Yeah, I like that command plus the other one that lists the hardware inventory. Some distros don't come with those commands installed by default, however. OTOH, everybody loses the motherboard manual in five minutes, so that probably doesn't work either.
"His client isn't paying him to blindly stumble through it."
You haven't dealt with many cheap clients, have you?
Again, he didn't NEED a server OS - that was totally unnecessary in this case. All he needed was what should have been provided by the vendors involved. THEY are the ones who screwed up.
The only place HE screwed up was not being PREPARED for the VENDORS to screw up.
RAID IS NOT invulnerable. For a tiny operation or a home user, a cheap NAS box with decent backup and restore software is to be preferred because it's cheaper and more reliable.
RAID can be wrecked rather easily and tends to be more complicated to maintain. It's fine for serious work as an added layer of reliability, but it's overkill for four workstations or a home user. Of course, if you can afford it, it's worth doing for that extra layer - but it's really not necessary if you don't want to spend the money.
For any business or large home network with gigs of files, of course, it's essential.
They're undoubtedly against the EULA - and nobody cares, because the capability is just far too useful to give up. Any Windows tech worth his salt is using the thing and Microsoft undoubtedly know it. You can even put Bart's on a flash drive, although putting any OS on a USB disk is guaranteed to shorten the life of the disk, since they have a limited number of writes. But at $20 for 1GB flash disks these days, it's probably worth it.
Since I don't have any OEM XP CDs, I can't test the possibility. However, it's not much help anyway, since Bart's just allows you to boot a free-running XP separate from whatever is installed on the hard drive. So an OEM CD-based version of Bart's really doesn't get you much. Maybe System File Check could be put on and wouldn't complain about the source disk, but then if you ever had to run SFC from the OS on the hard drive, it probably would complain about the files replaced from the OEM CD. So I don't see the value of an OEM CD over just using the files from a regular XP install.
Bart's, by the way, is not a complete XP - it's merely a "Pre-Execution" environment Bart built that runs like the PE environment XP uses to install. It provides an XP kernel with native access to the NTFS file system and whatever utilities you can cram on the CD, but it's not full Windows XP - there's no desktop at all.
No, I'm running Kubuntu (and I have a hard drive full of stuff for Linux, too, which, however, I haven't gotten around to using) and Windows XP because I do tech support for Windows.
Some of the utilities are redundant competitors to other utilities, and most I haven't even tried yet. But having a ton of potentially useful utilities has come in handy plenty of times. The antispyware stuff alone is valuable since no one utility handles all the culprits; many of the worst spyware needs custom removal scripts developed by the antispyware community.
Currently I have a choice of several remote access methods and several network inventory tools to work through to use for my remote monitoring service.
And I don't even bother with the tons of shareware and commercial stuff out there. Just keeping up with new versions of the freeware and OSS stuff is damn near a 24x7 job.
How do we know HE bought the hardware. If the client bought it, he's stuck with it.
Small business clients do this all the time.
In fact, since he referred to the "anemic 40GB drive", we can ASSUME he did NOT buy the hardware. He would have ordered the hardware with what he WANTED if he bought it.
That throws out almost all of the criticism of this guy (other than not being ready with Promise drivers of his own when he reported to the site.)
Sound is always an issue, not so much because of Linux, but because if you're not expert in Linux, you can't tell WHICH of the three or four sound servers Linux provides is running as the default, and WHICH of them is being used by the media program you're running. Look at the system setup or the dmesg boot report and the config screens for Xine or whatever media program you're running. Usually, adjusting the programs to use the right sound server solves the problem.
It's dumb, I know - why they don't marry ALL the apps with the system services they're running on install is beyond me.
The NIC should be easier. It's just not always detected correctly. Find out what the NIC is from your motherboard manual (if it's onboard as most are these days), do a Google to see what kernel module is needed for it (which is probably quicker than plowing through whatever HOWTO the distro included), and then enable that module.
The problem with consultants as a point solution approach is why some consultants - such as me - are now switching to an "all-you-can-eat" support contract approach where we basically become the company's IT department. We remote monitor the client's network, provide unlimited phone, remote access and in some cases (me) on site support for a fixed fee per month, which is cheaper than per-incident pricing and more manageable than guessed-at blocks of time needed. It's better for the consultant since his cash flow improves, and he gets to know his client's systems better, thus providing better and more proactive support, which reduces the client's problems and the consultant's problems.
