Wish List

32 bit color for running Second life

I think a PDF would be good, since i dont have internet in my apartment to look up if fail.

Btw thx for this tut 😉

How about the suspend and hibernate power saving options?

Quentin Server 2008 has its own media player 11 but you need to follow instructions to install Desktop expierience and it will be install, the only feature it doesnt have is the ability to stream to media servers like the xbox 360 etc.

Does that mean windows server 2008 cannot run windows media player and other players?
I got a free cd key from microsoft, and I would like to build a media center with windows server 2008 for dowloading musics, movies and play them on HD tv.

Come on guys, we need media center!!!!

Editing Start Up & Shut Down Screens & Colors

Server 2003 offered editable registry entries under the key:

CODE[HKEY_USERS.DEFAULTControl PanelColors

That allowed you to change your boot screen and even menu colors; editing colors here doesn’t effect the load and shutdown screen in Server 2008…

Some have suggested that the boot screen assets are in binary boot files similar to Vista, but looking at the various candidates like “winlogon.exe” and “winload.exe.mui” don’t appear to have the appropriate assets or entries…

While primarily an aesthetic issue (it’s nice to be able to have congruent boot colors with your desktop); being able to edit load screen colors has a modest practical benefit for those that use CRT’s as it puts a bit less wear and tear on vulnerable fly-back transformers by avoiding the surges in gain that happen from full field color changes at boot — a particularly vulnerable time lot of people also power up their CRT and PC at the same time when the CRT PSU is sagging which makes matters worse…

Anyone have a clue how or where to go to edit the load and shutdown screen colors or assets?

=O)

FWIW, I tried Anon’s regsrv32 DVD decoder suggestions, but they do not work. Also, I couldn’t get kstvtune.ax to register :/ .

This website is great. Thank you for publishing all this.

One change and one request:

REQUEST: Enable the Windows Vista ALT-TAB Preview window (so you can see the contents of the screen rather than an icon)

CHANGE: The instructions would leave you to believe you can install Windows, then perform these steps. This is not always the case. For example, I tried for two hours trying to install wireless then realized that I should step ahead to the tweaks and enable wireless, then complete my install.

Thanks!

Arris: Thanks for your feedback! The preview window when pressing Alt+Tab should be automatically be shown when you use the Vista Aero color scheme (step 9 of the Themes page). Your suggestion to set ‘Enable Wireless’ as step two is more logical indeed, so I changed the order of the pages. Thanks for your suggestions!

Garret, if you want media sharing use Tversity, it has been updated for support for Vista and Server 2008 and I use it quite often as I have loads of media.

Phoneix – about your Dreamscene comment…this does work on Server 08, you need to install a free MPEG-2 Decoder at http://www.free-codecs.com and then install the free Deskscapes pack at http://www.stardock.com/products/deskscapes/downloads.asp

Im hoping someone can sort the System Restore function which is sadley lacking, I nearly screwed my system earlier trying to patch the uxtheme.dll file to install custome theme’s (Windows Seven)…if anyone gets in trouble doing this and cannot boot into Server 08 without Sys Restore follow this..Boot into safe mode (No icons will show..just black screen) press Ctrl+Alt+Del and select task manager, go up to file and select “New Task” type cmd, then “chkdsk” this will start on next boot, then type “sfc /scannow” to replace system files that have been corrupted, boot the system wait for the checkdisk to finish…and your in…took me hours to figure that as there was no info on the net…basically said if you screwed your uxtheme.dll file on 08 …your screwed….not so people 😉

Ashley
MCP XP/2003 Server

Hyper-V
I would really appreciate your expertise here
Does anybody know how to add custom resolutions on VMs on hyper-v?
I am using a laptop for testing and I can’t find a way to adjust the screen resolution to anything but the standard 4:3 formats
and since the laptop’s screen is wide all i get is a windowed virtual machine
and no way to scale it fullscreen
been googling but found nothing,anybody knows how to set a widescreen resolution on VMs?

