The-VOICE

Is it a PS2 keyboard or USB keyboard? USB support on some mainboards is questionable at best.

After you install VS05 there should be two (I think) help files in the .CHM file format which serve as the manual. Please keep in mind that both VS05 and VMware GSX require IIS. VS05 should be installed on Windows Server 2003 on a machine with HyperThreading disabled. It is highly recommended that at least two NIC's are installed. Microsoft only supports the installation of Microsoft operating systems on VS05, but others have found that many flavors of Linux install successfully on VS05. The biggest problem is that there will be no Virtual Machine Additions (virtual machine accelerated drivers to aid in smoother mouse pointer movement).

Have you considered using Sysprep and adding the Smart Array 5x and 6x Controller driver?

Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 released to manufacturing on Wednesday, March 30th. It can be downloaded from Microsoft now.

You're already giving this user administrative rights. Why not just make his Active Directory account an Administrator of the server in question? At least this way you wouldn't have to give up a sensitive password. Proper auditing will show that he was logged on when changes are made, and you don't have to worry about a cached password issue. Is the action the user is supposed to be doing several times a day something that could be handled by an MMC instead of Remote Desktop into a server?

Does your txtsetup.oem have the same exact string found in unattend.txt? "Smart Array 6i, 641, 642, 6400, 6400EM Controllers" Does your cpqcissm.inf have the same exact string found in unattend.txt? "Smart Array 6i, 641, 642, 6400, 6400EM Controllers" What I'm trying to say is match unattend.txt and txtsetup.oem to what is found in cpqcissm.inf. Also, be wary of .DLL's. They can sometimes be a problem with mass storage drivers in unattended installs.

As your machines become more diverse, you should probably consider Sysprep.

Actually, to use Remote Desktop Connection in console mode to Windows Server 2003 requires the /console switch.

I don't think that I would do this, but it is what you asked for: You can start a service using the net start command, and stop a service using the net stop command.

Agreed. Virtual Server 2005 is a decent first effort, but it lags behind VMware GSX and ESX both in performance and usability. Being forced to use an ActiveX browser (Internet Explorer) with VS05, you really miss the handy features in the VMRC (Virtual Machine Remote Console) with VMware. And am I the only one who finds the networking performance in VS05 to be painfully slow even over multiple Gigabit NIC's? VMware is worth the extra money.