Why is a recovery CD "easier to support"? It's FUCKING CUSTOMIZED! Is that easier than supporting a standard, uncustomized install CD direct from Microsoft?
That makes no sense whatsoever.
As for the Windows OEM CDs, the partner program at the lowest level requires an Action Pack subscription and the software supplied is strictly for internal partner use only. You're paying $300 for software you CANNOT USE on a client's PC! I assume the license also includes not using it for even running a System File Check on the client's PC using your CD.
If we were talking about Windows 2000, you'd have a point, since 2000 did not properly support large drives until Service Pack 4. I know, Windows 2000 trashed my hard drive after a year because it was installed with Service Pack 1, and then upgraded to Service Pack 4, dual booting with Windows XP on Service Pack 2. After a year, I crossed the 137GB boundary with a new partition, and because 2000 was not INSTALLED with SP4 initially - even though it was UPGRADED to SP4 immediately after install - it trashed the hard drive.
And I only determined this by finding an obscure Microsoft Knowledgebase article that offhandedly said that 2000 "with some disk drives" (unspecified!) will trash a large hard drive without SP4.
Fucking Microsoft clowns.
XP, however, is covered. So was my Linux side (and that was Red Hat 7.3 at the time.)
Bullcrap. For the needs of FOUR workstations, one workstation outfitted with RAID disks is quite adequate and will be as reliable as any Microsoft server - as long as nobody futzes with the XP OS by installing anything else (the same applies to any Microsoft server OS).
The DVD burner is irrelevant - that was for simple backup purposes.
Personally I thought the RAID was overkill - he should have used a NAS box. But again, how do we know HE bought the hardware? The client might have decided all this and he was stuck with it.
Probably jumpered his drive wrong... Who knows? If he can't cite a specific bug report, he's full of it.
I used to think I couldn't install any Linux distro later than Red Hat 7.0 on my old Compaq Deskpro 4000 backup machine because the Compaq BIOS was reporting the drive geomtry wrong. Turned out it wasn't anything of the sort. It was the fact that the Linux kernels later than the one in 7.0 wanted to use DMA on the drives, which just wasn't working. I added ide=nodma to the boot command and now Slackware 10 runs fine on it (not very spry on a 400MHz CPU, but adequate.)
This is the number one reason I recommend clients buy white box PCs from a local store that's been around for a while. You get a full OEM install CD. No partitions that might fail, no "recovery CD's" that aren't real, and other pointless crap.
I mean, rely on a "recovery partition" - what happens when the partition table gets screwed? Or some previous "PC tech" - or the owner, for that mnatter - "accidentally" wipes the partition in order to reclaim the disk space?
The company saves 10 cents and some labor time (automated on an industrial burning machine - only the envelope stuffing and handling costs them hardly anything - on burning a CD!
It's braindead. It's the sort of thing that proves big corporations are run by utter morons.
Well, you've just described my new managed service for clients.
However, I'm starting this for a Windows client, so I have to use Windows software to do it. And yes, there IS Windows software that enables me to do this. There are tools - and FREEWARE or OSS or limited license tools, at that - to do that sort of thing. You can remotely (or at least over a LAN) inventory a system's hardware and installed software (at least the installed software that was installed via the Add/Remove Programs), and there is software to monitor the hardware sensors like S.M.A.R.T. and the like and report on it. I figure to let the software report to a specific PC, then I remote access that PC and examine the logs and reports rather than being emailed (although I might set up an email system for exception reporting.)
I'd prefer to do this for Linux - and you're right, it probably would be easier, if a bit more command line centric - but my first client is Windows only at the moment.
Again, for a branch office with FOUR WORKSTATIONS probably doing nothing more than word processing and access to corporate email, even SBS is IDIOTIC to suggest.
Oh, you HAVE a "linux solution"...Yeah, right, Microsoft shill.
I agree - a NAS appliance would have been better. However, as I indicated elsewhere, do we know that HE bought (or recommended) the hardware? It's quite possible the CLIENT bought the stuff and the consultant had to work with what he had. This happens all the time in small business consulting as you undoubtedly know - and it's almost always a mistake and a problem for the consultant, as you also undoubtedly know.
I agree that he probably should have been better prepared for the install - but it happens.