Also, I’ve been trying to enable wireless on the VM
I’ve seen these workarounds:
http://sqlblog.com/blogs/john_paul_cook/archive/2008/03/23/using-wireless-with-hyper-v.aspx
http://blogs.msdn.com/virtual_pc_guy/archive/2008/01/09/using-hyper-v-with-a-wireless-network-adapter.aspx
but the problem is the network router uses static IPs for the machines
so my box has a manually configured IP like 192.168.10.xxx and the DNS IPs of the ISP are also manually added
I’ve tried both methods (ICS and RRAS) but the VM is assigned a different class IP 169.254.xxx.xxx so it is unable to connect to the router or internet
regardless of the settings I’ve tried (different IPs, DNS IPs,router IP as DNS etc)
has anybody figured out how to set up wireless connections for VM with static IPs?

Finally, I surely hope the RTM edition of hyper-v will be able to support power states, I really do miss hibernation on my laptop
thanx in advance
keep up the great work

Please add Windows DVD Maker to the list. I download Windows Movie Maker: http://www.windowsworkstation.com/win2008/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=219. When I try to run Windows DVD Maker, I get the error: MPEG-2 encoder is missing To use Windows DVD Maker, compatible MPEG-2 video encoding software must be installed on your computer.

Hibernation Support!
Can’t get it working in Server 2008 x64

Arris: Maybe the topic Standby / Hibernate can help you, but if you are using Hyper-V, hibernation is not possible because Hyper-V doesn’t support it yet.

Admin, Windows Fax and Scan work fine. I have to add shortcut to All Programs since it does not appear in my computer automatically when a scanner is plug in.

I have tried to get that media center to work as I said in my previous post, as I got about 2 or 3 errors duing the installation, also I needed files of my Media Center 2005 Cd 2 disc

Arris: Looks nice! Will take a look at this in the weekend! 🙂

Admin, Arris, Snipping Tool has already been satisfy.

Arris: Nice job! 🙂 I set the status to satisfied! 😉

OK, I finally get the Snipping Tool to work on Windows Server 2008 and it can be download here: http://www.mediafire.com/?3ed04mmxx9h

one thing I wold like to see is Windows Performance index

Arris: Get the tool winsat.exe from the system32 folder of a Vista installation with the same architecture as your Windows Server 2008.

C:WindowsSystem32>winsat -?
Windows System Assessment Tool

Command line usage:

        WINSAT  [switches]

        Valid assessment names
            formal      run the full set of assessments and save the results
            features    just run the features assessment
            cpu         run the cpu assessment
            mem         run the system memory assessment
            dwm         run the desktop window manager assessment
            d3d         run the d3d assessment
            media       run the media assessment
            mfmedia     run the Media Foundation based assessment
            disk        run the storage assessment

        An assessment name is mandatory.

        The 'formal' assessment will run all the assessments and save the data
        in '%systemroot%windowsperformancedatastore'  This is the only
        assessment that will save data in this location.

        The 'features' assessment simply enumerates the system's features.
        This is best used with the '-xml ' switch to save the data.
        The '-eef' switch can be used to enumerate extra features such as
        optical disks, memory modules, and other items.

        Other command line paramters include include:
            '-v'                      enable verbose output
            '-xml '         save the XML output to 'filename'

        Running the "winsat dwm" command will re-assess the systems graphics
        capabilities and restart the desktop window manager.

        Please see the online Command Reference for more information
        on the command line parameters used with the other assessments.

C:WindowsSystem32>

Please add System Restore to the wish list.

Arris: See the topic System Restore? on the forum for more info.

Hello!

Can you add a ready boost to wish list?

[Not a wishlist item but I couldn’t find a better category. -Gideon7]

Windows Server 2008 is a big win for backup. See http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/cc462796.aspx

Vista’s wbadmin.exe gives the following command-line options:

wbadmin 1.0 – Backup command-line tool
(C) Copyright 2004 Microsoft Corp.

