dman

Those using BartPE with emphasis on recovery and diagnostics might want to look at the Ultimate Boot CD 4 Windows. It is based on BartPE and includes many (freeware) diag and repair tools as well as an add-on driver pack. http://www.ubcd4win.com/

I find this batch command reference site very useful... http://labmice.techtarget.com/articles/batchcmds.htm you probably also want to look at mkisofs http://freshmeat.net/projects/mkisofs/ and cdrecord http://freshmeat.net/projects/cdrecord/

This is right forum. check sites mentioned in this thread... http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=42246 or FAQ sticky by prathapml http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=25128

what are your specs?

I don't know about inf editor, but there are several good freeware installation makers... maybe one of them would do what you want? http://www.freebyte.com/hjinstall/ http://gkware.com/gksetup/comparison.htm http://www.jrsoftware.org/isinfo.php

This program will be able to do what you want... http://www.sillysot.com/

Yeah, you're right. Seems if you set the desktop to a dark color, the letters are white and if you set desktop to light color the letters are black. doesn't seem to be a setting to change this.

right click on desktop. click properties, appearance tab then advanced button. from there you can set all properties.

a little googling turns up info on Application Compatibility Toolkit (ACT) in the Support/Tools directory of xp cd. Maybe this will be of use. http://www.pcauthority.com.au/feature.aspx?CIaFID=991 also maybe you could export reg key hkcu/software/microsoft/windowsnt/current version/appcompatflags/layers.

did you try making pif file (for dos program) or shortcut (for win program) with same name as exe, and put it in same folder?

If you create a pif or shortcut to the exe you can set compatability there, then just copy the shortcut along with the exe and mode will be set.

Thanks Tarun. Tried re-registering files you mentioned. All are registered correctly, but still no-go. Think I give this a rest till tomorrow, maybe dream a solution...

I like it. Good idea Tarun. I am former programmer, now starting my own IT service/consulting company. So far about 75% of my customers have been people needing their system douched of malware. I can usually get them straightened out with a combo of tools and hand weeding, but sometimes have a problem that just wont budge, like this one... http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=42373&hl= It would be great if we had a forum to help each other out and share ideas on this all-too-common plague. BTW, your link to lunarsoft doesn't appear to work... Would like to see what you got!

OK, tried that. No good. Updates from other programs work OK. Just had media player update itself from 9 to 10 with no problem. Only Windows Update Website broken. Wish they would give a more descriptive error message.

I think he is talking about installing so the entire app is located under single subdirectory, not spread out in program files, registry, application data, local settings and everywhere else a typical app gets installed to, so you can back up the whole thing in one archive and move to any other computer. I think it is a very good idea.

@prathapml I have found your posts to be most interesting and insightful. And I have been meaning to thank you for all of the great software you have hipped me to in the "Technology News" section. You come up with some real gems!

Yes, that's what I mean. 99% of user base is baffled by Windows, and there isn't even a choice to make there. At least with windows you can walk a user through the screens over the phone, knowing that he is seeing what you are seeing. With Linux, you can't even know what packages they are running, even within a single distro. I find the abundance of choices tremendously empowering, but to the average user (many of whom can't even tell you which version of Windows they are running) it will never be anything but confusing.

Yes, it is true that Linux has a steeper learning curve than Windows, and is still somewhat harder to set up and administer (though that is getting better with modules such as udev and new admin tools). That doesn't mean the time spent learning Linux is wasted, as you are going to be more and more likely to have to deal with it as time goes by.

I agree. As I noted, fragmentation is one of the biggest hurdles Linux faces. The new Linux Standard Base is a step in the right direction, but by Linux' very nature everyone is NEVER going to be on the same page. I am not a partizan, I Love Linux and Windows both for what they are... Great OS that have some advantages, one over the other, but also a lot of overlap. (I can do almost everything I want to with either). My bread-and butter is Windows, though, cause thats what everyone uses. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/software/linuxunix...39192273,00.htm

Red Hat has always been about making money, and as you noted, that's not a bad thing. Same with Novell SuSe. Others like Debian and Mandrake have always been about Open Software and are not for profit. Linux is a great OS that keeps getting better. It continues to make inroads on the server side, but its fragmentation and lack of pre-install are going to keep it a distant second on the desktop for the forseeable future. If you have some time on your hands try building a linux distro from source. It will give you an appreciation of just how many various packages from disparite sources make up a linux distro, and a pretty thorough instruction on how it works. http://www.linuxfromscratch.org/ BTW, there is nothing inherently unsafe or unsecure about Fedora Core, and updates are available. It's just not an "official" red hat product and is on a more agressive development track and thus has not been as thoroughly tested.

Yeah, I am pretty sure installer is corrupted in some way. Pretty sure no virus left, as I have run AVG, Anti-Vir, Sysclean and Mcaffee. All say clean. Also ran cwshredder, spybot and ad-aware, all clean.

no thats not it, thanks for suggestion. Tried turning ms spyware off but got same result.

7-zip and RAR formats give best compression. bz2 also makes very small files.

GLO, You don't need to save system restore. If system is working OK there is no need to save a bunch of old restore points. You can turn it off, then back on to flush all of the old restore points. Then make a fresh restore point. (or just leave it off and make sure to back up regularly)

Hi GSM, Thanks for reply. That's correct... download works ok, fails when it starts to install. Account is admin so no problem there. I can install them manually, but not through windows update site. I am thinking something is broken from removing all of the virus and spyware. TCP was broken, but fixed that with winsockxpfix. Internet and everything else is is working now, just the updates broken. Can't seem to find a log file with any reason for the failure.