Thursday 22 September 2011

TS Session Broker Load Balancing

What new functionality does this feature provide?

The new TS Session Broker Load Balancing feature enables you to evenly distribute the session load between servers in a load-balanced terminal server farm. With TS Session Broker Load Balancing, new user sessions are redirected to the terminal server with the fewest sessions.

Using TS Session Broker to load balance sessions involves two phases. In the first phase, initial connections are distributed by a preliminary load-balancing mechanism, such as Domain Name System (DNS) round robin. After a user authenticates, the terminal server that accepted the initial connection queries the TS Session Broker server to determine where to redirect the user.

In the second phase, the terminal server where the initial connection was made redirects the user to the terminal server that was specified by TS Session Broker. The redirection behavior is as follows:

· A user with an existing session will connect to the server where their session exists.

· A user without an existing session will connect to the terminal server that has the fewest sessions.

TS Session Broker Load Balancing sets a limit of 16 for the maximum number of pending logon requests to a particular terminal server. This helps to prevent the scenario where a single server is overwhelmed by new logon requests; for example, if you add a new server to the farm, or if you enable user logons on a server where they were previously denied.

The TS Session Broker Load Balancing feature also enables you to assign a relative weight value to each server. By assigning a relative weight value, you can help to distribute the load between more powerful and less powerful servers in the farm. For more information, see Configure TS Session Broker settings by using Terminal Services Configuration.

Additionally, a new "server draining" mechanism is provided that enables you to prevent new users from logging on to a terminal server that is scheduled to be taken down for maintenance. This mechanism provides for the ability to take a server offline without disrupting the user experience. If new logons are denied on a terminal server in the farm, TS Session Broker will allow users with existing sessions to reconnect, but will redirect new users to terminal servers that are configured to allow new logons. For more information, see Deny logons to a terminal server in a load-balanced farm.

You can enable TS Session Broker Load Balancing through Terminal Services Configuration, Group Policy, or Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI). If you are using DNS round robin to distribute initial connections, you must also configure DNS entries for each terminal server in the farm.

Note

While any load-balancing mechanism can be used to distribute the initial connections, DNS round robin is the easiest mechanism to deploy. Deploying TS Session Broker Load Balancing with a network level load-balancing solution such as Network Load Balancing (NLB) or a hardware load balancer avoids the limitations of DNS, while still taking advantage of TS Session Broker session-based load balancing, the per server limit on the number of pending logon requests, and the new "server draining" feature. The limitations of DNS round robin include the caching of DNS requests on the client, which can result in clients using the same IP address for each initial connection request, and the potential for a 30-second timeout delay if a user is redirected to a terminal server that is offline, but still listed in DNS.

About using DNS round robin

To configure DNS round robin, you must create a host resource record for each terminal server in the farm that maps to the terminal server farm name in DNS. (The farm name is the virtual name that clients will use to connect to the terminal server farm.) DNS uses round robin to rotate the order of the resource records that are returned to the client. This functionality helps to distribute initial connections across servers in the farm. The initial connection behavior is as follows:

1. An incoming Terminal Services client queries DNS and receives a list of IP addresses for the farm.

2. The client tries to connect to the first IP address in the list that was returned by DNS.

If the connection fails, the client will automatically try to connect to the next IP address (after a 30-second timeout delay). This provides a degree of fault tolerance if one of the terminal servers is unavailable.

The following diagram provides a more detailed representation of the traffic flow. In the diagrammed scenario, all terminal servers in the farm have host resource records in DNS that map to the terminal server farm name (“Farm1”). Therefore, any terminal server in the farm can act as a redirector and process the initial connection requests.

1. A user on the client computer starts the Remote Desktop Connection (RDC) client. In the Computer field, they specify the name of the terminal server farm (in this case, Farm1). The client contacts the DNS server to resolve the Farm1 name to an IP address.

2. The DNS server, which is configured to use round robin to load balance the initial connection requests, returns the IP addresses that are registered for Farm1 to the client.

3. The client sends the connection request to the first IP address in the list that is returned by DNS. In this example, this is the IP address of TerminalServer2 (10.0.0.3).

4. TerminalServer2, acting as the redirector, queries the TS Session Broker server to determine which terminal server the client should log on to.

5. The TS Session Broker server checks its database and does either of the following:

· If the user has an existing session, the TS Session Broker server returns the IP address of the terminal server where the session exists to the redirector.

· If the user does not have an existing session, the TS Session Broker server determines which terminal server in the farm has the lowest load (based on the number of sessions and the relative server weight value). The TS Session Broker server returns the IP address of the terminal server with the lowest load to the redirector.

6. The redirector (TerminalServer2) sends the client the IP address of the terminal server that the client should connect to (in this example, TerminalServer3).

