[Limit access to web temporarily to only some pcs]

Thanks for the quick reply.

Actually, all the pcs are all acting as stand-alones at the moment, all connected to the switch independently.

My doubt, now, is: If all the pcs are connected to the switch independently (including the server) will setting up a domain be possible? Will the router need to be reconfigured?

This is, schematically, what we have now:

INTERNET

|

MODEM/ROUTER

|

SWITCH

|

|--------------|--------|

"SERVER" PC1 PC2 etc (sorry for the poor quality of this scheme)

The so-called "server" has no particular privileges at the moment. It's just another standalone.

As you can see, I haven't got a clue! I've set up many simple networks, but have never had to set up a domain network. Any help is much appreciated!

btw although I see that a domain network is the best solution, could you tell me which 3rd party software I could use?

[Limit access to web temporarily to only some pcs]

We've got and I.T. lab at school with about 20pcs with xp home ed, and a separate pc with windows server edition (can't remember which).

As far as I can see, all the pcs are connected independently to a single switch, which in turn is connected to the modem. One port on the switch goes into another room.

The problem is this. When the lab is being used, at times we need to disconnect the web only for the lab, but still allow the pcs to be used (without web access). But at the same time we'd like to prevent the connection from being unaccessible from the server pc and to the other room.

In other words, can I (without physically unplugging the cables!) decide when a pc can and cannot use the web from a pc on the lan, without influencing the other pcs?

I had a look around but found absolutely nothing.

Thanks

[Wallpaper]

Where would I change/add the reg setting for the LOCAL MACHINE. Yes, I want to change the wallpaper for all users.

Basically, I want all users, including the guest account, to have the same wallpaper. I know how to prevent changing the wallpaper (gpedit.msc), but most of the accounts have already changed their wallpapers. I am the administrator, and basically want to set all the wallpapers and then set gpedit.msc to prevent them from changing them again.

What I don't get is

IF YOU WANT TO SET THIS WALLPAPER ONLY ON YOUR ACCOUNT USE THE KEY "HKEY_CURRENT_USER" OTHERWISE USING "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE" WILL SET THE WALLPAPER ON ALL ACCOUNTS

I mean, I can't find the relative key in the LOCAL MACHINE registry table.

[Copying from CD with AUTOIT]

Thanks for your replies, MHz.

I'll check to it as soon as I can, and get back to you with my results.

I didn't really understand the "scout the forums" bit. Do you mean searching in the forums. I did have a look before posting, but couldn't really find anything - or maybe I didn't look hard enough.

Thanks again

[Copying from CD with AUTOIT]

I'd like to copy files and dirs from a cd to various point of the hard drive. The problem is that I won't always be using drive D: or E: or whatever. So I'd like the script in some way to work out where it's running from and then copy the files from there (so if it's running on drive E: it will copy from there)

Things like

FileCopy("setup\file.exe","C:\windows\system32\")

just don't work. Even is the dir "setup" is there it seems to need a real path to the file/dir.

Thanks.

[I can not accessed NTFS windows partition]

Another "blue screen of death, eh!

Going by my experience, that usually means your installation is definitely gone.

I repeat, if you can get your hands on a 2.5inch external hdd box (they don't cost much), you can extract the hd from the laptop and link it to another machine directly. This is only to salvage your data. You probably couldn't repair the installation een with the repair tool.

If the data isn't worth it, then I definitely suggest a clean install, with a complete format (not a quick format) of the hdd. Even if you manage to recover the data, you'd have to clean install anyway to get the laptop to work.

[I can not accessed NTFS windows partition]

Hi zillah.

If it took so long to copy the partition then something is probably wrong.

You could, if the data is really that important, try to extract the hd from the laptop:

You'll probably find it's a 2.5 inch hd, with a 44pin ide connector. You'll need an adapter, in order to connect it to a 3.5inch usb external box (or if you have a 2.5inch external box no adapter is required) and then connect your original hd to a working pc, and read from there.

I just hope that the data isn't damaged in any way.

Did the machine just stop working, or what?

[Installing Windows XP from a hard drive]

Thanks, kambui, for you post. You method is NO DIFFERENT to what has already been said, but is MISSING the CLEAR INSTRUCTIONS that were asked in the first post.

[Silent/Unattended Install The INF way!]

probably it's for the Working Folder.

But i'm not so sure.

I don't get what you mean by Working Folder, Kapo

[Installing Windows XP from a hard drive]

dont you think it wouldve been faster in the longrun to install from cd, i mean you wanted it to install faster but you couldve had it done along time ago lol

You are right, in terms of time, dcyphure. But forums like these are also needed to LEARN things, which we can use in the future, even if the short run another solution would've been much faster.

