nmX.Memnoch

It would be faster if you setup VPN. Then you could RDP directly into the workstations without having to first go through the 2003 box. And no, a domain is not required. It'll make things easier as far as user management and group policies, but it's not required for Terminal Services / Remote Desktop.

More than likely it's going to be 2007. The beta already has some really nice improvements over FP2003.

You can compile the AutoIt script into an executable. This keeps you from having to install AutoIt on machines just to run the scripts. This is how I do my unattended installs where key presses are required. You can even have it disable the keyboard/mouse while it's running so that nothing interferes with the keys you send.

You definitely can't go wrong with an Asus board.

.Default is for the logon screen settings...not the Default User Profile. To change this for the default user profile you have to load the Default User's NTUSER.DAT in regedit, make the changes and then unload it. Reboot the PC and now it will be applied to all users who logon to the PC.

You don't need to add your ISPs DNS servers as actual DNS entries in your internal DNS server. You should, however, configure them as forwarders (this is in the properties for your internal DNS server). This will allow your DNS server to forward lookup requests for domains that aren't internal. Active Directory is very dependent on DNS so every machine needs to be in the forward zone. It does this automatically when a new machine is added to the domain. If you use DHCP they can (and will by default) be dynamically updated...meaning you don't have to do anything manually. As was mentioned, a reverse zone is good to plan for future growth. It doesn't hurt having it there.

Does the Quick Launch directory actually have any shortcuts in it? If it's empty it'll look like it's not being displayed. You can check this by looking in: %USERPROFILE%\Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\ By default it should have the "Show Desktop", "Launch Internet Explorer Browser" and possibly one or two others.

Using a drive letter vs. UNC shouldn't be any faster or slower. If you want something that is going to be universal and doesn't interfere with other already mapped network shares then just stick with the UNC. If you stick with mapping the drive you should add /PERSISTENT:NO to the NET USE command so the drive doesn't automatically remap the next time they logon.

I'd try to find it without the power supply. Aspire power supplies can be kinda dodgy. They have the wattage but can sometimes be lower in the amperage area than other power supplies. Look up the power supply by itself (model number is ATX-AS500W according to the pictures) and compare it to other 500W power supplies from Antec, Thermaltake, etc to make sure it's up to the tasks you need it to do. I'd also have to agree that you should try to find a case with 120mm fans. A larger fan can spin slower to move the same volume of air as a smaller fan...thus making it quieter. Personally, I have the Antec SONATA II and it's been a great case.

No worries. I wasn't aware of that XP actually does support the /PAE switch for larger page files. Although, if one needs more than a 4GB page file I'd say it's time to move to 64-bit and some more RAM.

You need to use the /PAE switch, not the /3GB switch, to enable page file sizes larger than 4GB (with /PAE enabled, you can make 16TB page files).Errr...you misquoted I didn't bring up /PAE because it isn't supported on Windows XP. Most desktop chipsets don't support anything over 4GB of RAM anyway. Until recently (last year or so) even most workstation chipsets didn't support anything over 4GB of RAM. I know exactly what /3GB does, I was just correcting someone else's statment saying that 32-bit Windows couldn't assign more than 2GB address space to a process.

As for the question about monitoring web traffic...I've been using AWStats for years. It's free/open source and is a decent alternative to Webalizer (which doesn't work on Windows as far as I know).

For starters, did you create a reverse lookup zone?

As was mentioned...why not just use the hard drive for backup purposes? Copying the files to an external hard drive would be faster than burning them anyway. You could also keep copies of all of your software CDs/DVDs that you carry around on the external hard drive. This would keep you from having to swap disks, prevent lost/scratched disks and, again, be faster than accessing an optical drive.

Make sure you have OemPreinstall=Yes in the [unattended] section of your WINNT.SIF.

I love the way it works...but I hate the UI. I'd like to see more of the drive layout on the Volume Map tab. The bars don't need to be nearly as thick as they are. I'd also like to be able to turn off some of the buttons...I don't need 5 different ways to start a defrag on the same screen. I also don't like the way the job report is done. As for the multiple schedules, that's been there since DK7 (maybe even 6). It's just easier to get to now.

Who is the PCI adapter made by? It's very possible that a firmware and/or driver update for that adapter could fix your problem(s).

