TheFlash428

I'll just go ahead and get the stupid/obvious question out of the way... Are there speakers connected and are you sure they are turned on and work?

Yeah--I had no problem with it either. I downloaded it from the Deamon webiste, Daemon Tools Download. I have a file size of 3.37 MB (3,545,032 bytes) MD5: AB082072BB7A443880A1D84429397A35

Could be a number of things... Is this computer a member of a domain or is it a stand-alone workstation? Are there group policy settings (local or domain) that need to be applied on startup? Are any startup scripts assigned to the computer? An answer of yes to any of these questions (as well as other things, possibly) can definately have an effect on the time it takes to get from the Windows XP splash screen to the logon screen.

As someone who installs windows frequently, I'm more interested in the ability to slipstream SP3 (which I have tried with the RC successfully), and cut down my install time. Because of security restrictions on my network, I can't use non-M$ update packs or AutoPatcher (if it still existed), so the new Service Pack will save me considerable time. I would imagine, though, that installing SP3 on a system that is already current with updates would be, as mentioned, a non-event, since it does appear to be nothing more than a very large cumulative security update. (yet well anticipated).

Not sure that this is an "XP" issue, but... This is probably more of a security setting issue than a file extension issue, and to be honest, I'm not sure if there is a way do this. (I'm not sure you would want to, either). The first place I would look would be under the Group Policy settings for IE.

I've never seen a power supply causing a bsod. And I've seen plenty of actual bad RAM sticks. More than trashed CPUs. I guess every case is different. ...I've seen on at least 2 different occaisions bad RAM sticks actually causing RAM-related problems.

For files saved locally, I'm not sure of anyway to set a password protection--you could do that if you have the files on a remote computer and require a username and password to connect to it. Yeah, you can set the NTFS file permissions to accomplish user protection (the security tab under file or folder properties), but any users who are admins of the computer will be able to access the files regardless, so if you want to keep users from accessing certain files and directories, make sure they don't have the rights to modify the security settings! (i.e. don't put the users you want to restrict in the "Administrators" group).

Rare these days that drives small enough to require FAT32 are used (esp. for XP). I wouldn't install XP on a drive smaller than 30GB (although I have), and even with that size I would use NTFS.

I mentioned this earlier in the thread, but without having to play with the registry, you can easily disable the annoying "http://runonce.msn.com/runonce2.aspx" using the Group Policy editor. (only works with XP pro, though) 1. Go to "Start --> Run..." 2. gpedit.msc 3. Go to "User Configuration --> Admin Templates --> Windows Components --> Internet Explorer" 4. Change "Prevent performance of First Run Customize settings" to "Enabled" and select the action you wish to take instead. (many other tweaks here too). I find this to be a very easy way to do it, especially when deployed accross a domain. disclaimer: gpedit, like regedit, does allow you to potentially make changes that could turn your PC into a brick. Use caution (or at least some common sense).

AutoPatcher was a great tool for off-line updating, but it since has been shutdown by Microsoft. As recently as a few months ago, the last version of autopatcher was still available for download from some sites (try google searching for it), but I'm not sure if you can still find it. Even though it hasn't been updated in a while, the most recent version still contains most of the updates needed. Too bad it's gone--it was a great product, especially for those of us with legitimate copies of XP who needed an off-line solution.

I have to agree--I've tested SP3 RC1, with no problems, but it is clearly stated that SP3 is not yet meant for production systems. It is great to test products like this, and I like to get a preview of what's available, but I would never install a Beta or RC on a computer I relied upon for everyday use.

I've used NLite with Dell CD's plenty of times in the past with no problems at all. (Might want to make sure you have the most up to date version of NLite...?)

..or in the case with Dells, the Key is built into the OEM CD. If you try to use a Dell OEM XP CD on a computer from a different manufacturer, however, it will fail the hardware check and inform you need to activate. I'm not sure exactly how HP does it.

