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I use AVG free, its quick, quiet and does the job and is Vista compatible. get it from here > http://free.grisoft.com/freeweb.php/doc/2/ cheers anyweb

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after completing a successful RIPREP on a Intel SOLO processor laptop I then decided to PXE boot the machine and RIPREP the image back on to it, however after logging in to the RIS server I could NOT see the RIPREP image that I had just done, after soom googling (ok, lots) I found out that the HalName=halmacpi.dll line in RIPREP.SIF file was causing the image to not be listed. The suggested fix was to delete that line altogether, so I did, saved the file and rebooted. This time it DID list the image but when I chose to use that image shortly afterwords the file copying stopped and I got the following error So, next I change the HalName=halmacpi.dll line to HalName=halaacpi.dll to see if that would alleviate the problem, it didnät (yet another error). After some more googling I found out that RIPREP relies on two files initially to decide what hal to use in setup, they are located in D:\RemoteInstall\Setup\English\Images\NEWIMAGE\i386\Mirror1 http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechn...x.mspx?mfr=true IMirror.dat and BootCode.dat I opened IMirror.dat with notepad and saw that in there it referred to M u l t i p r o c e s s o r F r e e A C P I 1 . 0 - A P I C p l a t f o r m M P \ M i r r o r 1 \ U s e r D a t a \ D e v i c e \ H a r d d i s k 0 \ P a r t i t i o n 2 m u l t i ( 0 ) d i s k ( 0 ) r d i s k ( 0 ) p a r t i t i o n ( 2 ) I tried to manually edit this to read U n i p r o c e s s o r F r e e A C P I 1 . 0 - A P I C p l a t f o r m U P \ M i r r but that didnt work either. I knew there were some older machines on this RIS server that most likely were single cpu machines, so I copied the IMirror.dat from one of those machines and replaced my one, I then started PXE boot to the riprep server again, and this time it WORKED, this is not a supported hack by any means but it worked for me, We also used a freeware utility to edit the file by hand (WINHEX 3.x) and manually changed the MULTI to UNI but it didnät work (yet). cheers anyweb

error: could not drop object 'dbo.Devices' becuase it is referenced by a FOREIGN KEY constraint. For assistance, contact your SQL administrator or refer to the "Troubleshooting ACT Database Setup" topic in the online help system. screenshot of error below.

