ATA Device Behavior with Win2K and NT
For the longest time, I wondered why I could create an image on a Windows NT machine with an ATA controller that would work with any machine with a similar controller, but I couldn't do the same thing with Windows 2000. Sean Daily's Windows Client: "Maximizing ATA Disk Performance, Part 2" (March 2002, InstantDoc ID 23853) explains that NT uses a pseudo-SCSI miniport driver*atapi.sys*that combines with scsiport.sys to form a pseudo-SCSI driver that supports all ATA devices on the system. This information is very useful for administrators who use Symantec Ghost to create images.
I needed to load NT 4.0 onto about 400 workstations, and I had only three basic controllers. Some of the machines had FlashPoint SCSI cards, some had Adaptec's AHA-2940UW SCSI cards, and the rest had some sort of ATA controller. I created three images that would load any of our machines, but when Win2K came out, we had to create machine-specific images because each machine had controller drivers that wouldn't work on any other machine. Supposedly, you can use Sysprep to prep the machine before you create the image and set up the sysprep.ini file so that it will force the OS to search for all new device controllers before it comes up the first time. I haven't had time to research how to do this process. Can you help?
—Larry Wall
larry.wall@langley.af.mil
You're in luck! "Deploying PCs with Sysprep" (June 2002, InstantDoc ID 24877) contains comprehensive information about the various versions of Sysprep.
—Sean Daily
CAL Requirements for VNC
Don Jones's "Must-Have Remote Administration Tools" (May 2002, InstantDoc ID 24536) explains and compares the use of Windows 2000 Server Terminal Services and Virtual Network Computing (VNC), but what the article doesn't include is information about Win2K Client Access Licenses (CALs) that Microsoft's End User License Agreement (EULA) describes. Microsoft requires that each unique device that connects to use the host system's UI must be licensed separately, regardless of how it connects. Only Windows XP Professional, Win2K Professional, and Win2K Server include such a license. The EULA for XP Pro also suggests that using third-party products (e.g., VNC) to access its UI is prohibited.
—Steve Perez
steve.perez@paymentech.com
XP Registry Hacks
In "Top 10 XP Registry Hacks" (May 2002, InstantDoc ID 24546), Melissa Wise has the right idea for turning off Windows Messenger in the registry, but she has the wrong hive. Windows Messenger doesn't start up when Windows XP boots; it starts up on a user-by-user basis with each explicit, logged-on user. To turn off your Windows Messenger, navigate to the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run subkey and delete the MSMSGS entry. Similarly, you can hack into the other users found in HKEY_USERS, providing you have sufficient rights (and they don't mind your mucking about in their registry).
—Richard Warren
rwarren@internosis.com
The title "Top 10 Registry Hacks" implies that the article provides tips for modifying XP behaviors that require you to directly manipulate the registry because you cannot accomplish them through the UI. That's not the case for many of the tips. For example, to get rid of Windows Messenger at startup, go to Tools, Options and navigate to the Preferences tab of the resulting dialog box. Clear Run this program when Windows starts. (For examples of how to accomplish some of the other modifications through the UI, see Read Other Comments at http://www.winnetmag.com/articles/index.cfm?articleid=24546.)
—Mark Russinovich
mark@sysinternals.com
Remote Administration Tools
In "Must-Have Remote Administration Tools" (May 2002, InstantDoc ID 24536), Don Jones explains and compares the use of Microsoft Terminal Services and VNC. What was not included was information on Microsoft's Windows 2000 client access license agreements as described by the EULA. Microsoft requires that each unique device that connects to use the user interface of the host system must be licensed separately, regardless of method. Only Windows 2000 Professional/Server and Windows XP Pro clients include such a license. Also, the EULA for XP Professional suggests the use of third party products to use it's user interface, like VNC, is actually prohibited!
—Steve Perez
Steve.Perez@Paymentech.com
It's true that every connection to the server requires a Client Access License (CAL). Microsoft client OSs (e.g., Windows XP Professional) include a CAL, and most copies of Windows 2000 Server that you buy at retail include 5 to 10 CALs. The question regarding whether Virtual Network Computing (VNC) requires a separate CAL is more convoluted than you imply, actually. For example, you might be connecting to VNC from an XP Pro box that already has a CAL. And VNC doesn't provide a unique desktop to the server in the way that Win2K Server Terminal Services does; the VNC desktop appears more like Symantec pcAnywhere. So the server license itself, which lets you log on to the console, should be sufficient because VNC doesn't give you an "extra" console logon. As for XP's End User License Agreement (EULA), you're right—there are definitely some implications there. These implications are unclear, though, and to suggest that Microsoft is attempting to prohibit the use of products such as VNC or pcAnywhere is to suggest uncompetitive practices, and that sort of thing has already landed Bill Gates in court more than once. Until I hear something more specific from Microsoft, I'm comfortable using products such as VNC and pcAnywhere.
—Don Jones
donj@braincore.net
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