While you are undoubtedly correct that there are few Linux consultants servicing very small businesses, do keep in mind that this was a branch office - so presumably the parent office is a bit bigger and could afford a more high-priced consultant than what this guy seems to be (although we don't know what he charges or how experienced he is from the description provided - consultants with varied experience are priced all over the map.)
Second, it's likely that this file server, once set up properly, will function flawlessly for a year without maintenance. And since he installed it, unless he gets hit by a truck (or gets sick as you suggest), they can always get him to maintain it - and if he's sick, maybe he knows someone else who can - or even walk them through by phone (as long as he can talk.) For a small branch office, this may be all the maintenance level it needs.
Also, it depends on where you're located. There are probably plenty of Linux consultants in the big cities. If you're in a rural or smaller city, clearly this could be a problem. That's entirely location dependent and not relevant to the overall issue.
First, it had nothing to do with the vendor "seamlessly" supporting new hardware. It had to do with the vendor providing the basics for being able to maintain the system at all - i.e., an OEM install CD for the OS that wasn't crippled (no F6 driver install capability), and no drivers on the RAID cd (from the other vendor).
Second, you're correct - a NAS device would have been better - even an external USB hard drive. However, we don't actually know that the consultant bought the hardware - this could have been supplied by the client on their own initiative and he had to work with what he had. Small business clients do this all the time as any small business consultant knows.
Third, suggesting even SBS for a 4-workstation office is idiotic.
Fourth, the point of the Ubuntu install was to be a file server. They won't be running Windows apps on it, so your last point is irrelevant.
I just mentioned using Autostreamer above to add drivers to a slipstreamed new XP install CD. This sounds like another way. Thanks for the info. I was aware of nlite but haven't used it yet myself.
Instead of imaging the partition, he could have used Autostreamer to slipstream the XP install CD with the RAID drivers (once he got them), then burn a new CD (IF there was a burner available with burner software), then do the install. Probably would have been a bit faster than imaging. OTOH, maybe slipstreaming wouldn't work with the restore CDs? I haven't tried that yet for anybody.
The one thing I suppose one could criticize the guy for is not having a backup set of Promise drivers on him when he reported to the site. Nowadays, if I have advance warning of hardware needing installation or fixing, I go to the manufacturer site in advance and download documentation (if any), drivers, utilities, etc. I'm learning not to rely on stuff being on the client's site - if they haven't lost it, it may never have existed in the first place. The only time I don't do this is if I know there is a working Internet connection on site that I can use to get the stuff when I'm there (on the client's time rather than mine.)
Good call on the USB floppy, too - I should get one - AND a USB DVD drive (some people STILL don't have CD drives - or they don't work right!) Actually I'm fixing to take one of my old 60GB hard drives, put it in a USB enclosure and use it to hold everything I need, using a boot CD to get a working OS and access the drive.
HP has a history of treating their consumer PCs as disposable rather than maintenable items. I recall when Windows 2000 came out, HP decided to not support it AT ALL on their consumer PCs because they decided it wasn't a "consumer OS." So you couldn't install 2000 on an HP machine that originally ran Windows 98 - a lot of people tried and failed according to the HP forums. Hell, for one client, I couldn't even get a vanilla Windows 98 to reinstall on an HP machine that was originally running Windows 98! THAT was a pisser! I ended up installing Red Hat 7.3 which blew onto the machine with no problem. HP sucks in general for this sort of thing - I would never recommend any of their stuff to anyone for that reason alone.
Actually I don't think it's entirely a piracy issue as also a security issue. If you allow someone to install system components from a CD that isn't the same as the one you installed originally, how do you know what's being installed? Granted, that doesn't solve the issue of streamed CDs, but again that's more of a piracy issue. Also granted, the system that's running a System File Check could equally check the components being installed from a vanilla CD, so there's really no good reason for not allowing another licensed XP CD from being used in that situation. That's where I really get pissed off - you can't run a System File Check if the client doesn't have the original CD.
In other words, Microsoft has simply done what they aalways do - in the guise of being "user friendly", they've complicated their systems beyond anybody's ability to use or maintain. This is NOT "user friendly." Anybody who thinks Windows is "user friendly" hasn't a clue.
Why bother? If you're going to replace the motherboard, buy a new machine. It will cost half what the old one did, probably no more than three times what the motherboard will cost you, and will come with two or four times the hard drive, better video, a DVD burner you didn't have on the old machine - and all you have to do is wait for the burn-in at the store and cannabalize the rest of the drives and such from the old machine.
