[[Release] Adobe Reader 9.0 Lite]

English, German, French and Japanese versions available so far from Adobe's FTP server: ftp://ftp.adobe.com/pub/adobe/reader/win/9.x/9.0/

[Dell GX270 Graphics card]

I'd recommend the ATI X1650 Pro - around £30 for the 512MB AGP version Have fitted one to a GX260 and runs Aero no problem.

[Can you switch from Home premium to businss?]

It is not possible to 'upgrade' Home Premuim to Business Edition. The Windows Anytime Upgrade will only upgrade Home Premium to Ultimate Edition - which will contain all Business Elements (such as Active Directory Remote Desktop etc) and retain the multimedia (ie Media Center etc) that you have with Home Premium.

If you do not mind reinstalling the OS to achieve a clean Business Edition - then you can purchase a Vista Business Upgrade DVD and perform a clean install using Microsoft Guru Paul Thurrott's well-documented 'How to perform a clean install with an Upgrade Vista DVD' tip - [http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/winvista_upgrade_clean.asp]

[Smashed laptop screen]

The vast majority of screens used in all makes of laptop are produced by Sharp Electronics. As such you should be able to use a screen from another make/model as long as the size/resolution is the same and attach your laptop's broken screen's inverter & connectors to the common points. I have swapped IBM/Acer screens into Dell's and vice versa.

[sharing without password]

Local Policies > User Rights Assignment > Access this computer from the network

Set the value to 'Everyone' and restart to take effect.

[Is laptop fixable?]

This is a very straight forward repair. I did a Sony Vaio a couple of months ago. You need to purchase a 'liquid damaged' laptop from eBay - these usually have the Screen (ie the LCD part), HDD, Memory and Battery removed as they are easily sold for spares - but the main plastics, hinge and lid plastics should all be intact. Then armed with a good screwdriver set, a steady hand and some patience you can transplant your motherboard, LCD Panel etc from one to the other.

Good Luck!

[an acount restriction has prevented you from logging in]

This looks like a Local Security Policy setting which is preventing the user from logging on to the local console. I have seen it with a badly messed up Group Policy - but never for an unattended installation.

Check your reg tweaks and scan for 'policy' and 'account' - see if anything is being set/disabled.

[Vista Business or Home?]

IMHO - Unless you need/want the Media Center and DVD authoring tools - Vista Business is the way to go. It has a slightly lower overhead as far as system resources go. The difference in Vista Versions is not as great as XP - where Professional won hands down. Home Premium is great/ideal on a Home PC System for Multimedia - Videos/Photos/DVD etc - however for the best experience on a Laptop - go for Business!

[Browsing with windows Explorer]

If your Dell's are brand new and you allowed Dell to preinstall Vista - make sure you uninstall any bundled McAffee/Norton AV Trial software - these do have a major impact on Network Performance (both Local and Internet).

The best solution is to use the Dell REcovery DVD and reinstall yourself as this does not add any 'crapware' - just make sure you copy the DRIVERS folder before you format your HD's!

[Best Laptop maker?]

I own a Toshiba P3500 Tablet, Dell D600, Dell X200, Dell X300, Dell D505, IBM ThinkPad X41 Tablet and a Sony Vaio FS - my fave (old) laptop is the ThinkPad. However both the Sony and IBM have been upgraded with 1GB RAM and both run Vista Premium - but the Sony performs better with the built in NVidia Graphics Chip.

Brand New Laptops - Dell D520 with Core2 Duo and Sony Vaio FE41S are my best picks - the Sony comes STANDARD with 2GB RAM, 160GB HDD and Vista Premium for £800+VAT which is double the price of the equivalent Dell - but has a fantastic widescreen 15.4" LCD screen. Sweet!

