cluberti

1) Why edit images on the RIS server? Why not just create your own custom Windows installation source BEFORE creating a RIS "image" from it? I understand the use of editing after the fact as the hardware changes. It depends on the type of install, as there are two - one is risetup, which is the "flat-file" type install, and is NOT an image. This you can modify at any time (and sometimes should, to add drivers, scripts, etc to your RIS install). The second is a riprep image, and once made, you really can't modify it (it is an image, after all, in the true sense of the word). Watch out for definitions in RIS - a risetup "image" isn't an image at all, but a riprep image is. 2) Why use the $OEM folder to include drivers or anything for that matter? Why not just include your drivers in the same location where Microsoft puts the drivers they include with Windows to begin with, replacing as necessary? Would this not circumvent the issue of copying unnecessary data to the client machines? Because technically, this is unsupported. Yes, you can do it, but there is a supported (and well-documented) method - the $OEM$ folder. Why reinvent the wheel, when there are no obvious benefits? 3) If you RipPrep an installed machine, is the result an 'image' in the same sense as Ghost for example? Meaning, is it a sector imaging technology and will this ripprepped image install in minutes just like my Ghost images? It's not quite the same as a sector copy ala Ghost, but it is a snapshot image in that vein, and has the same benefits and drawbacks as a Ghost image. 4) Is it really true that you can not install and/or use RIS on a multi-home machine? What if I just disable the second NIC, will that work? RIS can be made to work on a multi-homed machine, but it can be a bit of a PITA. Disabling the second NIC, or using NIC Teaming (if your hardware and network devices support it) is a better option than fighting the multi-homed battle with RIS. 5) As this book I have describes the "one-images-fits-all" logitistal approach meaning they suggest creating subfolders underneath $OEM within the WinXP source, but instead of creating subfolders for each machine type instead just create them for each hardware type: i.e. SoundBlaster Live!, SoundBlaster AWE64, etc. That would be opposed to creating folders for an HP NC6230 and an HP NC6000 with all their drivers underneath each respective subfolder, thereby potentially creating a lot of duplicate files and even more unnecessary data. So my question: don't some drivers provided by OEMs differ from those Microsoft makes available or even the hardware manufacturer itself? For example if you buy an HP machine with an ATI video card HP may potentially have a different driver than that which you would download directlry from ATI or from Windows Update. Therefore, wouldn't it be a really BAD idea to just dump drivers into general folders for "Audio" even if it is more specific like "SoundBlaster" or "Sound Blaster Live!"? I've personally witnessed on a few occassions where drivers from MS DID NOT work for NICs, but the OEM driver worked just fine. It is rare in my experience, but it does happen. To answer your question, this is where multiple flat-file images, or intelligent scripts to copy the "right" drivers from the installation source come in handy. Either works, with the former being easier but more disk-consuming, and the latter being more difficult but with the "cleaner" filesystem benefits. As to hardware vendor devices working with only vendor drivers and not proper inbox drivers, that's usually the case when the hardware vendor doesn't follow the device manufacturer's reference design, meaning their drivers will be the only ones that'll work properly with the "modified" hardware. 6) Does the SIS Groveler even work? Taking into account point 2 and 5 above I don't understand what the big deal is if Groveler actually works. If it works it is supposed to generate single software instances. Am I misunderstanding something? We're not supposed to install RIS images to a partition with any other data because the SIS Groveler may cause problems as a result of the way it works. Well, I have it running on a file server with hundreds of gigs of data and I don't see a problem. Is groveler even doing anything? Yes, it works, but you have to understand it's purpose before you understand how it works. It's really only for drives with multiple riprep or risetup images, meaning lots and lots of similar files. If disk space begins to get low, the groveler service starts to make file links to one particular of the similar files, and then links all other of the same file to that original file rather than having multiple versions of the same file in multiple location (it'll look like all those other files exist, but they'll really just be links to one file). However, you won't really see any benefits of this service unless you start to consume serious disk space, due to the nature of the groveler. You might want to troll around the unattended setup and unattended RIS setup forums for more information, rather than the XP forum.

DEVCON requires you to know information about your hardware, and that will be per-machine specific - the script allows you to disable a NIC by name, which is usually the same on each machine in a corporate environment, immaterial to the actual hardware below.

