ajbritton

Over the years we've used Dr Solomons, McAfee, Trend and Sophos. To be honest, they all more or less did what they were supposed to, but none of them have been problem free. Can't really remember McAfee, but Trend was a pain when it came to ghosting (had to recreate a GUID or got duplicate PCs in the console). Nowadays, I just want all software that comes in Windows Installer format and can be used with Group Policy Software Installation. The new Sophos console is a bit better in some respects, but all I seem to do is spend all day typing in long usernames and passwords. Why oh why can't it remember them, or at least use the security context of the user I'm logged on as???

It's rubbish. I keep having to type in my name/password (complete with domain name) to add PCs or push out software. No progress information. Yuck. Anyway, my main reason for wanting to use the .MSI is to totally automate the rebuild of PCs. The rest of the process is automatic. Only the AV install requires intervention.

I notice that the current version of Sophos is in Windows Installer (.MSI) format. I wonder if anyone has tried installing this using GPSI rather than the clunky management console?

You have three choices; 1 - Create your own custom .ADM template. 2 - Use PolicyMaker registry extension (a freeby download add on to GP). 3 - Use scripts as you have already suggested.

Not enough. ClearType makes a noticable difference, even when using the nativ resolution.

This may be of use...

I believe there is a new standard being defined for this sort of thing. Some USB keys are already available and certified to this standard, but the name of it escapes me...

nnnnyyyeeeesssss... Not strictly true. Each GPO (Group Policy Object) encompasses a number of things including software installation (definitely not registry entries), security settings (who knows?), Internet Explorer settings (???) and policies (mostly registry entries I grant you).

Over at GPO GUY BLOG

I've mentioned WPKG on the essential software list. It's an alternative way of getting software onto PCs. If the software can be installed silently (e.g. setup.exe /s), the WPKG can get it on to the PC. The project looks to be quite active with some recent updates. When I get the chance I'm going to give it a try.

I get these weird MRXSMB 3019 errors as well. IIRC, it's something to do with using remote desktop.

For what it's worht, the W3SCHOOLS.COM website has been redone in XHTML and they seem to suggest that everyone should use it now.

The latest version of MSDE, now called Microsoft SQL Server Express Edition, has a management console available for download. This may or may not work with older versions of MSDE.

Nope. Win2K appears not to support the /L switch for the EJECT command. Sorry.

Incidentaly, I've been using that Microsoft script since Win2K first appeared and it has worked faultlessly.... until now. Some 2K3 servers don't seem to like ejecting tapes anymore.

Try the following RSM EJECT /LF"LibraryName" /ASTART replacing LibraryName with the name of the tape library. You can see a list of libraries by entering the following; RSM VIEW /TLIBRARY

Hmmm SucksAssMaker also nicks the file association for Windows Script WSF files.

Are you applying hotfixes / windows updates to your image prior to riprep?

Sounds to me like an update/hotfix has modified the kernel on your image so the version no longer matches the vanilla image.

Do you mean this ?

Gosh :oops: ... I ... I don't know what to say !!

First, ask yourself if you might ever be in the situation where you want to remove the software from one room, or add another room which might need different software. I tend to shy away from assigning software policies high up the structure and instead assign them to each sub-ou. This means you can still add another 'room' OU and have control over what software you want on it. This is not really much of a problem unless you have dozens of rooms. I also regularly use GPO filtering to limit the installation of certain software to just a couple of PCs (useful for SMARTboard software). It works fine.

How to Add Third-Party OEM Network Adapters to RIS Installations

You need to also copy the driver .sys file to the i386 folder. This is well documented in lots of places if you google for the error message you quoted. The reason is that the setup process needs network access and needs to load the LAN driver way before the PnP installation, which will use the copy in $OEM$. There are also particular problems with certain Intel and Broadcom adapters which need custom .INF files.

OK, I can just about believe that IE stores history in the Windows system files somewhere, but surely not mozilla/firefox, unless it is somehow extracted at the network level and stored. I'm fascinated. Can anyone point me to something elsewhere on the Internet that supports this view?