Well, "Wordpad" (not "Notepad") would probably work better to open word docs--although both are provided with windows and both will open text files, but as stated before, tables and/or graphics and formatting may be lost. As far as OpenOffice, what you want to do is set it as suggested here: OpenOffice.org Portable from CD

I don't deal much with Compaq/HP, but often you can find the drivers on the manufacterer's web site. Of course, they may not have XP drivers if the system was only available with Vista.

True, using a firewall could restict where the traffic from each computer is allowed to go, but the communication between the two would still occur over the internet.

And how are the computers physically connected to each other? If one is in NY and one in Houston, I'm assuming you're connected by the Internet, right? Unless you actually have a dedicated circuit between both locations, this isn't possible. The IP 192.168.x.x is a private IP address, which means it cannot traverse the Internet. When using a home router, usually the router will assign such address to each computer on the network, but translates the 192.168.x.x address to it's actual public address (provided by ISP) prior to sending the info out to the Internet. Any of the following are private (no Internet) IPs: 10.x.x.x 172.16.x.x 192.168.x.x If your computer is assigned one of these IPs, then it is on a private network, and it's using the router's IP address for Internet communication (typical)--so giving a computer in a remote location an IP on the same private IP range DOES NOT put them on the same network.

To summarize what others have already posted, if you have .NET 3.0 installed you do not need version 2.0. If you already have 2.0, I don't *think* you need to uninstall it before installing 3.0. If you are using programs that require it, you will need to install .NET 1.0 as well, since neither 2.0 or 3.0 can be substituted for it.

Actually, I really like IE7 and feel it's much improved over IE6. The tabbed browsing and added features have been needed for quite some time. (NOTE: I'm not trying to endorse IE over Opera and/or Firefox--I'm only comparing it to IE6) As far as configuring options, if you have XP pro there are a bunch of settings that can be accessed via group policy editor. (START --> RUN... --> gpedit.msc) Navigate under the User Configurations to the admin templates and IE7 should be listed under the Windows components. Unfortunately, I don't know how to disable the "Favorites Center"-- even though I don't use it, I don't feel like it takes up that much room either, so I can live with it.

A Google search for "Disable windows file protection" will point you in the right direction, but to be honest, I've never been able to completely disable it to my liking without disabling it pre-installation (using NLite). You don't need to delete the "Luna" theme to add a new one however, but you will need to patch the "UXTheme.dll" file (which again, is easier to do pre-install, but is still possible afterwards). Doing a search for "Windows XP theme patch" or "uxtheme.dll patch" should point you in the right direction.

Windows File Protection is probably at work here... Luna is the default theme--I wouldn't worry too much about it, it's not like it's taking up a lot of HD space or resources.

If you are using simple file sharing, make sure the "Guest" account is not disabled. (Although I've never seen that exact error message before). Frankly, I recommend not using simple file sharing, but rather the tradtional kind where users that connect to the share have to authenticate.

The easiest way I have found to do this is to set up a new account with admin rights. This usually works best using a new account that has never been logged into with, as all profile settings will still be set to default. Log into the account and install the necessary printers. RESTART the computer (logging out will not work). When the computer comes back up, login using a differnt account (also must be admin). Copy the NTUSER.DAT file from the profile you just added the printers to, and replace the NTUSER.DAT file for the "Default User" profile with that one. Restart again. Any new account the logs on should now have those printers available.

Yeah, they'll need to have pretty similar hardware. Ususally the best way to accomplish this is to use the oldest computer you can get your hands on (that will run XP) and make sure you have as little hardware installed as possible before creating your " base image". You'll probably still have to load drivers once the image has been installed on target machines. For the most part, imaging hard drives really only works for cloning similar models of computers (IE same mother board and components)--for what you're suggesting, the Unattended CD is probably best.

When you say you're using the same drivers, do you mean that each system has the same network (wireless) adapter? On the faulty computer, have you tried using a different wireless adapter? Where are both computers physically, in relation to your wireless router or access point?