—- Commands Supported —-

START BACKUP — Runs a backup
STOP JOB — Stops the currently running backup or recovery
GET VERSIONS — List details of backups recoverable from a
specific location
GET ITEMS — Lists items contained in the backup
GET STATUS — Reports the status of the currently running job

Windows Server 2008’s wbadmin.exe gives the following additional options:

wbadmin 1.0 – Backup command-line tool
(C) Copyright 2004 Microsoft Corp.

—- Commands Supported —-

ENABLE BACKUP — Enable or modify a scheduled daily backup
DISABLE BACKUP — Disables running scheduled daily backups
START BACKUP — Runs a backup
STOP JOB — Stops the currently running backup or recovery
GET VERSIONS — List details of backups recoverable from a
specific location
GET ITEMS — Lists items contained in the backup
START RECOVERY — Run a recovery
GET STATUS — Reports the status of the currently running job
GET DISKS — Lists the disks that are currently online
START SYSTEMSTATERECOVERY — Run a system state recovery
START SYSTEMSTATEBACKUP — Run a system state backup
DELETE SYSTEMSTATEBACKUP — Delete system state backup(s)

In other words you can schedule CompletePC backups, something not possible in Vista. Another new feature: You can back up and restore the SystemState (C:Windows*) separate from the rest of the computer. See the TechNet article for details.

Arris: Fixed the url 😉 Never used Windows Backup, but sounds like a nice feature indeed!

Well again I have tried to install Vista games in Server 2008 and I still get the problem with not playing, I have tried pretty much everything I know, I am not a programmer so I cannot help in that department, but I took the reg keys out that belong to the games and the games explorer and installed them into server 2008 and nothing works. As for the hacked Vista Games For XP, some of these games work, except for solitaire and spider Solitair + Minesweeper. as the 2 solitaire games needs to be patched and I have looked everywhere for this and minesweeper needs a .bat file created.

http://jonnyw1989.wordpress.com/2007/01/31/windows-vista-games-for-xp-update/

Arris: Maybe it’s possible to find out what the problem is using Sysinternals Process Monitor. For what I found out about the Game Explorer see my response here.

WMDC question: I can’t get it to install, it says:

“The update could not be installed because at least one windows component required by Windows Mobile Device Center is missing.”

I do not have .NET, Desktop Experience etc. installed.. anyway, what do I need? Please help, how your WMDC worked?!

—

And a tip from me:

I found a method how to switch off ClearType font smoothing under Office 2007 (Word etc) with 2008 Server (and perhaps with Vista)
1. Start WINWORD.EXE in compatibility mode (from the program files/office directory… right click, properties, compatibility, you can select emulating 2003 server for example)
2. Now you can see and switch off in Word options / popular menu the “always use cleartype” pipe.
3. After this, you can remove compatibility, and there won’t cleartype any more 😉

Arris: You *must* have Desktop Experiene installed in order to use WMDC. See the Enable Offline Files feature tutorial for more info.

I’d like to have Messenger 8.5 and other Live programs like Live Writer working on Server 2008…

Arris: Take a look at the forum. Zolee001 uploaded all full .msi files to his Skydrive!

Hi all, windows server 2008 is great windows. However, i cannot run vista embedded games.
Before copying the xinput files: i get this from error details:
Problem signature:
Problem Event Name: APPCRASH
Application Name: Chess.exe
Application Version: 6.0.6001.18000
Application Timestamp: 47919e42
Fault Module Name: XINPUT9_1_0.dll
Fault Module Version: 6.0.6001.18000
Fault Module Timestamp: 4791a783
Exception Code: c0000135
Exception Offset: 0006ecfb
OS Version: 6.0.6001.2.1.0.400.8
Locale ID: 1033
Additional Information 1: 9d13
Additional Information 2: 1abee00edb3fc1158f9ad6f44f0f6be8
Additional Information 3: 9d13
Additional Information 4: 1abee00edb3fc1158f9ad6f44f0f6be8
After copying xinput9_1_0.dll from Oct2005_xinput_x64 to wow64 folder and Oct2005_xinput_x86 to system32.
I get this from error details:
Problem signature:
Problem Event Name: APPCRASH
Application Name: Chess.exe
Application Version: 6.0.6001.18000
Application Timestamp: 47919e42
Fault Module Name: ntdll.dll
Fault Module Version: 6.0.6001.18000
Fault Module Timestamp: 4791a783
Exception Code: c000007b
Exception Offset: 0006ecfb
OS Version: 6.0.6001.2.1.0.400.8
Locale ID: 1033
Additional Information 1: 9d13
Additional Information 2: 1abee00edb3fc1158f9ad6f44f0f6be8
Additional Information 3: 9d13
Additional Information 4: 1abee00edb3fc1158f9ad6f44f0f6be8
I wonder whether this is related to os error. Any feedback is greatly appreciated.

