Monday, January 31, 2011
Creating a default windows 7 profile before imaging - outlook 2010
http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/w7itproinstall/thread/594eebea-a37a-4fd6-89ae-9eea83b7f24f
Regarding the white background, I would suggest that you create your own theme with required settings and then save the settings as a file and apply this within the sysprep xml file. This should be set in the specialize, microsoft-windows-shell-setup section.
(The below is the process I use for Outlook 2007 and haven't yet tried it with 2010, but I assume it's the same)
For Outlook, it sounds as though you might have run Outlook on the master workstation before creating your master image.
For installing and configuring Outlook I would firstly create an Outlook PRF file that configures Outlook as you require, including defining which server to use etc.
You then need to set a couple of settings within the registry of the user that will become Default User (Administrator code probably) to define which PRF file to use, and that the Outlook profile has not been configured and so needs configuring.
To do this, import the following REG file, obviously with the PRF file in c:\prf for this example. A network share would be a better option though really.
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\14.0\Outlook\Setup]
"First-Run"=-
"ImportPRF"="C:\\PRF\\Outlook.PRF"
Regarding the white background, I would suggest that you create your own theme with required settings and then save the settings as a file and apply this within the sysprep xml file. This should be set in the specialize, microsoft-windows-shell-setup section.
(The below is the process I use for Outlook 2007 and haven't yet tried it with 2010, but I assume it's the same)
For Outlook, it sounds as though you might have run Outlook on the master workstation before creating your master image.
For installing and configuring Outlook I would firstly create an Outlook PRF file that configures Outlook as you require, including defining which server to use etc.
You then need to set a couple of settings within the registry of the user that will become Default User (Administrator code probably) to define which PRF file to use, and that the Outlook profile has not been configured and so needs configuring.
To do this, import the following REG file, obviously with the PRF file in c:\prf for this example. A network share would be a better option though really.
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\14.0\Outlook\Setup]
"First-Run"=-
"ImportPRF"="C:\\PRF\\Outlook.PRF"
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Dell Client Manager / Dell Management Console
Dell and Altiris (Symantec)
How to Easily Evaluate Intel vPro Technology Features on Dell Optiplex Systems
How to Easily Evaluate Intel vPro Technology Features on Dell Optiplex Systems
Dell Management Console, powered by Symantec
Because Dell and Symantec have released a new version of Dell Client Manager that can
coexist with the Dell Management Console, no migration utility is provided. Dell Client
Manager functionality is expected to be incorporated into future releases of the Dell
Management Console, at which time a migration tool is expected to be provided
Dell Client Manager
Dell Management Console
Are you talking about the Dell Management Console (DMC) , or the Dell Client Manager (DCM) ? ... DMC is more server centric, and DCM being more client (Optiplex) centric.
DMC will manage all "non-workstation" h/w. To manage workstations and notebooks, you also need to install Dell Client Manager. DCM is also on the DMC install media. That will manage Optiplex, Precision and Latitude. Once you install, follow the quickstart steps on the DCM portal page. You will need to push the Altiris agent and OMCI.
http://www.dmcswat.com/
Dell Management Console, powered by Symantec
DMC for Clients = Dell Client Manager
Because Dell and Symantec have released a new version of Dell Client Manager that can
coexist with the Dell Management Console, no migration utility is provided. Dell Client
Manager functionality is expected to be incorporated into future releases of the Dell
Management Console, at which time a migration tool is expected to be provided
Dell Client Manager
Dell Management Console
Are you talking about the Dell Management Console (DMC) , or the Dell Client Manager (DCM) ? ... DMC is more server centric, and DCM being more client (Optiplex) centric.
