Dear Vista - Please Play Nicely With My Mouse. Thx!

[Jayce]

So wait, it's just assumed that Vista users upon reinstalling their operating system should install terminal services to ensure reliability with their mouse working??

 

[KSoD]

No if you read my post you would see that it is NOT needed. I have never had to install the terminal server to get my mouse working on ANY of my Vista installs from the Beta to SP2. This is something Specific to YOUR setup.

Terminal Server was removed from Vista/Win7 but it is still in XP. Maybe that is where you are having your issues with the whole profile thing.

 

[Jayce]

The profile issue is separate from the mouse issue.

You see, Vista did something... weird... with the default profiles. It's actually extremely frustrating to set up for a business environment (to the point there's been a lot of regret of this order), whereas at home I have no issues with Vista and it runs very smoothly with little issues. But home use vs business use are two entirely different beasts.

In my other thread about the default profile, somebody had posted with a confident sounding demeanor "oh just do this this and this and it'll work." Right when I went to try that, Vista decided to take a **** on me and the mouse magically stopped working, when I had already been using it for the last 3 hours prior to this happening.

My image is done. My profile is established. I just need to copy it to default. If I can do that and it works, I'm golden.

Problem is, Vista is laughing at me while I'm sitting here using hot keys to navigate around. If I can get the mouse working, I'm 10 minutes away from being done with the image and can start my process of knocking out the dozen labs we have to do.

It's just extremely frustrating because there is a tremendous amount of pressure on me to get this done asap, and to have something so simple like a mouse magically fail on me when it had been working before... you get the idea.

 

[KSoD]

There is no guarantee that what was posted will work. My suggestion is very close to the "Inherit" trick that was posted. In fact that is where i came up with my idea was after reading about how to inherit the abilties of other accounts. I just took a different step to get the same results. Instead of having the Default account "Inherit" the Admin rights, i just had you assign them. Same result, different steps.

So yes i know all about what was suggested. If it works is still not known. Cause you never tried what i suggested or the inherit trick.

As i said Terminal Server is not installed and why it is throwing a fit i cant tell you. It has to be something with the software you installed for the Lab or Image that is causing it. Cause of all my installs i have never had that. There is no way to fix it unless you fix the terminal server.

 

[Jayce]

Actually, Mak, I did try what you suggested. It didn't work.

I was in the process of trying the inherit trick you mentioned just now when the mouse stopped responding, so I'm unsure of whether or not it'll work since I can't move the **** mouse.

 

[KSoD]

Well find out what software you installed that messed with the Terminal Server and work from there. That is all that you can do.

I would also suggest learning about sysprep. It is the Windows equivalent of Imaging and might be a better solution than trying to use Clonezilla or something else for all Windows related images.

 

[Jayce]

I have looked into sysprep. I appreciate your suggestion and I don't mean to be negative, but I certainly will continue to do my imaging with FOG, since FOG's capabilities far surpass any other imaging solution I've looked at, Ghost and Acronis included. Plus, you know me Mak. FOG is Linux based. I know it'll hold up nicely.

I did not install any software that day that would have triggered this. I powered the computer on and it had been running while I was busy using FOG on other computers in the same room. Meanwhile, the system sat idle. Later I went back to the computer just to ensure the shortcuts and other minor things were adjusted properly. You know, the usual. OpenOffice icons on the desktop, UAC off, Firewall off, etc.

So that day in particular I didn't do anything to trigger this, hence my confusion. Otherwise I'd be back-tracking what I did to try and solve this issue.

Holy registry hax.

I just had two Dell reps spend an hour and a half remoted into the system trying to troubleshoot it. They tried to install the chipset again but they got bombarded with errors. Ultimately I just watched them and they made a truckload of small changes.

I didn't think installing Openoffice + Google Earth would be enough to FUBAR my Vista install...

