Multiple Configurations 1

[Guest_imported]

I have a user who has requested that when he boots up his home pc that a menue appears to give him theee options 1 stanalone, 2 connect to server1 ,3 connect to server2. I have considered the following already multiple hardware, mulpiple OS (3 copies of windows) or 3 user profiles none of which are practical anyone any ideas?

 

[fenris]

Sounds to me like you want to implement a boot menu. I had done this awhile back and I forget the exact details. It envolves using autoexec.bat and config.sys. YOu could try doing a search on the internet for batch files and boot menus. This should give you an idea of where to start from.<br><br> <p>Troy Williams B.Eng.<br><a href=mailto:fenris@hotmail.com>fenris@hotmail.com</a><br><a href= > </a><br>

 

[paulovey]

I know the [Boot Menu] stuff in the config.sys and autoexec.bat worked in win 3.1x, but that was pre registry days, and I am not sure if it will work with 95/98, but I sure one of you out there will prove me wrong, Anyway...<br><br>If you are using 95/98 you may be able to set up a couple of hardware profiles, you will be prompted for the set of drivers to load when the machine boots up,<br><br>I played with these a few years back, but alas my brain only holds so much and it has since filled up with NT stuff....<br><br><br>Good Luck <p>Paul Ovey<br><a href=mailtoaul.ovey@avenue-legal.co.uk>paul.ovey@avenue-legal.co.uk</a><br><a href= > </a><br>

 

[fenris]

Paul I had used the [Boot Menu] stuff last january on my win98 box and it worked like a charm. I can't remember what I did with the examples I had though. I believe if you check out a win98 boot disk it will have some stuff residing in the autoexec.bat and config.sys.<br><br>Now that I think about it, that may not be the right solution for the particular problem in question.<br><br><br> <p>Troy Williams B.Eng.<br><a href=mailto:fenris@hotmail.com>fenris@hotmail.com</a><br><a href= > </a><br>

 

[dxd]

It may depend on what the differences are between connecting to server1 and server2. Is there hardware, client, or protocol differences or is the difference merely the domain?<br><br>Hardware profiles can be easily used to differentiate between standalone and networked, basically by disabling the NIC in the standalone profile.<br><br>You can use a &quot;multi-boot&quot; config.sys file to further configure a specific profile. A basic config.sys with multi-boot is as follows:<br><br>[menu]<br>menuitem SA, Standalone&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;hardware profile name<br>menuitem S1, Server1&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;hardware profile name<br>menuitem S2, Server2&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;hardware profile name<br>menudefault SA, 10<br><br>[SA]<br>&quot;drivers or settings specific to this profile&quot;<br>[S1]<br>&quot;drivers or settings specific to this profile&quot;<br>[S2]<br>&quot;drivers or settings specific to this profile&quot;<br>[common]<br>&quot;common drivers and settings for all profiles&quot;<br><br>Your autoexec.bat file would need to be configured to branch based upon the selection.<br><br>@echo off<br>goto %config%<br><br>:SA<br>&quot;configuration&quot;<br>:S1<br>&quot;configuration&quot;<br>:S2<br>&quot;configuration&quot;<br><br>The autoexec would be where you took care of the differences in which Hardware Profiles could not.<br><br>This could be done by creating .REG files from registry exports and merging them to get the settings you need using regedit.<br><br>You could also copy and rename INI files for any settings differences.<br><br>If you have more detail on the differences between the server connections please provide that.<br><br><br><br><br> <p>Doug<br><a href=mailto:dxd_2000@yahoo.com>dxd_2000@yahoo.com</a><br><a href= > </a><br>

 

[Guest_imported]

The user will connect to two different domains over TCP/ip<br>he wants the menue at the windows logon stage ( ie options within the logon box) ithink this would only be possible with some windows reprograming<br><br>Thanks for the help so far ( it has been a few years since I have setup multiconfig machinces the last ones were russian and english windows dual boot machines)<br><br>

 

[paulovey]

Think you are right, if the diffent domains have different IP addresses even in setting up hardware profiles, I think the computer will not know which profile to use, for which domain.&nbsp;&nbsp;<br><br>Short of him/her manually changing the primary NT domain in the client each time and playing with the IP settings, I am out of ideas (sorry).<br><br>So its over to the experts. Would like to know how its done though. <p>Paul Ovey<br><a href=mailtoaul.ovey@avenue-legal.co.uk>paul.ovey@avenue-legal.co.uk</a><br><a href= > </a><br>

 

[Htech]

Ouch.... that request may not be possible with out programing. There is a slim chance that multi-boot configuration with registry keys being installed with DOS commands might work. Does any one else has ideas?

 

[dxd]

Well, if he wants a menu of domain options at the logon prompt then I suggest he move to NT or 2000. You do not have these options in 9x. Although, I don't see why it is such a big deal to type in the name of the domain you are wanting to connect to.

You can change the default domain through registry hacks as I mentioned before, however the menu would be in Dos and not in Windows.

 

[techshoot]

I connect to many different servers at different customer sites, along with my own network and I found a product called switchip to be invaluable. It stores configurations and allow you to select a configuration and apply it, even capturing the current configuration so you can save it as your own defined name. It is available at

http://www.switchip.com

and I think it somewhere around $30.

http://www.ktech-usa.com