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JustShootIt

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Posts posted by JustShootIt

    Newbie questions: applicaiton install methods, .NET failure, $OEM

    in Unattended Windows 2000/XP/2003

    Posted

    You may be seeing the issue where something does not release msiexec (in my case it was .net1.1 hanging it and failing my subsequent 2.0 install with some odd permissions error) . maybe run "net stop msiserver" prior to your .net 2.0 install and see if you have different behavior.

    That didn't work.

    It took me until now to try another approach because subsequent tries gave me errors trying to copy .DLLs (fixed by using a new CD).

    I copied more info from the error message, which was, to wit "Error 1406...could not write value DW0200...make sure you have sufficient access..."

    I found a blog with this workaround for SVCPACK.INF:

    REG ADD HKLM\SYSTEM\Setup /V SystemSetupInProgress /T REG_DWORD /D 0 /F

    The author didn't specifically say if he put it in a batch file or directly in SVCPACK.INF. To be on the safe side (to quote/not to quote) I put it in a file inpr-key.cmd in the "SVCPACK" folder. Then I put "inpr-key.cmd" (without quotes) in SVCPACK.INF immediately before the name of the .NET file.

    However, that still gave me the same error.

    Microsoft Support doesn't have any useful information.

    I wonder if I should just install (almost) everything as an application?(Most of my drivers can only install that way, anyway...but that's another story.)

    So the question -- if no one has a suitable solution using SVCPACK.INF -- is this:

    Is there a way to specify something in WINNT.SIF's [GuiRunOnce] which will not run for every user's first logon?

    Or is it necessary to learn the RunOnceEx method?

    0

    Newbie questions: applicaiton install methods, .NET failure, $OEM

    in Unattended Windows 2000/XP/2003

    Posted · Edited by JustShootIt

    maybe run "net stop msiserver" prior to your .net 2.0 install and see if you have different behavior.

    Wait, can I run that directly from SVCPACK.INF? Or will I have to put it in a "cmdlines.txt" and call that?

    The reason I ask is because so far I only have used the SVCPACK.INF and WINNT.SIF (without any [GuiRunOnce]), so I wondered if I could just drop it into one of these files. Otherwise I have to wait until I do the "Intermediate" method (which I was going to do anyway when I try my drivers and applications).

    But I wanted to test your "net stop msiserver" now, if I could, because someone else seems to have a similar problem. Is that not possible yet based on what I have here?

    SVCPACK.INF

    ;Windows XP
    [Version] 
    Signature="$Windows NT$"
    MajorVersion=5
    MinorVersion=1
    BuildNumber=2600

    [SetupData]
    CatalogSubDir="\i386\SVCPACK"

    [ProductCatalogsToInstall]

    [SetupHotfixesToRun]
    00-01-11.exe /Q:A /R:N
    04-08-13.exe /Q /O /N /Z
    05-05-17.exe /Q /O /N /Z
    05-09-23.exe /Q:A /R:N
    06-03-21.exe /Q:A /R:N
    06-07-14.exe /Q /O /N /Z
    07-04-23.exe /Q /O /N /Z
    07-10-30.exe /Q /O /N /Z
    07-12-05.exe /Q /O /N /Z
    07-12-18.exe /Q /O /N /Z
    08-04-24.exe /Q /O /N /Z
    08-06-19.exe /Q /O /N /Z
    09-05-09.exe /Q /O /N /Z
    qchain.exe

    (The dated files are all hotfixes except .NET 2.0 and Visual C++ Redistributable. I had previously renamed my hotfixes, etc., with descriptions and dates, as I do with all installers. Rather than go back and find the KB#s, I just looked at the MS signature dates so I could install them in order. There will be more than this, but this is the min so my apps will install...counting Java as an app.)

