jaclaz

The one I like the most is Registrar. http://www.resplendence.com/main There are two version, Shareware and Freeware. Even the freeware one, Registrar Lite, has this great feature of searching the registry and LISTING results. http://www.resplendence.com/reglite jaclaz

This devcon trick should do: http://ask-leo.com/is_there_a_way_to_safel...batch_file.html jaclaz

Actually batch should be enough. Here is a simple batch (.cmd) example for date/time. This will work only on Win2k/XP/2003. European notation: @Echo OFF TITLE mdEU - Make directory with current date/time (EU notation) REM mdEU.CMD REM Make directory with current date/time in a given path REM REM ------------------------------------------------------------- IF %1.==. GoTo USAGE Set CURRDATE=%TEMP%\CURRDATE.TMP Set CURRTIME=%TEMP%\CURRTIME.TMP DATE /T > %CURRDATE% TIME /T > %CURRTIME% Set PARSEARG="eol=; tokens=1,2,3,4* delims=/, " For /F %PARSEARG% %%i in (%CURRDATE%) Do SET YYYY=%%l% For /F %PARSEARG% %%i in (%CURRDATE%) Do SET MM=%%k% For /F %PARSEARG% %%i in (%CURRDATE%) Do SET DD=%%j% Set PARSEARG="eol=; tokens=1,2,3* delims=:, " For /F %PARSEARG% %%i in (%CURRTIME%) Do Set HHMM=%%i%%j%%k Set NOW=%DD%_%MM%_%YYYY%_%HHMM% Echo Make directory %1\%NOW% ? Echo (Press Ctr+C to abort) Pause IF EXIST %1\%NOW% GOTO ERROR IF NOT EXIST %1\%NOW% MD %1\%NOW% CLS IF EXIST %1\%NOW% ECHO Directory %1\%NOW% created successfully! GoTo END :USAGE Echo ...no path specified... aborted! Echo ******************************** Echo Usage: mdEU [PATH] Echo ******************************** Echo Example: mdEU C: or mdEU C:\TEMP Echo ******************************** Echo Makes a directory DD_MM_YYYY_HH.MM (EU notation) Echo Where Echo DD = Day Echo MM = Month (i.e. 01 for january) Echo YYYY = Year (i.e. 2000) Echo HH.MM = Time Pause GoTo END :ERROR ECHO Directory %1\%NOW% already exists! ECHO Execution aborted...try again in a minute! :END REM CLEARING USED VARIABLES AND TEMP FILES IF EXIST %TEMP%\CURRDATE.TMP Del %TEMP%\CURRDATE.TMP IF EXIST %TEMP%\CURRTIME.TMP Del %TEMP%\CURRTIME.TMP SET CURRDATE= SET CURRTIME= SET YYYY= SET PARSEARG= SET MM= SET DD= SET HHMM= SET NOW= REM TITLE Command Prompt US notation: @Echo OFF TITLE mdUS - Make directory with current date/time (US notation) REM mdUS.CMD REM Make directory with current date/time in a given path REM REM ------------------------------------------------------------- IF %1.==. GoTo USAGE Set CURRDATE=%TEMP%\CURRDATE.TMP Set CURRTIME=%TEMP%\CURRTIME.TMP DATE /T > %CURRDATE% TIME /T > %CURRTIME% Set PARSEARG="eol=; tokens=1,2,3,4* delims=/, " For /F %PARSEARG% %%i in (%CURRDATE%) Do SET YYYY=%%l% For /F %PARSEARG% %%i in (%CURRDATE%) Do SET MM=%%k% For /F %PARSEARG% %%i in (%CURRDATE%) Do SET DD=%%j% Set PARSEARG="eol=; tokens=1,2,3* delims=:, " For /F %PARSEARG% %%i in (%CURRTIME%) Do Set HHMM=%%i%%j%%k Set NOW=%YYYY%_%MM%_%DD%_%HHMM% Echo Make directory %1\%NOW% ? Echo (Press Ctr+C to abort) Pause IF EXIST %1\%NOW% GOTO ERROR IF NOT EXIST %1\%NOW% MD %1\%NOW% CLS IF EXIST %1\%NOW% ECHO Directory %1\%NOW% created successfully! GoTo END :USAGE Echo ...no path specified... aborted! Echo ******************************** Echo Usage: mdUS [PATH] Echo ******************************** Echo Example: mdUS C: or mdUS C:\TEMP Echo ******************************** Echo Makes a directory YYYY_MM_DD_HH.MM (US notation) Echo Where Echo YYYY = Year (i.e. 2000) Echo MM = Month (i.e. 01 for january) Echo DD = Day Echo HH.MM = Time Pause GoTo END :ERROR ECHO Directory %1\%NOW% already exists! ECHO Execution aborted...try again in a minute! :END REM CLEARING USED VARIABLES AND TEMP FILES IF EXIST %TEMP%\CURRDATE.TMP Del %TEMP%\CURRDATE.TMP IF EXIST %TEMP%\CURRTIME.TMP Del %TEMP%\CURRTIME.TMP SET CURRDATE= SET CURRTIME= SET YYYY= SET PARSEARG= SET MM= SET DD= SET HHMM= SET NOW= REM TITLE Command Prompt jaclaz

