cluberti

Is it just one user, or does it happen to many?

Right, but using a .pac file you can block people from going to sites as well, or redirect, or any number of things. You can use the hosts file, and this is just a different way to do such a thing (amongst others, of course, but it is one of the features of .pac files).

No offense, but I'd say that box either is currently compromised, or was in the past. You could chase this down, but flattening and rebuilding from scratch is probably the best troubleshooting tool at the moment (after rebuilding, installing A/V and firewall, does the problem still occur?) - since you have a ghost image, it should be something you can do safely without losing too much.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/313222 should do the trick.

Is it arriving in the recipient's Outlook inbox later, or does it also not appear in OWA for the client until later? If it appears in OWA right away but not the client's Outlook application, it's a user email profile issue that can be cleaned up with a new mail profile.

It's part of the Windows 2000 resource kit, but it's not one of the "free" downloadable utilities. If you're looking to change passwords via a script, this can be done easily without any tools: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/scriptcen...04/hey1015.mspx

You didn't state that this was x64 - you're out of luck in this case, and you'll have to install it on a 32bit box to use the GPMC.

Well, I hate to say it, but I think the only options you have are to either report this to ZoneAlarm support and see if they have a workaround or a patch to fix this, or use a different suite that doesn't think it knows better than you how to configure your machine .

You could also generate an application crash dump of IE and it can be reviewed to see what IE is doing when it crashes: http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=90244

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details...;displaylang=en

It means "ACCESS DENIED". I honestly don't know how much clearer I can be - your system is telling you "no, I don't have access to something important, so I'm stopping right now". Use Process Monitor, while installing the upgrade to see where the Access DENIED is coming from. # for hex 0x80070005 / decimal -2147024891 : STIERR_READONLY STIERR_NOTINITIALIZED E_ACCESSDENIED # for decimal 5 / hex 0x5 : INVALID_PROCESS_ATTACH_ATTEMPT CDERR_LOADSTRFAILURE ERROR_ACCESS_DENIED

Well, the "what is" is easily answered here. As to whether or not it's you or your ISP, I'd say your ISP - you didn't have the problem with the previous ISP, so "you" stayed the same, and the ISP changed. Logic dictates that, at least from a troubleshooting perspective, you should start by looking at the ISP and work from there. And to the "fixable" question, unless you can pin the tail on your ISP's donkey, and they're actually interested in working with you to gather network traces of the issue, probably not (at least not anything that you can do on your end. likely). I'd say that you should consider whether or not saving some cash is worth getting a poorer internet connection experience - if not, go back to the other ISP that you did not have the problems with. If money is the driving factor, perhaps you will have to learn to work around the packet loss or learn to live with it. Push their support to determine where the source of the problem is - if they don't, you're out of luck.

It's better to set a proxy.pac file in your autoconfiguration address in IE, and mark that file as read-only. This is a much better method of preventing spyware and such than using the (very easily bypassed) hosts file, and although it does require some knowledge of javascript to make a working .pac file, is much more powerful and configurable. Take this very good (and updated rather frequently) example of how a proxy .pac file can do... things .

I'd suggest downloading autoruns from sysinternals and disabling all non-Microsoft items. I'd also suggest (as a test) uninstalling any antivirus and antispyware applications you may have installed, then set the registry value and reboot - see if the problem remains after doing the aforementioned during a regular boot. If it does, download regmon from sysinternals and configure it to log the next boot (read the .hlp file if you're unsure where it is in the tools menu). If we get to that point, we can use the regmon log to see who or what is touching that registry value and changing it.

Do you have time synchronization enabled? You can find it by double-clicking the clock in your notification area and going to the "Internet Time" tab, I believe. If so, when you change the time zone, it'll change back on the next time sync (and sometimes requiring a reboot to make it stick, so this sounds like it could be it). If you're looking to change your time zone settings due to the new DST changes in the US, the hotfix for XP-based systems is here. Note that there are also other DST-related hotfix updates for issues with the old Australian DST update from 2006, the update for Sri Lanka, and the 2006 updates for the DST changes for Cairo.

It's not an "improvement" per se - it's actually a version of XP based on XPe. It is basically meant to be used for web browsing and RDP or ICA connections to terminal services or Citrix servers. Hopefully you've checked this link already - note that it's only meant for select Microsoft customers with a Volume License agreement with SA - meaning this is meant to be a thin-client OS to run on old(er) hardware in businesses, not on your grandmother's home PC .