    WINNT.SIF

    ;SetupMgrTag
    [Data]
        AutoPartition=0
        MsDosInitiated=0
        UnattendedInstall=Yes
        AutomaticUpdates=0

    [Unattended]
        FileSystem=*
        UnattendSwitch=Yes
        OemSkipEula=Yes
        OemPreinstall=No
        TargetPath=\WINDOWS
        DUDisable=Yes
        DriverSigningPolicy=Ignore
        ExtendOEMPartition=0
        AutoActivate=Yes

    [GuiUnattended]
        AdminPassword=*
        OEMSkipRegional=0
        TimeZone=35
        OemSkipWelcome=1

    [UserData]
        ProductKey=MY REAL KEY WAS HERE
        FullName=MY NAME
        OrgName=MY WORKGROUP
        ComputerName=MY COMPUTER

    [Display]
        BitsPerPel=4
        Xresolution=1280
        YResolution=768
        Vrefresh=60

    [IEPopupBlocker] 
        BlockPopups=Yes
        FilterLevel=Medium
        ShowInformationBar=Yes

    [RegionalSettings]
        LanguageGroup=7,1
        Language=00000409

    [Branding]
        BrandIEUsingUnattended=Yes

    [Proxy]
        Proxy_Enable=0
        Use_Same_Proxy=1

    [URL]
        NoWelcome = 1
        Search_Page = http://www.google.com
        Home_Page="MY HOMEPAGE WAS HERE"

    [Identification]
        JoinWorkgroup=MY WORKGROUP

    [Networking]
        InstallDefaultComponents=Yes

    [Components]
        Msmsgs=Off
        Chat=Off
        Clipbook=off
        Freecell=off
        Hearts=off
        Minesweeper=off
        Msnexplr=off
        OEAccess=off
        Pinball=off
        Solitaire=off
        Spider=off
        Templates=off
        WMAccess=off
        Zonegames=off

    0

    Windows XP SVCPACK.INF : Several failure

    in Unattended Windows 2000/XP/2003

    Posted

    IE8 and .NET 3.5 SP1 installs still fail in CMDLINES.TXT but Windows Update Agent and .NET 1.1 installs work.

    Maybe I should try to install them first like you did.

    If neither that nor the GuiRunOnce works, maybe try what was suggested here:

    I'm going to try the "net stop" as well (I had a permissions error with .NET 2.0). If that doesn't work, maybe it's the order of something else happening in the system. I also wonder, can the "slipstream" method be used for something like this? Or is that only for service packs?

    Did you get your .NET 3.5 to install yet?

    0

    Windows XP SVCPACK.INF : Several failure

    in Unattended Windows 2000/XP/2003

    Posted

    Worked!!!!

    Hey chrisoborski,

    just used quotes now and it worked?

    In the past, I also used no quotes in my "SVCPACK.INF", but there was a reference at Microsoft or somewhere with the quotes. ;)

    Yes!! It worked

    I've been trying to get hotfixes/updates to install for at least two months maybe longer. I added quotes like your "svcpack.inf" and i also added two spaces at the end of the "svcpack.inf" file. Somewhere within the past few days i remember reading that a space at the end of the file was needed but i cant remember where i saw that so i added both quotes and two spaces and viola it installed. I'm Completely amazed!!

    Thanks that's just what i needed!!

    Chris

    That is so bizzarre. I don't have quotes around anything except the path to the SVCPACK directory and "$Windows NT$", but my SVCPACK.INF worked fine. However, in WINNT.SIF, I had to quote the URL for Home_Page. That's another file I've seen quotes and no quotes. (Even in the "ref.chm" help, the use of quotes is not consistent!) Maybe quote requirements are very particular to the exact version of some tool or dependency of a tool...like how compilers can affect a program even though there was no error in syntax based on the language standards. Useful to know!

    0

    Newbie questions: applicaiton install methods, .NET failure, $OEM

    in Unattended Windows 2000/XP/2003

    Posted

    Can you install 2.0 afterwards?

    if so, You may be seeing the issue where something does not release msiexec (in my case it was .net1.1 hanging it and failing my subsequent 2.0 install with some odd permissions error) . maybe run "net stop msiserver" prior to your .net 2.0 install and see if you have different behavior.

    Thanks, I will try the "net stop" command and see if that makes a difference. The reason I want .NET installed during Setup is because some apps will depend on it. (I want to eventually get drivers and apps on the CD.)

    0

    Great Interview Question

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    I got asked this in an interview once so that the interviewer could understand my thought process. The answer is actually extremely simple, but unfortunately, I wasn't able to get the right answer at the time.

    Here goes...

