OverWorked

Thanks everyone. I'll set the problematic DC to use the other DC (the PDC) as primary DNS, and itself as secondary. I'm not convined it'll clear the problem, which I think is symptomatic of something else, though. I've been having a few other little problems with AD not replicating. Just occasionally, not always. I thought it may be DNS related.

Hello, Just what are the DNS settings on DCs (running AD integrated DNS) supposed to be? Are they supposed to use themselves with no I have 2 DCs, each is also hosting AD integrated DNS. A few months ago, one of them had trouble: lots of Userenv 1030 and 1058 errors. I've tried the recomended practice of leaving the DCs DNS address blank, making them to use themselves for DNS. Then the problem appeared and I entered thier own addresses for DNS, essentially the same, but it cleared the problem for a while. Now it's back again. What's best: they use themselves for DNS, or each use the PDC for DNS, or should they use themselves as primary DNS with each other as secondary DNS? I'm working through MS KB 887303 now. I just wondered what everyone else did.

Same here. Just no need to upgrade. Would be nice, but that's all. Couldn't justify the cost of software and CALs.

I recognise that. We've got one of them in our back yard. They're indestrucible. Every year I and the neighbours hack away at all the bits we can see. Next year it just comes back. It doesn't even need soil - it just grows out of a dry stone wall it's wrecking. It's like fighting the Triffids. Thanks elsiegee40. Now I know what it is. @Zoom7000: You don't need permission to cut the bits on your land. I doubt they'll even notice or care. It certainly won't do it any harm. Like I said they're indestructible. Just cut it back every spring and autumn. Then again next year, and the next ...

Tuesday 22nd July. Tues is a strange day to finish.

Madness, "Baggy Trousers"

Thanks Mike, but I've tried all I can with the BIOS settings and boot order. I'm now having some success with BartPE and a USB flash drive. I've created a bootable USB flash drive with XP Pro SP2. This is enough to get BartPE booted from flash. I can then access the OEM XP Home CD on a USB CD-drive and run setup from there to install the 'proper' edition of XP Home it should have. I'm haven't cracked it yet, but I'm having some success.

You're right. I've just tried it on another machine and it does install. The trouble is, the laptop has no option for booting from USB CD-ROM. The options are 'USB storage disk' and 'USB floppy'. (I've tried them). There are plenty of sites out there claiming that this isn't possible. See this and this. I wonder if the problem they mention only applies to the original (pre-SP1) version of XP, and it was fixed by slipstreaming SP1 or SP2 into the XP installation.

Thanks everyone. I'll look into Skype - it's something I've never tried. I didn't know it provided video too. I'll also look into the Citrix products. At the moment they don't have broadband or even any computers. They're visiting us at the moment and I'm fixing up three laptops for them to take back this week. This could be a while before it gets going, so there's nothing I can test at the moment. @sahmeepee & elsiegee40: please keep me posted on how it goes. Thanks.

Our school has a partnership with a school in Tanzania. This is in early stages at the moment, but I have a few ideas on how IT can help them and us. It's perfectly feasible for them to get broadband Internet in Tanzania at reasonable prices. They can also get computers donated by charities. With them on the Internet, we could greatly improve the communication between us. I'm thinking of:- IP telephony Video conferencing Remote Support (like Citrix GoToAssist Express). Has anyone else already done something similar? Used the Internet in partnering with an overseas school? Any ideas or suggestions would be most welcome.

Really?! I'd just read on several sites it wasn't possible, so never tried it. I'll borrow a drive from school try it when I get home.

I'm not sure what you mean. The original OEM disc is unusable as the CD-drive is bad, and BartPE's boot-from-USB method only works with vanilla CDs, not the OEM type.

I'm not sure about the keys working either. Unfortunately I don't have access to a vanilla XP Home CD to test it. You've given me an idea, though. XP won't natively install from a USB CD drive, but Bart PE does have a solution for that, I think. I'll try creating a bootable USB flash drive using a XP Pro CD (which I do have), then use this to boot the system and install the OS from the OEM XP Home CD running from a USB CD-drive. This will leave the laptop with XP Home installed from it's supplied OEM CD. The end result would be perfectly legal, I think!

That's probably a better idea.

Probably! Also whenever there's threat of industrial action (I can feel more coming over the next year).

I'm repairing a laptop for a client. She's got the OEM license for XP Home and the COA sticker, and the OEM XP Home CD. But the CD-drive is dodgy, so I can't install from the OEM CD. It's not worth replacing the laptop CD drive. BartPE has a solution for booting and installing XP from a USB flash drive. The trouble is that it's known not to work with images from OEM CDs. It'll only work with the vanilla versions of XP. I've tried it - it won't work with the OEM CD. My question is: does the OEM license permit using the vanilla retail XP CD, with the license key from the COA sticker? Thanks.

There's been a few threads started lately about employment, unions, pay and conditions etc. Should there be an employment forum for this, as most of it is going in 'general chat' Just a thought.

Thanks everyone. That's plenty! I'll have a look at them.

I'm looking for software license suppliers. At the moment for MS, Adobe and Corel for 30 computers. I've got Ramesys (used before and like them) and Pugh (not replied yet), as well our LA (v. expensive). I'm looking for 1 or 2 others for comparison. Any recommendations? Thanks.

Licensing suppliers I've spoken to say that they sell Vista Business licenses, but that includes downgrades for XP Pro. If this stays true, then there's nothing to worry about. It's the same with Office. You buy Office 2007, but that covers earlier versions 2003 or 2000. Somebody please correct me I'm wrong!

It'll be great for the inhabitants, but from the outside it'll just look a random mess with everyone setting their own direction.

I tried it again last night to give support to someone who'd phoned me, but it wasn't working. The client reported that it had a connection, but it couldn't start a session. No explanation. I reported it to Citrix via the beta support email address. I'm sure they'll get it fixed.

Duhh... The video I was looking for is on the same blog posting. It's worth watching, though.

For MS Server licensing see this MS blog post. Believe it or not, somewhere there's a video of a father explaining MS Server licensing to his 6 year old daughter with sweets. Can't find it now - I'll see if I can dig it out. To get back to the original question: You should have no less than 2 DC's. The work involved in restoring AD when your one and only DC has a catastrophic failure doesn't bear thinking about. I know - I was in that position once. Since then I've always had 2 DCs. Make both of them global catalogue servers. If the PDC emulator goes down, it's easy enough to make the other one seize roles, while you quickly build another server and make that another DC, bringing your total back to 2. I think 2 would be enough for a school.

Citrix are planning on launching GotoAssist Express soon. As the name implies it's a 'lite' version of GotoAssist, and should be cheaper. At the moment it's on free beta, but when they do launch it it'll be charged. They haven't announced the charges yet. I've used it to help with some of my private clients and it works flawlessly. I'd recommend it to anyone who gives remote support.