All the laptops we have here at work are IBM laptops that contain serial information found in the BIOS.

*thanks to a lot of help & documentation found on this site*

I have successfully created an unattended CD that is shared amongst our Network Admins.

We have agreed on a standard convention for naming computers (which contains the model of the laptop, the serial and whether it is a workstation or server)

So a computer name could look something like this:

WS-R40-AKY7883

(Workstation-Model-Serial)

This information can be found in the BIOS (the model and serial number).

In my unattended CD, it joins the computer to the domain, but it is always the same computer name specified in the winnt.sif file (i think thats the file).

Is there a way i can take the BIOS information, and use that as a computer name while joining the domain?

or

at least, during the application install part of my unattended CD, take the serial & model from the BIOS and rename the computer name with the same BIOS info (but using VB script or something)?

You can try using VBscript with a Select statement from Win32_BIOS. Download Scriptomatic from Microsoft and lookup Win32_BIOS, it will tell you the attributes that can be selected. Good luck.

sweet!

this is exactly what i am looking for!

I am not that good with VB script.

what code would I use to change the computer name? (since it is on a domain, it will be prompted to change the user name & password).

You'd be better served to join the domain after installation, probably best during RunOnceEx in a script. You could use the vbscript to write a registry value, then use that registry value to change the computer name and join the domain. Note that this would be a two-boot process, because you'd need to reboot after changing the machine name before joining the domain.

Ok.

During installation, it joins the domain.

So I would like to rename the computer name then.

how would this be done in the registry?

I have created a file that uses vb script.

so far i am able to pull the information from the BIOS using vb script (inside an hta file).

I have to use HTA b/c i use radio buttons for model selection.

can i change the computer and authenticate the change on the domain using vbscript?

If the logged on user is a domain admin, then you should have no problems. If the user isn't a domain admin, they'll need a few domain rights delegated to their user accounts or groups.

ok.

scripting it is too difficult.

i downloaded netdom.exe (from the win 2003 support tools) and i am trying to use those.

how do i script this in vb script:

netdom renamecomputer computername /newname:newcomputername

You can try using VBscript with a Select statement from Win32_BIOS. Download Scriptomatic from Microsoft and lookup Win32_BIOS, it will tell you the attributes that can be selected. Good luck.

thanks to everyone who has helped!!!

i have succesfully created a script that changes the computer name of a computer that is on a domain.

so at install time (during network setup), it joins the domian.

and during runonce application install, it changes the computer name based on the serial.

thanks again for all the help!