ViperZ2000

Thanks for the responses! To answer all questions: Drivers - Yes. I'm using the latest drivers available for each card from Intel and 3com. Copy & Paste - Yes, GUI. I'm going to Start, Run, \\servername\share and then copying and pasting the files. File types - The files are ghost images that are closed at the time of copying. Most are about 1GB but a couple are larger. I have about 40 GB of images (production imgs, test images, etc) NIC - I have not forced any settings in the NIC properties. Everything is default. What do you recommend changing or setting here? Everything here in our office is switched 100. Thanks! Local Copy - I can copy the same 1GB image to another HD in the system in about 60-90 seconds.

I use Panorama Factory and it works great.

Quote: Another nice proggy you might want to try out for remote connections is Remote Administrator, available at www.famatech.com. H. I agree. RADMIN (Remote Admin) is GREAT! It allows you to specify listening ports so for people using port forwarding, you can install it on several PCs and be able to access each one separately by specifying the port number of the PC you want to control. VNC and pcAnywhere do not offer this feature. It's pretty fast also.

I am preparing a project of reimaging 600 laptops used by our mobile sales force. Typically, we save off their data to a server, reghost them from another, and pull their data back from the original server. I'm just wondering if I could get some input on how everyone else who reads these posts handles migrations. I really looking for something that I can use to reimage their systems as fast as possible since our image is so large (5GB). Here's the layout: C: = OS (Win2000) & Apps D: = Data (My Docs, Favorites, Notes DB's, etc) E: = Image partition (stores an image of C: so they can reghost themselves, if needed. using a boot CD ) Last time, I made a bootable DVD that wiped out the E: partition, copied an updated image to E:, then it reGhosted the C: drive with the new image. This entire process took about 35 minutes. This time, we need to save off all data and completely wipe out the system. Again, the question is: "....looking for something that I can use to reimage their systems as fast as possible" How can this be done? Questions or comments are welcome. TIA!

We typically image 30-50 laptops at a time, depending on how much data is being backed up. I just need to figure out what hardware will get these machines ghosted quicker. What kinds of speeds are you seeing when you ghost? And how many machines are you ghosting from the same server at a time?

Agreed 100%. One central location for all

Ghost allows you to make a USB boot disk. If both machines have USB, boot each one up with it's own disk and transfer the image through USB.

No, I use FAT32 even though I believe NTFS is better suited for Win2000 and provides greater security. Management does not want NTFS yet on a sales rep's laptop. I usually use a NetBEUI boot disk and backup the files to a server after running DOSLFNBK to save the long file names. I would then ghost the machines from another separate network (to eliminate excessive traffic and I/O bottlenecks) then reconnect to the same backup server that I used before to restore their data. I need to speed up the process of imaging using whatever means necessary. 500 laptops x 40 minutes to ghost is a long time. (image is a massive 4GB+)and with only 4 days to do it, anything to speed up the process will help.

Ghost 5.x and up will definately work with NTFS partitions, and I know for sure that Ghost 6.x and up will work with XP's NTFS v5.0. Just make a boot disk from 95, 98, or ME by going to START, RUN and typing "FORMAT A: /Q /S" <----No quotes though. After that copy ghost.exe to the floppy and boot from it. I've been using Ghost 7 for about a year...

Hi all! I know that IBM has support forums for their systems, but 'real world experience' counts for more than what is written in the text books. That said, here's my question: Has anyone been able to use an IBM T21/T22 image on an IBM T23? When I pull that image down on the T23, it bluescreens shortly afterward stating 'Inaccessable Boot Device'. I have my *single* image now work with the A20, A21, A22, T20, T21 and T22. This saves us server space and also support costs of knowing that 1 image is on all of these laptops. Any help would be appreciated.

I'd be curious as to how many people here have a static IP address for their home broadband (or dorm room) connection. I've never had one and have been using Dynamic DNS (DYDNS) for about 3 years. He said his 'roommate' which leads me to think that he is a home user, not a business or corporate user, who can afford to pay a hefty price here in the US for a static IP. Just for instance, Time Warner Cable charges a bit over $125 per month just for a static IP and connection, whereas a standard broadband account (same as above) with a dynamic IP is only $44.95. DSL from the phone company is about the same price as above for both a business ($129) and home users($44.95). I'd agree 100% about not having a server rely solely on DHCP and to have static IP's for a corporate environment. A home environment, DYDNS is about the best we can do. Anyway, where is this guy? I haven't seen a post from him since the first day!! I'm not trying to get into a pis*ing match (no pun intended) just wanted to let them know what worked for me.