The Windows Vista Application Compatibility Toolkit (ACT 5.0) was created in part to address customers needs to assess whether there applications will work in Windows Vista. The following areas of Windows Vista are likely to cause areas of concern when considering Application Compatibility:- User Account Control (UAC) Windows Resource Protection (WRP) Internet Explorer 7 Protected Mode Windows Vista 64-bit Windows Filtering Platform Operating System version change Depreciations/GINA/Session 0 (high impact/low frequency) Where can I get this toolkit ? You can download the Windows Vista Application Compatibility toolkit from Microsoft's download centre. Part 1 - Installing the Application Compatibility Toolkit 5.0 In addition to the MSI download above, you should download the ACT 5.0 Product evaluation Guide and the ACT 5.0 readme. If you don't have the Windows installer 3.1 installed, you will be prompted to install it prior to installing the toolkit. The ACT 5.0 toolkit can be installed on the below operating systems: You will need a SQL database installed also, In addition to the above, the toolkit requires the .net framework version 1.1 installed. Once the toolkit is installed (at the end of the installer) you are given the option to watch a short video/demo about the product. You can view that video here. To configure settings so that the ACT Log Processing Service can access the SQL database, provide the Computer Account (not the user account) with both Read and Write permissions on the SQL database. Note: It is the Computer Account, not the User account that uploads the log file. On your SQL server, locate the ACT database, expand it so that you can see Security, Users, then Grant the ACT computer account db_owner permissions to that DB. To launch the toolkit, click on Start/Programs/Microsoft Application Compatibility Toolkit 5.0/Application Compatibility Manager It'll take a few minutes to start and then present you with the three things it is about to do:- * configure an ACT database (sql server) * configure ACT log share * configure ACT log processing service account Next you will be given the choice of configuring it for * Enterprise configuration (configure this computer to view log files and reports) or * View and manage reports only. Obviously if you want to test the tool, choose the first option above. In the next screen, you are given the options to choose your SQL server, and database name (or to create a new database). If you get a database creation error similar to this one then reinstall SQL server express edition and do NOT choose the 'default' setup (remove the tick from 'hide advanced options' ) and when you get to the name of the server, make sure it's not selected on the 'default' option, but rather 'named'. Once the database is created it will prompt you to create a log file and it will automatically share this folder to the domain, next it will prompt you to configure your ACT log processing service account, I went with the default setting of 'local system'. If all goes well you will be presented with a Congratulations screen and you can click on 'finish' to start the application. Once the gui presents itself, we are nearly ready to test. Verify that the ACT log processing service is running After the ACT 5 has been installed, you need to make sure that the ACT5 log processing service is running. The service continually scans the directory defined in the configuration settings looking for unprocessed log files. To verify that it is running, click on start/run and type 'services.msc'. In the list of services, check the ACT Log Processing service and verify that it's reporting 'started for status, and Automatic for startup type. IF it is not running, manually start it. Ok, now we are ready to Collect data. Part 2 - Collect an application Inventory. If it isn't running already, click on Start|All Programs|Microsoft Application Compatibility toolkit 5.0|Application Compatibility Manager. Click on 'Collect' in the lower left end of the GUI. From the file menu, select New to create an ACT DCP package. Type ACT_001 in the Package Name text box. Verify that 'Deploying a new operating system or service pack' is selected under the 'Evaluate compatibility when' choice. Set the duration to 60 minutes under the 'When to monitor application usage' choice. This should be enough time for the agent to collect information and monitor our use of IE and other installed applications. In a production environment, you'd typically want to set this for at least 3-5 days to capture sufficient detail. Click on the 'Advanced' tab, and make sure the following are selected. Internet Explorer Compatibility Evaluator (IECE) Inventory collector User Account Control Compatibility Evaluator (UACCE) Windows Vista compatibility Evaluators (detects issues related to GINA, Session 0, and depreciated components usage in applications on Windows Vista). Click 'ok'. Then from the file menu, select 'save and create package' and save it in c:\act_packages (which if you havn't already created and shared, then please do so). ACT packages can be deployed via login scripts, email, AT commands or software distribution solutions like SMS server 2003. Once you have done the above, verify that you can actually write to the ACT_log directory from another pc, otherwise the reports will not get written. To verify simply create a new txt file in that directory from the intended test machine, if it fails with 'access denied' then right click on the 'ACT_log' share, and click on properties/sharing/Permissions. In addition check the Security tab and make a note/adjust the settings for 'everyone'. Give 'Everyone' the access you require for this test. Failure to do so may leave you with an error similar to this one on the event viewer of the test system that you run the package on. Deploying an ACT 5 agent. In production, you may need to deploy multiple agent packages on your clients, but do keep in mind that only one package can be installed and running at a time on a client. Find an XP client computer to do the test deployment on and navigate to the act_packages share in the network. \\servername\act_packages\ACT_001 (Win32 Cabinet Self Extractor file) The servername above is the computer that we installed the ACT on in Part 1 above. To verify that the package installed you can check 'add/remove programs' in Control panel and you should see the Microsoft Application Compatibility Toolkit Data Collector 5.0' listed. If you now start IE7 on the XP client computer, you will see a small pop-up telling you that the IE compatibility evaluation logging is turned on. Now that you've got it running, start using IE7 and peruse some sites that will send a popup in IE7. We are doing this to which we will analyse later. Part 3 - Organizing your inventory. The Microsoft Application Toolkit 5.0 will produce an application portfolio which we can sync with information from the ACT online community exchange. Part 4 - Reports To create a report that would display the updates that may cause compatibility issues, you would use one of the following standardized reports: Update Impact Reports - Applications, or Update Impact Reports - Updates. Either of these reports will display information regarding the updates that could cause compatibility issues and the applications that are affected by them. The information for these two reports is gathered by the Update Compatibility Evaluator (UCE) tool included with ACT 5.0. You can see a very good walkthrough of ACT 5 here

