Service Packs and Slipstreams

Hay na lang! Just this week our office bought 20 desktop computer units. It only means one thing… work on weekends! I asked my boss if I could set it all up on weekdays.. kasi nga pagod pa ako sa kakachat all week..hahaha! “No, you must do it this weekend!” He said. No choice! I have to set-up the OS, MS Office, anti-virus, etc…etc 20 times! I wish I could just simply deploy them over the network, or do a "unattended installation."  It would be of course much better if I could do a “voice activated setup.” I’d be happy to say “Computers! Out of the box! Get your own mouse, keyboards.. Whatever! Get the hell out of my sight and set-up yourselves! Better be connected to the network when I’m back or else….!” Tinatamad lang ako. Weekends eh!

It’s been a while since I last checked my installers… may alikabok na nga! I suddenly have the need to update/upgrade them, so I searched the net for Windows XP Service Pack 3.

Bad News! According to Paul Thurrott:

Q: When will Microsoft ship XP SP3?

A: “The company (Microsoft) says that Windows XP Service Pack 3 will ship in the second quarter of 2008, or about three months after Windows Vista Service Pack 1 and Windows Server 2008. However, you can now download a near-final version of XP3, the Windows XP SP3 RC refresh.“

I don’t want to download the Windows XP Service Pack 3 RC (Release Candidate). Maski ilang beses pa yang –rerefresh nila. Maski RC Refresh 100x pa yan. I want the final one! I wouldn’t waste my time slipstreaming RCs to my installer and used it… then have problems… then would result to “Do-it-all-over-again.”

Same source:

Q: What are these new features I keep hearing about?

A: Windows XP Service Pack 3 will not include any major new features, but it will include four minor new features that improve the system’s reliability and security. Contrary to reports, Microsoft has been very up-front about these functional additions for quite some time now.

These new features include:

Network Access Protection compatibility. Announced years ago, this feature allows Windows XP machines to interact with the NAP feature in Windows Server 2008. This functionality is built into the RTM version of Windows Vista as well.

Product Key-less install option. As with Windows Vista, new XP with SP3 installs can proceed without entering a product key during Setup.

Kernel Mode Cryptographics Module. A new kernel module that "encapsulates several different cryptographic algorithms," according to Microsoft.

"Black hole" router detection algorithm. XP gains the ability to ignore network routers that incorrectly drop certain kinds of network packets. This, too, is a feature of Windows Vista.

And that’s about it. Nothing dramatic, as promised.

Nothing else new. There are updated applications, which shipped long ago as separate downloads, like Internet Explorer 7 and Windows Media Player 11. And there are even some features that have been removed, like the taskbar-based Address Bar option.

 

Why bother? I’ll use my Windows XP SP2 then and update each unit through Windows update.

Kasi nga I am disappointed with the delayed release of Windows XP SP3 FINAL, sasayangin ko na ang time ko sa MS Office 2003. I’ve never tried slipstreaming Office Service Packs before. Nakakatamad..nasisira ang time ko sa chat! The latest release is Service pack 3, I think it was released 2nd Quarter of 2007. Not sure.

Since we’re gonna set-up 20 units, I’d rather Slipstream the latest Service Pack than waste my time installing the SP3 manually. Waiting is the hardest (Inherent??) part of the task and I hate it. Since I don’t know how, I searched Google for a guide on how to. I found this: Office System (2003) SP3 Slipstreaming. I simply followed the guide and got it right!

The author wrote:

“If you don’t know how to follow these simple instructions then you’d better go and find yourself another job”

c",)BreGuer

The System Administrator Song

There’s a guy who works in another room, or on another floor.
He’s the one you call, when your document ain’t there no more.
He’s probably a boy, but he might be a girl, or something in between.
He’s the only one in the office who knows what PC Load Letter means.

He’s your system administrator, he’s probably into comic books.
And you tremble in fear when you have to hear one of his "What a dummy!" looks.
Got a virus? Lost your password? Or you just can’t print?
In an hour he’ll show up and crouch and squint.
Fight to save your files, he might be there all day,
But sometimes he just presses Caps Lock and walks away.

But HEY! Suddenly my password works! Wow! Hooray!

Hooray, hooray, oh happy day! I’m gonna buy my guy a gift to say:
Having you around means I get to stay stupid! and uninformed!
And I can keep opening dot e-x-e file attachments,
And forgetting my mother’s maiden name, ’cause you’ll fix it all for me, Yay!

I’ll give you a cake, I’ll give you a hug,
I’ll buy the world’s best System Administrator mug.
Just help me out, system administrator.
Please plug in my mouse, system administrator.
I don’t know which button is the mouse click button, system administrator.

Piss him off, and you’ll be fired by tomorrow morn.
‘Cause he’s the guy who knows that you’ve been surfing porn.
So, make sure you stay nice to your system administrator.

(Original music and lyrics by Wes Borg)

Video - Click Here

c",)BreGuer

coolermaster fever

I was looking for a very very nice cooling pad on TipidPC and we stumbled upon this! The CoolerMaster brand is actually almost half the price of Zalman’s but of the same quality when it comes to fans and cooling devices. Pwamis! Astig sya!!! Me likey talaga!!! Magkano naman kaya itech?

NotePal Infinite, the latest achievement in the NotePal series, as the first notebook cooler with a truly comprehensive cooling mechanism in the market: increases the cooling area by 150%, thus managing to cool down multiple heat sources at once. It perfectly meets the need of those notebook users who require the ultimate thermal solution to be able to enjoy a stable yet comfortable environment. Additionally, its uniquely designed air intake at the rear side allows convenient usage anywhere, on the sofa or in bed, without blocking airflow.

something for the audiophile

I went to Skullcandy's website and look what I found! Stylish yet geeky! Hahaha.. Seriously, this is a very cool gadget for all audiophiles out there.

The Marc Frank Montoya 1 gig MP3 Integrated Player Headphone is the closest thing to injecting your music directly into your skull. This product is so unique that world renowned Pro Snowboarder, Marc Frank Montoya has selected this as the single hottest product in the Skullcandy mix to put his name on. For the first time ever, Skullcandy introduces a DJ style headset with a built-in, detachable MP3 player. Listen to your music wirelessly through 40mm power drivers, or pull the player, slide on the battery pack, and transform it into a mini portable MP3 player for use with any headset! Just like the man it’s named after, the Skullcandy MFM Pro headphone is the complete package.

• Built-in detachable MP3 player with direct USB upload/download

• DJ style headset with 90 degree swivel speakers

• 40mm power driver

• Auxiliary audio jack with detachable connection cable

• Optional battery pack instantly turns the built-in MP3 into a portable MP3

• LCD display with backlight

• 1 GIG Flash memory for music or data

buzzzz

Gone were the days of Lotus Notes and Fortran 123. And of word processors such as Wordstar. Yep. I used to use it back in the old days when computers were only running on MS-DOS and the 5 ½ diskettes were all the rage. I, for one, am glad that I’m now using MS Word at home and OpenOffice Writer at work for documents. I became very proficient in it by the way. I was the one always doing all the reports way back in college. J

TL JB emailed us a while back with “Guys, who knows how to use excel and word?” I mean, huh? Oh well.. errr.. nah.. It can’t be that hard for him to use it, right? And he’s already a supervisor. Geez!

I take pity on those people who always do their tax returns on their own, especially those owning businesses who do their own accounting, but don’t know the butt end of a mouse. Luckily, they have San Diego accounting firms that would be able to help them out!