RogueSpear

This is basically the deal: I'm not going to mess around the BTS stuff too much because anything I do will only be obsolete the moment Bashrat releases the next generation of BASE. I've spent a lot of time figuring out what would be the best way to do it, and it's certainly doable, however it would take a bit of time to get it all proper and tested. Time I simply don't have when I know something newer and better is on it's way. What I'm going to do as a stopgap is put the pause in that I mentioned earlier so that if anyone would like, they can do the full blown integration on their own. I personally never integrate the mass storage drivers into my RIS source because as of now, there's no need for it. I'm sure this may change and hopefully when it does, the situation with integration will have progressed. I can tell you that as a matter SOP, I use to always integrate the mass storage drivers and didn't have any difficulties with it, so it is possible. I'm working on V1.52 as we speak and will look into any problems with the M2 helper, though I think in this case perhaps better documentation is all that's necessary. Also, V1.52 will contain some fixes in the form of newer NIC drivers and .inf files for the drivers. V1.51 has some issues with the Intel drivers.

I figure with all of these firewalls I'm testing that I'll start with just the client first and see if the core product is any good. And then if things go well, I'll take a look at the management suite.

Yea I second that one On a similar note, when my setup is about 15 minutes out from finished, I have the system play an MP3 file of The End by The Doors It's like an alarm to let me know things are wrapping up.

@Resonate, I haven't forgotten about you bud. I've just been 100% tied up these last couple of days and I'd prefer to be able to do some testing before just slamming out a new version.

What you actually want to do is referred to as "prestaging" the computer. What you do is create a computer object in the OU where you want the computer to reside. Give it whatever name you like, check the box that says something similar to "This is a managed computer" and by checking that you will get another dialog box in the computer account creation process. The extra dialog box is where you need to enter in the computers UUID or GUID (I've seen it referred to as both depending on the manufacturer). Most computers made in the last 5 years will have one of these. You can usually find it either in the BIOS or in the configuration of the MBA (managed boot agent). If you are unable to find the GUID that way, initiate a RIS boot and go through the screens. The very last screen before it all starts should show you the computer's name and directly underneath it will be the GUID. Alternatively, when you create the computer account, you can substitute the GUID with the MAC address of the NIC preceded by twenty (20) numerical zeros (0).

Update - 20060209 Updated Adobe Reader to V7.0.7 Updated TaskSwitchXP to V2.09

Outpost is actually what I'm currently evaluating. It's tough though because I need to test so much crap before commiting to putting this on several hundred computers.

Well I don't about the .ini file, but I use the standard Microsoft prescribed msiexec command line sequence to apply patches to my AIP and all goes well. I can even verify the files were patched and updated, but still Microsoft Update claims that the hotfixes still need to be downloaded and installed. My guess is that it's a Microsoft Update issue as opposed to the .msp files not slipstreaming.

You can call it whatever you like, but it's not an error on my part. A shining example would be Symantec Desktop Firewall or Norton Internet Security. They both majorly mess up Gmail. It's a known issue and I've gone round and round with Symantec's tech support. In fact I'm probably responsible for at least half a dozen entries in their knowledge base. I finally said enough is enough and after 4 years cancelled out a gold contract for a couple hundred seats.

The file I came across is like 25kb. I use Photoshop CS2, but not on the computer in question, so I am at least somewhat familiar with Adobe Gamme Loader. One of problems I've had in researching this is that when you put "Adobe Gamma Loader" into Google, all you get is hits regarding the real McCoy. I did save the file. Actually I 7-Zipped it and I was going to attach it to my first post, but I wasn't sure if that would run afoul of MSFN rules - posting potential malware. The file does seem faily harmless and I think I'm going to do some testing from within VMware using TCPView and some other tools to see if it's contacting anything. The thing that kills me is that I always have the MS AntiSpyware real time protection running and as well I always keep up on the innoculating registry entries from SpywareBlaster, Spywareguide.com, etc. I disable all non-essential services and for the last month I've even taken to running Maxthon in a "low rights" mode courtesy of SysInternals PsExec. I'm a network engineer with over 20 years experience and as you can imagine, all forms of malware have become practically a full time job for me over the last five years. This is why I'm so PO'd about this. It's like a slap in the face. If there's anyone who has the knowledge to decompile this thing and is interested, let me know and I'll fire it off to you.

