Bezalel

Yes, all you have to do is open and forward port 1723. You will need to configure your software firewall to treat the VPN range as a local network.

If you are running Outlook 2003 on Windows XP and connecting to Exchange 2003 running on Windows 2003 you can use RPC over HTTP http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=833401

I use Petter Nordahl-Hagen's Offline NT Password & Registry Editor http://home.eunet.no/~pnordahl/ntpasswd

for CD1 follow my instructions at http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=63258. Since you have MCE2004 you will need a CD with Windows XP Pro SP1 or later. for CD2 just copy the CMPNENTS directory to the CD If you a DVD you can put all the files on the same DVD.

If its on a case sticker its OEM, If is on a CD case it Retail, and if its on a sheet of paper From MS Licencing its VLK.

What about booting to a PE enviroment (Bart or Win) and starting winnt32 with the syspart switch. After the process finishes you could just remove the usb drive and restart the PC.

Maybe setupldr.bin can't see past 4 GB. CDIMAGE has an option that will force the i386 directory to be written to the beginning of the ISO file.

you need to set the username and password in the registry. Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon] "DefaultUserName"= "DefaultPassword"=

Is it still possible to use Program Manager as a shell anymore? I couldn't find it in my current XP install.

The question you should be asking is: Do I need to use a different CD-Key for each computer? Normally you need a unique key for each computer but there are 2 major exceptions, if you have a volume license you can use the VL Key for every PC covered under the license agreement, and you can use the same key for all Royalty OEM Preactivated installations. If your cd does not contain the CD-Key you can use it for all your PCs. If your CD contains the CD-Key see the previous paragraph.

Move the drive to another computer and start winnt32 with the syspart switch.

This script worked for me: Set WshShell = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell") Set oShellLink = WshShell.CreateShortcut(WshShell.SpecialFolders("AllUsersStartMenu")&"\Calulator.lnk") oShellLink.TargetPath = "%SystemRoot%\system32\calc.exe" oShellLink.Description = "Performs basic arithmetic tasks with an on-screen calculator." oShellLink.Save The script from The Scripting Guys manipulates the Application object and not the shortcut being created. My script works on the shortcut itself.

SET PATH=%PATH%;c:\python24

Is there a list if which laptop video chipsets are supported by MCE? It gets difficult to determine which chipsets are DirectX 9 compatible based on manufacturer's specs.

There is no need to purchase a Pro licence for GE, just a $90 XPe licence

You can backup the current settings add your custom settings and then add the origional settings back. REG EXPORT [ROOTKEY\SubKey] temp.reg REG IMPORT options.reg REG IMPORT temp.reg

Also Don't use the key on the COA sticker, use the key in the I386\winnt.sif file or one listed at http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechn...y/oempreac.mspx

Did you run the Repair using a Dell CD or a regular OEM CD? If you Didn't use a Dell CD you probably overwrote the Dell specific OEMBIOS files.

In order for MCE to support a Media Center Extender it requires Romote Desktop so it is based on XP Pro and not XP Home. It is possible to join a domain during installation before the MCE components are installed. Notice the choice of words used. MCE can be a member of a domain, you just can't join a domain.

You might have a policy disabling AU. Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate]

These default values are created by the control panel applet, these are not the default values that will be used if the values are absent. These values do not exist on a fresh install of Windows.

For those that want to tweak AU, here are a few more registry values (all are type dword defaults are in red) AutoInstallMinorUpdates (0,1) specifies that AU should immediatly install updates that never require a reboot without promping the user or waiting for the scheduled install time DetectionFrequency (1-22) specifies how often in hours AU checks for updates (actual time will be a random interval between 75% and 100% of the value) DetectionFrequencyEnabled (0,1) must be set to 1 to use the previous setting RebootWarningTimeout (1-30,5) specifies in minutes how long the countdown window is shown before an automatic reboot RebootWarningTimeoutEnabled (0,1) must be set to 1 to use the previous setting NoAutoRebootWithLoggedOnUsers (0,1) RebootRelaunchTimeout (1-1440,10) specifies how often in minutes a user will be prompted to restart the computer RebootRelaunchTimeoutEnabled (0,1) must be set to 1 to use the previous setting RescheduleWaitTime (1-60) specifies how long in minutes to wait before installing if the computer was turned off at the scheduled install time (if this is not set missed updates will be installed at the next scheduled install time) RescheduleWaitTimeEnabled (0,1) must be set to 1 to use the previous setting

No, you have to look in HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders\Personal to determine the location.

Felix, I have a few issues with your script. After each detection AU sets the next detection to a random time between 16.5 and 22 hours forward so the NextDetectionTime value is unneeded. The ScheduledInstallDate value is set after an update has been downloaded and has no effect of there are no updates waiting to be installed. Deleting the SetupWizardLaunchTime value is not needed because the AU client deletes this key if AUOptions is anything other than 0. If you want a script here's a much cleaner script: NET STOP "Automatic Updates" REG ADD "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\Auto Update" /v AUOptions REG_DWORD /d 00000004 REG ADD "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\Auto Update" /v ScheduledInstallDay REG_DWORD /d 00000000 REG ADD "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\Auto Update" /v ScheduledInstallTime REG_DWORD /d 00000003 NET START "Automatic Updates" WUAUCLT /DETECTNOW My script also restarts the service so the changes take effect and forces a detection and doesn't need any temporary files.

If you set AUOptions to 4 you must also set ScheduledInstallDay and ScheduledInstallTime Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\Auto Update] "AUOptions"=dword:00000004 "ScheduledInstallDay"=dword:00000000 "ScheduledInstallTime"=dword:00000003