cluberti

Who is the manufacturer of the actual hard disk? Most vendors supply tools to do a simple hardware diag from a boot disk .

Well, since it's only a minidump and not a kernel or complete memory dump the info is very limited, plus you don't have the _NT_SYMBOL_PATH environment variable set to C:\WebSYMBOLS;srv*C:\WebSYMBOLS*HTTP://MSDL.MICROSOFT.COM/DOWNLOAD/SYMBOLS;C:\WebSYMBOLS, but I can still see some file issues with termdd and rdpdr. Have you tried doing a repair installation on this machine, or even an sfc /scannow? Also, was this machine built with a stock Windows CD, or was the install source modified with a 3rd party tool?

I'm well aware of this, but I've found it to not work 100% of the time. Therefore, I still use my script . However, you are correct - OEAccess does hide OE.

Have you tried using the actual Intel driver, from Intel's site? I've done RIS installs on these machines in the past without seeing these issues, but I tend not to use Dell's driver sets. Consider using the Intel driver for these NICs.

Try visiting http://unattended.sourceforge.net for a very good non-RIS network install method.

First, make certain that you are ONLY using your internal DNS servers. Any external DNS servers listed can cause havoc with AD and group policy processing. If the event contains additional data, include the value data in the box at the bottom of the eventviewer error in WORDS. I can tell you what the data means, at least. Every 5 minutes the FRS service attempts to replicate data amongst domain controllers in a site, so I'd start by looking at NTFRS in tracking this problem down.

Scandisk was replaced by chkdsk in Windows NT-based systems. And yes, file system corruption can cause all of the same problems that HD failures can (they both do the same thing to what's on the disk, more or less). I'd still say running a good hardware diagnostic program against the drive to make sure that it's not going to fail would be a good idea.

Here is the list for components I use in my WINNT.SIF file. If you're unsure what these do, google 'em - they're out there. [Components] Accessopt = Off CertSrv = Off CertSrv_Client = Off CertSrv_Server = Off Chat = Off Deskpaper = Off Dialer = Off Fax = Off Fp_extensions = Off FP_Vdir_Deploy = Off Freecell = Off Hearts = Off IIS_Common = Off IIS_Doc = Off IIS_FTP = Off IIS_HTMLa = Off IIS_Inetmgr = Off IIS_NNTP = Off IIS_NNTP_Docs = Off IIS_Pwmgr = Off IIS_SMTP = Off IIS_SMTP_Docs = Off IIS_WWW = Off IIS_WWW_Vdir_Printers = Off IIS_WWW_Vdir_TerminalServices = Off IISDbg = Off Indexsrv_system = Off LicenseServer = Off Media_utopia = Off Minesweeper = Off Mousepoint = Off Msmsgs = Off OEAccess = Off MSMQ_ADIntegrated = Off MSMQ_Core = Off MSMQ_HTTPSupport = Off MSMQ_LocalStorage = Off MSMQ_MQDSService = Off MSMQ_RoutingSupport = Off MSMQ_TriggersService = Off Msnexplr = Off Netoc = Off Pinball = Off Solitaire = Off Spider = Off WMAccess = Off zonegames = Off The bolded values will remove MSN Messenger and Outlook Express (well, it hides OE). However, I have not found the OEAccess value to be 100% effective. In that case, you could set another program to be the default email handler via the [shell] section of WINNT.SIF, or you could write a VBS script to remove Outlook Express like so: ' *** Begin Script *** Set WSHShell = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell") DesktopPath = WSHShell.SpecialFolders("Desktop") StartMenuPath = WSHShell.SpecialFolders("StartMenu") Set fs = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject") on error resume next OEIcon = StartMenuPath & "\Programs\Intern~1\Outlook Express.lnk" fs.DeleteFile(OEIcon),true OEIcon = DesktopPath & "\Outlook Express.lnk" fs.DeleteFile(OEIcon),true OEIcon = StartMenuPath & "\Programs\Outlook Express.lnk" fs.DeleteFile(OEIcon),true ProfilePath = Left(DesktopPath,Len(DesktopPath)-8) Quick="\Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch" QuickLaunchPath = ProfilePath & Quick OEIcon = QuickLaunchPath & "\Launch Outlook Express.lnk" fs.DeleteFile(OEIcon),true ' *** EOF ***

I hate to ask, but is there any reason you aren't using sysprep to accomplish this?

