Wrayth

Okay so my situation is this: Trying to use MDT 2012 Update 1 to create automated installation source to run from a USB stick. Installing Windows 7 Enterprise VL, along with Off 2010 sp1 Installing to Dell Optiplex and latitude systems. Fell free to ask if you need more info. Problem is this. I want to do a clean install on the systems, but I want to leave the Dell OEM partitions in place. So I need to have the Lite touch or eventually no touch install, format and install on Disk 0 Part 3 and leave the other 2 partitions alone and not assign drive letters to them. So in the MDT task sequence, I don't understand how I am supposed to coordinate the settings under "Preinstall - New Computer only - Format and Partition Disk" and "Install - Install Operating System." Can I just disable the "Preinstall - New Computer Only" section and let the install section do what I need? I've spent a few hours searching through other posts and other sites trying to find a clear answer and I can't seem to find something that answers my specific situation, so maybe I am asking the wrong questions. I'm new to these tools and trying to learn as I go, so please don't assume I know anything. Thanks!

It's been about 6+ years since I built unattended XP images, and I'm running into a problem I vaguely remember dealing with back then. Where I work now, we are using Volume Licenses and a ISO image provided by MS. 6 years ago, I worked for the Air Force and I'm not sure where exactly the image I used back then came from. But the problem is this: When I build an Sysprep file and then run sysprep, during setup, it ignores most of the stuff I put in there. One sign of what I think is due to differences in the install ISOs is that some installers force you to create a user during the mini-setup, and others don't. I seem to remember running into that back then, and I can't remember how I got around it. I just know that I had a completely silent sysprep image that I deployed using Ghost, and I didn't use any 3rd party tools to build or prep the image. So do I need a different install ISO? Am I doing something wrong? I've tried googleing some of this, but it's like finding a needle in a haystack for me. I've looked through the unattended guide, but it's geared toward building a install CD, I want to build a sysprep'ed Ghost image. Thank you in advance.

Thank you folks, I'll give that a try. I really appreciate it.

Hi all, Need some help, I would like to build a script file that will make numerous changes to things like folder view preferences, task bar settings etc. I would run this after my initial logon to a machine. So wanting to modify the current user settings. So I'd like to find a way to track all the changes that get made as I run through the list of things I want in the script. I tried running Process Monitor, but it tracks way too many changes for me to find the needles in the hay stack. My initial google and MSFN searches haven't found a good solution for me. Thanks.

Hey all, Suddenly on both my main PC and my laptop, I am constantly having outlook tell me there is a problem with my data file and having it run checks. This just started about a month ago. I've been running Outlook for ever and have never had this problem. I've run the PST scanner on all my PSTs and even made a new one to move the bulk of my e-mail over to try and minimize the problem and nothing seems to work. All my Google searching leads to issues where someone has the problem once and they fix it with the PST scan or it just goes away. I'm seeing it almost every time I open Outlook. Can anyone help me out? Both Machines running WinXP Pro SP3 PC has Outlook 2007 (12.0.4518.1014) MSO (no SP) Laptop has Outlook 2007 (12.0.6316.5000) SP1 MSO

For context, let me state where I stand on the Win/MAC/Linux debate. Having been exposed to numerous MAC & Linux fanatics over the years, I had become a Windows Fanboy almost to spite them. And then over the years I've learned to appreciate just how impressive it is that MS had developed an OS that just about anyone, could load and get to run on just about any PC hardware. The same can not be said of Linux or MAC. Of course that is also the reason Windows is "so unstable" compared to them. It's all about how committed MS was to making it compatible with every piece of hardware under the sun. That being said. Vista is to XP as ME was to 98 For a company with more money than the GDP half the countries on the planet, Vista is disappointing steaming pile of feces. They have the resources to put out the best OS in the history of computing, and yet because they are so bloated with all those resources, they can't get out of their own way. Do some research on how screwed up their development process is. Think back to all the promised new technology that was supposed to be in Vista and then one by one those new technologies got pulled. In the end, we have a fancy new skin on top of an XP core that wasn't designed for it. Sound familiar to anyone? Oh yeah, that's right, that's what they did when they made ME. When XP came out, it was a bad OS that was very unsecure and "called home" ALOT. Then 6 months later then released SP1 and it fixed 90% of the problems and made it a very good OS. And if you are/were in the IT support industry and had to support "users", you could easily make it look like the Win2000 they were all used to and drastically cut down on silly support calls. Now I will admit that Vista looks very nice and has some cool features, but other than that, it is a horrible OS compared to Windows. It is so bad, MS has to force companies to sell it and stop selling XP, because no one would but it if they had a choice. Thank God for Dell who is listening to their customers and using a loop hole in the Vista license to provide customers what they want. I had some hope that they would fix a lot of the problems with it when SP1 came out, but while it did provide better driver support, most of the software compatibility issues where not addressed and none of the annoyances were addressed. Oh and it took them over a year to get it out, instead of the 6 months it took for SP1 for XP. There is no way to change any of the dialogs to resemble XP, so support staff are forced to learn a whole new way of walking users through doing things. Of course this is after they spend 5 min walking the user through figuring out which version of Windows they have, so they even know which dialog boxes to walk them through. All of that in context of the OS they should be able to produce is what makes it so disappointing. /endrant

