I will be happy to leave the floppy drive behind, but when pushing a single Windows 2000 image to multiple computers it is nice to have. Using the sysprep utility, the mini-setup looks for the file sysprep.inf in the root directory of the A: drive. Mini-setup will also look for sysprep.inf in a folder named sysprep on the C: drive, but each computer needs a separate sysprep.inf, so the easiest way still seems to be separate floppies. If mini-setup would check for sysprep.inf on a CD-ROM or other media, I would seriously consider ordering computers without them. Until then, the extra expense for a floppy drive will be small compared to the time we save using sysprep.
Good recommendation on running a Real OS Domini, but you are running XP SP4? I am impressed. You are not just running a real OS, but actually running a future OS. Kudos!
Saeed al-Sahaf, at the time I am posting, you are moderated (Score:0, Flamebait). Too funny because the post you are defending is currently (Score:5,Funny).
Too funny. You accomplished your goal but your current moderation did not catch up. Oh well. Good job friend.
Greg, you may want to reconsider your opinion on this, depending on the network environment in which you live. I work as a network administrator at a public library and have been very anxious to run a software firewall on all workstations. We are a pure Windows 2000 network and have moved our XP migration up just to gain the software firewall. Granted, I have separated most public access computers from staff resources via VLANS, but the public still needs access to some critical systems. Our staff is constantly being educated and reminded of safe computing practices, but they are also a bit dangerous. No one in our environment needs to be connecting to workstations except for an assistant and myself and I welcome the added protection. All I would need is a worm to get inside the network from a stray floppy disk or CD and it could spread on its own. It may not be necessary for your environment, but I recommend both a hardware firewall at all places the LAN connects to outside resources AND at each computer within the LAN for most any network installation.
Well, thank you for the confirmation. I suspected it was just me. I still have an sinking feeling that as computers, entertainment systems, telephony and networking all converge into a blur, the Xbox might be a trojan horse holding the M$ attack on VoIP. As for Apple, I hope they are key to keeping M$ from being a powerhouse in the online music business. Apple deserves their success and I am really happy to see it. Now lets see Linux take the desktop while M$ is trying to get into everyone else's business. Congratulations Apple. I will buy stock next time they say Apple is going out of businss!
Is it just me, or am I seeing a new paradigm. Apple is partially being saved by the iPod. Windows NT and 2000 source code is released...er stolen and posted on the Net so it can be written off. Next I predict that Microsoft will be a huge player in VoIP with Xbox Live. Maybe its just me...
Another trend to note is the use of RFID tags in public library items and in embedded in your library card. This allows for a very simple self-checkout and makes it quite simple to check items back into the library. Budgets are extremely tight for most libraries and this is viewed as an important way to reduce labor costs. A person would only have these tags for the short time that they have the item checked out, so its quite different than a tag that stays with you. Still there are privacy concerns as I see it. For instance, a hidden scanner just outside the door of the library could watch for particular items of interest and capture the card number of the person at the same time, all without the library's knowledge. Is this enough of a risk to be concerned with? I am still on the fence on this one.
I live in a Pentium 350 world and home and have been limping along, quite happily actually. I admin a Win2K network at work so keep one foot planted there, and have been learning and living on a steady diet of Linux the rest of the time. While eMachines don't thrill me, I am thinking more and more that I should postpone any upgrades until I can truly dive into the 64 bit world. I realize I will be stuck running plenty of 32 bit applications, but is my wait worthwhile? I am really getting the itch to get into serious gaming again but (obviously) my current system is not up to much more than the Ultima Online I played for 5 years. Perhaps this question fit better as an Ask Slashdot question, but I didn't feel it was worthy to stand on its own so I welcom your comments.
This network administrator (me) did disable the command line and the run button, but still had this happen at our public library. Since M$ Word seems to require access to the desktop, the clever teen wrote a one line batch file in Word, and saved it as text with a CMD extention onto the desktop. If it becomes an epidemic, I may have to go one more step and delete net.exe or at least rename it on public terminals. Still, I think the teen was pleased when I walked up to him an congratulated him for his ingenuity. I just asked him not to do it again and not to tell his friends. I have not had another incident since.