DMC will manage all "non-workstation" h/w. To manage workstations and notebooks, you also need to install Dell Client Manager. DCM is also on the DMC install media. That will manage Optiplex, Precision and Latitude. Once you install, follow the quickstart steps on the DCM portal page. You will need to push the Altiris agent and OMCI.
http://www.dmcswat.com/
Dell Management Console, powered by Symantec
DMC for Clients = Dell Client Manager
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Vista's MBR Disk Signature
http://www.multibooters.co.uk/mbr.html
The Disk Signature and Drive Letters
The Disk Signature and Drive Letters
Windows NT operating systems will remember the drive letters that have previously been assigned to partitions and drives. This differs from Win9x where drive letters are assigned on every bootup in a default order as the partitions and drives are discovered, which means changes to partitions or the adding of drives can cause letters to change. With NT the current hard drive partition drive letters can be maintained by linking them to a partition by using a unique number that is assigned to each partition and stored in the Windows registry. This unique partition number is generated from the disk signature of the hard drive and the partition offset. On Windows bootup the partition number is compared with the disk signature and if they match then the partition will be assigned the same drive letter that had previously been allocated to it.
If a disk signature is changed then Windows unique partition numbers become invalid. They no longer match the MBR disk signature and therefore drive letter assignments are lost. On first reboot after a signature change each partition on the affected drive will have its unique number recreated to match the new disk signature, then be reassigned a drive letter. These reassigned letters may not match the originals and so your drive letters may change. (You will also be informed that your new device/s have been installed and a reboot is required).
When you are using the Windows built-in bootmanager to dual or multiboot it is vital to maintain drive letters because Windows might not see itself as the default C: drive. If you have a Windows install that considers itself to be say the E: drive and a disk signature change causes this assignment to be lost, then during early bootup Windows will reassign drive letters in the default order, which will be the System partition as C: and the Boot partition as D:, which means later in the boot process the registry paths such as E:/Windows and E:/Documents and Settings, will be invalid. Windows 2K and XP cannot recover from such a drive letter change, but Vista seems to be a bit more adaptable and will struggle to the desktop, from where it is possible to edit the registry to restore the required drive letters, (see Drive Letter Problems). Be aware that with Vista it is possible when using the Microsoft bootmanager to have the Vista install see itself as the C: drive even when it is in fact a Boot partition to a different System partition. In this situation a drive letter re-ordering event caused by a signature change will assign the default D: letter to the Boot partition, causing the aforementioned problems.
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Registry Replacer - This is a simple program used to do a quick Search or a Search and Replace of Strings in your Registry
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Registry
Registry Replacer
http://bladesdev.com/regreplace.htm
This is a simple program used to do a quick Search or a Search and Replace of Strings in your Registry.
Others:
RegEditX 3.0 - Tweaks for the Windows Registry Editor (REGEDIT)
http://www.dcsoft.com/products/regeditx/
Funduc Registry Toolkit
http://www.funduc.com/registry_toolkit.htm
Registry Replacer
http://bladesdev.com/regreplace.htm
This is a simple program used to do a quick Search or a Search and Replace of Strings in your Registry.
Others:
RegEditX 3.0 - Tweaks for the Windows Registry Editor (REGEDIT)
http://www.dcsoft.com/products/regeditx/
Funduc Registry Toolkit
http://www.funduc.com/registry_toolkit.htm
Friday, January 7, 2011
ImgBurn
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ImgBurn
http://www.imgburn.com/
ImgBurn is a lightweight CD / DVD / HD DVD / Blu-ray burning application that everyone should have in their toolkit!
It has several 'Modes', each one for performing a different task:
Read - Read a disc to an image file
Build - Create an image file from files on your computer or network - or you can write the files directly to a disc
Write - Write an image file to a disc
Verify - Check a disc is 100% readable. Optionally, you can also have ImgBurn compare it against a given image file to ensure the actual data is correct
Discovery - Put your drive / media to the test! Used in combination with DVDInfoPro, you can check the quality of the burns your drive is producing
ImgBurn is a freeware program that allows the recording of many types of CD/DVD images to recordable media (.cue files are supported as of version 2.4.0.0).[3] Starting with version 2.0.0.0, ImgBurn can also burn files and data directly to CD/DVD.