It sounds like something is setting it in the registry on boot - have you changed the reg value manually, and then rebooted directly into safe mode to see if it changed? If not, you've got a startup program or service doing it.

Broadcom software usually allows teaming of NICs other than Broadcom cards - you may want to download their driver package for their gigabit NICs and install the software that comes with them to see if it will work on a machine without any Broadcom adapters (it might - and it'd be free).

Well, here's a working xPlode 4.x .xml file, for reference. Maybe this will help you understand: <XPlode4> <config> <display plugin='#XPLODE#\XPlodeOriginalInstall.x4d'> <show total='21' after='19' subcount='false' /> <!-- make antialiasing false if you're running GUIinstall mode --> <font face='Tahoma' antialias='true' small='8' large='13' /> <!-- note the position attribute - it is listed in 'x,y' positions. --> <!-- 0..8 still may be used. --> <window position='4' /> <!-- can be standalone, or guiredraw --> <!-- for the latter two, you don't need to specify background colours, or images. --> <windowmode mode='standalone' border='false' /> <colours> <header back='#003399' fore='#FFFFFF' image='#XPLODE#\images\head.png' /> <footer back='#003399' fore='#FFFFFF' image='#XPLODE#\images\foot.png' /> <progress border='#000000' back='#FFFFFF' fore='#008800' fore2='#00AA00' /> <main back='#6699FF' fore='#FFFFFF' current='#FFFF00' description='#FFFFFF' image='#XPLODE#\images\install.png' overlay='#FFFFFF22' /> </colours> </display> <environment> <!-- strings for the header/footer text --> <display.title> Installing Applications </display.title> <display.complete> Complete </display.complete> </environment> </config> <items> <item display='.NET Framework 2.0'> <execute display='.NET Framework 2.0'> <program>D:\Unattend\dotnetfx\dotnet20.exe</program> <arguments>/q:a /c:"install /l /q"</arguments> <hide>true</hide> </execute> </item> <item display='Virtual Machine Additions'> <execute display='Virtual Machine Additions'> <program>C:\DRIVERS\VM\virtualmachineadditions.msi</program> <arguments>REBOOT=ReallySuppress</arguments> <hide>false</hide> </execute> </item> <item display='Windows Critical Updates'> <execute display='Windows Journal Viewer'> <program>D:\Unattend\jrnlvwr\jrnlvwr.msi</program> <arguments>/qn</arguments> <hide>true</hide> </execute> <execute display='HighMat CD Wizard'> <program>D:\Unattend\hotfix\HMTCDWizard_enu.exe</program> <arguments>/qn</arguments> <hide>true</hide> </execute> <execute display='Multi Desktop Manager'> <program>D:\Unattend\xppower\deskman.exe</program> <arguments>/v/qn</arguments> <hide>true</hide> </execute> <execute display='Task Switcher'> <program>D:\Unattend\xppower\taskstch.exe</program> <arguments>/v/qn</arguments> <hide>true</hide> </execute> <execute display='Fast User Switcher'> <program>D:\Unattend\xppower\fastuser.msi</program> <arguments>TRANSFORMS=D:\UNATTEND\xppower\fastuser.mst /qn</arguments> <hide>true</hide> </execute> </item> <item display='Windows Server Support Tools'> <execute display='Support Tools'> <program>D:\Unattend\suptools\suptools.msi</program> <arguments>/qn</arguments> <hide>true</hide> </execute> <execute display='Resource Kit'> <program>D:\Unattend\rktools\rktools.msi</program> <arguments>/qn</arguments> <hide>true</hide> </execute> <execute display='AdminPak'> <program>D:\Unattend\adminpak\adminpak.msi</program> <arguments>/qn</arguments> <hide>true</hide> </execute> <execute display='Group Policy Management Console'> <program>D:\Unattend\gpmc\gpmc.msi</program> <arguments>/qn</arguments> <hide>true</hide> </execute> <execute display='BootVis'> <program>D:\Unattend\bootvis\bootvis.msi</program> <arguments>TRANSFORMS=D:\Unattend\bootvis\bootvis.mst /qn</arguments> <hide>true</hide> </execute> <execute display='PSTools'> <program>D:\Unattend\pstools\pstools.exe</program> <arguments>/verysilent /SP-</arguments> <hide>true</hide> </execute> <execute display='RegClean'> <program>D:\Unattend\regclean\regclean.exe</program> <arguments>/verysilent /SP-</arguments> <hide>true</hide> </execute> <execute display='UPHClean'> <program>D:\Unattend\UPHClean\UPHClean.msi</program> <arguments>/qn</arguments> <hide>true</hide> </execute> </item> <item display='Microsoft Office Components'> <execute