I'm sure you've got a way to do this, but I love writing this value to the registry since the possibility of the machine that the OS is on changing is very slim and it doesn't make sense to keep determining ths in subsequent scripts - a simple registry read suffices later. Const HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE = &H80000002 strComputer = "." Set objReg=GetObject("winmgmts:{impersonationLevel=impersonate}!\\" & _ strComputer & "\root\default:StdRegProv") strKeyPath = "SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup" objReg.CreateKey HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE,strKeyPath Set objWMIService = GetObject("winmgmts:" _ & "{impersonationLevel=impersonate}!\\" & strComputer & "\root\cimv2") Set colChassis = objWMIService.ExecQuery _ ("Select * from Win32_SystemEnclosure") For Each objChassis in colChassis For Each strChassisType in objChassis.ChassisTypes Select Case strChassisType Case 1 strEntryName = "MACHINETYPE" strValue = "Other" objReg.SetStringValue HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE,strKeyPath,strEntryName,strValue Case 2 strEntryName = "MACHINETYPE" strValue = "Unknown" objReg.SetStringValue HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE,strKeyPath,strEntryName,strValue Case 3 strEntryName = "MACHINETYPE" strValue = "Desktop" objReg.SetStringValue HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE,strKeyPath,strEntryName,strValue Case 4 strEntryName = "MACHINETYPE" strValue = "Low_Profile_Desktop" objReg.SetStringValue HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE,strKeyPath,strEntryName,strValue Case 5 strEntryName = "MACHINETYPE" strValue = "Pizza_Box" objReg.SetStringValue HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE,strKeyPath,strEntryName,strValue Case 6 strEntryName = "MACHINETYPE" strValue = "Mini_Tower" objReg.SetStringValue HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE,strKeyPath,strEntryName,strValue Case 7 strEntryName = "MACHINETYPE" strValue = "Tower" objReg.SetStringValue HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE,strKeyPath,strEntryName,strValue Case 8 strEntryName = "MACHINETYPE" strValue = "Portable" objReg.SetStringValue HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE,strKeyPath,strEntryName,strValue Case 9 strEntryName = "MACHINETYPE" strValue = "Laptop" objReg.SetStringValue HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE,strKeyPath,strEntryName,strValue Case 10 strEntryName = "MACHINETYPE" strValue = "Notebook" objReg.SetStringValue HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE,strKeyPath,strEntryName,strValue Case 11 strEntryName = "MACHINETYPE" strValue = "Handheld" objReg.SetStringValue HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE,strKeyPath,strEntryName,strValue Case 12 strEntryName = "MACHINETYPE" strValue = "Docking_Station" objReg.SetStringValue HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE,strKeyPath,strEntryName,strValue Case 13 strEntryName = "MACHINETYPE" strValue = "All-in-One" objReg.SetStringValue HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE,strKeyPath,strEntryName,strValue Case 14 strEntryName = "MACHINETYPE" strValue = "Sub-Notebook" objReg.SetStringValue HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE,strKeyPath,strEntryName,strValue Case 15 strEntryName = "MACHINETYPE" strValue = "Space_Saving" objReg.SetStringValue HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE,strKeyPath,strEntryName,strValue Case 16 strEntryName = "MACHINETYPE" strValue = "Lunch_Box" objReg.SetStringValue HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE,strKeyPath,strEntryName,strValue Case 17 strEntryName = "MACHINETYPE" strValue = "Main_System_Chassis" objReg.SetStringValue HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE,strKeyPath,strEntryName,strValue Case 18 strEntryName = "MACHINETYPE" strValue = "Expansion_Chassis" objReg.SetStringValue HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE,strKeyPath,strEntryName,strValue Case 19 strEntryName = "MACHINETYPE" strValue = "Sub-Chassis" objReg.SetStringValue HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE,strKeyPath,strEntryName,strValue Case 20 strEntryName = "MACHINETYPE" strValue = "Bus_Expansion_Chassis" objReg.SetStringValue HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE,strKeyPath,strEntryName,strValue Case 21 strEntryName = "MACHINETYPE" strValue = "Peripheral_Chassis" objReg.SetStringValue HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE,strKeyPath,strEntryName,strValue Case 22 strEntryName = "MACHINETYPE" strValue = "Storage_Chassis" objReg.SetStringValue HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE,strKeyPath,strEntryName,strValue Case 23 strEntryName = "MACHINETYPE" strValue = "Rack_Mount_Chassis" objReg.SetStringValue HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE,strKeyPath,strEntryName,strValue Case 24 strEntryName = "MACHINETYPE" strValue = "Sealed-Case_PC" objReg.SetStringValue HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE,strKeyPath,strEntryName,strValue Case Else strEntryName = "MACHINETYPE" strValue = "Unknown" objReg.SetStringValue HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE,strKeyPath,strEntryName,strValue End Select Next Next

There's actually no way to do this via WMI, but there is a Win32 class API that can be called to do this. Remember that vbscript can't make API calls, so this needs to be done another way. The other way is via an application that will have access to the API calls, and the best I've found so far is here: http://channel9.msdn.com/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=158556 Click the "save" link to save the .zip, extract the .dll, .exe, and .config files to their own directory, and you can simply run the command "togglenic <NIC Name> enable" or "togglenic <NIC Name> disable" to enable or disable an interface. Pretty slick. Note that this is in C#, so .NET is required.

Only a problem for me on "road warrior" laptops that are bound to be without access to RIS but needing the i386 directory. I actually keep a "full' copy (because RiSetup does remove some necessary files, ultimately) in my ris folder and copy the whole i386 to C:\ if I detect a laptop during build. Desktops, obviously, don't get this treatment because there's usually no need.

