mjm1231

I use a vbscript to add the DSN entries as part of the application install for our database application. You could use the same thing during unattend setup, or use .reg keys to achieve the same thing. WSH SCRIPT FOR CREATING DSN ENTRIES IN FOR ODBC. 'ARRAY OF SETTINGS FOR EACH DSN ENTRY. 'EACH ELEMENT OF DSNLIST IS AN ARRAY OF SETTINGS FOR THAT DSN. Dim DSNLIST (4) 'CONSTANTS FOR REFERENCING THE DSN SETTINGS FROM THE DSNLIST ARRAY Const DSNname = 0 Const DSNdesc = 1 Const DSNServer = 2 Const DSN_DB = 3 'THE REGISTRY KEY FOR THE SYSTEM DSN SETTINGS Const DSNkey = "HKLM\SOFTWARE\ODBC\ODBC.INI" 'POPULATE DSNLIST WITH DSN SETTINGS. TO ADD TO LIST, REMEMBER TO CHANGE THE DIM, AND FOR LOOP DSNLIST(0) = Array("DSN name", "description", "Server", "database") DSNLIST(1) = Array("DSN name", "description", "Server", "database") DSNLIST(2) = Array("DSN name", "description", "Server", "database") DSNLIST(3) = Array("DSN name", "description", "Server", "database") 'USE WSH TO WRITE DSN SETTINGS TO REGISTRY strComputer = "." Set objWMIService = GetObject("winmgmts:\\" & strComputer & "\root\cimv2") Set WshShell = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell") 'The following loop populates the DSN entries into the registry For db = 0 to 3 WshShell.RegWrite DSNkey &"\" & DSNLIST(db) (DSNname) & "\Database", DSNLIST(db) (DSN_DB), "REG_SZ" WshShell.RegWrite DSNkey &"\" & DSNLIST(db) (DSNname) & "\Description", DSNLIST(db) (DSNdesc), "REG_SZ" 'Next line turns off the ANSI padding WshShell.RegWrite DSNkey &"\" & DSNLIST(db) (DSNname) & "\AnsiNPW", "No", "REG_SZ" WshShell.RegWrite DSNkey &"\" & DSNLIST(db) (DSNname) & "\Driver", "C:\Windows\System32\SQLSRV32.dll", "REG_SZ" WshShell.RegWrite DSNkey &"\" & DSNLIST(db) (DSNname) & "\Server", DSNLIST(db) (DSNServer), "REG_SZ" 'THE FOLLOWING REGISTRY KEY POPULATES THE ENTRY INTO THE ODBC CONTROL PANEL APPLET WshShell.RegWrite DSNkey &"\ODBC Data Sources\" & DSNLIST(db) (DSNName), "SQL Server", "REG_SZ" 'UNCOMMENT WSCRIPT.ECHO TO DISPLAY ENTRIES AS THEY ARE WRITTEN (PROMPTS FOR OK). 'Wscript.Echo db, DSNLIST(db) (DSNname) Next Set WshSHell = Nothing Just change the items in the arrays to match what your actual DSN settings are. If you need to add or change other settings, I would suggest making the settings manually and then inspecting the registry.

I'm not sure what's being asked here either. I see it as a two part question: How are those folders created during installation, and how are the initial settings created. I can only answer the second part. There are several inf files in the i386 folder which contain all the initial registry settings. Search for hive*.inf. I'm aware that file contents can be changed by the registry (odbc.ini, for example), but I'm not sure if the folders can be created by writing something to the registry or if setup has to mkdir them or somesuch. At one time it occured to me that it would be a trivial matter (though time consuming for someone at my skill level) to write a script to alter the hive.inf files using .reg tweak files. That sort of thing can easily be done with perl, but I abandoned the idea because I see more disadvantages to doing it that way than advantages. Though it might make a nice plugin for one of the OSS RIS projects.

I solved my problem by updating my gdisk version through LiveUpdate. The one I was using was from 2001!, the new one is from 2003. Now it can create the partition and begin the install without rebooting. Previously, it would begin setup and copy files, but on next reboot would hang with a blinking prompt. The unattend network install is working like a charm, I just need to iron out a few apps and tweaks. The out of disk space message sounds like it might be the one you get when you have MsDosInitiated set to the wrong value (at least this happens with CD installs). Why don't you post your unattend.txt so we can see if there are any obvious problems?

I've never heard of IIS having a capability like that. The closest thing I can think of is Novell's iFolder, but that's an added application. They had a free demo of it running awhile back, and I'm surprised there aren't any companies offering this as an online service.