What is WDS ? Windows Deployment Services (Windows DS or WDS) is the updated/redesigned version of RIS (Remote Installation Services). It replaces Remote Installation Services (RIS) and is available as an add-on for Windows 2003 SP1 through the WAIK (Windows Automated Installation Kit). How can I install it in Server 2003 SP1 ? If you want to install it in Windows Server 2003 Sp1 then use the included EXE file on the WAIK DVD (or mount the ISO) The WDS installation file (for Windows Server 2003 SP1) is available in two versions windows-deployment-services-update-x86.exe and windows-deployment-services-update-amd64.exe choose whichever version is appropriate to your release. How can I install it in Server 2003 SP2 ? Windows Deployment Services is included in Windows Server 2003 SP2. To install WDS in Server 2003 SP2, go into control panel, add remove programs and click on Add Remove Windows Components Scroll down to the bottom, select Windows Deployment Services by placing a checkmark and click Next. If it prompts for the CD enter it and click next, click Finish when done. You will be prompted to restart the server, so click on Yes to reboot. How can I install it in Server 2008 ? WDS is a role in Windows Server 2008, you just have to add it and configure it. What can I do with WDS ? With WDS, you can install Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, and Windows 2000 images. In addition, the WIM images are sysprepped. Windows Deployment Services uses WinPE as the boot environment on the target PC, WinPE can be customised and WinPE is deployed as a compressed WIM image with RAMDISK boot support. WDS provides a new set of management tools for common server tasks, for example there is the UI tool itself which is a MMC console application, and there is a command line tool which is scriptable (wdsutil), both of these tools use the MGMT API layer. WDS can be remotely administered and the management console can handle multiple WDS servers. WDS offers a capture utility, a GUI utility to capture images into WIM format, this is a light version of imageX/capture functionality plus a UI. WDS features an Active Directory users and computers extension and an updated version of RISETUP (Windows Server 2003 only). Windows Server 2008 will offer multicast capabilites with WDS. How does WDS work ? There are three modes of operation for WDS. Legacy In Legacy mode (Windows Server 2003), the WDS server uses WDS binaries but gives RIS functionality, it still uses the 'dos' based oschooser and RISetup and RIPrep funtionality. Management is via RIS utilities. Mixed In mixed mode (Windows Server 2003), WDS offers both OSChooser and WinPE booting, plus RISetup, RIPrep and WIM functionality. Management of RIS is via the RIS utilities, and management of WDS via the WDS mmc console or command line utility (wdsutil). The mode requires that RIS has been pre-configured on the Windows 2003 server. Native In native mode (both Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008), there is NO RIS functionality, you will only have access to WinPE or WIM images. Management of WDS is via the WDS mmc console or via command line, and Native mode is the only option in Windows Server 2008. If you would like to configure WDS via the MMC gui then please read this post. Troubleshooting WDS IF you get access denied errors when configuring WDS via the command prompt:- see below the access denied error above occurred immediatly after trying to create a folder called images on the WDS SHARE (REMINST). So I checked the properties of the share and gave EVERYONE full acess. Now when I tried wdsutil it worked, see below. So to recap:- to initialize your WDS server you could do it via the gui wizard or via command line by issuing wdsutil /verbose /progress /initialize-server /reminst:"e:\RemoteInstall" the e:\Remoteinstall path should be changed to the path of your RemoteInstall folder. In addition once done make sure to open up the WDS MMC gui at least once. You can use WDS to capture 4 types of images * boot * capture * install * discover A discover image is used when you do not have access to a PXE server. how can I CAPTURE an Image using WDS ? To capture an image using WDS do as follows how can I DEPLOY an Image using WDS ? To deploy an image using WDS do as follows:

below are the steps from start to finish to get the Windows Vista Hardware Assessment tool to complete it's reports. 1. Start the wizard. 2. Enter new Database name or use existing. 3. Select the Actions to perform. 4. Specify the Windows Workgroups and domains to include in the inventory (no screenshot) 5. Enter the username/pass for Active Directory inventory 6. What local account should I use ? 7. Show summary of performed selections 8. Collecting and Preparing data (this is where it goes to actually find other computers and see if they are Vista ready) 9. Report is ready ! 10. All done, time to view the reports

try this open a command prompt and type slmgr -xpr you'll get a popup window (eventually) telling you that you are permanently activated (lucky you) or how many days left till activation. cheers anyweb

ImageX is a tool which is part of the Windows Automated Installation Kit (WAIK) and can be used to mount and modify the content of Windows Image (WIM) files. To use imageX you could create a WinPE cdrom or usb key with the imagex tool on it, then boot a system that you wish to create an image of or copy an image to, for example (to copy the contents of a machine to a Windows Image (WIM) file) do as follows:- e:\imagex.exe /compress fast /capture x:/vistaultimate.wim "Windows Vista Ultimate Edition" /verify where e:\ is the usb Key/CD with WinPE on it, and x:/ is your network share (or external hdd). To image another machine with this captured image do as follows:- Boot from the cd/usb key with WinPE and the imagex.exe tool on it, then e:\imagex.exe /apply x:/vistaultimate.wim 1 c: To edit a WIM file using imageX see this post. cheers anyweb

