eleven81's questions

I have a Windows Server 2008 machine as my DC. Earlier this year I created a Software Installation GPO to deploy Adobe Flash Player plugin MSI. I assigned the policy to the computers, about half run Windows XP x86 and the other half Windows 7 x64. That all works like clockwork.

When I created the Software Installation Policy, I disabled the Flash Player plugin's automatic update feature by editing the MSI in Orca. I did this because I wanted all of my machines to run the exact same version of the plugin.

Now, some time has passed and a newer version of the Flash Player plugin has been released. It is time for me to push out the updated version of the plugin. I already have the new MSI, but I am lost on what to do next.

• I see the upgrades tab in the Software Installation GPO, but everything there reads like that would be used for add-ons to a larger master program and not for updates that are released over time.
• I have read that it is best to create a new Software Installation policy with the new MSI, revoke the old GPO, and assign the new GPO. I feel as though, over time, I will wind up with more revoked policies than active ones.
• I have also read that some people have had success by replacing the old MSI with the new MSI and simply telling the GPO to redeploy. This seems like a backdoor method that will only get me in to trouble.

In short, what is the correct, best-practice, or preferred way to roll out the new version via Group Policy?

I am new to Windows 7, but want to deploy it in a Netware (read: no Active Directory, no domain, etc.) environment. I have used Novell Zenworks for imaging and deploying Windows XP in the past, and have never used sysprep because it was never necessary.

Now, I find that Zenworks is unable to image Windows 7 at all. It appears that there is a bunch of hardware-specific information that breaks the image on all machines except the specific machine it was created on.

I have recently learned what sysprep was, just a few weeks ago. My question is simple. Where can I find a step-by-step guide to using sysprep to image and deploy Windows 7?

Edit: I see that my question has been migrated. Thanks. I have read the guide that John T provided--then I read the 150+ comments. It seems that this is becoming out of date. Is there nothing else that sums up how to use sysprep to prepare Windows 7 for imaging and deployment?

Rather than having all of my computers go out to the internet and download their Automatic Updates, I am seriously considering building a WSUS server. That is, a Windows Update server. I have read some articles, and they have been helpful, but not complete. The following is what I have gleaned are the steps I need to take:

• Commission a computer to be the server with Windows 2003 Server.
• Install the WSUS package(s) and select the type of updates to check for.
• Configure the rest of my computers to be clients of this server.
• Set the clients to receive updates from the server.

My questions are as follows:

• Does the server have to run Windows 2003 Server, or will Windows XP Professional work?
• Where do I download the WSUS packages from?
• How can I configure my computers to look for updates from my server instead of the internet?

Thanks!!

For reasons unknown, a great many of the (Windows XP SP3) computers I manage have recently started creating a new pseudoprinter object, called Microsoft XPS Document Writer, seemingly out of nowhere.

This is a problem, because for some users (created through Dynamic Local User via ZENworks) the XPS document writer is being set as the default printer!

When I made the image for these machines, I made sure to delete this pseudoprinter object from the Printers and Faxes area. I would first like to know what is causing it to be recreated recently, over a year later.

I found a tool for removing the pseudoprinter object, its driver, and some other associated things. The trouble is, it's a GUI-only application, and requires user interaction.

I would love a utility like this that just deletes the pseudoprinter object, driver, etc., without user interaction, so it can be run from the login script.

Failing that, I need to know exactly how to manually perform each of the steps that the XPS Removal Tool performs, and then script them. Ugh!

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

_{Note: This is only marginally related to another question I asked earlier about Adobe Reader, and only because I am trying to achieve the same basic effect for a different piece of software on the same machine.}

I have a computer that is currently at a location that does not yet have internet access. I just performed a clean install of XP SP3, and am in the process of installing some basic software. Among these is the Flash Player plugin for Firefox.

I want to disable automatic updates to the Flash Player plugin. Now, on an internet connected computer, I would go here and uncheck "Notify me when an update to Adobe Flash Player is available."

Without internet access, how can I achieve the same result?

What is the registry key that I need to change to prevent flash player from checking for or installing any automatic updates?

Thank you!

I have a computer at a location that is currently without internet service. I just did a fresh install of XP SP3 and am in the process of loading basic software that will be required later. Among the software I loaded is Adobe Reader 9.1. I always disable automatic update checking for every program I install. My reasons are my own.

Adobe has made it difficult to disable automatic updates. It appears that I would have to have an internet connection and actually check for updates once before I can disable them using the UI provided me.

All I get is a message (above) that makes me think I have to connect to the internet to disable automatic updates. Is there a registry setting to disable automatic updates to Adobe Reader, or how can I accomplish this without connecting to the internet?

Edit: It's not trying to do an automatic update on its own, yet. I am clicking on Help > Check for Updates in order to get to the dialog to allow me to disable automatic update checking (which will, yes, likely only occur once there is an internet connection).

I recently had reason to move a hard drive from a computer that blew up to another computer for the purpose of recovering data. Under the (unfortunate) circumstances, both the donor and the recipient were Windows XP SP3 machines. I wanted to be sure that the transplanted drive would not be altered by the recipient computer, so I searched like hell but was unable to find a way to mount the transplanted drive as read-only.

How can I mount a hard drive as read-only on Windows XP?

I found this line in among many other ACL lines in my PIX. It looks different than the rest of them. It's at the end of the rest of the ACL lines, including being after access-list acl-out deny ip any any.

access-list 110 permit ip 165.138.236.0 255.255.255.0 165.139.2.0 255.255.255.0

What does it do, and what are each of the parts? The rest of my ACL lines end with something like any eq 1234.

Thanks in advance!

I want to use CAT5e UTP cabling to carry audio and video over distances of maybe 150 feet or so.

I plan to use the CAT5e cable as follows:

• one wire pair for a composite video signal
• one wire pair for the left audio channel
• one wire pair for the right audio channel
• one wire pair left unused for the time being

I may also use the CAT5e cable as follows:

• one wire pair for s-video lumen channel
• one wire pair for s-video chroma channel
• one wire pair for the left audio channel
• one wire pair for the right audio channel

I have had success in the tests I have performed, and believe it is because CAT5e is rated to 350 MHz, while the video signal is only a fraction of that bandwidth, and the audio channels are even narrower.

I plan to install runs of CAT5e between the source (VCR/DVD player or computer) and the display (TV or DLP projector) in dozens of rooms, and want the inheritor to be able to pick up where I left off without scratching his or her head any saying 'WTF?'.

Questions:

Are there existing standards for either of these applications, as far as which color wire pairs to use for what?

Are there any good sources for CAT5e wire-color-coded punchdown (110-style) keystones or wallplates that terminate into red/white/yellow female RCA jacks or red/white female RCA jacks and a female s-video jack?

Thanks in advance!