    You're stranded on an island made entirely of solid concrete (comment: unlikely, but OK) in the middle of the ocean. The island has nothing but trees on it. There is a school of sharks swimming around the island. While you're on one side of the island, a lightning bolt strikes a tree on the opposite side of the island and the tree catches fire. Slowly, but surely, the fire spreads from one tree to the next and makes its way towards you.

    How do you survive? :P

    I think that if an employer made a decision on such a ridiculous basis, I would go looney if I worked there. A pefect example of "business school thought"...someone who doesn't even know the job their employees do, while trying to tell them how to do it, because they don't have the brains to do even the simplest job themselves. Save me from that type!

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    IE8 can't perform full or quick edit in MSFN!

    in The Poll Center

    Posted

    I voted Firefox, though I liked Opera, too. There's no contest. Firefox has the best user control, and the ability to add so many extensions. Many of them I consider critical to my security and overall computing experience. Some people say the most useful extensions should just be integrated, and for the 3 big security extensions ( :ph34r: NoScript, AdBlock Plus, Better Privacy) I agree, but beyond that I don't agree at all. What I think is better, someone else might not like -- even if they are the one person in the world who hates something that's their perogative. And that's the point. Plus some people have slow systems and don't want extra crap.

    Me, I can't live without TabMix Plus, Foxmarks, and a couple others, but some people don't even want the TMP features :blink: go figure. However, that's their perogative.

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    The Best Company?

    in The Poll Center

    Posted

    I would say Toshiba, but then I think of all the cheap Panasonic equipment I had forever without kicking the bucket...microwaves, TVs, you name it.

    But that's irrelevant now -- Panasonic and Toshiba have merged! Fantasyland! Perhaps now Toshiba will become more consistent with their laptops (I've got one of the "great models").

    0

    Buy or Build a Computer?

    in The Poll Center

    Posted

    When you buy a computer, you just pay a premium price to have someone do the work, and to get hardware you don't want. Meanwhile, the hardware you really want you don't get.

    Build your own PC and get exactly what you want for less than the cost of a typical laptop. If you're a gamer that will be slighly higher, but you'll still save $$$.

    What I got for uner $800:

    • Micro-ATX motherboard with SATA (6), dual Gigabit Ethernet, USB 2.0, capability for Phenom CPU and 3GB RAM, both analog and digital video, 6-channel sound, e-Sata, FireWire, and yet I still got a floppy interface and parallel printer port! w/1-year warranty
    • 300 GB SATA 2 hard drive w/3-year warranty
    • 500 GB SATA 2 hard drive w/3-year warranty
    • AMD 3.8 GHz CPU (decided not to go for the Phenom now)
    • 4GB RAM with built-in RAM heatsinks
    • LG LightScribe Dual-Layer DVD+/-RW drive
    • Huge CoolerMaster case with lots of vents, bottom-mount PSU, and designed for liquid cooling (I won't add that, though; I don't game)
    • CyberPower 750-watt PSU (lots of transistors, quality, as evident by heavy weight)
    • Very quiet system (though I can tell it's on, thanks to the # of fans)
    • 4 case fans (one with blue light)
    • Dust ventilation on front
    • Cable-management system
    • Tool-less hard-drive installation
    • CPU heatsink/fan, cables, adapters, and all the other little details

    FYI, I got the floppy disk for free, and the monitor as a gift. But it would still be less than the price you spend on a "good" PC system and far less than a good laptop. And of course I am not including the huge-capacity backup power supply because that doesn't come with a PC, anyway.

    0

    Will you be upgrading to Windows 7?

    in The Poll Center

    Posted

    ...Vista was only for people that don't really tinker with stuff and accept having zero control over their computer system.

    It seems the further up the road you get with the windows operating systems, the less control and less configuration possibilities you have...

    True. Though XP Home takes away control, too. In XP Pro, you have fine-grained permissions control, can ditch the Welcome screen, and can force users to press CTL-ALT-DEL. You can't do that in Home.

    I also will not upgrade. The only reason I have Vista Business on a CD is because I get it free from school...that's how MS tries to enslave poeple. I install it now and then if I have to see how soemthing works in Vista. I keep telling myself I should use it just to learn to support it, but I just can't get that motivated.

    I'd rather get my XP the way I like it and customize my Linux for my laptops (little customization is needed for my PCs.)

