The next issue I have encountered is Windows XP’s requirement for an IDE floppy disk drive during the text mode install stage.  As the laptop has a SATA controller Windows XP does not have the driver support built in, normally you would just download the drivers and during the text mode install press F6 to add additional drivers, not a chance!  Without getting too descriptive about the problem the easiest solution was to build a new Windows XP installation CD with the drivers integrated into the CD.  The easiest way to achieve this is to use nLite.

nLite is a tool for permanent Windows components removal and pre-installation Windows configuration. After removal there is an option to make bootable image ready for burning on cd or testing in virtual machines.
With nLite you will be able to have Windows installation which on install does not include, or even contain on cd, the unwanted components.

Features

• Service Pack Integration
• Component Removal
• Unattended Setup
• Driver Integration *
• Hotfixes Integration **
• Tweaks
• Services Configuration
• Patches ***
• Bootable ISO creation

* - Textmode (CD Boot) and normal PnP
** - hotfixes with white icons, *KB*.exe, including update packs
and Internet Explorer 7
***- supports generic SFC, Uxtheme, TcpIp and Usb Polling patching.

Well my new work laptop has arrived but being able to use it with our standard corporate build does not appear so straightforward.  Firstly the workstation management software we use, Novell Zenworks, does not support the hardware ‘out-of-the-box’ so after a short while I found the following solution:

• Download the latest Zenworks for Desktops 7.1 Hot Patch 5 boot cd from Novell
• Boot the laptop using this an d at the imaging menu select ‘Manual mode’
• An error will occur saying that it was unable to load the network module
• Type the following commands at the bash prompt
  • modprobe tg3
  • ifconfig eth0 up
  • dhcpcd
  • img
• This will initialise the network card to allow you to image the laptop.

Quick update, damn this game is good.  In the whole the online community is fantastic with only a very small number of what you would call bad sports, regardless of the stuff kicking around about ‘Brits Vs Americans’.  Got round to completing all of the Arcade achievements today, only need to complete Nürburgring Time Trial!

In May Microsoft released Service Pack 3 for Microsoft ISA Server 2004, when I attempted to install this update it would bring the firewall down and the service could not be restated.  It would result in leaving mixed components on the ISA Server, causing the service startup to fail.  I have now managed to apply this service pack without issue.  Below is the method that I used:

• Download Service Pack 3 from the Microsoft ISA Download Site for your ISA 2004 edition
• Disable caching, it can be re-enabled once the update it complete
• Make sure all ISA UI are closed and no other ISA utilities are in use
• Install SP3 using this command line:
  • Msiexec /p <FullPathToSP3Package> REINSTALL=all REINSTALLMODE=omus SKIP_DIAGLOGACLS=1 /l*v C:\ISAsp3.log

If this still fails, re-apply SP2 to get get the ISA service operational again.

This is just superb, amazing gameplay.  been progressing through the career mode and now can’t stop challenging others on Xbox Live.  Even found my car in it.

Well just gone out and bought Forza Motorsport 2 on the Xbox 360.  That is the weekend wasted now!

There is a known issue that if you use a non-BMP wallpaper, for example a .jpg (jpeg), in a roaming profile using Microsoft Windows, it will not roam with the user.  To resolve this I created a script that when used as a logoff script, it will enable the wallpaper to roam.

MoveJPGWallpaper.vbs

Further to this I would highly recommend that you implement the User Profile Hive Cleanup Service which is a free download from Microsoft.com.  The User Profile Hive Cleanup service helps to ensure user sessions are completely terminated when a user logs off. System processes and applications occasionally maintain connections to registry keys in the user profile after a user logs off. In those cases the user session is prevented from completely ending. This can result in problems when using Roaming User Profiles in a server environment or when using locked profiles as implemented through the Shared Computer Toolkit for Windows XP.

I would also recommend that you use the Microsoft Group Policy Management Console (GPMC) as this will give you a far greater level of control over your GPO’s.