (and/or market size) everything is going to be dumbed down simplified to be compliant with the level the vast majority of people are, thus keeping them in their persistent ignorance computer illiteracy. Now, I am the first one to sponsor simplicity and attempting to apply Occam's razor to *everything*, but one thing is making things as simple as possible (good) and another thing is making things as simple as the lazy users expect them to be (and in doing so limit the possibilities of more advanced uses of the tool by a few more knowledgeable and willing to learn people). jaclaz

https://www.wireshark.org/ http://ss64.com/nt/netstat.html https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/tcpview.aspx jaclaz

OT, but not much, this is ridiculous (pdf 134 Kb): https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/Strategic_Principles_for_Securing_the_Internet_of_Things-2016-1115-FINAL....pdf basically - according to NHS - if you install an el-cheapo camera and leave password admin/admin, you may cause the disruption of primary US networks, which seemingly have today the same robustness of Ukraine's ones one year ago, which were however compromised NOT by DDOS or similar attacks but from remote logins on (with payloads sent and/or credentials obtained through phishing) internet connected SCADA's A report on the Ukraine accident is here (pdf 1.4 Mb): http://www.nerc.com/pa/CI/ESISAC/Documents/E-ISAC_SANS_Ukraine_DUC_18Mar2016.pdf Hey guys, what about the good ol'way of having strategical infrastructure and particularly SCADA's NOT connected to the Internet? Too d@mn simple, I presume. jaclaz

But it is not a case of "security by obscurity", it is a case of "security through having small(er) relevance (inside a large mass)", i.e. it is the swarm/school surviving approach, actually more the "selfish herd" one: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selfish_herd_theory jaclaz

OT, but not much, they repented and just provided Symlinks bypassing UAC elevation. Something BTW possible in XP (with a third party driver since the functionality is there in NTFS but the MS guys didn't provide one, probably in order to boast about Vista "new" functionalities ) that they are trying to "sell" as "news" and as the third best thing in the world (after bread and ice-cream): https://blogs.windows.com/buildingapps/2016/12/02/symlinks-windows-10/ Just for the record, the new approach makes anyway little sense, it involves the use of a "Developer Mode", so I am failing to see the advantage over simply elevating the cmd prompt or the program creating the Symlink. jaclaz

Good, so, if it switches to full screen, it means that before it was a window, i.e. you have a GUI subsystem fine. Now, you have this issue for a single, specific "your" driver, while there is no one-size-fits-all tool to install a driver offline, GUI or command line, it is entirely possible to script an offline installer for a specific driver, particularly if it is "your" driver and you already developed for it the .inf (or whatever method of install you already use for normal, "online" install). Installing a driver is made essentially of two or three steps: 1) Copying the file(s) from source to destination 2) Set the appropriate Registry keys and entries 3) Optionally set an external preferences/configuration file #1 and #3 are so basic that they need not any particular advice, you can obtain #2 by either using "normal" Registry tools on a "mounted" set of Registry hives: https://4sysops.com/archives/regedit-as-offline-registry-editor/ or you can use an offline Registry editor: http://reboot.pro/topic/11212-offline-registry-library/ http://reboot.pro/topic/11312-offline-registry/ it has to be tested if the latter works on Windows 10 (or MS has an updated .dll, etc.) jaclaz

To be more strict, few have been found being actually qualified. jaclaz

Use temporarily a key re-mapper *like* : (keytweak, home page is down, Wayback Machine:https://web.archive.org/web/20120919005012/http://webpages.charter.net/krumsick https://sharpkeys.codeplex.com/ Or this one (again via Wayback Machine): https://web.archive.org/web/20130722061920/http://www.inchwest.com/mapkeyboard jaclaz

Out of sheer curiosity, what happens in your WinPE if you press ALT+ENTER? In all the PE's I have ever seen, this will toggle the cmd.exe from full screen to window (just to show how there is a graphical subsystem alright in the PE). As a matter of fact most PE's - exception made for the basic MS WinPE made from WAIK, but including the PE that is used to install Windows (boot.wim) do use this (or that) GUI tool. jaclaz

In other words, you want an offline driver installer. AFAIK there is no one-size-fits-all solution, each driver - particularly the ones senselessly packed into MSI's or other installer packages - won't be usable/installable offline but also a number of drivers needing the creation of a device will have issues, anyway some can (could - have not used them since some time and definitely not on Windows 10) be found here: https://www.raymond.cc/blog/3dp-net-auto-detects-and-installs-network-adapter-driver/ As often happens, a question comes out, WHAT (exactly) is the reason why you want to install the drivers offline (as opposed to normally install them online)? jaclaz

Great minds think alike ... ... and following ... jaclaz

I am very proud of a (otherwise lousy ) t-shirt I was given for my 50th birthday that reads: The answer is NO, we (cumulatively the "geeks") have already spent a large part of our lives looking for and testing new, strange things, there is no other reason why - unless it is a mere coincidence - we stopped being curious/enthusiastic exactly at the same time some (crappy) products came out, the ONLY possible explanation is that these products are crappy. Show me a different, better[1] way to do something and I will adopt it in no time, today like I did it yesterday (and also the day before). The advantage we have (when compared to the younger folks) is that we ALREADY did that something in more ways they can even imagine, thus we can easily compare the effectiveness and ergonomics of the more traditional tools/methods/approaches against the last, new, hip, one they just devised and rather easily separate the wheat from the chaff. jaclaz [1] better here means actually better.

It loads Power Management. If you don't use it, you don't need it, of course. jaclaz

Curiously/coincidentally, I was talking today of which in Italia is "chi semina vento raccoglie tempesta". It comes from the Bible (just to show how there is nothing new under the sun ) Hosea 8.7: and in its complete version the added "the strangers shall swallow it up" is even more menacing.... jaclaz

Yep , also sometimes removing a safety fuse (a single §@ç#ing fuse worth - say - 0.10 USD) combined with (bad) software engineers can have serious consequences, a re-known case, JFYI: http://hackaday.com/2015/10/26/killed-by-a-machine-the-therac-25/ jaclaz

From memory, a Via C3 based board @1 Ghz is loosely comparable to a P3 @800 Mhz, a C7 should be much faster than that. Via support and documentation usually sucks (and sucks BIG), even if a (EOL) motherboard is now listing only XP support, and "current" ones only list Windows 7, often the drivers for it are also NT 4.00 and 2K, finding this kind of info (which is scattered among two or three sites) is daunting, but it can be done. I presume that the last/most powerful mini-itx board is the EPIA SN series (which also has 2 Gigabit ethernets onboard): http://www.viatech.com/en/support/eol/epia-sn-eol/ and at least the "Hyperion" driver does include NT 4.00 support: http://download.viatech.com/en/support/driversSelect.jsp Have a look at some tests of it: http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/1308/via_epia_sn_mini_itx_motherboard/ But most probably you could do with a slightly older (and less powerful) motherboard. jaclaz