Tripredacus

Would a similar setup allow me to boot an ISO off the network that was basically an unattended XP Install CD?

I think the main response here is that there is a better way to do what you want, but all the power to you to make it happen!

It is not illegal to re-sell original, modified or even burned copies of Windows. The only thing that is a problem is the licenses. Such as, I could make 100 copies of Vista and sell them without being liable as long as CD Keys are not provided.

http://www.msfn.org/board/PE-20-UK-keyboard-t120322.html What happens if you generate a list of supported layouts? http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc765969.aspx http://www.microsoft.com/globaldev/reference/lcid-all.mspx

Is it at all possible to use a winbom file with this method? I would like to start deploying XP via PXE instead of using the old PE (XP SP2) so we can eliminate the use of CDs for loading Windows. So far we have been unsuccessful in figuring out how to deploy like this. The reason we need a winbom is to point to the cfgsets and the distribution share on the server.

Also, do you mean 2008 and not 2003?

For the client machines, it is more of a preventative measure. The client machines will be CLEAN machines, so that may be an option for them. The server, however, isn't. Offline servicing would be very difficult, and we just can't revert it to a clean state, as it has over 1TB of data on it!

I understand about your two different types of devices on the network, but I am wondering what the reason for the two scopes is.

You know, as far as a matter of fun or testing, I can understand why you'd want to do this. But I think it falls into not being a "best practice" situation. At a previous company, one of my co-workers did just this. He ran a VM within a VM, and this VM would automatically boot up and load another VM. He ended up with a mirrored/windowed effect, and I believe that something bad had happened to the computer because of that. In the end, it became a company policy that said we were forbidden from running VM within VM...

There are server applications that can load a virtual desktop of XP to thin and thick clients. The only one I know by name is Ardence, now IntervalZero. Here are some infos: http://www.brianmadden.com/content/article...-Citrix-Servers http://www.intervalzero.com/rtx.htm

I've done this accidently before. It was a long time ago, and I can't remember how I fixed it. It is possible to do without any registry editing, iirc, and I think you have to fool around with ActiveDesktop to make it go away.

There isn't much biztalk around here. Your question should get more responses if you post it on Linkedin.com's question section.

All this crap about DVDs and technology and advertising and non-skippable previews, copy protection, etc is the #1 reason why I still buy VHS movies.

Yep I've tried everything possible with regards to the MBR. TRIF also helped a little but I wasn't trying to create something of my own. I was trying to duplicate what Ghost does in relation to capturing volume images in ImageX instead. For example, I have access to the same OEM Recovery Partition creation software that Dell and HP uses. We have an image that has Windows on the C drive and the recovery partition on a hidden partition on the same volume. I was able to redeploy the volume image using imagex but not able to recreate the MBR settings that the software writes. Or at least, not properly. We wanted to move totally away from using Ghost, but the further time went on, my project became more and more closer to reverse-engineering than towards software programming. So we dropped the idea because if we were to use that method to deploy, it would violate our EULA with the software provider.

This is true of any file-based recovery. It isn't an issue with Imagex, but more with the method. Fortunately, if you wanted to run a restore of this nature, you can either remove the registry files from the WIM or put them into the exception list so they aren't captured in the first place. Of course if you have a corrupt registry you are stuck either way.

They do work with Vista. With the modified drivers everything works. Creative just doesn't want them to as they're trying to force a H/W upgrade to the X-Fi 2. @OP: Search for daniel_k drivers. Ah well sometimes I can't tell who here is trying to do stuff for work or for home. I have to do stuff following the rules so sometimes I forget that other people might not.

There are alternative processes, such as DHCP helpers. This type of function, I don't think, is included with Windows, but network management software (such as Altiris) can manage it. Say computers with "insert-variable-here" will receive IPs in this scope, and computers with "other-variable" will receive IPs from another scope. The variables could be DMI information (from the BIOS), computer name (trimmed) or any other bit of information that the computer can transmit. Or in an extreme case, use one scope for preliminary info and when the server determines what type of interface it is, will reassign an IP from one of the two other scopes. But perhaps a real question is, if both of these types of interfaces are on the same physical network, what is the true purpose of assigning them to different IP ranges?

The first part has been taken care of... now to just handle client machines. We can't take the time to put a CD into every machine. We move between 500-1000 machines a week. Using CDs is not an acceptable solution, as it not only takes time, but also keeps machines sitting in one place too long. Active monitoring is required. Also scanning offline hard-disks are not acceptable either since that doesn't take into account anything running in active-memory or at the start of the OS. But regarding the server itself... another thing we can't just take the drive out and scan it... It runs a 1.7TB RAID6

That's pretty weird. I am guessing that if you had used it, but not while playing games, that it may perhaps have some sleeper processes, or perhaps it has a memory hole/leak (like Firefox used to). That is definately an interesting issue and you should probably report it if possible.

I have heard this about VirtualBox. This isn't going to be something that NEEDS to be reliable... just something I did when bored at work. I haven't even done anything with this machine yet! The other day, after no more work for the day I think of something to do. Should I? a. write a program that reads exported XML from Oracle and copies software from a network share onto the hard drive? b. continue my ages-old project of writing a custom MBR to allow bootable hot-keys? c. install Windows NT on some old computer I found buried under a desk?

This is how I use Ghost: I have a Server (computer) that has the Ghost Server software installed. I make a session to "Dump from client" which will save the GHO (Ghost file) in a folder. It is connected to a LAN where the other computer is. I have a USB Key (UFD) that has the DOS version of the Ghost client, and have the applicable NDIS (Network driver for DOS) driver in the config.sys. I boot to the key and run Ghost. It gets an IP address and I type in the name of my Ghost session. It then sends the volume image up to the server using whatever compression type I choose. Of course you have other options with ghost, like you can clone one hard drive to another without being on a network. Or there are other options that I don't actually use.

Can you confirm that prior to running Sysprep that you can open IE and it is the newer version?

I think this series of cards does not even work with Vista. Does this device appear on the Hardware Certification List?

Is this to say that your Data LAN scope services more than 255 clients? Either way, try setting your DHCP lease time to a lower than default setting. I have always used 3 hours. I think the default is 8 days, but not sure.

The only place I have seen it is when you install the WDS Component. It asks you what mode you want to use it in, and Native is the default option. I don't know how you would switch it after the fact, but I am sure it must be possible.