As some of you may know, I spend most of my days at work working on Windows XP PCs, and to say that I don't like it would be a significant understatement. Recently, I began having issues when attempting to deploy a custom image of XP onto some machines in a lab that I am responsible for. Previously, in a situation like this, we would set up the machine the way we wanted it, set up a custom user account template, and copy it over the default user template that comes with XP. Then, we would run Microsoft's sysprep.exe utility on the machine and dump it to a Norton Ghost image and then deploy it as needed. That worked great (note the past tense), that is, until this past summer, and Service Pack 2. It turns out, that the functionality that we relied on to deploy those customized user templates was a "bug" in XP prior to SP2. Apparently, the correct behavior is for Windows® to copy the administrator account profile onto the default user profile. For some reason, that doesn't make any sense to me. For instance, in my situation, I want the administrator account to have Windows's Administrative Tools in its start menu, but I don't want network users to have them there. What are my options? I can set up profiles for all the I want to administer the machines, but they have to be present for me to do that, because they have to log in, at least once, and that just isn't feasible in my situation. Oh, but that's not all.
To add insult to injury, Microsoft also insists in ramming its apps down your throat as well. Every time that you create a new image using sysprep, the machine puts MSN Explorer Internet Explorer and Windows Media Player icons on the desktop of every user, even the ones for whom you have already created a custom set of desktop icons (In my setup, I don't get the MSN Explorer or IE, icons, but just TWO WMP icons, instead). It makes me want to pull my hair out. I wish the U.S. government would crack down on Microsoft the way that the European Union (Free Registrations Required) has, and force them to offer Windows without all the bundled (read: force fed) Microsoft media and browser apps. But, alas, as long as G. W. Bush is president, I have little hope of that happening. If anyone out there has any suggestions as to what, if anything, I can do to ease my custom setup woes, I would greatly appreciate it. In the mean time, have a good day, and stay away from Windows, if at all possible. Stress kills.
Posted by Brooks Travis | 
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