tosk

MS sent me my eval copy of Win2k3 SB. I installed it on my spare hard drive today for kicks. The install is pretty much the same as any other Windows installation (XP, 2k3). However, after installation, instead of being plastered with the Configure Your Server dialog it loads a setup client and pretty much holds your hand through everything. It sets up the server as a PDC on the domain of your choice, installs the DHCP server (if it detects one already exists, it give you a choice to leave the existing one or install the one that ships with SB Server), and installs and configures DNS (if one already exists, it simply defaults to using the existing one). Then it'll go through a process of restarts while it installs everything. I'm gonna see if TweakNT will work OK to convert it to a workstation and to see what difference there are in the conversion.

The SP1-distributed version of DirectX is installed via DOSNET.inf and the included DIMAPS.inf.

@miso1391 That's not exactly what I was talking about but thanks anyway. Using svcpack.inf IS another way to slipstream DX9b. I just thought it'd be nice to slipstream it like you could do for SP1. @AaronXP I appreciate it.

Alas... *sigh* :/ My attempt has failed. I was successful in integrating the files into the i386 directory only to have my hopes shot down when I ran dxdiag.exe after installation. It still reported DirectX 8.1. Ah well. Another day perhaps...

I did the exact same thing you guys did and had the same problem. I think it's hard-coded into the EXE. Then again, it could be the fact that it's for Whistler, an XP alpha. Has anyone tried seeing if the Win2k SETUP.EXE will execute under WinXP/2k3? We might try modifying the Win2k version and see if that works.

What start menu pic would you be referring to?

Wouldn't messing with the drivers.cab break the digital signature in the archive?

I think the reason it freezes is because after rundll32.exe is done, it doesn't terminate itself. It continues to stay resident in memory until the process is killed, either by the user or by the system. I could be wrong, which is most likely. But it's something to think about.

I had a thought earlier this evening about slipstreaming DX9b into an already-slipstreamed XP SP1 CD. Would we just be able to extract the files in the CABs, run makecab on them and just throw them into the i386 directory on the CD? I haven't tried this myself yet, and was wondering if anyone else had. VirtualPC doesn't support my CPU and VMware is just too darn slow to use. That's why I've been hesitant to try it myself, as the only way to test it would be to do a complete installation and then do a version check with dxdiag.exe. I'd have to do a fresh install on my spare machine everytime.

That's what I was getting at. But then again, I was incredibly tired and probably left some stuff out.

I've used PC-cillin for almost 3 years now on machines I don't even own anymore. I've never had a single problem with it. I've used it on pretty much everything: Win95, Win98, WinME, Win2k, WinXP, and Win2k3 (with a hacked MSI file). I've never once had a problem with it. This of course, might be that I have a legal serial for it, but I doubt it. If however, you DO install PC-cillin, I'd choose to NOT install the Personal Firewall. Anything the personal firewall can do, you can setup the IP Security Policies in Win2k/XP/2k3 to do.

That is in fact exactly what they're trying to do. Interesting...

You could just use IP Security Policies on Win2k3. It pretty much the same thing as a software-based (Kerio, Norton, ZoneAlarm) firewall. Just a thought.

I'm beat, so this is all I could figure out: The String Table is offset by 10. For instance, String Table:64:1033... 1010, "Install Windows" Now jump up 10... 1020, "&Install Windows" See the connection? Everything from 1020-1023 are the main buttons. 1010-1018 is the large text description. If you keep adding 10 you'll figure it out. For instance again, 1010 = Installing Windows...1040 = winnt32.exe... Well, if it means anything to ya, there it is. I'm wore out so I'll work more with it later.

Okie Dokie. I just spent the better part of the last hour dissecting this nasty piece of Microsoft code. The deal with it is this: The way the SETUP.EXE is setup is that if it's version matches the version of the operating system it's being run on, "Install Windows" is grayed out, hence we cannot click it. However, if you right-click on SETUP.EXE and click the Compatibility tab and tell it to run SETUP.EXE in compatibility mode for Windows 98/ME then re-run SETUP.EXE, the "Install Windows" button will not be grayed out, and upon clicking it, it will launch WINNT32.exe in the i386 folder, or it will launch whatever file you tell it to in the String Table. I'm gonna mess around with it for awhile more. I'll let y'all know what I come up with.

I doubt you'll have to install any extras drivers, but you will have to tell XP to use the Novell network and you'll also have to tell it to join your NT4 domain (which is what I'm assuming you have).

All bootfix will do is repair the NT boot loader. I think the only way you're going to be able to fix the problem is by reinstalling XP. I could be wrong though. Next chance I get, I'll reboot into the repair utility and check out some stuff.

Howdy all. As you can tell, I'm the new guy to the forums. I'm all about trying to get Windows to work properly and making it easy to do in the process. As I'm sure is the same with several others here, I'm a certified hardware and software technician. So if you've got a question or a problem, don't hesitate to bounce some ideas off me. I guess that's about it from me for now. I'll see y'all around the forums. - Tosk