If you really NEED that four hours notice to get a machine up and running fast, get another machine from somewhere as a renter. HP isn't going to ship it to you in four hours anyway. And if the client is that hosed, they weren't set up right with backup machines in the first place.
Parent is correct - unless you're a home user or really tiny business who needs the onsite warranty support, buy white boxes from a local store that's been around for a while and pay your local cheap consultant to handle any issues. In fact, most home users and tiny businesses ought to do the same. The only advantage the big guys have is stockpiling parts their repairman can bring with him to repair an easily diagnosed hardware issue (failed drive or power supply), whereas the local consultant or client will have to go out and buy the part separately.
The real issue is how many home users and small businesses don't set up their systems correctly in the first place, leading to problems when something fails. I realize everybody is tight on cash and always tries to get by with the cheapest solution, but this ends up costing more in the long run. As an example, practically every home and small business user I know has their systems set up with one single partition and running as administrator, whereas they should have the OS separate from their data and running as a normal user. When the OS fails, it's a hassle to get their data back after the reinstall. When the spyware hits, they're hosed. If you're smart, you have multiple drives in your system for OS and data, and preferably an external drive for backup (or at least a DVD burner.)
This is where the cheap consultant comes in. Hire somebody to tell you what to do if you don't know - or ask a friend who knows better than you how to setup a PC to avoid trouble.
The guy in TFA was obviously a low-priced consultant who had to work with the hardware the client pre-purchased without his advice in the first place. Consultants have to deal with this all the time - the client figures they know what they want (read: the cheapest shit we can afford) even though they're clueless. Then they hire the cheapest consultant they can find to set it up. This is how small business operates.
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Yeah, I like that command plus the other one that lists the hardware inventory. Some distros don't come with those commands installed by default, however. OTOH, everybody loses the motherboard manual in five minutes, so that probably doesn't work either.
"His client isn't paying him to blindly stumble through it."
You haven't dealt with many cheap clients, have you?
Again, he didn't NEED a server OS - that was totally unnecessary in this case. All he needed was what should have been provided by the vendors involved. THEY are the ones who screwed up.
The only place HE screwed up was not being PREPARED for the VENDORS to screw up.
RAID IS NOT invulnerable. For a tiny operation or a home user, a cheap NAS box with decent backup and restore software is to be preferred because it's cheaper and more reliable.
RAID can be wrecked rather easily and tends to be more complicated to maintain. It's fine for serious work as an added layer of reliability, but it's overkill for four workstations or a home user. Of course, if you can afford it, it's worth doing for that extra layer - but it's really not necessary if you don't want to spend the money.
For any business or large home network with gigs of files, of course, it's essential.
They're undoubtedly against the EULA - and nobody cares, because the capability is just far too useful to give up. Any Windows tech worth his salt is using the thing and Microsoft undoubtedly know it. You can even put Bart's on a flash drive, although putting any OS on a USB disk is guaranteed to shorten the life of the disk, since they have a limited number of writes. But at $20 for 1GB flash disks these days, it's probably worth it.
Since I don't have any OEM XP CDs, I can't test the possibility. However, it's not much help anyway, since Bart's just allows you to boot a free-running XP separate from whatever is installed on the hard drive. So an OEM CD-based version of Bart's really doesn't get you much. Maybe System File Check could be put on and wouldn't complain about the source disk, but then if you ever had to run SFC from the OS on the hard drive, it probably would complain about the files replaced from the OEM CD. So I don't see the value of an OEM CD over just using the files from a regular XP install.
Bart's, by the way, is not a complete XP - it's merely a "Pre-Execution" environment Bart built that runs like the PE environment XP uses to install. It provides an XP kernel with native access to the NTFS file system and whatever utilities you can cram on the CD, but it's not full Windows XP - there's no desktop at all.
No, I'm running Kubuntu (and I have a hard drive full of stuff for Linux, too, which, however, I haven't gotten around to using) and Windows XP because I do tech support for Windows.
Some of the utilities are redundant competitors to other utilities, and most I haven't even tried yet. But having a ton of potentially useful utilities has come in handy plenty of times. The antispyware stuff alone is valuable since no one utility handles all the culprits; many of the worst spyware needs custom removal scripts developed by the antispyware community.
Currently I have a choice of several remote access methods and several network inventory tools to work through to use for my remote monitoring service.
