Tripredacus

In my efforts to keep it simple I ended up with an idea with too many parts. I think I'm going to have to ditch this flash/hta/app method and see how just writing an app will turn out. My reason for picking flash was because my app method had a complicated way of handling XML, and we will be using XML because we will do a data exchange with an Oracle server as well.

Is the shell that runs the HTA have the same security limitations of Internet Explorer? The reason being is that IE sometimes doesn't allow you to do certain things concerning system files or it pops up messages wanting to get permission to accomplish certain tasks. The method I choose can't do things like that, but needs to run executables and also copy files to the hard drive after imaging.

Is there a way to specify to Sysprep to NOT clear the event log when you do an Audit Sysprep? We are getting an error on the screen at a point after the Event Log is cleared and before the computer reboots. The error is on the screen for less than a second so we can't pause it or read it real quick. Basically, Windows Defender crashes during the sysprep process. Is there another viable method, such as disabling Windows Defender before doing the sysprep? Also it would be required that Windows Defender is to be enabled after the user sets up the machine. We are not using an answer file.

Yea dude, if the drive is screwing with your computer booting up, you can forget about doing stuff in Vista to make it work. Sorry I haven't encountered this behaviour myself. It is possible that the connection to the CD Drive is loose inside the computer. That's the only thing I can think of or the drive might be bad. Is this the kind of drive that you can take it out by pressing a button or is it built in? Check your warranty or call tech support and ask if its okay to open it up and make sure its connected ok. If you should still have a support contract with it then calling tech support is way better when you can do it for free.

Do you have XP Pro on these machines?

Oh I want to say DOS because I installed it today and I forgot how much I like it.

I don't have it at home because my computer isn't good enough for it, well it probably is but I don't need it right now. I chose that I use it at work, but I don't use it on my work computer. My work computer is Server 2003 Standard and it does have Vista Business on VPC 07 but I don't use it like that. I install it alot on computers that we sell to businesses but that's about it.

I haven't but I think they fell out by now.

Closest in that list is Toronto but doesn't it say where you are in your vCard?

At work we'll see them maybe once or twice a month. At home I have not seen one on my current computer yet, and I've had the same install of XP on it since 2001. I love those things. I hate how they changed it for Vista.

Where I work now they don't use that kind of thing but at previous companies we didn't use just one image. There was a base image that everyone had (XP) but all the apps that user was supposed to use differed based on the department they worked in or their specific needs. Of course they used Altiris for pushing those special apps out that everyone didn't get. On the base image I think there was only shortcuts for My Computer and My Documents and the Recycle Bin. They also had roaming profiles set up so if one guy used another computer that day and it didn't have his apps, he would either have to use another computer or use Citrix to view a virtual desktop.

I am trying to figure out a method to get Flash to update an XML file while running from the PE. I have built my flash test app and it can do everything I need it to except the following. My workflow is as such (at the moment): 1. Flash App prompts for serial number. Type in serial number, click Submit and it sends that information to a program that writes it to XML. Right now I am looking at using Flash's POST to URL method, and a target HTML file that writes the serial number to an XML file. Without a server architecture on the PE I can't use the standard ASP or PHP methods of writing to an XML file, which would leave me with the HTA and Javascript. But the other issue is that you can't send a POST method to input.hta? 2. The HTA writes to an XML file. 3. Another App reads the serial number from the XML file and finds an XML file with that name on the server and copies it to the Ramdrive. 4. Flash would then use the new XML file to determine how to image the computer. The thing that is stopping me from using the App in step 3 is because its really hard/confusing to write an XML file with it. I can do it easily with PHP or ASP but you can't run those in the PE. My biggest thing right now is to figure out how to pass the info out of Flash to an HTA or another program. Sending to XML sounds like the best choice for me, since Flash is really limited and I don't know how to get other programs to read the Flash Share Object, or where in the PE Flash even puts that file. Any ideas on how to continue?

I have to also say my old favorite used to be half.com back when it first came out.

Dell uses Volume Licensing version of Windows and not regular OEM versions. The serial numbers between the two are not compatible.

