Tripredacus

Update! On Friday, I got fed up with the DHCP server and the fact that the mouse wasn't working... So I decided to reboot it. Well on the way back up, another drive fell off the array and the two remaining showed up as DEGRADED. I didn't want to deal with it then so I shut off the monitor and left for the weekend. Today I came back in and somehow the server recovered and I logged into Windows. It still didn't recover the 4th drive but it must have rebooted over the long weekend and found the 3rd drive that fell off on Friday. I am lucky for that because I was still able to use WDS and an RMA came in and that server was the only place that had the image I needed. Today, the new server was set up with 2x 80GB mirror for the OS drive. Server 2008 Standard x64 was installed and it took about an hour. Then the 6 drive, 1.45TB RAID-5 was built. Those few steps took about 4 hours, and now the server is waiting for me to set it up. I haven't came up with an idea for a domain or computer name yet. I do have some questions regarding the migration I need to do. Here is the situation: I have my 2003 Server (computer named UNCLESOCKS) that is a domain controller and the domain is called SHARK. Now I am pretty sure the new domain won't be SHARK but I might keep it if it is easier. What I need to do is take the new server and make it the top-level domain controller, and then take UNCLESOCKS and set it up to be the backup domain controller. So here are my questions... 1. Is there a tutorial on how to switch a server role from the primary to backup domain controller? 2. Is it important for me to unpromote UNCLESOCKS before I promote the new server? 3. Would it be easier to use the domain SHARK rather than starting fresh? 4. Is a 2003 Server capable of being a backup domain controller to a 2008 Server? 5. Does Windows 2003 have the ability to automatically backup files from another computer, using a differential or incremental synchronisation? 6. If yes for #5 (or with a 3rd party product) Would there be a problem if the 2003 Server backed up data from the 2008 server? As far as the AD portion is concerned, I have not created any additional OUs and only 2 user accounts on the SHARK domain, so I would not need to worry about AD migration from one server to the next. I will also like to find information regarding the virtual desktop/terminal emulation using virtual OSes within 2008 that our Microsoft rep told us about.

I think the problem is that "Setup/Uninstall" shows up as a program to execute files.

1. Post your notebook model number. 2. Go into the BIOS and try setting the Drive Configuration to IDE instead of AHCI, if it has this option that is. Some notebooks come with AHCI as the default controller type and without the driver disk, XP won't see the HDD. However if you change it to IDE, you won't be able to switch it to AHCI later. I am not familiar with the differences in those controller methods so I can't tell you that.

The sysprep folder will become delete after the user goes through the sysprep process. If you bypass the system setup, by unsealing, the folder will remain. When you go through the welcome screen and fill out all that information (depending on your unattend) you notice that the computer reboots before going into the desktop. The sysprep folder is deleted at this point and why it does just go into the desktop after the welcome... since it wouldn't be able to delete itself. Are you encountering problems during the autounattend portion?

It's in BIOS, nothing much you can do about it, unless you want to start fiddling with BIOS, NOT, and I mean NOT recommended, you could end up with an unbootable system and need even a replacement BIOS ! jaclaz No this information is stored in the Master Boot Record, not the BIOS. I am in process of duplicating this issue as well, but I can't really tell you much about it because of IP reasons. However volume imaging solutions (such as Ghost and Acronis) save the MBR in the image, but Imagex being file based does not. Anyways, this is also part of the reason why the OPK documentation (as well as WAIK) say that "recovery" aka EFI partitions must be the first partition on the drive. Dell, however, doesn't use WinRE for it's recovery partition, which is why it isn't Part 1 on the drive...

I am not sure if Intel pulled a stealth revision or what (they've done it before) , but we have two motherboards that do not work with both the WinPE 1.5 and 2.0. They are the DG33BU/FB and DQ35JOE. They both use the Intel PRO 1000 NIC (DEV_10BD) and they BOTH used to work with the PE versions we use here. I have installed the most updated driver for this device and WinPE 2.0 still does not see the network adapter after I initialize the network. Any ideas or any problems with this controller recently? EDIT: please move this topic to the Device Drivers forum.

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Is there any way to do a diff on two WIMs? I have two that are slightly different, but I don't know where the difference is. Is there a tool to compare the two, similar to file comparison tools used for programming?

What do your autounattend or sysprep.inf look like?

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Your missing message should be in the outbox, unless you have a rule setup to clean out the outbox, or its disabled. Anyways, while Outlook does support multiple accounts, it sends mail using the settings of the default account. Alternatively, you can change your STMP information to match what is on the default account and it should be able to send mail properly.

RE is disabled in the WAIK.

Sometimes ProcessMonitor gives you an option to close handles, which is what I had used in the past to kill processes that won't die. Recently, however, it seems like I can't find that option anymore.

I can tell you how Adelphia's (now Time Warner) DHCP works (in certain areas) and hopefully it will answer your question. The first time you boot your computer or connect it to the new internet (such as after it gets installed), the computer sends out a request via your cable modem for an IP address. This request is received by the ISP's DHCP server. The DHCP server records the MAC/Hardware address of your NIC, and then checks the active lease table to see if it has an IP address for you. Since this is the first time you ever connected this computer to the service, it doesn't find a record. The DHCP server then checks the pool of available IP addresses, selects one and marks it as "yours" and allows you to have it for a 3 hour period. No matter how many times you release or renew the IP address, you will always get this one. In theory, after your 3 hours are up (the computer records its lease time as well and you can see this in ipconfig) your computer is supposed to send a renewal request to the DHCP server. Now this doesn't always work as planned because Windows remembers the IP address in the ARP table. So initially, your computer will ask the DHCP server to renew using the IP address it is currently using. If that IP address is either available or still assigned to that MAC address, it renews the reservation for that IP address for an additional 3 hours. While you are actually receiving a dynamically assigned IP address, many people will note that their address doesn't change or doesn't change often. This behaviour depends on how many network connections (customers) are on the node/segment you are on in their network, and if you computer was on or off at the time your lease expired. Typically, the computer will be able to renew using the same IP address if the computer is on at the time of expiry. The only case where this doesn't happen is if there is an "offender" (a rogue or malfunctioning computer) on the network or the DHCP server runs out of IP addresses in its pool for the scope. If your computer is off at the time of expiry, the DHCP server may reassign your old IP address to another computer, or perhaps it won't. Like I said before it depends on the amount of customers in that area. There are instances where the computer will use its IP address after the lease expired without permission of the DHCP server, but that's a whole other situation altogether. If anyone has any other questions about how Cable internet works, I could probably answer them.

