spacesurfer

Here's a better way: Use equation editor, which is not installed by default, but if you have your MS Office CD, do Add/Remove, then install Equation Editor. Here's what it looks like:

Generally speaking: If the patch was applied to and msi file, the file size of the msi file should be different. Check the file size before and after the patch--that should tell you if the patch was applied.

After creating the unattend install, go to the setup.ini file and delete the key. Search for this file on the CD, browse through the content and you should find the reference to the key.

Where's the choice for "I don't need one/use one!" I think you should redo the poll with this choice while it's still new.

Really, Acronis TrueImage and Norton Ghost 2003 are both the two best products, in my opinion. I've used both. I like Ghost because I can use a floppy to run it from DOS. It's simpler to modify a floppy with custom commands and batch files than TrueImage, which is too large for a floppy (as far as I know). Be careful, we are talking about Ghost 2003, not Ghost 9 or Ghost 10. I don't like Ghost 9 or 10. Reasons you'll find here in forum.

@mazin Thanks for your list! FYI about moricons.dll. I don't think that file gets modified and the icons are the same old icons that were present in WINDOWS 3.1 (with maybe some new ones). But none of those icons are used anywhere in Windows.

The files I collect are: shell32.dll *.cpl files from system32 folder (I don't exactly know which *.cpl files are modified but you can copy all of them. These modify some of the GUI icons such as your tray icons for sound, network icon) You may copy the theme files. That's all I need to make it look like Vista. It also modified explorer.exe and msmsg.exe (the outlook express file), but I stay away from these files. I don't want any foreign exe's in my system.

Nahhh! Never had a problem with Ghost yet.

I must say I am surprised, too, that about 12% use imaging software. I wonder how people get away with installing so frequently when all their software require reactivation. Doesn't all the software only allow you to activate once, and if you reactivate again, you have to call the company and explain why you are reactivating?

Wow. Once a year surpasses once a month. I think the gap between once a month and once a year has a lot to do with it. Maybe if there was once every 6 months, it would have looked a little different.

I searched for environment variables but I couldn't find the one I'm looking for: What is the variable for Default User in WinXP? What is the variable for the Current User? I found %allusersprofile% for All Users, %programfiles% for Program Files folder.

Delprat, Finally got around to making this work. Upon a fresh install, I used the FOR command in a script to search my partitions for files called programs.tag, media.tag, images.tag, documents.tag and apply icons called programs.ico, media.ico, documents.ico and images.ico. It works perfectly. No need to rebuild cache. Hitting F5 to refresh updates the icons for those partitions.

my guess is your wireless mouse is picking up some movement type activity that prevents the screensave countdown from starting (if that makes any sense). when you unplug, there is no more activity and screensave comes on.

This caught my curiosity: Have you ever tried exporting a section of the registry and importing to another computer? You'll get a warning (can't remember exact message) that it's not from the same computer. I thought, how does it know since I thought registry files were simply text files with the *.reg extension. Then I exported a section of the registry to a *.reg file. Then I copies the text to a *.txt file and compared the size (see picture). The *.reg file is larger. Obviously, there is more info stored in the *.reg file that the text that is displayed. I wonder if anyone knows what else is in there that causes the warning to show up. I couldn't find anything from search.

Actually, what I was referring to was the right-click on the hard drive and the GUI "check drive for errors" that comes up. I thought it was still called Scandisk but ooopss. Anyway, after you run that, I wanted to see if any errors were fixed since it doesn't report whether any errors were found or not. (It, of course, scans the OS drive after reboot since it can't do it within Windows XP). Anyway, I will check the events viewer for the log.

What changes did you make after installing the drivers? Are all of your programs not printing or just some specific ones? Since you are getting symbols, it seems there is communication but the communication is messed up. That sometimes happens when printing certain pdf files on printers that do not support the pcl language. try programs like notepad to print and see if it prints correctly.

Ok, my drive is dead for good. Recovery software wasn't able to recover my lost data. I think I was responsible for its demise - when I got a new case, I tried to force it in the bay and really rammed it in there. It happened twice so I physically damaged it. But, it died without warning. I was not experiencing any problems before it just died. Anyway, I decided to get this one to replace it: Maxtor SATA II 300 GB Let me know what you all think.

No problem, man! This is a sharing community.

When you run scandisk and it finds errors, where does it store the log so you can look at the errors? Or does it at all keep a log.

What I do is make a base image - a fresh install. Then install my software then make another image. Then personalize with my accounts and make another image. All of these images are < 1.6 GB. I keep them on a separate HDD rather than burn 'em on a CD. It takes minutes (< 5) to go back to whichever state I need to. I did once burn the image to a DVD but with the updated versions (using RyanVM), I gave that up. I'll never use that DVD, so I just store it on HDD. DVD restore would also be slower! Of course, you're HDD can fail, like my second HDD did - I lost everything. But again, you can alway reinstall.

In retrospect, I should have had a selection for twice per year, but initially, I didn't know which selections to choose.

I'm surprised not a whole lot of people use imaging software (such as Ghost or TrueImage).

Is this sentence scientifically proved ? Yes and no. Yes, the more people take the poll, the results will better represent the population (if people are being honest). That's how the effectiveness of medications are **proven**. You can't test it in everyone so you test it in a sample. And of course, not everyone will respond compared to a placebo. But if the statistical difference is significant using various statistical tests, then the assumption is made that in the general population the medication will be effective. Of course, this is no scientific poll anyways so you can view the results however you wish to. Anyway, the intention of the original statement wasn't implying that we were proving anything but that if we could get more votes, we can better extrapolate to the general population what their experience has been with their hard drives. hehe.

Look at the trend. People claim to have bad experiences with their Maxtor but according to 10 people, it last > 5 years, compared to 8 people for WD. Now, statistically speaking, the different between 10 and 8 is probably not significant and both are neck and neck, but it sure is interesting. The more people take the poll, the better the results will be.

I believe Kinko's has a system similar to this. When you go to Kinko's and plugin your USB drive, it loads the drivers and you do your stuff. When you finish, it logs off and resets everything. Therefore, next time you use it, it has to load your USB drivers again. I believe if you create an image of your OS drive, all your reg entries and program locations will be captured in the image, so you can certainly do this.