 

[KSoD]

But this is exactly what sysprep is for. That is the business tool that companies use to do what you are doing and it is successful. You wish to use tools like FOG and Clonezilla which is fine, but the fact is that Vista is not bad for businesses that use the tools that work properly with Vista instead of trying to find alternatives that may not work.

I know you, i know you like Linux. But the fact is this, not everything *NIX based will work with Windows flawlessly. If major companies much larger than your school and using more systems than 300 can get sysprep and Vista to work, then i would say that it is not Vista that is the problem.

Like i have been saying, it is something that was installed. This is not normal behavior. I dont know what to tell you, as you want to find a alternative way than the way that is known and suggested. I cant really be of much help in that area. I have given you the best advice that i can.

 

[Jayce]

It had nothing to do with anything that was installed. It was a FUBAR'd service and registry entry that was causing it. The Dell reps asked what I installed and I navigated to add/remove programs and they were watching my screen. They both said what I installed would not have caused this, but otherwise they had no explanation of why this happened.

I'm failing to see why WAIK or FOG or Clonezilla or anything is even in this conversation. What I NEED in a computer at a school district, Mak, is the ability for ANYBODY to log in, whether it be teacher/custodian/student/principal, and them to pull the information they need. I need every single user of that lab to pull the same printer. The same printer preferences. The same desktop icons. The same power settings. The same program settings. The same configuration with their virus scanner and firewall. I NEED these. Period. Done. Over. I need these.

To achieve these, I need to set up a default profile. I've tried to not lose my temper with this, but to be blunt, Vista flat out sucks with Default Profiles. It's laughable to how it's set up. From that standpoint alone is enough reason to stay with XP until the day the sun burns out and turns into a cold rock.

It's one thing for teachers, because for a teacher computer they all have their own individual settings anyway so it's no big deal. Certain teachers print to different printers, have different desktops, etc. It's THEIR computer, they deal with it accordingly.

But we need uniformity in a lab. Every student (principal, teacher, etc) who uses that lab must be identical.

I'm failing to see why FOG, Clonezilla, or anything else have to do with this. This is a profile thing we're talking about here. Not a cloning solution.

Just keep in mind, businesses and school districts can be very different. I've worked at two school districts and they're both the same. Default profiles are the way to go. Period. With businesses, such as the company I used to work for (largest printing corporation in the United States) didn't use profiles at all, since each user was individualized, therefore rendering a profile useless.

So businesses can use Vista with flying colors and be fine and I wouldn't be surprised. But know this. When I ran into these issues, I emailed all of the neighboring school districts looking for help. They all responded the same way.

Not a single one of them is using Vista. Needless to say, it's difficult for me to get help from others when I'm the "pioneer" in the game. Unfortunately.

 

[KSoD]

So what your telling me is that the Registry just up and corrupted itself? Like that happens with no programs installed? I dont think so. The Registry only becomes corrupted because of software installs or you messed with it manually. That is all there is to it.

Plus to believe Dell reps is not right. Dell Reps know less than nothing when it comes to Windows. They know how to install it and basic troubleshooting. Just like Geek Squad. Do you listen to them when it comes to in depth Windows stuff?

I know for a fact that i told you that the Vista profiles were not like the XP Profiles. They do not react the same way and for all we know, your copy/paste trick is the source of all the problems.

Which leads me to why i said WAIK and SysPrep. Tools designed to do exactly what you want to do and work, cause they are tried and tested. But you want to think that it is just a simple procedure as it has been for the past 8 years. Times change.

Vista's Profiles are better. They are more secure, they are less prone to corruption. So say what you want and be all upset and scream at me and tear my head off. I tried to warn you before by telling you that they were not alike.

It can be done. I have seen it done. I know it works. Try me advice or dont, it dont matter to me. But i am not going to try and give advice and help if i am gonna get my head bitten off for advising something. You can explain all you want, if you seriously think i dont understand what you are trying to say there is a problem. I understand about uniformity. I understand all about exactly what it is your trying to accomplish. Also understand that i am advising the best course of action that I know to work.