[Big trouble with Exchange Server 5.5 - Pop3 Connector service doesn&#3]

POP3 connector was only released for Small Business Server 4.5. Which OS are you using? Also why did you not reboot the server (as most admins do in a emergency)

[Virtual Machine Testing - free application]

You guys can also try MS Virtual Server 2005 R2 - it's free

Yes it is. Have you tried it? How does the speed compare with VMWare/VirtualPC/etc on ISO images? I have used VMWare (great but installs many services which have a performance impact on the Host OS, VirtualPC 2004 and 2007 - both really slow (even with the Add-On drivers) and now VirtualBox - which I am liking more and more as I use it. OK it crashes out occasionally (mainly when rebooting after the Guest OS has installed a few Windows Updates via Microsoft Update - XP and Server 2003) - but my Host PC remains completely unaffected when it's not running as there are no services running in the background which is my largest gripe with VMWare Workstation.

[Virtual Machine Testing - free application]

Thanks - fair point - but just in case anyone else missed it (like I did!) - I can highly recommend. XP installs over twice as quick than VirtualPC.

The aforementioned Topic titled New VM - Virtualbox - can be read here: http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=90774

[Virtual Machine Testing - free application]

Hi Guys - Having gotten bored waiting for my Microsoft VirtualPC 2007 to boot up and it's general poor performace with Virtual machines - I came across another free Virtual Machine Utility which I downloaded and tested on Windows Vista Ultimate Edition (32-bit) with Windows XP, Server 2003 and Windows Vista (32-bit) guest OS installs. Perfect for testing my Unattended Install ISO's.

It is great! Much faster than MS VirtualPC - download for yourself here http://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads

Screenshots here - http://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Screenshots

Give it a go!

[Small simple freeware]

I agree with Shark007 - Here we are offered a free program which stores your usernames and passwords (albeit in an encrypted format - according to the author) - and then 'calls home' for a 'key' - yeah right! I couldn't think of anything more dangerous/suspect than this. I am also wondering why post on this forum? How many other forums has the author 'advertised' his software?

I shall not be 'trying' this software and would advise other forum members to do the same.

Thanks - but no thanks!

[vista media center]

Have you tried Vista Codec Pack from Shark007 - http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=66826 ?

Just make sure you remove ALL previously installed Codecs and Codec Packs - reboot then install as per the instructions on the Forum.

[Source Files Already Have SP2]

Hi Malcolm - RyanVM's site is back up - http://www.ryanvm.net/msfn/updatepack.html

This is how I add the updates to my Unattended ISO's - so I wouldn't bother with a manual unless you really have a desire to.

Cheers!

[Printing a SINGLE PDF]

Try PrimoPDF - http://www.primopdf.com/ - a freeware but excellent PDF Printer

[Source Files Already Have SP2]

Try another installation - this time remove the hotfixes so you are just creating an unattended SP2 XP install and see if that makes it through to the end. If that succeeds - then its your hotfixes! Usual suspects are the IE6 rollups as they can 'overlap' - RyanVM has a great site which will itemise the current hotfixes and which have been superceded and should not be installed prior to later ones.

Good Luck!

[Source Files Already Have SP2]

UltraISO is much easier! Load the 'bin' file saved from a bootable ISO and burn!

[Source Files Already Have SP2]

Hi Malcolm - Are you using Nero to burn your Unattended ISO? When burning with Nero go to expert boot settings make sure you set the following:

Kind of emulation - no emulation
Load segment of sectors(hex) - 07c0
Number of load sectors - 4

Code 4 (Invalid/Boot) occurs when these settings are incorrect.

Personally I use UltraISO to copy the Boot info from a master XP CD and create a bootable ISO for my unattended.

Suffice to say there appears little wrong with your WINNT.SIF - just check the method of producing your CD.

[Source Files Already Have SP2]

@mhtaylor - I'd remove your Product Key from display if I were you

[Unattended installation using USB stick]

Thanks! Also found this great article which I will be trying over this weekend - http://www.bay-wolf.com/usbmemstick.htm

[Unattended installation using USB stick]

I am keen to know - have experimented but the only USB sticks I can make bootable are the Dell ones (M-TECH?) and the largest one I have is a 256MB which isn't large enough. I have a couple of Kingston 1GB sticks which I am trying to get to boot and perform an unattended install of XP. Anyone have any luck?

Thanks!

[problems with internet (browsing sites)]

I use Windows Vista RTM Ultimate Edition and browse the web with Firefox 2 - with the IE Tab Add-On - with no issues at all. Give it a go and see if that works.