I figure DNS is at fault because how many people go to websites by typing the IP address? I sure don't. I type the FQDN and from his description, he is doing the same. (www.ntcompatible.com and not typing 216.234.186.180). Since he is getting the famous IE error "website found waiting for response.." in IE, (but doesn't do anything. Just hangs, that leads me to believe it could be a DNS or Routing issue. I've had the same thing happen a few years ago when first configuring ICS. ICS does work most of the time and usually does a good job, but for some reasons, problems like the one 'Lotus' is having come up. I suggested a DHCP server (W2K Server or a personal firewall/router) so that this would not be an issue any longer. The DHCP server will get an IP from the same place his 1st PC is getting an IP address from...either a dorm room switch, DSL, cable, satellite, wireles, or whatever is issuing it out to him.

Oops! I used Win2K in my post but XP will work the same.

There are several options that will work for you. Here are a couple that are the easiest: 1.) Purchase and setup a router ($75 - $100 at BestBuy, PriceWatch.com, etc). I recommend the Linksys BEFSR41. You can connect both of your PC's to it without making any changes (more than likely). This router/firewall will issue IP addresses to both of your PCs (Obtain an IP address froma DHCP server) and will allow you to share files and also an internet connection via cable or DSL. 2.) If you want to attempt to add the protocol called NETBEUI on BOTH PC's in the network properties and purchase a crossover cable, this will also allow you to connect both PC's together. Be sure to reboot both machines after you have added it. However, no internet connection can be done unless you add another network card to one of the PC's and enable ICS (probably easier on W2K). This option is by far the least expensive (under $10) but may require the NT4 CDROM for you to add the protocol. You'll also have to share a folder that you want to get to OR you should be able to go to START, RUN (from the Win2K PC)and type \\NT4PCNAME\c$. NT4PCNAME is the actual name of the NT4 machine. If it is a work PC, your company may use something like PAYROLLPC12, JDOE-NT4, etc. You should be prompted for a user name and password and then gain access to the entire C: drive. Whew! Hope this helps!

I have the following set up: Server: Win2000 Adv Server (SP2) (1) Promise SuperTrak 100 (6 channel IDE RAID) (4) 20GB ATA 100/7200RPM drives (1) 3C905B 10/100 NIC (1) TCP/IP protocol only Client: (1)IBM T22 (1) 30GB ATA100 5400RPM drive (1) Intel Pro 100SP NIC (1) DOS TCP/IP Boot disk Network: NetGear FS524 10/100 switch New CAT5 cables No uplink to any other network. I can connect to the server fine via DOS. However, when I ghost down from the server, I only get about 130MB per minute. If I set up another T22 laptop with Win2K Adv Server (obviously no RAID), I can connect fine and ghost the same target PC at 400-450MB per minute. I have 4 of these rack mount servers and they all act the same way. Is this an issue with the RAID card or configuration? I've set the block size on the raid card from 4k up to about 128k with no significant increase. Any ideas?

Just on a side note, this is the article about the reg key: SYMPTOMS You may observe a long delay when you copy a file from an MS-DOS client to a Microsoft Windows 2000-based computer using the TCP/IP protocol. NOTE: This behavior does not occur when you copy a file from an MS-DOS client to a computer running Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 or Microsoft Windows 95 or Microsoft Windows 98, or when you copy a file from Windows 2000-based computer to an MS-DOS-based computer. CAUSE This behavior occurs because the MS-DOS sender drops packets during the transmission. Windows 2000 uses a default TCP receive window size of 17 KB for Ethernet (8 KB in Windows NT 4.0). MS-DOS sends back-to-back packets in an attempt to fill the receiver's buffer that is flooding its network adapter. The MS-DOS real mode network adapter driver is unable to keep up with the stream of packets sent by the MS-DOS TCP/IP stack, which results in packet losses. The network adapter driver drops packets before they are placed on the wire. RESOLUTION WARNING: Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that problems resulting from the incorrect use of Registry Editor can be solved. Use Registry Editor at your own risk. For information about how to edit the registry, view the "Changing Keys and Values" Help topic in Registry Editor (Regedit.exe) or the "Add and Delete Information in the Registry" and "Edit Registry Data" Help topics in Regedt32.exe. Note that you should back up the registry before you edit it. If you are running Windows NT or Windows 2000, you should also update your Emergency Repair Disk (ERD). To work around this problem, set the TCP receive window size in Windows 2000 to a value equal or less than 8 KB: Start Registry Editor (Regedt32.exe). Locate the following registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\tcpip\Parameters On the Edit menu, click Add Value, and then add the following registry value: Value Name: TcpWindowSize Data Type: REG_DWORD Value: 8192 Quit Registry Editor & reboot.