ImgBurn supports a wide range of image file formats - including BIN, CCD, CUE, DI, DVD, GI, IMG, ISO, MDS, NRG and PDI.
http://www.imgburn.com/
ImgBurn is a lightweight CD / DVD / HD DVD / Blu-ray burning application that everyone should have in their toolkit!
It has several 'Modes', each one for performing a different task:
Read - Read a disc to an image file
Build - Create an image file from files on your computer or network - or you can write the files directly to a disc
Write - Write an image file to a disc
Verify - Check a disc is 100% readable. Optionally, you can also have ImgBurn compare it against a given image file to ensure the actual data is correct
Discovery - Put your drive / media to the test! Used in combination with DVDInfoPro, you can check the quality of the burns your drive is producing
ImgBurn is a freeware program that allows the recording of many types of CD/DVD images to recordable media (.cue files are supported as of version 2.4.0.0).[3] Starting with version 2.0.0.0, ImgBurn can also burn files and data directly to CD/DVD.
ImgBurn supports a wide range of image file formats - including BIN, CCD, CUE, DI, DVD, GI, IMG, ISO, MDS, NRG and PDI.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
ISO images via Virtual Drives
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/subscriptions/aa948864.aspx
Writing ISO images to CD-Rs and DVD-Rs
The Windows Server 2003 Resource Kit includes the DVDBURN.EXE command line tool. Though it has not been tested by Microsoft, many customers also report success using ISO Recorder.
Testing CD-Rs and DVD-Rs
After a CD/DVD-R has been written, you can use the CRC tool to verify that the process was successful.
Accessing ISO images via Virtual Drives
Certain tools exist which create a virtual disc drive on your PC and mount an ISO image on that drive. These tools typically assign a new drive letter to this drive, and the contents of the image can be accessed by opening “My Computer” and double clicking on the new drive.
Though they have not been tested nor are supported by the Subscriptions team, customers report that Daemon Tools offers such capability as well as Microsoft Virtual CD Control Tool.
Other products like IsoBuster and WinRar can access the contents of ISO images directly and verify ISO files, but also have not been tested nor are supported by the Subscriptions team.
Using ISO Image Files
Many products are posted as ISO-9660 image files. An ISO-9660 image file is an exact representation of a CD or DVD, including the content and the logical format. The most common use of an image file is to write it to a blank CD-R or DVD-R, resulting in an identical copy of the original disc including file name and volume label information. ISO image files may also be opened and their contents copied to a local folder, much like ZIP files. ISO files may also be virtually mounted and accessed as a device. These three methods of using ISO images are described below. Note: you may have to rename the file extension from .IMG or .UDF to .ISO, depending on your software.Writing ISO files to CD-R or DVD-R
Most CD-R/DVD-R writing software includes a feature to create a disc from an image file. Note: you must use the special "copy image to CD" or "burn image" functionality. See your software’s Help for detailed information.Writing ISO images to CD-Rs and DVD-Rs
The Windows Server 2003 Resource Kit includes the DVDBURN.EXE command line tool. Though it has not been tested by Microsoft, many customers also report success using ISO Recorder.
Testing CD-Rs and DVD-Rs
After a CD/DVD-R has been written, you can use the CRC tool to verify that the process was successful.
- The CRC305.exe tool can be downloaded from MSDN Subscriber Downloads in the Tools and Resources folder.
- From a command prompt, run CRC305 filename (where filename is the image file name.)
- Run CRC305 x: (where x is the drive letter of the drive containing the CD/DVD-R). The CRC values should match.
Accessing ISO images via Virtual Drives
Certain tools exist which create a virtual disc drive on your PC and mount an ISO image on that drive. These tools typically assign a new drive letter to this drive, and the contents of the image can be accessed by opening “My Computer” and double clicking on the new drive.
Though they have not been tested nor are supported by the Subscriptions team, customers report that Daemon Tools offers such capability as well as Microsoft Virtual CD Control Tool.
Other products like IsoBuster and WinRar can access the contents of ISO images directly and verify ISO files, but also have not been tested nor are supported by the Subscriptions team.
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