Add font to windows xp remotely

Using Dameware and some googling found this great way to add a font to a remote computer. I'm sure you could script it for more fonts, but for a single font this works well enough.

copy the file to the remote computers %systemroot%\fonts folder.

add a new REG_SZ entry to the registry;
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Fonts

done!

hal.dll missing after imaging dell optiplex 760 with WDS

After successful image machine boots with the following error;

Windows don't boot because the file \system32\hal.dll is missing

Please re-install a copy file.

After some googling came upon this solution and it works great!

Boot into WDS as if deploying an image
once logged on hit Shift+F10 to get a Command prompt

DISKPART
SELECT DISK 0
CLEAN
CREATE PARTITION PRIMARY
EXIT
EXIT

Close the command prompt and image as usual. Sweet!

Installing Windows Server 2008 on a Dell Poweredge 2650 server

I didn't think much of it until it came time to upgrade this server (late at night) that it only has a cdrom drive! Unfortunately Windows Server 2008 only comes on dvd, so this created a problem.

Solution:

If you don't have an OS on the server already, you'll need to reinstall it. I chose to reinstall server 2003 after wiping the drive and finding out I couldn't boot from the dvd. Perhaps you wiped the server not realizing the problem you'll run into. Or you just want a clean install before upgrading.

Download the Dell systems build and update utility cd iso, version 5.5 from here and burn it to cd.

After reinstalling server 2003;
I shared the dvd in another computer and copied the files over the network to a folder on the hard drive.

I downloaded the server 2008 perc3di scsi raid drivers from the dell support website, extracted the files into a folder on the hard drive named c:\$WinPEDriver$. This way server 2008 will find the drivers and find your hard drive upon install.

I then ran the setup.exe for server 2008, which I previously copied into a folder on the c: drive and stepped through a normal install of server 2008. It worked just like it should.

Adobe CS4 won't install

I had this issue yesterday. I tried installing CS4 and would get the following error when the autorum would start;

AutoPlay/main.ini "Invalid Unicode File" MAIN_FILE_VERSION Error PRODUCT_REGISTRY_PARENT Error PRODUCT_REGISTRY_KEY Error

When I try to run setup.exe manually it runs in the background but never starts. I left it sit for over an hour and nothing. I removed every adobe product on the computer (winxp sp3) and even used the adobe cs3 cleanup utility with no change.

Solution:
The problem was some incompatibility with the dvd and the dvdrw drive. I tried the dvd's on another computer and it worked as it should. I copied dvd1 onto my hard drive, copied the folders from dvd2 into the new dvd1 folder, shared it and the installer ran perfectly across the network. Strange.

Slipstreaming office 2007 service pack

First download the service pack from microsoft. Drop to command prompt, change to the appropriate directory with the downloaded file. I renamed the file to sp2.exe to simplify things.
Run the sp2.exe with the extract command;
sp2.exe /extract:d:\downloads\sp2

copy the extracted files to your office 2007 install source, into the Updates folder. When you install Office 2007 it will automagically include the sp2 udpates.

Nice!

Acrobat 9 reader error, please install acrobat 8 or 9 when opening pdf file

This is a new error I came across after upgrading from acrobat reader 8 to 9.

Solution:
In order for pdf's to open with Internet Explorer 7 installed you need to open Acrobat reader 9, go to Edit, Preferences, select Internet, then uncheck "open pdf in browser" and "allow fast web view. Close acrobat and all is good.

Access 2007 read only file error

Apparently regardless of the permissions on an access database (mdb) file, the user needs to have write access to the parent folder to open the file. Otherwise this results in a "read only" file error and the user is prevented from making any changes to the file.

Interesting.

Laserjet 4000 series, reset maintenance count

I found this on printertechs.com, but I run into this so infrequently that I've forgotten it every time;

Reset the maintenance count on an HP LaserJet 4000, 4050, 4100, 5000
"The Short Cut Method"
1. Turn the printer off.
2. Hold down the Item key (the minus side of the button) and Value key (the minus side).
3. Turn the printer on.
4. Wait for RESET MAINTENANCE COUNT to be displayed and then release both keys.

VMware and WDS

Trying to PXE boot to Windows Deployment Services, but it keeps failing with error pxe-e53 no boot filename received. Spent hours thinking something was wrong with the server only to find out the problem was with vmware.

Solution:
Somewhere along the line I updated VMware to 6.5 and the default networking settings changed from Bridged to NAT. PXE boot won't work with NAT. Changing to Bridged mode and restarting the VMWare machine fixed it. Wow, hours of time working on this for such a simple solution!

Outlook 2007 font issue

Twice I've had problems where outlook 2007 will lose it's font, but it's only noticeable in the options menus. The menus won't fit the display window and clever microsoft won't let you change the size of the window, so many buttons and items are unuseable. This has happened after uninstalling other software. My guess is that it removed an important system file.

Solution:
I booted into safe mode and copied all the fonts from a working computer to the bad computer. Rebooted and the problem was solved.

Start and intent

I started this blog because I'm tired of fixing things and forgetting years later how I did it. So, this is my attempt at documenting IT oddities that I run across and the solutions found.

Thanks,

Dale T.