I will be happy to leave the floppy drive behind, but when pushing a single Windows 2000 image to multiple computers it is nice to have. Using the sysprep utility, the mini-setup looks for the file sysprep.inf in the root directory of the A: drive. Mini-setup will also look for sysprep.inf in a folder named sysprep on the C: drive, but each computer needs a separate sysprep.inf, so the easiest way still seems to be separate floppies. If mini-setup would check for sysprep.inf on a CD-ROM or other media, I would seriously consider ordering computers without them. Until then, the extra expense for a floppy drive will be small compared to the time we save using sysprep.
Good recommendation on running a Real OS Domini, but you are running XP SP4? I am impressed. You are not just running a real OS, but actually running a future OS. Kudos!
Oh sorry. Did I say that out loud?!
...and the crowd goes wild! q;-P
bah!
Saeed al-Sahaf, at the time I am posting, you are moderated (Score:0, Flamebait). Too funny because the post you are defending is currently (Score:5,Funny).
Too funny. You accomplished your goal but your current moderation did not catch up. Oh well. Good job friend.
---
Wingit
Greg, you may want to reconsider your opinion on this, depending on the network environment in which you live. I work as a network administrator at a public library and have been very anxious to run a software firewall on all workstations. We are a pure Windows 2000 network and have moved our XP migration up just to gain the software firewall. Granted, I have separated most public access computers from staff resources via VLANS, but the public still needs access to some critical systems. Our staff is constantly being educated and reminded of safe computing practices, but they are also a bit dangerous. No one in our environment needs to be connecting to workstations except for an assistant and myself and I welcome the added protection. All I would need is a worm to get inside the network from a stray floppy disk or CD and it could spread on its own. It may not be necessary for your environment, but I recommend both a hardware firewall at all places the LAN connects to outside resources AND at each computer within the LAN for most any network installation.
Well, thank you for the confirmation. I suspected it was just me. I still have an sinking feeling that as computers, entertainment systems, telephony and networking all converge into a blur, the Xbox might be a trojan horse holding the M$ attack on VoIP. As for Apple, I hope they are key to keeping M$ from being a powerhouse in the online music business. Apple deserves their success and I am really happy to see it. Now lets see Linux take the desktop while M$ is trying to get into everyone else's business. Congratulations Apple. I will buy stock next time they say Apple is going out of businss!
Is it just me, or am I seeing a new paradigm. Apple is partially being saved by the iPod. Windows NT and 2000 source code is released...er stolen and posted on the Net so it can be written off. Next I predict that Microsoft will be a huge player in VoIP with Xbox Live. Maybe its just me...
Another trend to note is the use of RFID tags in public library items and in embedded in your library card. This allows for a very simple self-checkout and makes it quite simple to check items back into the library. Budgets are extremely tight for most libraries and this is viewed as an important way to reduce labor costs. A person would only have these tags for the short time that they have the item checked out, so its quite different than a tag that stays with you. Still there are privacy concerns as I see it. For instance, a hidden scanner just outside the door of the library could watch for particular items of interest and capture the card number of the person at the same time, all without the library's knowledge. Is this enough of a risk to be concerned with? I am still on the fence on this one.
I live in a Pentium 350 world and home and have been limping along, quite happily actually. I admin a Win2K network at work so keep one foot planted there, and have been learning and living on a steady diet of Linux the rest of the time. While eMachines don't thrill me, I am thinking more and more that I should postpone any upgrades until I can truly dive into the 64 bit world. I realize I will be stuck running plenty of 32 bit applications, but is my wait worthwhile? I am really getting the itch to get into serious gaming again but (obviously) my current system is not up to much more than the Ultima Online I played for 5 years. Perhaps this question fit better as an Ask Slashdot question, but I didn't feel it was worthy to stand on its own so I welcom your comments.
I will be watching for them on ThinkGeek. I just hope it can cut spam too. I love my spam, eggs, cheese and spam. It hasn't got much spam in it.
This network administrator (me) did disable the command line and the run button, but still had this happen at our public library. Since M$ Word seems to require access to the desktop, the clever teen wrote a one line batch file in Word, and saved it as text with a CMD extention onto the desktop. If it becomes an epidemic, I may have to go one more step and delete net.exe or at least rename it on public terminals. Still, I think the teen was pleased when I walked up to him an congratulated him for his ingenuity. I just asked him not to do it again and not to tell his friends. I have not had another incident since.