Mostly this is covered in the guide: Adding Users As for setting autologin to the domain, you will want to set "AutoAdminLogon"="0". That way Administrator will not log in on first startup. Setting the user to log in automatically is a little trickier, for that I use Autolog.exe, which was designed for Novell logins but works for Windows stand alone and domain also. It can be run from the command line, so it can be scripted.

Whether it's a shutdown or logoff script, all gpedit.msc does is write an entry to the registry. It took me less than 60 seconds to discover (simply by adding a script and then using regedit to search for that name) that the key for shutdown scripts is: HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Group Policy\State\Machine\Scripts... Adding a script adds multiple keys below that path. You should try adding a script using gpedit and examine the changes. It shouldn't be too hard to then create custom .reg (Or, better yet, WSH scripts using RegWrite) to add shutdown scripts.

For me it would be an open and shut case, but I have about a dozen sites that use cable modems and Cisco routers to connect to a central site over VPN. If I could switch to T1 I'd have other options (frame relay), and greatly improved reliability. So I want to know...who is selling T1 connections for less than 1/6 what Verizon charges. And do they offer service in NY (specifically, Long Island)?

I'm not sure I understand how your method keeps all the folders system1 through system60 from being copied to the hard disk. This is something I've been thinking about testing, unfortunately a few other projects need to be taken care of first. Would it be possible to have multiple folders under $OEM$ that do not get copied over (I'm assuming that a folder named, for example, GX260 won't get copied over) and have the batch file that starts the install rename that folder to $1. You would only be able to install a singe model at a time this way, but you wouldn't need to copy every driver over to every machine this way.

That should make it easier, not harder. There are a lot of options, the most obvious being two different i386 folders for each setup, and either different bootdisks or a boot menu to choose which folder to map to. tjhart85's WIHU method should work for RIS as well, again just have seperate boot disks or a boot menu to select which version you want to run. Since the name of the unattend file doesn't matter, you could have two different unattend files in the same i386 folder. Call one gx260.txt, the other dim4600.txt. Then have your menu choice set a variable for the unattend file to call. Something like this should work: CHOICE/C12/N" Your choice: " IF errorlevel=2 GOTO 4600 IF errorlevel=1 GOTO GX260 :4600 set AnswerFile=G:\i386\Dim4600.txt GOTO WINNT :GX260 set AnswerFile=G:\i386\GX260.txt GOTO WINNT :WINNT set SetupFiles=G:\I386 G:\I386\winnt /s:%SetupFiles% /u:%AnswerFile% (Note that this requires choice.com in your path or in the same folder)

If you do any script writing, or even batch files, you may find Scite to be useful replacement. It can be configured to show line numbers, white space, and does color highlighting and syntax checking (and can even run the code through your compiler for error checking) for just about any programming/scripting language there is. It's open source... free as in beer and free as in speech.

@NorthWood: I also have tried formatting the disk with gdisk and was having the same (or similar, I can't remember exactly) problem. What exactly did you do to get it to work? I've switched to using Partition Magic (unfortunately, not the pro version so I have to do this step manually). I'm using Ghost 2003. @baliktad: About the WinPE solution, I very much like the idea, as it would solve the long filename problem as well as several other problems. However, my experience with Bart's WinPE (vanilla, no modifications of my own) is that it takes quite a long time to boot up. It's great for running diags and stuff. But it doesn't seem to me that the install time using winnt.exe is that much slower than using winnt32 (running from CD). Especially since (I think) the gui part of the install is all from the hard drive anyway. Does it really speed the network install up that much?

Certainly not.Rather, everyone who sets that specific line to disable OOBE first-run. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Maybe I'm misunderstanding the problem, but I'm with Dahi, I use that switch and never have seen a problem with networking. In fact, I do a network install and use the runoncex to map a drive and do installs from the network. The only network setting I specify is to disable the Firewall through group policy (via registry key).

I ran into this same problem today, and am posting this so others searching the forums can find the answer. I was had copied my winnt.sif from the one that I use for running network installs, and it had: MsDosInitiated="1" Just change it to 0 and recreate the iso and the error goes away.

Actually, in my opinion they do make it easy. Just set up a desktop the way you want, then copy the NTUSER.DAT from the \Documents and Settings\User folder (the user whose desktop you just modified) and copy this to $OEM$\$Doc\Default User. If you need to make minor changes to this, you can use regedit32 to load the NTuser.dat hive, modify keys, then save it. IMHO, this is much easier than maintaining a huge list of regtweaks, and also covers those huge multi-property hex reg keys that give everyone trouble, and gets applied to the administrator account. Why isn't this the preferred method for setting desktops?