display='Office 2003 Professional'> <program>D:\Unattend\Office\PRO11.msi</program> <arguments>TRANSFORMS=D:\UNATTEND\Office\PRO11.mst /qn</arguments> <hide>true</hide> </execute> <execute display='SpamBayes'> <program>D:\Unattend\Spambayes\spambayes.msi</program> <arguments>/qn</arguments> <hide>true</hide> </execute> </item> <item display='Multimedia Applications'> <execute display='Irfanview'> <program>D:\Unattend\irfanview\irfanview.msi</program> <arguments>/qn</arguments> <hide>true</hide> </execute> <execute display='Flash'> <program>D:\Unattend\Flash\flashplayer_7.msi</program> <arguments>/qn</arguments> <hide>true</hide> </execute> <execute display='Shockwave'> <program>D:\Unattend\Shockwave\shockwave_8.msi</program> <arguments>/qn</arguments> <hide>true</hide> </execute> </item> <item display='File Transfer Applications'> <execute display='WinSCP'> <program>D:\Unattend\WinSCP\winscp.msi</program> <arguments>/qn</arguments> <hide>true</hide> </execute> <execute display='SmartFTP'> <program>D:\Unattend\smartftp\smartftp.msi</program> <arguments>/qn</arguments> <hide>true</hide> </execute> <execute display='PuTTY'> <program>D:\Unattend\putty\putty.exe</program> <arguments>/verysilent /SP-</arguments> <hide>true</hide> </execute> </item> <item display='File Manipulation Components'> <execute display='WinZIP'> <program>C:\progra~1\winzip\winzip32.exe</program> <arguments>/noqp /autoinstall</arguments> <hide>true</hide> </execute> <execute display='WinRAR'> <program>D:\Unattend\winrar\winrar.msi</program> <arguments>/qn</arguments> <hide>true</hide> </execute> <execute display='WinImage'> <program>D:\Unattend\WinImage\winimage.msi</program> <arguments>/qn</arguments> <hide>true</hide> </execute> <execute display='CutePDF Writer'> <program>D:\Unattend\CutePDF\CutePDF Writer.msi</program> <arguments>/qn</arguments> <hide>true</hide> </execute> <execute display='GhostScript Converter'> <program>D:\Unattend\CutePDF\GhostScript Converter.msi</program> <arguments>/qn</arguments> <hide>true</hide> </execute> </item> <item display='CD/DVD Applications'> <execute display='PowerDVD'> <program>D:\Unattend\PowerDVD\powerdvd.msi</program> <arguments>/qn</arguments> <hide>true</hide> </execute> </item> <item display='Diskeeper'> <execute display='Diskeeper'> <program>D:\Unattend\dskeeper\dskeeper.msi</program> <arguments>/qn</arguments> <hide>true</hide> </execute> </item> <item display='Adobe Acrobat'> <execute display='Adobe Acrobat'> <program>D:\Unattend\adobe\Adobe Reader 7.0.msi</program> <arguments>/qn</arguments> <hide>true</hide> </execute> </item> <item display='RealPlayer'> <execute display='RealPlayer'> <program>D:\Unattend\Real\real.msi</program> <arguments>/qn</arguments> <hide>true</hide> </execute> </item> <item display='System Virus and Spyware Protection'> <execute display='Create Reg Key'> <program>REG</program> <arguments>ADD HKCU\Software\Intel\LANDesk\VirusProtect6\CurrentVersion\Custom Tasks</arguments> <hide>true</hide> </execute> <execute display='Prevent Start Scan'> <program>REG</program> <arguments>ADD HKCU\Software\Intel\LANDesk\VirusProtect6\CurrentVersion\Custom Tasks /v CreatedUserQuickScan /t REG_DWORD /d 00000001 /f</arguments> <hide>true</hide> </execute> <execute display='Set Default Scan Options'> <program>REG</program> <arguments>ADD HKCU\Software\Intel\LANDesk\VirusProtect6\CurrentVersion\Custom Tasks /v CopiedDefaultScanOptions /t REG_DWORD /d 00000001 /f</arguments> <hide>true</hide> </execute> <execute display='Symantec Antivirus'> <program>D:\Unattend\SAV\Symantec Antivirus.msi</program> <arguments>REBOOT=ReallySuppress RUNLIVEUPDATE=0 ADDLOCAL=SAVMain,SAVUI,SAVHelp,EMailTools,OutlookSnapin,Pop3Smtp,QClient NETWORKTYPE=2 ENABLEAUTOPROTECT=1 /qn</arguments> <hide>true</hide> </execute> <execute display='Windows Defender'> <program>D:\Unattend\defender\windowsdefender.msi</program> <arguments>/qn</arguments> <hide>true</hide> </execute> </item> <item display='System Cleanup'> <execute display='Cleanup Script'> <program>D:\Unattend\cleanup.cmd</program> <hide>true</hide> </execute> </item> <item display='Shutdown'> <execute display='Initiating Shutdown'> <program>shutdown</program> <arguments>-r -t 5 -c "Finishing Windows Installation and Rebooting"</arguments> <hide>true</hide> </execute> </item> </items> </XPlode4>

