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Slipstreaming RAID and SATA controller drivers to your Windows XP, 2003 installation media

It still amazes me how many critical IT related tasks still require a floppy disk.  I came upon one of these situations when trying to install Windows 2003 Server R2 on an extra Dell Workstation I had.  Of course, it wanted the drivers on A:, which didn’t exist.  Of course, you could always install a disk drive… Below are instructions how to address this issue without using a disk drive.  The term is slipstreaming because it injects the files just as if it was part of the original installation media.

  1. Download nLite (http://www.nliteos.com/).  You could also download the Vista version called vLite (http://www.vlite.net).
  2. Install the application
  3. Select your original Windows XP, 2003 installation media location.
  4. Select a target location to copy the installation files
  5. Select the tasks you would like to perform (ie. install drivers, install service packs, remove components, etc…)
  6. Choose to create an ISO image from your previous selections or Direct Burn to create a new CD image.
  7. Install the OS using your CD, but this time, you don’t have to press F6 to try to load drivers.

Grant Full mailbox access to Domain Admins and Enterprise Admins in Exchange 2003

One would assume that administrators (Domain Admins and Enterprise Admins) would be allowed to fully control user mailboxes. Unfortunately, this presumption is shown to be incorrect when admins try to add additional mailboxes to their Outlook client. Of course, you can always manually set permissions on a per mailbox basis, but that defeats the purpose of global mailbox management. The cause is due to Microsoft deciding to globally set Deny permissions to Full Mailbox Access (Send As / Receive As) and hide the security tab in which one could edit these permission settings in Exchange System Manager. Fortunately, there is a simple registry fix for this problem.

1.Run regedit

1.Click Start, point to Run, and then type regedit.

2.Add registry key ShowSecurityPage

1.Go to HKEY_Current_UserSoftwareExchangeExAdmin

2.Once you reach the above section of the registry you need to create a DWORD called ShowSecurityPage.

3.A value of 1 (Numeric one) means on (show security tab), whilst 0 (Zero) means off.

4.Close the registry editor.

5.Close the Exchange System Manger, then reopen (no need for a reboot)

6.Right click on YourOrganization (Exchange), then click Properties.

7.Click the Security tab, then highlight the Domain Admins group.

8.Scroll down the permissions list and uncheck Deny for Send As and Receive As

9.Repeat the above step for the Enterprise Admins group.

How to reinstall TCP/IP in Windows XP

Sometimes, no matter how many times you uninstall TCP/IP or Network drivers, your computer refuses to connect properly to the network. Signs usually entail erratic network connectivity, webpages won’t load when first accessed, no ip address is bound to the adapter, etc. The instructions below provide a way to essentially REINSTALL TCP/IP and fix corrupted Winsock registry values. If these steps do not work, the best thing to try is to run a repair using your Windows 2000 CD.
1. Remove TCP/IP
Note Before you remove TCP/IP, make a note of the IP and the DNS settings.
1. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Network and Dial-up Connections.
2. Right-click Local Area Connection, and then click Properties.
3. In the Components checked are used by this connection list, click Internet Protocol (TCP/IP).
4. Click Uninstall, and then in the Uninstall Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) dialog box, click Yes.
5. When you are prompted to restart your computer, click Yes.
2. Delete the Bind registry value, the Tcpip subkey, the Winsock subkey, and the WinSock2 subkey
1. Click Start, click Run, type regedit in the Open box, and then click OK.
2. In the left pane, expand HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, and then expand SYSTEM.
3. Expand CurrentControlSet, and then expand Services.
4. Expand lanmanserver, and then click Linkage.
5. In the right pane, right-click Bind, and then click Delete.
6. In the Confirm Value Delete dialog box, click Yes.
7. Expand lanmanworkstation, and then click Linkage.
8. In the right pane, right-click Bind, and then click Delete.
9. In the Confirm Value Delete dialog box, click Yes.
10. Right-click Tcpip, click Delete, and then in the Confirm Key Delete dialog box, click Yes.
11. Right-click Winsock, click Delete, and then in the Confirm Key Delete dialog box, click Yes.
12. Right-click WinSock2, click Delete, and then in the Confirm Key Delete dialog box, click Yes.
13. Restart your computer.
3. Reinstall TCP/IP
1. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Network and Dial-up Connections.
2. Right-click Local Area Connection, and then click Properties.
3. Click Install, click Protocol in the Click the type of network component you want to install list, and then click Add.
4. In the Network Protocol list, click Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), and then click OK.
5. Replace the IP and the DNS settings with the values that you made note of at the beginning of the “Remove TCP/IP section.”

Installing Windows XP using an external USB CD-ROM, DVD-ROM drive.

Due to high demands for portability and technological advances, laptops are getting smaller and faster. They are now as small as a notebook and just as productive as a workstation. Unfortunately, the smaller laptops are smaller because essential devices, such as CDROMs and floppy disk drives, are externally connected. To add to the problem, companies often use proprioteiry connections to these devices. What happens when it breaks and the replacement is twice as much as other external USB drives? What if you have to boot off of a CD to re-install an operating system because you just upgraded your new hard drive? What if your operating system is corrupted and you would like to start over new? All of these situations have one thing in common. It poses the question: How do I get the Windows Boot CD to boot off of my external CDROM if my bios doesn’t support booting from USB? The steps below will save you a lot of time and frustration.

1. Download the USB DOS driver and Save the file to your hard drive.
2. Use Winzip to extract the file. If you do not have the Winzip program you may get a shareware version here.
3. Extract the file, then open the folder named USBboot and execute the rawrite2.exe.
4. When prompted for the image name, enter dosboot.img
5. Enter the floppy drive as your destination drive, which in general is the A:
6. When it is done, reboot with this disk to use the USB devices.
7. If everything went well, you should have a drive R: for the CDROM drive. You are now ready to copy the I386 folder from the Windows 2000 or XP installation CD to the hard drive.
8. Hard Drives will most likely be C: (the next letter available).
9. At the prompt, go to the CDROM drive (R:) and run “Xcopy *.* /s C:”
10. Now go to the I386 folder (C:I386) then type Winnt.
11. Installation should now start. Follow instruction from your Operating System manual on how to install the OS. (Installation will take some time, Please be patient)