Searching the site is ALWAYS a good idea: http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=33806 jaclaz

Just a note, if you want to have the same effect fdisk does, i.e deleting partition entries in the MBR (which is NOT wiping a partition or drive), there are several ways. Search on google for Roger Layton MBRWizard 1.52 You can call it from batch, using the /Wipe=1 or /Wipe=2 options should do it Or you could use the tool you can find here: http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=30378&hl= jaclaz

I do not see WHY you should need it UNATTENDED! As I see it your problem is how to get data to your hard disk without using the CD. Theoretically it is possible to take the HD out of the laptop and connect it through an adapter or cable like these (last two items at bottom of page): http://www.mini-itx.com/store/default.asp?c=12 Then you can copy the \i386 folder from XP CD your hard disk, all needed drivers, keep it dual booting with a WIN9x/DOS (you can delete everything but: BOOT.INI NTLOADR NTDETECT.COM IO.SYS MSDOS.SYS COMMAND.COM) (or you could do this through network) Then install XP through 16bit WINNT.EXE. However it is STRONGLY recommended to have an alternate bootable device, i.e. a CD, FLoppy or USB stick. jaclaz

NO. Yes, in a DOS bootdisk. jaclaz

It looks like a nice tool. jaclaz

Please, USE THE SEARCH FUNCTION You would have found this: http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=27943 jaclaz

You mean these: http://www.jsiinc.com/SUBB/tip0700/rh0770.htm http://www.robvanderwoude.com/processes.html http://www.teamcti.com/pview/prcview.htm jaclaz

Dave, have a look at this guy, he offfers that service: http://my.execpc.com/~adw/ jaclaz

Yes, on some machines the hidden partition contains custom programs that detect hardware and install files needed on that particular machine only. Just for the record, the WORST is this TIME computers, read here some info: http://www.pcbuyerbeware.co.uk/Tips.htm#timerecovery http://www.pcbuyerbeware.co.uk/Software.htm#recovery Have a look here (info on recovery hidden partitions): http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2003/2003-02-06.htm#1 jaclaz

@yusmol please READ THE RULES http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=18408 and COMPLY TO THEM @abudahood have a look at this thread about how HD are arranged phisically and logically: http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=34575&hl= Sometimes a certain sector has a defective magnetic media, and thus CANNOT be read/written reliably, thus it is marked bad. Sometimes by writing to it several times different values the media is somewhat "refreshed", and starts working again.(not unlike Ni-Cd batteries that, up to a certain extent can be rejuvenated by cycles of charging/discharging) However a drive that starts developing bad sectors, even if they are "recovered" by the technique above described is to be considerd UNRELIABLE and should be either substituted as soon as possible or used in systems where NO important data is involved. jaclaz

Yes, it is possible. You will need to install a Bootmanager like XOSL or Bootit NG to hide/unhide the partition (as far as I know HP does it from BIOS). And you might need some thinking about the Hard Disk partitioning to find a way to KEEP the same drive lettering both when the disk is booted from the (normally hidden) recovery partition and when it is booted from the "normal" one. jaclaz

If you search : 1) Selecting "All Forums" 2) Selecting "Any date" 3) for "Convert CMD" (without quotes) You will find (apart from this very thread): http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=32728 http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=13827 Reason to try and NOT open multiple threads on the same subject is that answers, solutions, suggestions, bug reports, etc. are kept together, the same thread grows in size, contains more related keywords, thus it is easier to be found by searching; This allows for less multiple threads, thus creating a "virtuous circle", that makes you find faster the solution, .....etc. jaclaz