By default that button is set to sleep and not shutdown. Here's how you can change that Control Panel, Power Options. Select the Plan you're using and click on Change Plan Settings. Select Change Advanced power settings. Scroll down the list to "Power Buttons and Lid" and click the + sign. Click the + next to Start Menu Power Button and set the option you want. Naw man, I know the Standby button in the start menu. On the right of it there is a little triangle and if you click that it brings up a menu. You get options like Restart, Shutdown, Standby etc. In this case I clicked Shutdown but the PC went to sleep instead. And when I push the power button (on the case) it would wake up instead of turning on because I guess it never really went off. After swapping the hard drive to the blank one, it attempted to reload Windows from standby but it never actually got into the Desktop. It would show the Secret Boot Screen and then give an error. Its because it kept the Standby state in memory, and gave the appearance that it turned off but really didn't.

For computer items I use newegg or if I don't like the deal I go through pricewatch.com. For the other stuff I buy online its primarily eBay, 20west and BBTS.

YEs you can disable the DHCP Client service in Windows. You will see it in Computer Management. You could create a .cmd (batch file) that runs when you boot the computer, and have that in your image of course, so after the image is applied and the computer restarts, it would set the IP for you, or whatever else you need it to do. You can manually set IP information with Netsh http://www.petri.co.il/configure_tcp_ip_from_cmd.htm I do not know what effect disabling the DHCP Client service will have on trying to run netsh. Best to do a test in Audit mode before deploying.

The plastic part is just a little protecting peice so the buttom doesn't get scratched or something. I wouldn't think it would be in the instructions. Pads? It isn't really grease tho. Thermal Paste is the term to use. Grease sounds scary and "traditional" grease would probably start the computer on fire! lol.

Your best bet for testing images would be to go into Audit Mode and do a reboot. That way you can test to see which drivers get blown out without imaging another computer.

XP OEM CDs get redone every now and then. We recently encountered one of these changes when a new "Version" came out. It was the same CD, which was SP2 2002 version but the COA was a little different. We couldn't use the new COA on the "old" OEM CD and vice versa. We didn't realise this at first and decided to defect out a copy of Windows where we took the new CD out and put one of the old ones in. They are exactly the same and have the same part numbers and everything, but their crypto is different so you can't interchange the numbers. So we have to write the date on the new CD with a sharpie so we don't throw it out!

Yes, the one you see in Windows is the Volume License. If you were to run a recovery or install the Windows OEM CD you got with your computer, you can activate Windows using the number on the case.

Occassionally I run into some problems at work where Vista goes into Standby instead of turning off when you select the Shut Down. To the naked eye, you can see that the computer actually turns off. All the fans stop spinning, the hard drive spins down, the power LED turns off and the monitor goes to sleep. You'd think that the computer was off for sure. But last week I had an incident where I shut down the computer because I needed to swap the hard drive out. So I swapped it out, and hit the power button. Then the "secret loading screen" came up (the black and purple/green one) saying it was resuming from standby! Suffice it to say Vista didn't handle coming out of sleep mode with a different hard drive in it (albeit a blank one) but we eventually finished the order. Any idea why Windows would do this? We even manually select the Shut Down (or Turn off) option by clicking the arrow next to the standby button on the Start Menu.

I have no idea. We only receive orders for single drives (IDE) or RAID and not for AHCI yet. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Host...oller_Interface

Generally speaking, Ebay is your best bet. Card stores aren't going to pay you big money on cards unless they are really old or in real high demand. It doesn't seem like your cards are. It might be different in your area, but the best I can get on trade ins (for credit and not cash) that I have found are a dime per 1,000. This figures in my last trade in I did a few years ago where I traded in 36,000 cards for $40. The problem is that card stores have problems GIVING cards away from that era because they are EVERYWHERE. You could get away with possibly making more on Ebay but don't get your hopes up too much I guess.

Yes on my old Windows 95 computer, it had the Earthlink IE 5.5 browser with the Google Toolbar. That was just a test PC tho I accidently threw it out anyways. That Earthlink browser was horrible.