I'm just seeing this in my nLite build as well. I have the "Tweaks - General - Explorer - Classic Control Panel" selected. It gives me the Classic Control panel, but the link that let's you switch between the two is gone. Anyone know if this is a glitch in nLite?

Gotta strange issue here. I have nLite set to have my installation use the classic start menu and desktop and all that. And it works fine.... Until I reboot after the installation is done. Then it changes the start menu back to the newer XP style (with 2 columns) and hides my desktop icons. I'm able to change it back again and it sticks. I just can't understand why the change wouldn't hold after it worked during the installation. Anyone seen this before? Am I missing something simple?

Add the next command in Unattended->RunOnce section of nLite to disable "Display simple folder view": REG.EXE ADD "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced" /v "FriendlyTree" /t REG_DWORD /d "0" /f>nul Or paste the code in a batch file and verify first if it works. Thank you! Was trying to figure this one out as well.

Zxian, I have several machines of varying levels of hardware. My laptop (my primary choice to use) is a 3.5 year old Dell Inspirion, 1.5 Pent-M, 1GB RAM, ATI 9600. It's the machine I used when I had a copy of the Beta 18 months ago. But I have 2 desktops that have better hardware than that. As for making an image - I have another post elsewhere addressing that topic (looking for best software for that)

Sorry, couldn't resist the clever title for this one. Okay, so a little background first. I'm a "geek" who loves to play with the latest and greatest and generally a fan of Windows products, and therefore an early adopter of new versions of Windows. But I remember how bad XP was when it first came out, and then became much better with SP1. So 18 months ago, I was excited to get my hands on Vista and since I like pretty toys it was a cool new GUI to drool over. But then as I actually tried to so something with it, I discovered how bad it was. In the following period til now, I've seen very little to change that initial opinion. Sure, I've seen plenty of people who use it and like it and have no problems, but I see just as many who have major problems. I had been swearing off of Vista until the first SP came out, figuring that like XP, it wouldn't be good to use until SP1. Well Vista's been out for over a year now, and more and more people are being forced to use it as they buy new machines and can't buy them with XP. And now SP1 has been pushed back, and even then, some of the reviews I've read, don't give me the impression that it is going to make a huge difference. But, since I'm the one everyone in the family calls for help, I have to find a way to start getting familiar with Vista so I can help them. So I kind of have a 2 part question.. First of all, one thing that the happy users seem to have in common is they are using it on brand new machine. Is that the best way to work with Vista? A brand new machine? Because I can't afford a new machine right now. Second, what then is the best way to create a usable platform for me to learn it on? What's the best recipe for success? I hope I'm not being too vague here. I didn't see a sticky or post that seemed to address my question. If someone has a link I should read, that would be great too. Thanks, Wrayth

Will those work with any other manufacturer's drives? Or should I just look at Acronis? Will it do what I need? I'm not too worried about cost, I can buy the software as needed, I just need a solution that will work for me.

Hey all, I've seen a few other posts on imaging software (like the one from Iceman that is stickied), but they don't really help me with my specific solution, and I'm wondering if anyone can save me a ton of research and experimentation. I need an imaging software that will just do the following for me: I have a tech machine that I use as a "server" for lack of a better phrase. I want to be able to plug an HDD into that machine, and then image that HDD. I then want to be able to do one of two things with that image. a ) Store it as a backup. b ) put that image on a new HDD either the same size, or larger, or even a different brand. I would prefer to be able to do this from within Windows. But I can deal with doing it from a prompt or some other CD/DVD based installation, as long as I can store the images on an NTFS partion. I don't want to have a dozen 8GB FAT32 partitions on the box, just to store images. If I've left out something I need to consider in the above scenario, please let me know as well. Thank you in advance.

Excuse me while I go hide in shame for my ineptness at finding the answer.. I actually looked at that guide but missed the answer apparently. Thank you for your assistance.

Found the file on the net and downloaded it.. no more error message. Thank you