And I don't even bother with the tons of shareware and commercial stuff out there. Just keeping up with new versions of the freeware and OSS stuff is damn near a 24x7 job.
AGAIN.
How do we know HE bought the hardware. If the client bought it, he's stuck with it.
Small business clients do this all the time.
In fact, since he referred to the "anemic 40GB drive", we can ASSUME he did NOT buy the hardware. He would have ordered the hardware with what he WANTED if he bought it.
That throws out almost all of the criticism of this guy (other than not being ready with Promise drivers of his own when he reported to the site.)
Sound is always an issue, not so much because of Linux, but because if you're not expert in Linux, you can't tell WHICH of the three or four sound servers Linux provides is running as the default, and WHICH of them is being used by the media program you're running. Look at the system setup or the dmesg boot report and the config screens for Xine or whatever media program you're running. Usually, adjusting the programs to use the right sound server solves the problem.
It's dumb, I know - why they don't marry ALL the apps with the system services they're running on install is beyond me.
The NIC should be easier. It's just not always detected correctly. Find out what the NIC is from your motherboard manual (if it's onboard as most are these days), do a Google to see what kernel module is needed for it (which is probably quicker than plowing through whatever HOWTO the distro included), and then enable that module.
How do we know he didn't know it? Just because he wrote the article as a rant doesn't mean he wasn't previously aware of this situation.
Again, as I've said, the hardware could have been provided by the client. What he was ranting about was having to deal with the situation.
He could have slipstreamed in the RAID drivers, sure, but he would have have to do it on another PC.
Also, again, recommending ANY Windows Server OS for a FOUR-WORKSTATION office that just needed a central place to access files is just overkill.
The problem with consultants as a point solution approach is why some consultants - such as me - are now switching to an "all-you-can-eat" support contract approach where we basically become the company's IT department. We remote monitor the client's network, provide unlimited phone, remote access and in some cases (me) on site support for a fixed fee per month, which is cheaper than per-incident pricing and more manageable than guessed-at blocks of time needed. It's better for the consultant since his cash flow improves, and he gets to know his client's systems better, thus providing better and more proactive support, which reduces the client's problems and the consultant's problems.
Why is a recovery CD "easier to support"? It's FUCKING CUSTOMIZED! Is that easier than supporting a standard, uncustomized install CD direct from Microsoft?
That makes no sense whatsoever.
As for the Windows OEM CDs, the partner program at the lowest level requires an Action Pack subscription and the software supplied is strictly for internal partner use only. You're paying $300 for software you CANNOT USE on a client's PC! I assume the license also includes not using it for even running a System File Check on the client's PC using your CD.
If we were talking about Windows 2000, you'd have a point, since 2000 did not properly support large drives until Service Pack 4. I know, Windows 2000 trashed my hard drive after a year because it was installed with Service Pack 1, and then upgraded to Service Pack 4, dual booting with Windows XP on Service Pack 2. After a year, I crossed the 137GB boundary with a new partition, and because 2000 was not INSTALLED with SP4 initially - even though it was UPGRADED to SP4 immediately after install - it trashed the hard drive.
And I only determined this by finding an obscure Microsoft Knowledgebase article that offhandedly said that 2000 "with some disk drives" (unspecified!) will trash a large hard drive without SP4.
Fucking Microsoft clowns.
XP, however, is covered. So was my Linux side (and that was Red Hat 7.3 at the time.)
Bullcrap. For the needs of FOUR workstations, one workstation outfitted with RAID disks is quite adequate and will be as reliable as any Microsoft server - as long as nobody futzes with the XP OS by installing anything else (the same applies to any Microsoft server OS).
The DVD burner is irrelevant - that was for simple backup purposes.
Personally I thought the RAID was overkill - he should have used a NAS box. But again, how do we know HE bought the hardware? The client might have decided all this and he was stuck with it.
Again, HOW DO WE KNOW HE BOUGHT IT? Maybe the CLIENT bought it and stuck him with it.
Small business clients do this crap all the time. THEY'RE the ones that want everything for a dime.
Probably jumpered his drive wrong... Who knows? If he can't cite a specific bug report, he's full of it.