The Windows Vista hardware assessment tool is an inventory, assessment and reporting tool that can help you determine the number of computers on a network that are ready to run the Windows Vista operating system. The data provided by the tool helps to simplify the migration process, in other words, it tells you if the machines on your network are good enough to run Vista or not, and can also give you a nice word Doc to give to your boss along with an impressive XL spreadsheet. To skip all the technical details and to see the tool in action, click here for the 10 step guide to see are your networked computers Vista ready To install the tool you'll need Microsoft SQL server 2005 Express Edition (available on MSDN downloads), it's a required component of installation of the tool and is used to store the inventory and assssement data. You can download the Windows Vista Hardware Assessment tool from Microsoft. The webpage above will prompt for registration but it is not necessary to download the tool. The download page will list the following files:- Getting Started guide.doc Windows Vista Hardware Assessment Readme.htm Windows_Vista_Hardware_Assessment_Setup.exe <--- this is the tool Windows-Vista-HArdware-Assessment-Datasheet-1.0.doc Before using the tool, read the Getting Started guide.doc You'll have a choice when you run the tool to generate custom reports (word doc and excel spreadsheet) however word/excel 2003 sp2 or word/excel 2007 must be installed *see more about the MUST word below, the tool just won't install otherwise*. Note: The below Test is the results that I got when I tried to use this tool in Windows XP SP2 connected to a Windows 2003 SP1 server (Active Directory) domain. Your mileage may vary (with a bit of luck!). Real World test below:- I've installed the tool on a Windows XP SP2 box (which in turn is connected to a Windows 2003 server sp1 Domain), and the first thing it prompted for was the .net framework version 2.0 package, so get that from Microsoft and install it and try again. Once I tried the install again, this time the file ran, and popped up a Wizard which informed me that if I hadn't installed Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express Edition (didn't mention whether it had to be that version or the SP2 version also on MSDN), that I would need a valid internet connection to download the required installation files. I clicked 'next'. Required Software Not Found Ok, now it's telling me What does it want ? Microsoft Word 2003 Sp2 or Word 2007, same for Excel. So I installed Both Word 2003 sp2 and Excel 2003 sp2... Finally, after doing that and re-running the setup.exe I was presented with a License Agreement. Clicking next you'll be prompted where to install the tool, then clicking next again, it'll ask you to either * download and install SQL server express 2005 * install from a previously downloaded installation files I chose the second option as I already downloaded it. Thankfully that gave me another license agreement (for SQL Server 2005 Express Edition), I was getting somewhere. I clicked install and..... got an error. So I downloaded the Windows installer 3.1 redistributable. That required a restart of XP. Once restarted, I ran setup again. This time, it installed with no errors *phew*. 'Installation Succesful' ! Next, you are greeted with the Windows Vista Hardware Assessment Wizard, click next to continue. (It tells you that you'll need local admin priviledges on each computer on the network and the remote administration and file and printer sharing will need to be enabled, in addition, windows firewall exceptions as defined in the Getting started guide must be implemented on each computer.... So easy really. Clicking next will 'configure Microsoft Office professional' followed by a Inventory database screen asking you to create a database or use an exisiting one. I chose 'create' and gave it the name 'test' (how original). The next set of options were all ticked, so I continued on....next up was what workgroup and domains to collect info from, i chose next. Next up it asked for the domain name, and user (with LOCAL admin privs)/pass, I entered those details. I click next and wait.... as it does it's magic. Now it wanted me to enter Inventory Accounts (the wizard will connect to each computer using WMI. Specify domain or local accounts that are a member of the local admin group on the computers being scanned, by default the domain admin group is added to each computer. (It goes on..) For testing purposes only, I enter the following info * domain name (not specified as using local account) * account name (administrator) * password ********** * confirm password ********** * account use 'use on all computers' and click 'save', followed by a summary of what I did (excluding all the errors above) and clicking 'start' (in the wizard, not the start menu). Up popped a screen with the following info:- Which almost sarcastically beeped at me with yet another error. 'Windows Vista Hardware Assessment 'A Socket operation was attempted to an unreachable host'. I clicked ok., and was given the option of 'The wizard cannot continue' and 'other things you can do' which comprised of 'view summary details of the wizard options'. After reading the Getting started guide again, I realised that I had to have 'file and printer sharing' enabled on the clients, and firewall rules set, I did this, re-ran the tool (via start/programs/windows vista hardware assessment) and went through all the steps, except this time instead of creating a new database i used the second option (use existing database, test2). This time it worked and it generated a report for my clients on the test network. When you examine the XLS spreadsheet, you'll see a 'clientassessment TAB'. Under the WMI status, you may see the following errors:- Failed - Machine not found (if this is the case, check the firewall settings as per the Getting Started Guide) Failed - Access Denied (make sure the local USER you specified, has a password). The Word doc and Excel spreadsheet are attached here for you, and below please find a '10 step guide' of screenshots to show you the wizard in action. If you find this article useful, then please Digg it. cheers anyweb test12_Report_20070420_102046.xls test12_Summary_20070420_102049.doc

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BDD (Business Desktop Deployment) 2007 is one way that Microsoft recommends that you manage the installation of your computers, it is currently aimed at assisting you in deploying Windows Vista and/or Office 2007 installations and in addition it has the following features from > http://www.microsoft.com/technet/desktopde...07/default.mspx O.k, sounds interesting, so where can I download BDD and is it free ? you can download it from Microsoft and it's free to download. You will also need to have the .net framework (2.0) preinstalled and MSXML 6.0. to see an overview of Lite Touch with BDD 2007 see here Once you have installed BDD 2007, start it up and click on the Components section on the left, then click on Actions and 'check for updates'. If you then highlight (for example) Windows Automated Installation Kit in the 'available for download' section, you'll see a Download button appear, click on it to automatically download the WAIK (The Windows Automated Instalation Kit contains tools such as ImageX, Windows PE 2.0, PEIMG, and Windows System Image Manager, that are essential to the Windows deployment process). In addition to the WAIK, you'll also see other files available for download such as the User State migration Tool, MSXML 6.0, MKS management pack, Windows Vista Hardware Assessment, Volume Activation Management tool and Office Migration Planning Manager. Depending on what you want to do, you may also download/install any of these. When you have finished downloading your selected packages from within the BDD 2007 Deployment Workbench, you can install them by clicking on the Install button (bottom right). Both BDD itself and WAIK allow you to install the program elsewhere than c:\Program Files.