Ya and don't worry about MX 2004 being installed, it doesn't interfere with anything for a web browser such as the Flash Active-X Control.

Yessir. Oh, I put in a request to get a rack unit to be put in the production area. It will hold 3 servers, the primary, the backup and the legacy with the busted raid. All in all, we will have about 3TB of network storage!

Actually, someone already put out a fix. I don't know how good it is, but it can be a start if it doesn't already work. It turns out I couldn't recreate ANY problems with my testing. In each instance the only noticeable differences were that there was a Program Access and Defaults shortcut in the start menu and the computer booted up twice as fast.

Do they both use the same video controller?

This is because media players set a different power profile and settings which prevents this as well as disables the screensaver. You'd figure that if Media Player could disable the screensaver when it was open that Defrag would be able to do the same thing...

I think you should wait for the next Patch Tuesday and see if the shield comes back.

Server Core, TS Gateway, TS App Publishing, Hyper-V Clustering, Read-Only domain controllers, ADFS/ADCFS, WDS in multicast, NAP for clients to start (all of which I use heavily). The WDS in multicast is the #1 reason why we're moving to 2008. I am sure that all those other things are going to be really awesome too! The following roles will be assigned: -Primary Domain Controller -WDS -Fileserver -PXE Boot Server This is just a test server to start. Our target for production (which is 2008 certified) is currently in use so I can't stop production just to play around on it. Because of this, it is also not a huge concern that I will have to fight with the drivers or settings to get it all working, as this will be a learning experience and allow the actual migration to go smoother. Also, because this machine is kinda bulky to be used only as a test server (mainly the 1.45TB of storage it has) I will be planning on changing the roles to match the following: -backup domain controller -dhcp server -backup file server -backup (ie technician PC) WDS While the current production server will handle PXE Boot, WDS (Primary) and image and file storage. Currently our test environment (which actually does have production value in certain instances) runs in the following configuration: Current Config 1. Server 2003 Standard x32 (low end) Domain Controller with WDS, SQL Server, IIS, DNS, PXE 2. Server 2003 Standard x32 (high end but broken) running DHCP The main problems faced with Server1 is that it is not spec'd for running the OS, and can only image 4 computers at once. The main problems with server2 is that it is supposed to have 1TB of space, but one of the drives fell off the array. It was retired (and destined for the recycling center but I saved it because it has drive images for legacy systems that our repair department can use. We also had tried getting those images off of the drive onto an external or network drive but the server would either BSOD, reboot or lock-up. Since it still kinda works, I use it for DHCP only and joined it to the domain. This test server will replace server1 in testing, and after testing is completed, will replace server2 and enter the production environment.

I did also run into a problem with the capture ability. Truthfully, this won't be a big issue for our uses of it, however. We may end up removing some of the options when we switch to using WDS altogether because the regular software techs won't need to use the capture or any other advanced commands. Special projects or image creation would be handled by myself or management only, a task we wouldn't delegate to the the regular software people. So in other words, I always use the command prompt to capture images.

After getting approval for a new test server after my 2003 server became inadequate towards our goals, I have been given a new server in which to use Server 2008! I don't have it all put together yet, but I am sure I will have some questions once I start using it. I am creating this thread as a starting point, and perhaps some of you will be interested in seeing the development of this project as well. In this thread you can comment on the ideas we have or the hardware we are going to be using, or ask the usual questions I get such as "why would you do such a thing"... Anyways, here is the hardware we have lined up: OS: Server 2008 64bit MB: Intel SE7520BD23 CPU: 2x Xeon 2.80GHz dualies RAM: 2x 2GB (4GB) Crucial C35DR260 Intel Pro/1000 MT DUAL PORT nic RAID: 3Ware 9550SXU-4LP + 2x WD 80GB SATA for mirrored system volume. RAID5: 3Ware 9550DX-8LP + 6x WD 400GB SATA for storage We'll see how this server board turns out. Our big problem might be that Intel has no plans to qualify this hardware for 2008. Let me know what you think of this setup, or possible issues I may run into, besides the obvious motherboard drivers problem.

I am currently downloading SP3 from Windows Update on a test computer. Hopefully I can re-create this issue, determine the fix and include the fix in our images. We are not currently installing SP3 because of the issues reported with it. We also do not use Windows Update, but our customers will use it.

OK thanks if I didn't say it before. I was able to faithfully recreate the recovery partition properly using imagex and diskpart. Now my situation is that I need to be able to boot into the recovery partition. It involves using a program called "MBRInst" by a company called XSS. I looked on the recovery program system builder CD that we are given but it does not have this program. It appears that the company is using a library that they interface from their application to write the bootcode into the MBR. I've already talked to our rep and he basically said that the developers won't help anyone unless the corporate contract is over $1mil/year, which means we're not one of them.... And they would be the ones I could get this program from. But it also seems that this mbrinst.exe program is also used by HP and should be in their drive image. Is there a way someone could send me that program? PM me if interested or lock this thread if inappropriate. Thanks.