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    How many Operating Systems Do You Boot

    in The Poll Center

    Posted · Edited by Tripredacus

    Oh, you mean on one computer? ;)

    (I voted 20, all the OSes I've ever multi-booted with any other OS.)

    The most I've had at once on a single computer was 6, but that was for a class. It was:

    1. Windows 2000 Pro
    2. Windows 2000 Server
    3. Windows XP Pro
    4. Windows Server 2003
    5. Windows Vista Enterprise
    6. Red Hat Fedora 6

    --Ick!

    When I multiboot at home, it's usually 2 or 3 of these:

    1. Slackware 12 (Linux)
    2. Slackware 13 (Linux)
    3. Absolute Linux
    4. Windows XP Pro
    5. Ubuntu (Linux)
    6. Knoppix (Linux)...haven't used that one for a while, though.

    ...once FireFox w NoScript/Flashblock have been configured sensibly...
    You forgot Better Privacy.

    Put those 3 together and that's as safe as you get without anonymous websurfing and using a U3 browser in "portable mode".

    0

    Which Start menu do you like better?

    in The Poll Center

    Posted · Edited by Tripredacus
    try using multiquote

    I agree with Grake, I hate the Vista start menu, and that did not change even after using it for a full semester in a technical class. I can't understand why MS thinks extra scrolling and clicking is "cool", and I can't stand the entire look of the menu. It's totally discombobulated. I can't stand KDE 4 (Linux) for the same reason...and now they have the same issue as MS trying to push new people to 4 while Linux veterans are finding ways to revert their systems back to 3. Except it's not so critical because it's only the desktop, not an OS, and not undoable thanks to Linux's modular design. (Also, in addition to copying Vista, I hate that KDE 4 got rid of the option to edit the menu.)

    As much as I love the XP start menu, I felt like awergh when I first upgraded from ME...

    definiatly classic, ive always hated how the xp one took half the screen before you even went to programs, and i thought the vista one was just weird

    ...the "pin to Start Menu" feature really hooked me, though. And the 2-column layout doesn't matter now, where the smallest screen is big compared to a few years ago.
    I would hate to not be able to organize my stuff and just crossed my fingers hoping the search feature actually found what I needed.
    What a horrible, horrible idea they have -- no folders??? It's one thing to recognize that computer-illiterate users may not be organized -- quite another to trash people's organization.

    Yeah, XP is the end of the MS line for me, no doubt about that.

    0

    nLite, hate it or love it?

    in The Poll Center

    Posted

    I don't "hate" it, but I dislike it. I'm not actually neutral, but I thought hate was too strong.

    I don't like it because when I used it to integrate only SP2 and a small number of patches -- as well as get rid of a lot of unwanted junk (Outlook Express, Microsoft Office, games, IIS, and more) -- the end product was too big to fit on a CD!

    It would be better if it actually deleted from your source tree the files you don't want to install.

    So I put the project on the back shelf until I had time to learn the manual (MSFN) way.

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    Hi everyone! New to MSFN, but not to Windows.

    in Introduce Yourself!

    Posted · Edited by JustShootIt

    Welcome to the MSFN!

    :hello:

    Make sure to check out our rules. First thing you need to slim down that signature.

    Hi, and thanks. I could swear the settings page said "no lomit" or "no max number of lines", or similar...

    [EDIT]...okay, the pages do not agree. Combined the 5th line with the 1st bullet to bring it to 4 lines.[/EDIT]

    0

    Hi everyone! New to MSFN, but not to Windows.

    in Introduce Yourself!

    Posted · Edited by JustShootIt

    Wow! I have never seen a website with such :thumbupawesome tutorials. I've avoided slipstreaming (and similar tasks) -- I figured they would be a nightmare. Thanks to MSFN, I succeeded the first time I tried. (Well, OK, the second time... :whistle: ...but that's only because my Home_Page URL had special characters and I discovered it helps to quote it.)

    I haven't really been through the rest of the forums yet, as I'm focused on remaking my install disk right now. Nice to meet you all!

    0

    Finally...

    in Introduce Yourself!

    Posted

    Hi Retsam, welcome! I am new here, too. I prefer XP, but I have legacy Windows as well. I can't promise to do anything fast (I have too much on my plate already), but if you need someone to co-test stuff with you, just give a holler. I can install 2000 in my extra disk space as needed.

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