This morning I noticed an IE popup for something having to do with the IRS and taxes. I had only booted the computer and signed in, nothing but services and my usual startup things running. So I closed it and sure enough it came back up. Now when I booted up MS AntiSpyware asked me whether or not I wanted to permit Adobe Gamma Loader to execute from StartUp. I blocked it since I hadn't installed any Adobe products except for Adobe Reader. So I looked in my Start Menu and there it was, Adobe Gamma Loader.exe (not a shortcut) in the StartUp folder of my personal StartMenu. I archived it for later inspection, but I'm wondering if anyone has run into this one before?

Sorry muiz, I never made a post about it, but I did update the link yesterday with this new pack. I still haven't managed to mess around with VMware V5.5.1 (or whatever it is) so thanks for updating this

This is what I get for answering questions before my first cup of coffee My mind was still over at CD\DVD installations. I'll put forth a better reply and hopefully an update once I get settled in for the day (and about 3 cups of coffee later).

If you use my Method 2 helper addon, presetup.cmd looks for WatchDriverSigningPolicy.exe and SetDevicePath.exe in \OEM not \OEM\bin. The M2 helper is really meant for those who are not integrating DP Mass Storage. When you're not integrating DP Mass Storage things are much simpler and I've found in the majority of environments it's not needed anyway. Give me a day or two and I'll update everything to essentially remove BTS Integration and simply insert a pause so you can do BTS DP integration. Like I said I've messed around with this a bit and am having a hard time coming up with a great solution. About the only thing I could do is some mods to run_me.bat. At this point though I would rather just wait for the new BASE slipstreamer since it is supposed to have far better automation options than the current setup.

I've resorted to my old Nero V6 way of repacking this app.. a two step snaphot repackage with AdminStudio. It's a jolly pain in butt going through the better than half a meg reg file looking for invalid entries, etc. but in the end it works. Still testing.. and testing some more.. ugh. I like to breakdown Nero into three discreet installers; 1. Nero Burning ROM proper, 2. NeroVision, Nero Recode, CD Labeler, and 3. InCD.

This is a mistake on my end of things. I'll be putting out V1.52 in the next couple of days and will resolve that particular issue. Currently my integration of BTS DP's is clumsy at best. I'm going to have to go over it some more to see how I can make it smoother. I just don't want to devote too much time to it since BTS is actively working on the next generation of BTS slipstreamer which will work much differently than the current method. It's possible that I will have to go back to the old method of simply pausing AutoRIS to give the user an opportunity to perform the BTS integration on their own.

Ok, I updated DP Additions and DP Misc

You make some good points there. I'll return it to the original format and upload in a little bit. While we're on the topic, do you know if the Sigmatel driver in Additions is still needed? BTS updated the Sound DP with Sigmatel.

I think there is a minimum size necessary for an NTFS partition.

Update - 20060206 Added CD Burner XP Pro V3.0.116 Added IESpell V2.1.1 Build 325 Added OpenOffice.org V2.0.1

Another member here, cluberti, posted this link that is pretty much just what you're looking for. I can't remember where the thread is that he posted this in.

Man, I totally got tunnel vision and didn't search outside of MSFN since I remembered there was a thread about this Thanks a million for the info!!

I used to have a thread that covered this bookmarked and of course I don't have the bookmark anymore. I've just spent the last hour doing searches and keep coming up empty. Anybody remember how to make or modify the special Start Menu shortcut that OEMs often place in the Start Menu? Secondly, if anyone is able to find the old thread I'm referring to I wouldn't mind knowing what search phrase you used to find it.

You guys need to take your offtopic discussion someplace else. Furthermore, you need too to take it off of MSFN if it's involving cracks. MSFN is not a place which tolerates discussion of cracks or any other form stealing software.