Right as far as vista intergrated games are concerned, I took the games of a vista x64 machine along with the GameUX registry entry, and installed them into Server 2008, then after I put the games under C:Program FilesMicrosoft Games I installed the registry entry, when I try to play a games I get the error about Xinput9_1_0.dll, I tried installing latest DirectX and Xinput files from the web and kept getting the error, finally, I took the Xinput file from Vista X64, but now the games dont work and I do not get the error, also once you have the games in the right directory, if you click the right mouse button on the start button and click properties and then go to start menu and click customise, if you go down the list and then click games, the games explorer will start coming up when you click games, unfortunate thing is I have not been able to get the gamees to show in the explorer yet.

As for the hacked games, unless someone knows where to download the patch for the various games that crash when you close the game, then I dont know how to install these ones.

Being able to install windows media plugins for IE, firefow or opera.. the install just says that it doesnt support server OS 🙁

Arris: I assume you are trying to install the Windows Media Player Firefox Plugin.
1. Download wmpfirefoxplugin.exe and start it.
2. Leave the installer open, browse with Windows Explorer to the folder %tmp% and copy the randomname.msi you can find there to for example your desktop.
3. Close the installer, modify the .msi file using the Installing UT3 tutorial, then install!

Services, here you are working to enable vista features. But what about customizing server? I’m working on disabling some services doesn’t required for workstation, maybe some info already exist anywhere?

Would like to see compatiblity with sidebar and server 2008 improvments in the gadgets

Dream Scene replacement (expiring beta yet): http://www.desktopfx.net/

Regarding BT, as mentioned in the forums I tried to install Dell drivers (is a Dell 🙂 and then Toshiba stack.
With that I get some basic BT file transfer features, but cannot make my windows-based smartphone to sync over BT via Windows Mobile Device Center (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=46f72df1-e46a-4a5f-a791-09f07aaa1914&displaylang=en&tm)

BTW, thanks for RA pointer 🙂

Remote Assistance

Arris: You can install Remote Assistance via the Add Features Wizard in the Server Manager. After installing the feature, you can configure it by opening System in the Control Panel and clicking Remote Settings on the left.

What about DVD decoding in Windows Media Player that is included in Vista Ultimate?

for some reason sony vegas Pro 6.0 runs funny on 2008 workstation setup

How can you get the Windows index / search feature working?

Yes I know it sucks but it can be useful in Outlook 2007, if only to stop Outlook 2007 complaining about the Index service not running.

I can’t see a ‘Windows Search’ service in the services.msc list nor anything relevant in the Add Features list.

‘Indexing Options’ is in the Control Panel list but when you open it there’s a message ‘Indexing is not running’ but, typically, there’s no hint about how to get it running.

Thanks

Van

Media Center depends on several services (files may not be in Server Install) and have to be copied, registered, & installed as services) –

No these do not add bloat to Vista as someone suggested, since if the users doesn’t e ven havea TV Tuner card, a very lite version of the service runs that is for remote media access.

Media Center also is DirectX reliant, make sure you run the latest DirectX runtime distribution as well once you get the services running and the EXEs regi.)

DreamScene!!! I have been trying to copy the files from Vista Ultimate, but with no success. Am using the x64 versions, btw… has anyone had any luck?

XINPUT9_1_0.dll is XInput (handling input from XBOX 360 devices) from DirectX, installing the newest DirectX may fix that.