I had the Ovislink NICs in the servers before, so I tried the 3Com to be sure that it was not the NIC chipsets themselves. It's now RAID5 (3+1) and it did the same thing in a RAID 0 config. I've even tried a new RAID card. I thought that I read somewhere about a registry key that had to be modified to allow for faster DOS IP sessions. Any ideas there? PIII-933MHz with 512MB PC133 memory.

I would think that if Active Directory were implemented, this would be an option since you can publish printers inside AD. However, I am unsure since I am just now looking into configuring W2K server with AD. I'm sure Clutch and the other forum mods will have an answer for you. I've been referred this link to me for server setup questions and it has always been a big help (Thanks Clutch! ) http://www.microsoft.com/technet/treevie...rt2/tcpch07.asp Browse up to 'How-To' and you'll see the Printing section there....

Can someone explain the data rate for a 10Mbit switch and a 100Mbit switch? Basically I need to show someone here beside me that a 10Mbit switch can pass XXX amount of data per second (in MB's). We are in a heated discussion and I need for someone else to confirm it. I would post it here but that would mean that I am 'leading' a member's response. Thanks

Thanks to you both. I said 1.2 MB/s and 12 MB/s respectively for a 10/100 switch, which was an approximate rate on a small unmanaged switch. We were just planning yet another sales conference where we pack up the rolling servers, back up all data across several independent small 100 Mbit lans, image the laptops, and restore the data. We had to estimate how much data each user had and then calculate an average time that it will take to perform the above tasks. We'll probably have 6-8 servers, each having a 200GB raid array and maybe a single 16 port switch for each server (using only 10 connections to the laptops) to maximize throughput and I/O. Thanks again for the help!!

Can someone explain the data rate for a 10Mbit switch and a 100Mbit switch? Basically I need to show someone here beside me that a 10Mbit switch can pass XXX amount of data per second (in MB's). We are in a heated discussion and I need for someone else to confirm it. I would post it here but that would mean that I am 'leading' a member's response. Thanks

Thank you! 1.2 and 12 MB were my answers for this, wich was a rounded approximate number.

It sounds like he is having DNS issues. On YOUR pc, open a command prompt and type: IPCONFIG /ALL ---> Record any DNS/Wins settings and insert those into his NIC properties. Also, you could *TRY* to set his DNS/WINS IP addresses to point to your PC (typically 192.168.0.1) via Win2000/98 ICS. You also, if $$$ permits, setup Win2000 Server and setup the DHCP scope to issue out these IP addresses for *BOTH* of you. The first suggestion should work though.... Good Luck!

Unsure about the Cisco, but the Linksys BEFSR41/81 are both nice. Easy to configure settings via browser, have port forwarding, routing, and DHCP server capabilities. By the way, they are both switches as well (41 is a 4 port ....81 is the 8 port). We are using the BEFSR41 for about 600 remote users coming in over some form of Broadband, and together with Norton AV Corp (or any good AV solution), they seem to keep the PC's protected.

How are you wanting to hide the drives? If you do a dual boot you can use a regkey called NoDrives and set the value to only the ones you want to be seen. Check out http://www.winguides.com/registry/display.php/148/ Basically just add together the numerical value of each drive letter and use that value. A = 1 B = 2 C = 4 D = 8 E = 16 F = 32 G = 64 H = 128 I = 256 etc So if you want to hide the D: drive, add A+B+C+E (leave out the values for the drive(s) you wish to hide) and so on and it will only show in Explorer and My Computer the drives you want. I actually had a quad boot with (4) primary partitions on 1 drive with Win2000 Pro. I got tired of screwing up my gaming partition, app partition, etc, so I basically left 15 GB per partition and once the first install was done, I rebooted again with the CD and install again on the second partition, and so on. Once you are done, you can edit the boot.ini file on the c: partition and rename each one of the OS' descriptions to whatever you like: [operating systems] multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Win2000 - Games" /fastdetect multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Win2000 - Apps" /fastdetect multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(3)\WINDOWS="Win2000 - Demos" /fastdetect One word of advice: If you plan to dual boot with 9x or ME, be sure to install these Op Systems *FIRST* so that 2000 or XP can add them into it's boot manager.