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And here is my final update: It appears that the problem was caused by a bad ePO Agent for McAfee 8.5i Enterprise. Not the McAfee client itself, but a custom agent that our company uses. McAfee 8.5i without the Agent seems to be performing well with every available patch level from 1 through 5.

Update of my tests: 2 different brand computers, both with Vista SP1 and connected to each other with cross cable. The test folder is composed of almost 5GB worth of big and small files (4551 files total). Computer 1: Sony Vaio Computer 2: HP dc7800 Share on HP, connected with Sony Vaio: Copy test folder from share... no issues Write test folder to share... no issues Share on Sony Vaio, connected with HP: Copy test folder from share... large files copy okay, small files performance drops to near zero Write test folder to share... no issues --- Really strange... if you download from one computer, it is basically an upload on the other computer. So the write test when i was connected with the Sony Vaio should have given me the same result, but the problem only occur when i am working directly on the HP. I still would really appreciate someone with a similar computer or nic to run a quick test with a batch of small files from the network.

No one with a HP dc7700 or HP dc7800 and Vista SP1 that can give copying a bunch of small files from share to local a try?

Since moving to Vista SP1 we are experiencing extremely slow performance on copying small files from a network share to local and it takes ages for policies to be loaded during a gpupdate. Luckily, we're still in the testing phase, but this is a very big issue non the less. The worstations we are testing this on are: HP dc7700 (nic: Intel 82566DM) and dc7800's (nic: Intel 82566DM-2). This is what has been tested thus far: a. Large file copy from win2003 R2 share to local = normal performance.. 99% utilization of 100mbit b. Small file copy from win2003 R2 share to local = almost dead... 0% to 0.25% utilization of 100mbit c. gpupdate takes 5 minutes or more d. Different driver versions (including latest from Intel) are not making any difference Above tests have been run on a domain joined computer and a non-joined computer, to rule out network policies. The workstation has been connected to both a Cisco and a 3com switch. Without SP1 all of the above is working just fine. Can someone with one of those HP workstations or with the same internal nic confirm that SP1 is having problems with small files on the network? Thanks!

Removed my entry, i have the same problems no matter what bios setting i make

Strange that i was thinking about adding the SP1 .wim to my custom DVD and not the other way around! Comparing my pre-SP1 source and the SP1 DVD, there are more files and a lot of files have changed. I have now switched around my stuff and put it on the new DVD Back to testing to see if i can now completely remove those Networklocation tweaks. Thanks!

Okay, so i received the Vista with SP1 iso and i copied the install.wim into my source and recreated my own unattended iso. All phases are running fine, except the OOBE pass where i have the Networklocation tweak that pre-answers the Home/Work/Public question. It fails the install on this last pass with an error message, but when i remove the Networklocation tweaks it goes through. The down side is that it then comes up with the networklocation question again Is copying the SP1 install.wim into my pre-SP1 unattended DVD okay? Or should i add the Autounattend and packages etc from my pre-SP1 and add them to the new DVD? Any help is appreciated.

If you are running a manual sysprep, then you don't need this in your script: <RunSynchronous> <RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add"> <Order>10</Order> <Path>%WINDIR%\system32\sysprep\sysprep.exe /generalize /quiet /oobe /reboot</Path> </RunSynchronousCommand> </RunSynchronous> It might be have a bad effect on your sysprep process to have it in there again, i think.

The autounattend.xml should take care of this (works over here), but you could always try a batch file and use this command: net user Administrator <password>

Its late here and i'm not at work where i keep all my stuff, but i'm pretty sure that SkipMachineOOBE set to true will skip your settings for ComputerName. In fact, i think you can't even set that to false as it should be an empty string.

You can place your xml in any location inside the install, however placing it in the sysprep folder is probably your best bet: %SYSTEMROOT%\system32\sysprep You then fire off sysprep using the following command: sysprep.exe /generalize /oobe /shutdown /unattend:<file>.xml or use a complete path to your xml file.

One small update... The reason i used "C:\Program Files\etc etc", is because for some reason i get an error when i use %ProgramFiles% in the registry. Windows Media Player for some reason (the default value) IS able to use this variable.

I used the Vista Codec Pack and the Media Player Classic Add-On for it. Assuming Media Player Classic is installed in the following location: C:\Program Files\VistaCodecPack\Tools\mplayerc.exe DVD Playback Command, change the "(Default)" REG_EXPAND_SZ value that is located under the following registry key: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\DVD\shell\play\command To: "C:\Program Files\VistaCodecPack\Tools\mplayerc.exe" /DVD "%L" Or use this code and paste it into a .reg file: Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\DVD\shell\play\command] @="\"C:\\Program Files\\VistaCodecPack\\Tools\\mplayerc.exe\" /DVD \"%L\"" Add a new key called: "PlayDVDMovieOnArrival" (without the quotes) to the following two keys: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\AutoplayHandlers\EventHandlersDefaultSelection and HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\AutoplayHandlers\UserChosenExecuteHandlers In both the "PlayDVDMovieOnArrival" keys there should be a REG_SZ value called (Default). Double click to edit and add the following data: MSLegacyDVDHandler Do this for both locations! Or use this code and paste it into a .reg file: Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\AutoplayHandlers] "DisableAutoplay"=dword:00000000 [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\AutoplayHandlers\EventHandlersDefaultSelection] @="" [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\AutoplayHandlers\EventHandlersDefaultSelection\PlayDVDMovieOnArrival] @="MSLegacyDVDHandler" [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\AutoplayHandlers\UserChosenExecuteHandlers] @="" [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\AutoplayHandlers\UserChosenExecuteHandlers\PlayDVDMovieOnArrival] @="MSLegacyDVDHandler" What i have done: 1. In my RunSynchronousCommand it imports the first .reg file to update the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT 2. The HKEY_CURRENT_USER settings are in a custom NTUSER.DAT that replaces the NTUSER.DAT of the Default user profile. You could optionally use Office 2007's HKLM-to-HKCU mechanism to update the settings under point 2, however that would mean that the user would not have immediate playback of DVDs until the user has started atleast one office application before inserting a DVD.