full article > http://blogs.msdn.com/wga/archive/2007/04/...bios-hacks.aspx

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here's a guide I put together to teach you how to setup a RIS server in 3 easy steps. Note: this download is for Windows 2003 Server GOLD (ie: no service pack's installed yet) setup_a_ris_server_in_3_easy_steps.pdf and this download is for Windows 2003 Server Service Pack 1 setting_up_a_windows_2003_SP1_server_as_a_RIS_server.pdf any questions ? just ask cheers anyweb

For those of you that don't know Service Pack 2 is now available (on windows update and as a separate download) for Windows 2003 Server. http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details...;DisplayLang=en Some people may inadvertently upgrade their Windows 2003 sp1 servers to sp2 without reading the relase notes, and if that server was a RIS server (remote installation services via pxe boot) then you may be in for a surprise. Amonsgt other things (release notes) Service pack 2 upgrades your RIS server to act as a Windows Deployment Service, however in the process of doing so it effectively renders the 'old' Remote installation SERVICE obsolete (and this explains the cryptic errors below). What does this mean ? If they didn't know about it what they will see is all PXE boot attempts to their 'RIS' server will FAIL. Symptoms include:- Error on startup of the server immediately (and after every reboot) after installing Service Pack 2, stating 'a service failed to start, please check the event viewer for details'. PXE boot failure on the client (no boot filename received error). RIS service on the server fails to start with the following error if you try to start it manually - 'Could not start Remote Installation Service on local computer. Error 127: the specified procedure could not be found.' Steps to alleviate the problem:- Advise customers to open administrative tools and to click on 'services'. Scroll down to 'Windows Deployment Services server' service, it will NOT be started and it's state is set to 'manual'. Ask the customer to start the service (they may wish to set it's startup type to 'automatic'. Now, the customer should be able to PXE boot their clients as normal to the RIS server and deploy images exactly as they did before. Other things to note:- The new service is actually very useful to your customer, because now they can deploy Vista images via this server, however as SP2 is forcing the change gently from RIS to Windows Deployment Services what you will see are three modes for the new service (shown below). So effectively if the customer upgrades a SP1 RIS server to SP2, then they will be able to use the Windows Deployment Services in legacy mode to retain compatability with RIS. More info about this below:- Windows Deployment Services Overview on technet > http://technet2.microsoft.com/WindowsVista...3.mspx?mfr=true Initial server mode The method of installation and subsequent configuration actions dictate the initial server mode as follows: Task Procedure To get to Legacy mode: 1. Install the RIS optional component on Windows Server 2003 with SP1. 2. Install the Windows Deployment Services update. 3. Run RISETUP and add an image. To get to Mixed mode: 1. Install the RIS optional component on Windows Server 2003 with SP1. 2. Run RISETUP and add an image. 3. Install the Windows Deployment Services update. 4. Run WDSUTIL /initialize-server. To get to Native mode: 1. Install the RIS optional component on Windows Server 2003 with SP1. 2. Install the Windows Deployment Services update. 3. Run WDSUTIL /initialize-server. here's an example of that D:\Program Files\Windows Resource Kits\Tools>wdsutil /verbose /progress /initialize-server /reminst:"e:\RemoteInstall" the /verbose command is very useful for seeing errors (such as access denied). I did receive access denied errors when running the Windows Deployment Services GUI wizard, and after much searching It turned out to be possibly related to 1. I had renamed my RemoteInstall folder to Remoteinstall2k3 (easy to rename back, but then you must re-share it to REMINST and then re-scan the domain controller in Active Directory users and computers, select the domain, choose properties, choose Remote install, choose verify, it will find errors and correct them. 2. verify your permissions on the REMINST share, if they are read-only for EVERYONE then WDS will fail with 'access denied'.