For example, when I learnt to install from hd, I managed to solve installation issues on an oldish laptop with broken usb and pcmcia (basically, nowhere to put the cd into). I took the hd out, plugged it into my pc, and once I'd placed i386 on it I put it back into the laptop and installed xp. So I managed to use the resources I had without having to buy another laptop, or a serial cd drive. That saved me money, but only 'cos I'd learnt how to do it that way.

There is another advantage to this type of installation, though, and I wouldn't say the time issue is really the best advantage (I mean, XP only really takes, let's say, about 30mins to install). The real advantage is that you won't need your original cd whilst using the OS. For example, when you install a driver or some software, at times the original xp cd is required to finish the installation. Now all you need to do is point to the i386 folder and won't need to fetch the cd each time. On the other hand, I don't remember ever having to fectch the cd myself anyway, and if you install from cd you could gain this advantage by just copying i386 after installing.

[Silent/Unattended Install The INF way!]

Okay, I managed to install RegCleaner using the 7zip installer method.

All the other files (the inf, the cmd etc) remained exactly the same, but were just zipped up and called by the installer.

Why, if the cmd and inf are the same, should the 7zip installer work and the unarchived version fail the installation?

[Installing Windows XP from a hard drive]

Sorry, At0mic, I should've said:

If you had typed d:\i386\winnt.exe, on the other hand (as someone suggested) it would work, but would PROBABLY still use the cd to install, unless D: is the hd partition you copied the i386 folder to.

But I don't remember reading that xerkon'd D: drive wasn't actually his cd. He claims to have hd partitions on c: and f:, and as far as I've understood (presuming!) he's trying to install on C:.

Of course, if D: is a hd partition, then your instructions are perfectly right.

But based on my experience (here's me assuming again!!) on most computers you get one hd, which is given C:, and one cd/dvd drive (D:). If new partitions are created, more often than not the user will assign the next avaiable letter to the partition, which would be E:, usually. I ASSUME xerkon has two cd/dvd drives (D: and E:) and created a new partition (F:), leaving the cd/dvd drives' partition letters intact.

Now he's trying to install XP on C:

I've copied my windows cd to my C: drive

And here I have another suggestion, which could help xerkon with the first part of my instructions:

If you can, you can copy the i386 folder to F: (even by booting Windows using the F: partition), and then run the installer by typing "F:\i386\winnt.exe", which will start your installation on C:, using the F: partition to get all the data from.

I didn't remember to say, as Atomic did, that having a FAT32 partition containing the i386 folder is important, otherwise the ordinary boot floppy won't be able to run the installation file.

And I repeat, remember to run SMARTDVR

[Installing Windows XP from a hard drive]

Hi xerkon.

I've installed using hd without the cd many times, and it works excellently.

Firstly, I suggest you format your hard drive, which is probably C:. You can do this in various ways. I suggest you boot your pc from a windows 98 boot disk (if you don't have one you can get one here) and "format c:". The link is a Winimage self extractor, which will create a boot floppy. It already contains smartdrv which will speed up the installation process.

Now that your hd is "clean", you need to copy the i386 folder (from your cd) to c:\i386.

To do this, there are various methods. One is:

1 Type "c:" (which will take you to the root of the hd)

2 Type "mkdir i386" (which will make the i386 folder on the hd)

3 Type "D:" (or whatever drive letter your cd has)

4 Type "copy D:\i386 c:\i386" (this will copy all the files you need from the cd to your hd)

5 Now go back to A: and run smartdrv.exe. Don't forget to do this, otherwise the installation may even take hours.

6 Now Type c:\i386\winnt.exe

This will start your fresh installation.

If you had typed d:\i386\winnt.exe, on the other hand (as someone suggested) it would work, but would still use the cd to install.

Another method to do everything would be to copy the i386 folder to your hd root from xp, and then use the floppy boot disk and erase all the files and folders (except i386) from the hd. It really isn't worth it!

Any doubts, let me know.

[Installing RegCleaner using inf]

Thanks Yzöwl.

I acutally managed to get it to work using the original inf and cmd. The only difference is that I created a 7zip installer. It worked perfectly.

What I can't understand is why it failed the install in the first place. I'm no expert, but installing locally actually worked, so there seems to be no syntax problem, otherwise it would've told me there, wouldn't it? Only the runonce failed, using the cmd which called the inf.

The method which eventually worked was with RunOnceEx, with the 7zip installer.

Any ideas as to why the cmd didn't work with runonce but the same cmd, 7zipped, works perfectly with runonceex?

Another question, which line of code adds the link to the desktop?

btw, I know that I should have named it RegCleanr, but I renamed the original file to RegCleaner (why? because I can't understand the reason why I should miss the extra e, when it works the same with it!).

[Silent/Unattended Install The INF way!]

hi Kapo

No, the installer isn't a 7zip compressed installer, although I could try with one. Do you think it would make any difference?

All I basically need to do with regcleaner is copy it into the progams directory (in this case "programmi", but usually "programs") and copy the link into the all users desktop.