Home supports both Hyperthreaded CPUs and Dual Core CPUs. You won't see a difference in performance between Home and Pro since they will both have access to run the same number of threads. What it doesn't support is Multiple CPUs. So you can use Home on a P4 w/ Hyperthreading and get the Hyperthreading benefits. What you can't do is get Multi-CPU support/benefits on a Dual Xeon or Dual Operton system. It'll install on these systems, it just won't recognize/use any CPUs other than the first one.

It's true that most of the heat will be directly in the center...but you want it to be spread out and disipated to the entire heatsink. That way the heatsink can move the heat away from the core faster. Again, the paste is only helping to create the "interface" between the heat spreader and the heat sink. It's not supposed to be layered on so thick that the heatsink is only touching paste and the heat spreader is only touching paste. The paste can't do nearly as good of a job at moving the heat away as the heatsink can. However, due to peaks and valleys in the design of the heatsink and heat spreader the paste is needed to give the heatsink more contact area.

Doh...no no no...hehe The oils from your skin will interfere with how the AS5 works. It's contents are specifically engineered to work a certain way and the oils from your skin will change it's properties. Clean both surfaces (heatsink and/or CPU/RAM chips) with isopropyl alcohol. Wait for it to dry and put just a dab on center of the surface of the CPU/RAM. Then use a razor blade to evenly smooth out the compound. Just a tip... As for the CPU, put a very thin coat on the entire IHS. "IHS" stand for "Integrated Heat Spreader". In other words, it's designed to spread the heat out so your heatsink can do a better job keeping the CPU cool...so you need to put thermal paste on the entire thing. And when I say "very thin" you should almost be able to read the lettering on the IHS through the paste. Remember, the paste is only there to help fill small gaps on the IHS and heatsink surfaces. This helps to ensure that as much heat as possible is getting transfered from the IHS to the heatsink as possible. It's not meant to be another layer between the IHS and heatsink...too much can be a bad thing.

You've probably already done this but I'll throw it out there anyway... Be sure you're disabling the motherboard's COM2 port. There should be an option in the BIOS. Being that the boards are that old though, it may be a jumper setting.

Sorry...but case fans are needed on newer systems. He'll be ok if he's running with the side off of his case but I wouldn't do it for extended periods of time. Without a case fan all the CPU/GPU fans will do is circulate hot air around in the case. The intake fan is used to bring cooler air into the case, and the exhaust fan is used to move hot air out of the case. A good case design will have the intake fan pushing/pulling cool air over the drives to keep them cool as well.

DHCP is very easy to setup. Just install the service and create a new scope containing the range of addresses you want to use, default gateway, DNS server and WINS (if available/necessary). There are, of course, a ton more options but those are the basics you'll need to get it up and running. DNS should already be installed on your server since it's a Domain Controller. All you need to configure on the DNS server is forwarders so your clients only need your DC's IP as the DNS server. To configure the forwarders open the DNS Management MMC. Right click on the server name and choose Properties. Go to the forwarders tab. In the 'DNS domain' option at the top make sure "All other DNS domains" is listed. If it's not click on New and create it. Now in the 'Selected domain's forwarder IP address list' just add the DNS server(s) for your ISP. Now you can configure your clients to use 192.168.1.100 as their DNS server (this can be done within the DHCP scope).

Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner...I was on vacation. From the research I did you're pretty much stuck using BlueSoleil with the adapter you have.

2GHz was the fastest Socket 423 P4 released. He could probably get a decent i865 based Socket 478 board, Celeron D 2.8GHz or so and some DDR400 RAM for not much more than adding RAMBUS to his current system. The newer Celeron's have as much cache as his Socket 423 P4 does (the original Willamette P4's only had 256K cache). ASUS P4P800SE Socket 478 Intel 865PE ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail $95.49 Shipped Intel Celeron D 335 Prescott 533MHz FSB 256KB L2 Cache Socket 478 Processor - Retail $82.74 Shipped CORSAIR ValueSelect 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Unbuffered DDR 400 (PC 3200) Dual Channel Kit System Memory - Retail $85.81 Shipped Total: $264.04 And for comparison purposes: SAMSUNG ORIGINAL 512MB 184-Pin RDRAM (16bit) ECC Unbuffered PC 800 System Memory - Retail $228.76 x 2 = $457.52 Shipped