Yes, ...how true! jaclaz

Yes, again, in my opinion the sentence: is "almost" right, apart from the (normaly 63 sectors), which is not "normal" , I would have written it as follows: In each platter surface, corresponding to a side or head, of the disk there are a certain number of circular concentric tracks, the length of the track is divided into a number of sectors, each 512 bytes in size; addressing the sectors is made through the onboard controller of the disk. As above, it is practically the same as the (revised) sentence from the book "Operating System concept" by Silberschatz Fifth Edition seen above. What I was trying to explain as an overall concept was the following: 1) On the surface(s) of the disk platter(s) there is a total amount of magnetic storage capacity. 2) This total amount of capacity is determined by: a) SIZE OF SURFACES (i.e.area of surface(s) by number of platter(s)); b) MAGNETIC DENSITY (i.e. how many bytes can be stored per surface unit). 3) A part of this capacity is reserved by the manufacturer of the disk and is not accessible by "usual" means. 4) Phisically each surface is divided in a number of concentric circular tracks. 5) Each track length is sub-divided in minimum addressable units, sized 512 bytes, called sectors. 6) Number of sectors in each track is not fixed and is not known, being determined by the manufacturer. 7) The onboard controller provides an address translation service to the Operating System, so that each sector in the non-reserved part of the magnetic surface can be uniquely addressed. 8) This unique address is a progressive number that identifies a certain sector 9) To mantain compatibility with elder Operating System, this addressing system can be "logically" represented as a CHS (Cylinder Head Sector) value; 10) This logical representation infers a geometrical model that can be (and normally is) COMPLETELY UNRELATED to the phisycal (real) arrangement of the sectors. 11) Addressing sectors by means of this logical representation can simplify calculations in most cases, and allows to mantain the above mentioned compatibility with elder OS's. jaclaz

I think it is "almost" right, personally I would have written it as follows: The surface of platter is divided into circular tracks, subdivided into sectors, which represent the minimum (512 byte) addressable unit, logically addressed by the onboard controller. jaclaz

Yes, that is what I meant! If each computer, apart from different hardware (that can be dealed with by slipstreaming drivers, running scripts, etc.), also has different softwares, each unattended install script will have to be different, unless you make a "mega" disk with all softwares then install selected software to a certain machine, but then it won't be unattended anymore. On the other hand theoretically it is possible to write a separate script for each different machine, and probably even find a way to make the selection automatic by "identifying" a particular machine (for example by the MAC address of the NIC or by the HD serial number), but unless you have to re-install every few days, I think the time spent on building and testing the scripts is not worth it. jaclaz

Disk imaging once setup is the fastest way, because: and I may add have different configurations, logins, passwords, IP address and so on. The only advantage going "unattended" you'll have is saving some space on the server, but you'll spend MUCH more time preparing the setups, scripts, etc. jaclaz

Well, no, inthe (absolutely hypothetical example above) 10 cm is diameter, central space diameter is 2 cm, track groove width is 1, but it must be compared with radius (i.e. diameter/2):ASCII CROSS SECTION : |1cm|1cm|1cm|1cm|1cm |*|1cm |1cm|1cm|1cm|1cm| =10cm |Tr0|Tr1|Tr2|Tr3|half spacer|*|half spacer|Tr3|Tr2|Tr1|Tr0| Here is the actual center |*| of the platter (axis) Yes, correct, but personally I never found ANY "non zone bit recorded" hard disks. Maybe VERY early models had constant sectors per track. See here also: http://www.storagereview.com/map/lm.cgi/zone jaclaz

Yes, configuring the DOS USB drivers can be tricky. Have a look at this thread (and related links): http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=37240 From what you say: it seems like: 1) The CD boots out of the Legacy (BIOS) support, loading the bootable OS image 2) The booted OS image does not load properly either the USB driver or the MSCDEX.EXE or SHSUCDX.EXE 3) As a matter of fact, if you succeed in booting you should have at least THREE drives visible: A: which is the bootable image C: which is your normal Hard Disk X: (can be any letter, depending on your autoexec/config) which is the remaining part of the CD Have a look at this site: http://www.911cd.net/ There are MANY info on the matter. jaclaz