Maybe you're missing a " somewhere in your RunSync commands. When all else fails, i'd start testing by adding one application at a time to see which app is giving you this error. You can also post your autounattend.xml here (remove the key!) so that we can see what might be wrong with it.

This portion is critical as i understand it: <WillShowUI>OnError</WillShowUI>

One option would be to include all installers into the install.wim, provided that it doesn't go above a certain size (4GB limit for a file on a DVD if i'm not mistaken). What i've personally done is i've made a 2nd .wim file that has all the apps inside. First Vista installs and then during the vista install it'll imagex /apply all the apps in the 2nd .wim into a folder on the C: drive and then start installing them all in the AuditUser pass. This way i keep my .wim files well below the 4GB mark and the .iso can always be built. However, that won't work in your dual dvd drive situation.

Thanks for the tip However, i moved away from USB based installs, because my new unattended has more tools but fits on a single layer dvd

I've had strange issues with the drivers available on the HP website for DC7800 (can ping lan, can't ping WAN most of the time 95% packetloss). So i got the drivers from the Intel website which were newer and all worked like a charm.

This should get you going: http://firegeier.unattended-sponsor.de/en/applications.html just make sure you start off every RunSynchronousCommand in the AuditUser pass with "cmd /c" e.g. cmd /c "<location>\something.cmd"

I think your issue is with "CopyProfile" set to true. Try removing that to see if that will resolve it for you. I have had this too when i precreated a whole setup with preinstalled apps that was sysprepped and then imaged. And I never got the profile to copy and i can safely say that i've tried all possible things to get it to work. There is one thing that i "think" is the reason for all these problems and that is: The installation was already MAK activated (i know it doesn't make sence, but that was the only difference with an older image). So I left the complete preinstalled image for an oldschool unattended approach that takes longer on installing all the apps on the fly, but does exactly what i want it to do.

The first issue has now been resolved! Since the RunSynchronousCommand gave a red cross but still installed the program correctly, i have been thinking about how to still get the green check thing after it has run. So what i did was this: I created an MSI installer that has the setup files in it, the MSI installer (upon starting with the normal /QB- /Norestart switches) then unpacks the Installshield setup files, followed by a custom action "setup.exe -s -SMS -f1Setup.iss", waits for it to complete and then the MSI completes. So basically, i have wrapped the setup inside an MSI which fires off the normal install. This has given me the green check! The install always worked, but i couldn't stand the little cosmetic "error" during the unattended setup So... point 1 resolved Point 2 resolved and Point 3 resolved

I have fixed the Display resolution setting (from 800x600 to 1024x768) for the AuditUser pass by adding the same to the AuditSystem (pass 5).

Hi! Thanks for the reply. For Windows XP i did indeed use the all-in-one completely silent package that is downloadable from the ryanvm torrent page, however i can't seem to find the 3.5 package? Can you point me in the right direction? As for the -SMS switch for point 1, that didn't fix my problem. I'm still getting a red "X" and not a green check, even though the app is installed correctly.

Small update: A possible solution for point "1" might be the use of -SMS (case sensitive) in the command line, which does the following: "Prevents a network connection and Setup.exe from closing before the setup is complete." I will let it know here if that has solved the first issue.

Hello all, I've got a 99% properly working Unattended Vista install, however a few odd things that i can't seem to get my head around: 1. One of the synchronous commands will get fired off and produce a red cross instead of a green check thingy, however when i wait for the whole unattended install to complete it shows that particular package to be installed. The package in question is an installshield package for which i have created a "setup.iss" file. In an effort to still get a green check thingy i have tested the following: a) in the Autounattend.xml (RunSynchronousCommand) direct command to install the package ( e.g. "setup.exe -s -f1<location to setup.iss>\setup.iss" ) B) in the Autounattend.xml (RunSynchronousCommand) a .cmd file that has the command inside ("start /wait" included) c) in the Autounattend.xml (RunSynchronousCommand) a .cmd file that has the command inside, including a sleep command of 30 seconds The reason i tested c) with sleep.exe was because i noticed that it would return to the command prompt without waiting for the setup to finish. 2. Another synchronous command should be installing the .Net Framework 3.5 Redistributable package, but it seems to be failing as well. Does anyone know the proper commandline to silently install? 3. The AuditUser pass ofor my Unattended install is fairly large and it drops off the screen. A setting is available in WSIM to set the display resolution for the auditUser pass, but it remains on the default 800x600. I have even tried the tool called "setres.exe" as the first command in the list to set it, but that doesn't even work either. Does anyone know how i can fix this? Thanks a lot in advance!