You would add it as a command in your WINNT.SIF file. You should seriously consider reading the content at http://unattended.msfn.org, as your question is answered in great detail there.

In your IP configuration for this server, what do you have set as it's DNS servers? Also, make sure that (if this is a SP1 box) that your Windows firewall is off.

What exactly was the stop error, and what was the callstack information below it?

This can be caused by an application (or even a print driver, *cough*HP*cough*) holding a user's registry open (do you see userenv 1000 errors in your event log if you just log a user off?). If so, uphclean from Microsoft can make this go away as well.

They are different, and you will need both installed if you have applications that use the 1.x framework. They install to different locations, and are not one and the same (as you have found out).

As long as you've got XP Pro, the previous suggestion will work just fine. If you have XP Home, you're out of luck.

Put the hard disk in the PC, and make sure SMART is enabled for the drive in the BIOS. Also, run a chkdsk on the volume to see if it finds any errors. My guess would be a failing hard disk, but SMART or a good third-party testing utility should tell you more. You do have a Compaq, so I wouldn't trust it to tell you if the disk was at fault as far as it could be thrown .

Do you have split DNS in your infrastructure? I second the A record creation - on your internal DNS server, you'll need to create an A record pointing to the server internally, and then it should work for both internal and external clients. I strongly recommend a split DNS if you run the same domain name inside your network and outside as well...

If the computer can PXE boot, the GUID will be provided by the PXE BIOS right on-screen. Otherwise, you'll need to do it via a script and query WMI for the GUID, like so: ' *** Begin Script *** Dim strComputer Dim objWMIService Dim propValue Dim colItems strComputer = "SERVER" Set objWMIService = GetObject("winmgmts:{impersonationLevel=impersonate}!\\" & strComputer & "\root\cimv2") Set colItems = objWMIService.ExecQuery("Select * from Win32_ComputerSystemProduct",,48) For Each objItem in colItems WScript.Echo "UUID: " & objItem.UUID Next ' *** EOF *** It's a simple script to gather some data about the machine, and the bolded data should give you what you need.

The callstack will give the driver or module name that caused the failure, and from that we can find the root of the problem. Heck, if one feels comfortable sending .dmp files after they're compressed, I'd be more than happy to give a root cause .

This is the command to use to install Media Player 10: MP10Setup.exe /q:A /c:setup_wm.exe /Q /R:N /DisallowSystemRestore And this is the command to use to install the Windows Media Connect update: wmcsetup.exe /q I find it much easier to install this via a .cmd called in SetupParams or GuiRunOnce, rather than integrating it directly. Sorry I can't help more.

It could be hyperthreading, but it could also just be that it's quite new, and throwing the hardware detection off a bit. Have you considered doing this in a virtual machine environment (either VMWare or Virtual Server 2005)? Technically, that would be the easiest and most cost-effective solution - install 2003 on a new server, install the virtual machine software, install NT4 inside the VM, upgrade to 2003 in the VM, then add your real server to the domain and demote the 2003 server in the VM. Once that's done, remove the VM software if you no longer need it, or keep it around for other server migrations. It's easy, and it's easy to back out of if you make a mistake, with either snapshots (VMWare) or undo disks (Virtual Server 2005).

Is your Wireless Zero Configuration service running?

IBM is the vendor of choice for laptops. I know some people call them stinkpads, but if you buy a cheap anything (from any vendor), you almost always get what you pay for. Some vendors are just bad across the line, but I've found IBM Thinkpad T and X series laptops to be the best at taking regular abuse, especially from the higher-ups who routinely beat the living hell out of anything they touch (not to mention what their kids do with them when they're home!). Sorry to hear about your experiences man - that sucks.

To answer your question, no, MSDN and OEM key trees are totally different (I've tried myself - they won't work across versions). Also, it is my understanding that an English CD key (any version) won't work on a localized version of Windows, and vice-versa.

That's because you'd need a VLK OEM key to make it work, because the OS that was installed was a special VLK version of XP. You'd have to reinstall with a full version OEM copy of XP to be able to use an OEM key, unfortunately. Depending on the licensing agreement the vendor has with Microsoft, they may not have been able to provide a real XP CD. If the vendor is unable to provide you with a copy of XP, your only recourse (short of getting the machine re-imaged by the vendor) is to contact Microsoft and see what they can do for your friend.