I used to think I couldn't install any Linux distro later than Red Hat 7.0 on my old Compaq Deskpro 4000 backup machine because the Compaq BIOS was reporting the drive geomtry wrong. Turned out it wasn't anything of the sort. It was the fact that the Linux kernels later than the one in 7.0 wanted to use DMA on the drives, which just wasn't working. I added ide=nodma to the boot command and now Slackware 10 runs fine on it (not very spry on a 400MHz CPU, but adequate.)
Again - how do you know he either bought or recommended HP?
How do you know the client didn't do this and present him with a fait accompli?
If you know so much about small business consulting, you should know clients do that crap all the time.
TFA seems to be to be more a rant about how stupid the big vendors are rather than something new he discovered.
This is the number one reason I recommend clients buy white box PCs from a local store that's been around for a while. You get a full OEM install CD. No partitions that might fail, no "recovery CD's" that aren't real, and other pointless crap.
I mean, rely on a "recovery partition" - what happens when the partition table gets screwed? Or some previous "PC tech" - or the owner, for that mnatter - "accidentally" wipes the partition in order to reclaim the disk space?
The company saves 10 cents and some labor time (automated on an industrial burning machine - only the envelope stuffing and handling costs them hardly anything - on burning a CD!
It's braindead. It's the sort of thing that proves big corporations are run by utter morons.
Well, you've just described my new managed service for clients.
However, I'm starting this for a Windows client, so I have to use Windows software to do it. And yes, there IS Windows software that enables me to do this. There are tools - and FREEWARE or OSS or limited license tools, at that - to do that sort of thing. You can remotely (or at least over a LAN) inventory a system's hardware and installed software (at least the installed software that was installed via the Add/Remove Programs), and there is software to monitor the hardware sensors like S.M.A.R.T. and the like and report on it. I figure to let the software report to a specific PC, then I remote access that PC and examine the logs and reports rather than being emailed (although I might set up an email system for exception reporting.)
I'd prefer to do this for Linux - and you're right, it probably would be easier, if a bit more command line centric - but my first client is Windows only at the moment.
Again, for a branch office with FOUR WORKSTATIONS probably doing nothing more than word processing and access to corporate email, even SBS is IDIOTIC to suggest.
Oh, you HAVE a "linux solution"...Yeah, right, Microsoft shill.
I agree - a NAS appliance would have been better. However, as I indicated elsewhere, do we know that HE bought (or recommended) the hardware? It's quite possible the CLIENT bought the stuff and the consultant had to work with what he had. This happens all the time in small business consulting as you undoubtedly know - and it's almost always a mistake and a problem for the consultant, as you also undoubtedly know.
I agree that he probably should have been better prepared for the install - but it happens.
While you are undoubtedly correct that there are few Linux consultants servicing very small businesses, do keep in mind that this was a branch office - so presumably the parent office is a bit bigger and could afford a more high-priced consultant than what this guy seems to be (although we don't know what he charges or how experienced he is from the description provided - consultants with varied experience are priced all over the map.)
Second, it's likely that this file server, once set up properly, will function flawlessly for a year without maintenance. And since he installed it, unless he gets hit by a truck (or gets sick as you suggest), they can always get him to maintain it - and if he's sick, maybe he knows someone else who can - or even walk them through by phone (as long as he can talk.) For a small branch office, this may be all the maintenance level it needs.
Also, it depends on where you're located. There are probably plenty of Linux consultants in the big cities. If you're in a rural or smaller city, clearly this could be a problem. That's entirely location dependent and not relevant to the overall issue.
First, it had nothing to do with the vendor "seamlessly" supporting new hardware. It had to do with the vendor providing the basics for being able to maintain the system at all - i.e., an OEM install CD for the OS that wasn't crippled (no F6 driver install capability), and no drivers on the RAID cd (from the other vendor).
Second, you're correct - a NAS device would have been better - even an external USB hard drive. However, we don't actually know that the consultant bought the hardware - this could have been supplied by the client on their own initiative and he had to work with what he had. Small business clients do this all the time as any small business consultant knows.
Third, suggesting even SBS for a 4-workstation office is idiotic.
Fourth, the point of the Ubuntu install was to be a file server. They won't be running Windows apps on it, so your last point is irrelevant.
So, no, thank you for playing.
I just mentioned using Autostreamer above to add drivers to a slipstreamed new XP install CD. This sounds like another way. Thanks for the info. I was aware of nlite but haven't used it yet myself.