Agreed - integrating is a good way to go in the long run, if you understand how it works and are willing to keep up on a monthly basis. Integrating Office hotfixes into your admin point is also another good idea most people forget.

When do the explorer.exe errors occur? Are they frequent? Download and install userdump.exe from microsoft.com/downloads (remember that once you run the .exe to extract it, you still have to go into the extracted directory in x86 and run setup.exe again to install), and configure it (via the Process Dump icon in the control panel) for a "new" rule for "explorer.exe", the properties of which should include selecting the advanced configuration, all exceptions, and dump on process termination (this'll make sense once you install it and first go to use it on a workstation). Once configured, the next time explorer.exe crashes, it should create an explorer.exe.dmp file in your C:\Windows directory - if you could provide me with that .dmp file (I'll provide FTP info in a PM) I can debug it and tell you what module and what function is causing the crashes, and you can go about making riprep changes from there. Oh, and I third everyone's opinion - imaging is not a good idea unless there's a SPECIFIC reason to do so, otherwise RiSetup images are MUCH easier in the long run, and can be scripted to be just as hands-off as a riprep image (without all of the nasty image "gotchas").

If all you want is a snapshot view, download SpaceMonger and run it manually to get a graphical overview snapshot of your drive(s). If you need continuous monitoring, consider enabling the Quota feature of Windows 2000 or Windows 2003, or purchase a quota/disk management product that is more feature-rich than the basic quota management to get more information on disk usage other than total and per user. A quick google search will find you what you desire.

I would suggest the following link as a good start on configuring your AD properly with GPO(s): http://www.windowsnetworking.com/articles_...oup-Policy.html

Wrong. One important thing to note about the Windows memory manager is that it allows the OS and application to know almost NOTHING about how much physical RAM is in the machine, available, used, etc. All applications are assigned virtual address space, and that address space is the only thing an application sees - it's the memory manager's job to assign that to either RAM or the pagefile (virtual memory). If an application complains of being low on memory, it's usually complaining about virtual memory - perhaps your paging file is too small (or you've disabled it), or you're running out of some other resource (such as desktop heap, kernel nonpaged pool, or kernel paged pool memory)?

If you've got a Windows 2000 or Windows 2003 domain (Active Directory), then you can do just that via Group Policy Objects (GPOs) applying to an Organizational Unit (OU), or multiple Organizational Units containg user or computer objects (or both).

WebDAV? http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechn...f.mspx?mfr=true http://www.windowsnetworking.com/articles_...WebDAV-IIS.html

If the file really is there (and I'd bet it is), the easiest thing to do would be to simply boot a Windows XP CD and go into the recovery console - delete the file from there (offline NTFS access).

Kill the verclsid.exe process via task manager, download and install the .reg fix posted earlier in this particular thread, and restart your machine. If that doesn't solve it, it's not the patch .

Perhaps RogueSpear will have some information on how to get this to work - it's issues like these that made me give up on RIPrep images completely.

In a cmd file, the colon character is used to denote a line that should be displayed, but not executed. So, having the following in a CMD file should output comments: : // ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ : // : // Comments here executable line here

Also, reboot into safe mode and leave it running for awhile - if the issue doesn't occur, it's less likely to be hardware (although that's not conclusive). If the issue does occur when in safe mode, you can be fairly confident that hardware issues are the root cause, and the vendor should be contacted to do hardware diagnostics.

If printing directly to printer works, but the spooling option does not, that would mean that there is either an issue with the print driver being used, or some security issues with the two-way communication between the client and server. If you create a new queue pointing to an existing port, using one of the built-in Windows HP drivers *not currently in use*, does printing to that queue have the same issue? If so, then it's a security issue. If not, then it's a print driver issue.

Hrm - one way street, eh. That stinks. Of course, I guess with all of the "how do you do x" questions I should've surmised most people asking didn't know enough about scripting in general to contribute. Oh well.

I'm a bit surprised we don't have a central script repository here, with the amount of questions we get on these boards for "how do I do x"?

Since the relative location is hardcoded into the setup routine, this isn't possible.

You'll have an error in your System event log with the source "Service Control Manager" - what service does it say is failing in this error message in your log?

First, you need to make certain that "Simple File Sharing" is disabled. Note that there will still be no filesystem level security on that share, only share permissions over the network.

Well, the output gives us processor state and memory address, but the file at that address is still obscured. Hopefully we can get a Dr Watson dump of this happening.

Oh my, that's pretty odd. Did, per chance, Dr Watson create any dumps in your %userprofile%\Application Data\Dr Watson or All Users\Application Data\Dr Watson folders? If not, open a command prompt and type: drwtsn32 -i (hit enter) drwtsn32 (hit enter Set the log type to be full, and make sure that dump all thread contents, visual notification, and create crash dump file are all checked. Then, stop and disable the error reporting service (start > run > services.msc) and see if you can make it happen again - if so, Dr Watson should create a dump of it...