I'd uninstall that right away via the installer (should have remove capabilities as an MSI package). Getting the ATI HotKey poller service off of your box is reason enough not to install it in the first place .

Which version of PowerDVD do you have? I believe they were planning on releasing an update or a new version for Vista, if memory serves.

You do realize the fax program in XP and Server 2003 remains largely unchanged from it's Win3.1 heritage? I wouldn't use that version - but the version in Vista is a basic re-write, and functions much better. I know there is shareware and non-freeware that runs fine on Vista, but not much in the way of freeware. Desktop fax just isn't a market clamoring for a product - it's a very small niche (that you happen to be in, so you probably don't feel that way ).

You will lose your domain membership - none of the Vista Home SKUs allow joining a domain on clean install, or staying domain-joined after an upgrade (the upgrade process will kill your domain membership on purpose). You will need Ultimate if you want MCE and be joined to a domain.

Well, I tend to tow the party line where it makes sense, and for someone who isn't a gamer I find Vista Ultimate to be much easier to use overall in my day-to-day activities. I've got beefy machines, so hardware isn't an issue, and cost isn't an issue for me (nor will it be for most people, because the largest channel for non-corporate sales of Vista is royalty OEMs on new hardware). I really like the new Media Center functionality (and works great with my 360 as an extender, and Zune content works quite well here too), and the fact that my x64 machine runs all of my 32bit applications just fine (and runs Visual Studio much better now as well, thanks to patches released today). The look is much better than the "lego-block" look of XP, the new GUI bells-and-whistles are great (even if they are late in getting here), and integrated search really does help me quite a bit with keeping track of my code and my media content (photos and videos). It even works great on my tablet, much better than XP tablet did (especially with OneNote 2007 installed rather than 2003). In short, it has things that I find I need that XP lacked (namely integrated search and an x64 version of Media Center), and doesn't seem to perform any better or worse on the same hardware XP x64 was installed on previously. Obviously most of you can tell I'm a bit biased, but I must say my opinions have nothing to do with my employment - my opinions of Vista and Office changed from Beta2 of each product to RTM, as I really disliked both products during Beta2, and love both now that I'm used to the changes.

What specifically are the complaints, and when do these periods of "slow" performance occur? I'd say using perfmon to monitor the server load (download perfwiz and follow the wizard prompts to create a perfmon log the easy way ), as well as trying to determine if it's all clients at once, some clients some of the time, and what times of day they see this issue. You need to find out what "slow" means first (very important, as users generally define "slow" differently than an administrator), and exactly how "slow" it is compared to "normal" usage - if it's only a few seconds slower to do things, is that really something you need to troubleshoot? If it's minutes or hours, then yes, you have a problem . Another thing I like to tell people to do when file servers become "slow" is to uninstall the antivirus software from the file server AND the client machine, and see if that clears it up as well. I/O contention can be a real pain, and antivirus filter drivers are the cause of most I/O problems you'll come across.