Yes, if you have a look at your second link: http://www.pctechguide.com/04disks_Construction.htm It better explains what I am trying to. Let's try with a fictional (very simplified) hard disk platter (single platter with just one side). Imagine it like a shooting range target (circular concentric grooves or tracks). Let's say the disk is 10 cm diameter and each groove is 1 cm thick, and let us assume that the central axle needs a 2 cm in diameter spacer to hold the plate. This leaves space for (10-2)/2=4 cm = 4 "tracks", let us number them as track 0 to 3 from the outer to the inner. The outer track (track 0) will have a mean radius of (10-1)/2=4.5 cm, track 1 will have 4.5-1=3.5 cm, track 2 will have 3.5-1=2.5 cm, the inner track 3 will have 2.5-1=1.5 cm radius. Consequently, mean length of each track (let's simplify Pi to 3.1416) will be: Track 0 -> 2*4.5*Pi= 28.27 cm Track 1 -> 2*3.5*Pi= 21.99 cm Track 2 -> 2*2.5*Pi= 15.71 cm Track 3 -> 2*1.5*Pi= 09.42 cm ------------ Total linear length = 75.39 cm Supposing (due to magnetic density of the media) each 512 byte needs exactly 1 mm (0.1 cm) of linear length, maximum theoretical capacity of the disk "should" be 75.3/0.1=753 sectors * 512 bytes= 385536 bytes. But as the sector (512 bytes) is the minimal unit, you must see how many sectors will fit in each track: 28.27/0.1=282 21.99/0.1=219 15.71/0.1=157 09.42/0.1=94 --------------- Total 752 sectors which is the "real" maximum capacity of the disk. The manufacturer will reserve some sectors, either for internal use or for substituting (in case) some bad sectors, let's say they keep to themselves 52 sectors. The capacity of the drive (the one on the label) or the one seen either by BIOS or by some disk utility will be 700 sectors or 700*512=358400 bytes. You cannot say HOW this capacity will be addressed to by the Disk INTERNAL controller: Manufacturer A could arrange it as follows: Track 0 260 sectors (+22 reserved) Track 1 200 sectors (+19 reserved) Track 2 150 sectors (+7 reserved) Track 3 90 sectors (+ 4 reserved) translated on the outside as 7 Cylinder by 100 sectors (Logical address) Whilst Manufacturer B could arrange it as follows: Track 0 280 sectors (+2 reserved) Track 1 210 sectors (+9 reserved) Track 2 140 sectors (+17 reserved) Track 3 70 sectors (+ 24 reserved) translated on the outside as 10 Cylinder by 70 sectors (Logical address) So you cannot say WHICH translation occurs, and you have no way to actually link a LOGICAL address to a PHYSICAL one. Hope the above makes it clear. jaclaz

FREEWARE apps: 1) Ghostscript and Ghostview http://www.cs.wisc.edu/~ghost/ 2) programs from PDF bean http://www.pdfpdf.com/download.html (part free part shareware) to convert it. If you need to make new PDF files, you can use, apart from the above, the following: 1) Plug-in for word http://www.cib.de/english/products/pdf/cibpdfplugin.htm 2) Acropad http://www.acropad.com/ 3) Ap Text To PDF V2.1 http://www.adultpdf.com/products/txttopdf/index.html 4) CutePDF http://www.acrosoftware.com/Index.htm 5) EasyPDF xml to pdf http://jansfreeware.com/jftools.htm 6) Online service http://www.gohtm.com/convert_pdf.asp 7) Go2PDF TINY! 261Kb http://www.go2pdf.com/product.html 8) Gymnast http://www.oakworth.demon.co.uk/gymnast.htm 9) Helpmaker https://sourceforge.net/projects/helpmaker/ 10) Mulps21PDF http://home.hccnet.nl/s.vd.palen/index.html Please note that latest release of OpenOffice.org has native PDF making capability. If you need to manipulate your PDF, here are a few apps: 1) A-pdf info changer http://www.a-pdf.com/index.htm 2) PDF explorer http://rtt.planetaclix.pt/ 3) PDF Compress FREEWARE http://www.bureausoft.com/products.htm Foxit READER is free, but shows ads (however BEST reader around) Foxit PDF Editor is COMMERCIAL US$ 99.00 per user jaclaz

Do double check your BIOS settings. It could be that you have an ACPI enabled HAL, whilst it is disabled in BIOS. See here for reference: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/309283 jaclaz