TheFlash428

You can disable this (and other) settings using the group policy editor as well.

...hmmm, you're right. I make most of my own cables, so I guess I forgot it's not as easy as just picking up a commercially made cable.

If you're going to use NLite, visit RyanVM's Post SP2 Update Pack and integrate it during the NLite process (and any extra packs you may want). This will help to make sure your computer is up-to-date upon OS installation, as well as reduce overhead from the (now many) updates you would need to run once getting online. I pretty much keep my computer online at all times, and I don't run any of those items you listed--but I do make sure my computer is up-to-date! I have never had an issue--you should be fine if you're only visiting a "few regular sites" on a limited basis, IMO.

Not sure if I can help with USB issue, and I know that's what you want to do, but setting up a link between 2 pc's using a network cable is pretty straight forward (and as long as both PC's have network cards the only thing you need is a LAN cable). If you need help with that, let me know.

Completely agree--In a domain environment you can easily control these thing with the GP.

OK, I think we need a little information here, because this question is hard to understand. I'm not sure if English is your first language--but either way we need to clarify some things here. I'm not really sure what "I will be a google" means for starters, but let me see if I got this right: 1. You open IE 2. Type address in address bar "www.google.com" 3. (waiting to page to load) 4. Open up second instance of IE (first page still loading) 5. type address in second IE window (first page still loading) 6. (Both pages waiting to load) 7. Both IE windows open same webpage at about the same time Is this about right? If so is your question why would the first page take longer to load than the second page, since the second IE window was opened after the first one? After we have that clarified, we will want to know what type of Internet connection you have (Dial up, DSL, T1, etc., and the speed if known). My guess is that the behavior your describing is not abnormal, but rather just DNS resolution over a slower connection. After the first request is sent (IE page #1), the DNS request is started at that point, so a second IE page should open faster once the address has been resolved from the initial query.

I can say that I haven't (at least not on the instance I'm speaking of). Same here, so it's not a big deal to me, I just found it really strange.

I don't know any 11-digit prime numbers. 20,800,503,877

Read as "T minus 12 minutes", ie when the GUI-mode portion of the setup is taking place, there is an indicator informing you of how much time is remaining (and is not very accurate, as it always starts at T-39, regardless of the hardware XP is being installed on). So T-12 is the stage where the timer is telling you that there is 12 minutes left until installation is complete.

Hmmm...I've had the same problem with mine (not just for pics, but trying to use the built-in CD burning feature in general)--but NERO still works, so I just use that. Even still, I'd be interested to see if anyone can shine some light?

Yeah, as gamehead200 states, it's pretty easy, one word of advice though--I used to use this setting, till one day an accidental keystroke deleted some very important files. Sure, there is still a confirmation box, but of course I had hit "Enter" too fast in my keystroking, and didn't get a chance to stop the process. Shift+delete isn't too troublesome, either. Just my opinion.

Agree with Ponch. See this site to help with some of the items you refer to: RyanVM Post SP2 Update Pack

Usually if it's something other than "C" it is because there is a utility partition (or the like) using that designation--I think that gets determined (but not positive) during the initial setup of the OS.

Well, I've had to do this before, and using the advice from this site: Nightowl, I created an image file for creating the bootable CD. Using NERO, I created a boot DVD (using the image I created) and put the ghost image files I had on my server onto the DVD. If you have your image split into multiple parts, just burn each part onto a separate DVD using the same method--I tested it and it works fine, Ghost will prompt you for the next CD when the first image finishes. *The boot image is only 1.44MB, but you can still write to the remaining (non-boot sector) of the disk when creating the disk. *Not sure about freeware solutions, but I'm sure there's probably one out there that can help create a bootable CD using the .ima image file. A Google search may help, or perhaps someone here can recommend a solution. *If you PM me, I'll be happy to email you a finished copy of the .ima image file if needed.

May need some more info, at what point do you get error "Code 4"? At the BIOS? When you burn the bootable disk using Nero, are using the proper boot image (eg 'Microsoft Corporation.img') file with the following advanced settings: "No Emulation", boot sectors=4? I have no experience with Nero 7.8.5 (I'm still using v.6), and I'm also not sure if the "demo" version has any limitations as far as what type of CDs it can create.

"...and will face fines and jail time." Hilarious! (and obviously a joke).

Well, if you reformatted the drive then it's probably too late to get the data off of it, but what I usually do in this case is use a Linux Live CD (like Knoppix) to boot and gain access to the drive by mounting it to the file system, then, you can copy the files you need to a different drive, USB flash drive, network drive, etc.

Yeah, Dell OEM CD's contain a winnt.sif file with a different key than the COA printed on the sticker on the side of the computer. The CD key only works with the Dell OEM CD, and will only install on Dell branded boxes in an activated state. I don't know if HP uses the same method or not, but if so, that would tip me off that someone had installed XP on the computer in question with a different CD than the one originally provided with the system.

Make sure Quick Launch is turned on. Right click on the taskbar, choose "Toolbars" --> "Quick Launch" should be checked. My apologies if you've already tried this, but you have to cover the basics first.

I don't know if HP branded computers use the same method for installing XP as Dell computers do, but if so, the number returned by Jelly Bean WILL NOT match the one on the side of the machine, even if it is installed correctly.

...I guess there is one born every minute.

Yes, I agree--Group Policy are probably the first step. In XP Pro and can modify the machine's policy settings under "Start" --> "Run..." --> "gpedit.msc". Also, make sure that computers being logged into using an account with no administrative permissions; this step alone could prevent many foreign hardware from being installed on a system.

As long as you're slipstreaming SP2 with NLite, you could always go one step further as well and integrate RyanVM's Post SP2 Update Pack as well, which would remove the need to autopatch.

Short answer, yes--it is possible. Long answer, I wouldn't even bother trying. I had attempted to do this once before, and it basically involves changing a number of registry (and maybe GP) settings, which off the top of my head I don't recall, but a google search may help. There were two problems though: 1. The process I used didn't actually move the existing profiles, it just changed the location of where new profiles would be created--existing ones had to be moved manually. 2. Certain programs which had already been install prior to this procedure (esspecially MS Office) stopped working correctly because the apps were looking for files in directories that no longer existed, and re-mapping everything was tedious at best and in some cases I couldn't get it to work at all. That was my experience anyway, there may be a better way that actually works, or maybe I missed something. I didn't really spend too much time with it once I realized so much stuff was screwed up and just reloaded XP with the path I wanted already setup. (Using NLite as was already pointed out).

Should not be an issue. "Should" is definately the word to focus on here. I indeed have found that CD/DVD writing (and in some cases reading) process can be degraded by operating the optical drive on its side. Back in the day, I used to Ghost images on CD to setup my computers, since they weren't all on the same network or office, so a network drive wasn't always available. I found that if I tried to load an image from CD onto a computer that was turned upright (CD drive sideways), that often times the image would fail to load with disk read errors.