There are no switches or anything because it doesn't actually get installed, but only copied.

btw, I agree, it's definitely better to write English here!!

[Silent/Unattended Install The INF way!]

I've been trying to install RegCleaner using the inf method.

It works when I install locally, but just won't work from my unattended cd, giving me an "Installation Failed" message, just for RegCkeaner.

My cmd, which is called by runonce, is as follows:

@echo off

Title=Installing RegCleaner - A Windows Registry Tool

start /wait rundll32.exe setupapi,InstallHinfSection DefaultInstall 132 ./RegCleaner.inf

COPY "Link\RegCleaner.lnk" "%systemdrive%\Documents and Settings\All Users\Desktop\"

EXIT

which calls the inf file:

[Version]

Signature="$Windows NT$"

[DefaultInstall]

RequiredEngine = Setupapi

AddReg = Uninst.Reg

CopyFiles = Core.Copy, Lang.Copy, Inf.Copy

UpdateInis = AddLink

[DefaultUninstall]

RequiredEngine = Setupapi

AddReg = NoDir.Reg

DelReg = Uninst.Reg

DelFiles = Core.Copy, Lang.Copy Inf.Del

[DestinationDirs]

Core.Copy=16422,%DESCNAME%

Lang.Copy=16422,%Lang%

Inf.Copy = 17

File.Del = 17

[Core.Copy]

DefaultColors.dat

DefaultColumns.dat

DefaultOptions.dat

RegCleaner.exe

ignorelist.dat

uninstall.exe

readme.htm

[Lang.Copy]

English.rlg

Italian.rlg

[AddLink]

setup.ini, progman.groups,, ""group1="%16395%\Programmi\RegCleaner\"""

setup.ini, group1,,"""%DESCNAME%"",""""""%16422%\%DESCNAME%\RegCleaner.exe"""""""

setup.ini, progman.groups,, ""group2="%16410%\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\"""

setup.ini, group2,,"""%DESCNAME%"",""""""%16422%\%DESCNAME%\RegCleaner.exe"""""""

[uninst.Reg]

HKLM,%UNINSTAL%\%DESCNAME%,DisplayName,,"%DESCNAME%"

HKLM,%UNINSTAL%\%DESCNAME%,UninstallString,,"%REMOVCMD% %17%\%FILENAME%.inf"

[NoDir.Reg]

HKLM,SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce,RemDir,,"%11%\cmd.exe /C RD /S /Q ""%16422%\%DESCNAME%"""

HKLM,SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce,RemLink1,,"%11%\cmd.exe /C DEL /F /Q ""%16395%\Programs\ProToolz\%DESCNAME%.lnk"""

HKLM,SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce,RemLink2,,"%11%\cmd.exe /C DEL /F /Q ""%16410%\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\%DESCNAME%.lnk"""

[strings]

DESCNAME = "RegCleaner v4.3"

Lang = "RegCleaner v4.3\Languages"

REMOVCMD = "rundll32.exe setupapi.dll,InstallHinfSection DefaultUninstall 132"

UNINSTAL = "Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall"

The folder "RegCleaner" contains all the files needed, and even the lnk I created gets copied onto the desktop. But during unattended install it just won't work!

Note that the XP installation is in Italian, thus "programmi" in the code.

Can anyone tell me what I'm doing wrong? Or is it that you just can't install using inf from runonce?

Thanks

[Installing RegCleaner using inf]

Thanks MHz! Again, my apologies for the double post.

I eventually managed to fix everything by 7zipping and creating an installer, and using RunOnceEx. All files, including cmd and inf, remained the same.

[Installing RegCleaner using inf]

I'm having some problems installing RegCleaner from my unattended cd/dvd I'm creating.

It fails the installation for regcleaner only. The inf install method is used, with VMWare.

I've attached a file containing the folder with the inf , and including the test cmd file which actually manages to install the program proprely once windows is set up, but fails the installation if run with runonce. The installer adds a link to All Users' desktop. Note that the path is "programmi" instead of "programs" because it's on an italian unattended cd.

Could anyone tell me why and what I should be doing?

Thanks

PS I posted this in the App. Install forum section, but think this area is more appropriate. I'm not sure how to delete the post from the other forum. Apologies.

RCleaner.zip

[Installing RegCleaner using inf]

I'm having some problems installing RegCleaner from my unattended cd/dvd I'm creating.

It fails the installation for regcleaner only. The inf install method is used, with VMWare.

I've attached a file containing the folder with the inf , and including the test cmd file which actually manages to install the program proprely once windows is set up, but fails the installation if run with runonce. The installer adds a link to All Users' desktop. Note that the path is "programmi" instead of "programs" because it's on an italian unattended cd.

Could anyone tell me why and what I should be doing?

Thanks

RCleaner.zip

[Utility for changing CD-s]

Great stuff, ankap.

I need a version which asks you to insert a CD/DVD in Italian. Is there any way to have it?

Thanks.