jftuga

This is one reason to use clusters. Have your services running on one server while running updates on the other. Once it is patched, switch the services over and the patch then first server. How to install service packs in a cluster -John

There is always the venerable WinDump. http://www.winpcap.org/windump/ That said, I am sure one of the apps mentioned above would be more tolerable. -John

eCommerce issues aside, Macromedia Contribute it quick and easy to use. It does not cost that much either. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macromedia_Contribute -John

Yes, there is a patch to increase the number of connections... http://www.google.com/search?&q=tcpip.sys+patch -John

You can configure your Firefox clients to use a proxy server. In this case, one designed to block ads can be installed on your Win 2003 server. Here are two good ones... Privoxy http://www.privoxy.org/ BFilter http://bfilter.sourceforge.net/ In the case of Privoxy, you will need to hunt around the Internet for a updates list of advertising sites. BFilter does not use blacklists, although it can support them. Instead, it uses heuristics, much like modern anti-virus software manages to detect many viruses unknown to it. Good luck, -John

You can use Microsoft ISA server to do this, but this is a bit pricey. You can also use a freeware program called Squid. This works great, but is more complicated to get & and running as there is no GUI. http://www.acmeconsulting.it/SquidNT/download.html http://kb.papercutsoftware.com/Main/Instal...ingSquidNTProxy -John

You could boot into safe mode and then delete the files. Next, create a directory with the same name. This way, the files can not be recreated. -John

I think either RegMon and/or FileMon can be configured to start running early in the boot sequence. You can get these programs from www.sysinternals.com. -John

Good idea about changing the RDP port number. I just wanted to mention that after you change the registry entry, you have to reboot your server in order for it to take effect. After you choose a port number, I would google around for "port xxxx" and see if anything comes up. If it is a popular port, I would not use it. I would choose one that google does not return a lot of results for. -John

If you can send me $20 via Paypal, I can tell you how to do this. -John

Windows XP SP2 supports WPA2 w/ AES. This is the most secure configuration of XP out of the box. I don't know if Win 2003 supports this or not. I have heard that you should make your key at least 20 characters long, too. -John

I have written a batch file that returns the full unc path of the command-line argument. It works on network shares only (not local drives). There used to be either a DOS 6 (or was is Novell) command that did this, but I have not seen it since then. Example: H:\My Data Sources>truename DATACONN.HTC "\\myserver\home\jftuga\My Data Sources\DATACONN.HTC " I use this whenever I have to cut & paste file names as it saves a lot of time. You can download it here... http://www.fcs.uga.edu/~john/truename.zip Enjoy! -John

You could try one of these: If you use Acitve Directory, restrict access through Group Policy Using Group Policy, assign everyone a proxy server address, and then restrict internet access from the proxy server. Have your DHCP server NOT assign a gateway address, this way it would be impossible for a user to get outside access. MS Shared Computer ToolKit Faronics Deep Freeze Use Symantec Ghost to create images of your systems so that if one goes belly up, it wil be quick & easy to restore the system. Hope this helps, -John

I use CDBurner XP Pro - http://www.cdburnerxp.se/ This is my favorite program..it works great. I also like MagicISO - http://www.magiciso.com which is not free, but you can burn up to a 300M image with the trial version. -John

What is the difference between RunOnce and RunOnceEX? -John

Try this: http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/ I have only used their BootIt NG, but they also have Image for Windows and Image for DOS which appears to do the same thing as Ghost. -John

You could go to a machine that came installed with SP1, and then look at add, remove programs. Make sure to check the Show Updates box. -John

When it asks you for the username, try prepending the domainname... DOMAINNAME\USERNAME Sometimes windows tries to authenticate with a local machine account which is technically this... MACHINENAME\USERNAME Also check the event log - the Security section. -John

If all of the above options fail, try booting into safe-mode and then deleting the file. -John

Would you mind naming some of these? The only thing that I have only heard of are nLite, BartPE, and UBCD4Win. I am interested in a version of XP that will be very small and install & run off of the hard drive. Thanks, -John

OK, I found the answer... which is yes, this can be done... http://www.petri.co.il/office_system_2003_...ipstreaming.htm On this website is another page discussing slipstreaming SP2... http://www.petri.co.il/office_system_2003_...ipstreaming.htm -John

You mentioned that there are 3 post SP2 updates. Is there anyway to incorporate (aka slipstream) those onto a installation CD similar to the way you did the SP2 slipstream? Thanks, -John

If you can get in when you boot into safe-mode, you could then try installing Autologon from www.sysinternals.com. This makes it so that you do not have to type in a name & password each time. Good luck, -John

With all the new additions, in terms of software compatibility, is the footprint still at 57MB? ...looking forward to the beta! -John

You might want to also check C:\Documents and Settings for any old, outdated user directories. -John