Instead of imaging the partition, he could have used Autostreamer to slipstream the XP install CD with the RAID drivers (once he got them), then burn a new CD (IF there was a burner available with burner software), then do the install. Probably would have been a bit faster than imaging. OTOH, maybe slipstreaming wouldn't work with the restore CDs? I haven't tried that yet for anybody.
The one thing I suppose one could criticize the guy for is not having a backup set of Promise drivers on him when he reported to the site. Nowadays, if I have advance warning of hardware needing installation or fixing, I go to the manufacturer site in advance and download documentation (if any), drivers, utilities, etc. I'm learning not to rely on stuff being on the client's site - if they haven't lost it, it may never have existed in the first place. The only time I don't do this is if I know there is a working Internet connection on site that I can use to get the stuff when I'm there (on the client's time rather than mine.)
Good call on the USB floppy, too - I should get one - AND a USB DVD drive (some people STILL don't have CD drives - or they don't work right!) Actually I'm fixing to take one of my old 60GB hard drives, put it in a USB enclosure and use it to hold everything I need, using a boot CD to get a working OS and access the drive.
HP has a history of treating their consumer PCs as disposable rather than maintenable items. I recall when Windows 2000 came out, HP decided to not support it AT ALL on their consumer PCs because they decided it wasn't a "consumer OS." So you couldn't install 2000 on an HP machine that originally ran Windows 98 - a lot of people tried and failed according to the HP forums. Hell, for one client, I couldn't even get a vanilla Windows 98 to reinstall on an HP machine that was originally running Windows 98! THAT was a pisser! I ended up installing Red Hat 7.3 which blew onto the machine with no problem. HP sucks in general for this sort of thing - I would never recommend any of their stuff to anyone for that reason alone.
Actually I don't think it's entirely a piracy issue as also a security issue. If you allow someone to install system components from a CD that isn't the same as the one you installed originally, how do you know what's being installed? Granted, that doesn't solve the issue of streamed CDs, but again that's more of a piracy issue. Also granted, the system that's running a System File Check could equally check the components being installed from a vanilla CD, so there's really no good reason for not allowing another licensed XP CD from being used in that situation. That's where I really get pissed off - you can't run a System File Check if the client doesn't have the original CD.
In other words, Microsoft has simply done what they aalways do - in the guise of being "user friendly", they've complicated their systems beyond anybody's ability to use or maintain. This is NOT "user friendly." Anybody who thinks Windows is "user friendly" hasn't a clue.
Why bother? If you're going to replace the motherboard, buy a new machine. It will cost half what the old one did, probably no more than three times what the motherboard will cost you, and will come with two or four times the hard drive, better video, a DVD burner you didn't have on the old machine - and all you have to do is wait for the burn-in at the store and cannabalize the rest of the drives and such from the old machine.
If you really NEED that four hours notice to get a machine up and running fast, get another machine from somewhere as a renter. HP isn't going to ship it to you in four hours anyway. And if the client is that hosed, they weren't set up right with backup machines in the first place.
Parent is correct - unless you're a home user or really tiny business who needs the onsite warranty support, buy white boxes from a local store that's been around for a while and pay your local cheap consultant to handle any issues. In fact, most home users and tiny businesses ought to do the same. The only advantage the big guys have is stockpiling parts their repairman can bring with him to repair an easily diagnosed hardware issue (failed drive or power supply), whereas the local consultant or client will have to go out and buy the part separately.
The real issue is how many home users and small businesses don't set up their systems correctly in the first place, leading to problems when something fails. I realize everybody is tight on cash and always tries to get by with the cheapest solution, but this ends up costing more in the long run. As an example, practically every home and small business user I know has their systems set up with one single partition and running as administrator, whereas they should have the OS separate from their data and running as a normal user. When the OS fails, it's a hassle to get their data back after the reinstall. When the spyware hits, they're hosed. If you're smart, you have multiple drives in your system for OS and data, and preferably an external drive for backup (or at least a DVD burner.)
This is where the cheap consultant comes in. Hire somebody to tell you what to do if you don't know - or ask a friend who knows better than you how to setup a PC to avoid trouble.
The guy in TFA was obviously a low-priced consultant who had to work with the hardware the client pre-purchased without his advice in the first place. Consultants have to deal with this all the time - the client figures they know what they want (read: the cheapest shit we can afford) even though they're clueless. Then they hire the cheapest consultant they can find to set it up. This is how small business operates.