7. The client sends the connection request to TerminalServer3. TerminalServer3 processes the logon request and the user starts a Terminal Services session.

8. TerminalServer3 notifies the TS Session Broker server of the successful logon.

Note

For information about how to configure dedicated redirectors that redirect user sessions but do not accept user logons, see Configure dedicated redirectors (optional).

TS Session Broker Load Balancing system requirements

To participate in TS Session Broker Load Balancing, the following system requirements apply:

· The TS Session Broker server and the terminal servers in the farm must be running Windows Server 2008. TS Session Broker is available in the Windows Server 2008 Standard operating system, as well as the Windows Server 2008 Enterprise and Windows Server 2008 Datacenter operating systems.

Note

Windows Server 2003-based terminal servers cannot use the TS Session Broker Load Balancing feature.

· You must configure all terminal servers in the load-balanced farm identically, with the same available programs.

· For clients to use TS Session Broker Load Balancing, they must be running Remote Desktop Connection (RDC) version 5.2 or later.

In addition, we recommend that you configure all terminal servers in the farm to restrict each user to a single session. To do this, use either of the following methods:

· Configure the Restrict Terminal Services users to a single remote session Group Policy setting. This policy setting is available in the Computer Configuration\Policies\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Terminal Services\Terminal Server\Connections node of the Group Policy Management Console (GPMC) on a Windows Server 2008-based domain controller. It is a best practice to group the terminal servers that are in the same terminal server farm into a single organizational unit (OU), and then configure this policy setting in a Group Policy object (GPO) that applies to the OU.

Note

If you are using the Local Group Policy Editor, Policies is not part of the node path.

· Configure the Restrict each user to a single session setting on each terminal server by using Terminal Services Configuration. This setting appears under Edit settings, in the General section.

Checklist: Deploying TS Session Broker Load Balancing

To deploy TS Session Broker Load Balancing, you must complete the following tasks.

Note

This step-by-step guide describes how to configure TS Session Broker Load Balancing by using DNS round robin to distribute the initial connections. If you prefer, you can use NLB or a hardware load balancer to spread the initial connection and authentication load between multiple terminal servers in the farm.

Task	Reference
Install the TS Session Broker role service on the server that you want to use to track user sessions for a farm.	Install the TS Session Broker role service
Add the terminal servers in the farm to the Session Directory Computers local group on the TS Session Broker server.	Add each terminal server in the farm to the Session Directory Computers local group
Configure the terminal servers in the farm to join a farm in TS Session Broker, and to participate in TS Session Broker Load Balancing.	Configure TS Session Broker settings for terminal servers in the farm
Configure DNS round robin entries for terminal servers in the farm.	Configure DNS for TS Session Broker Load Balancing

Install the TS Session Broker role service

You must install the TS Session Broker role service on the server that you want to use to track user session information for a load-balanced terminal server farm. You can use a single TS Session Broker server to track user sessions across multiple farms, as there is minimal performance overhead.

The Windows Server 2008-based server where you install the TS Session Broker role service does not have to be a terminal server or have Remote Desktop enabled. It is considered a best practice to install the TS Session Broker role service on a back-end infrastructure server, such as a file server. If you install the role service on a server that is not a terminal server, the Terminal Services Session Broker service will not be affected when you need to perform maintenance on terminal servers in the farm.

When you install the TS Session Broker role service, the following changes occur on the local computer:

· The Terminal Services Session Broker service is installed. By default, the service is set to Started and to Automatic.

· The Session Directory Computers local group is created.

Installation prerequisites

The server where you install TS Session Broker must be a member of a domain.

Note

If you install the TS Session Broker role service on a domain controller, the Session Directory Computers group will be a domain local group and will be available on all domain controllers.

Installation procedure

Membership in the local Administrators group is the minimum required to complete this procedure.

To install TS Session Broker

1. Open Server Manager. To open Server Manager, click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Server Manager.

2. If the Terminal Services role is already installed:

a. Under Roles Summary, click Terminal Services.

b. Under Role Services, click Add Role Services.

c. On the Select Role Services page, select the TS Session Broker check box, and then click Next.

If the Terminal Services role is not already installed:

a. Under Roles Summary, click Add Roles.

b. On the Before You Begin page of the Add Roles Wizard, click Next.

c. On the Select Server Roles page, select the Terminal Services check box, and then click Next.

d. Review the Terminal Services page, and then click Next.

e. On the Select Role Services page, select the TS Session Broker check box, and then click Next.

3. On the Confirm Installation Selections page, click Install.

4. On the Installation Results page, confirm that the installation succeeded, and then click Close.

Add each terminal server in the farm to the Session Directory Computers local group

For terminal servers to use TS Session Broker, you must add the computer account for each terminal server in the farm to the Session Directory Computers local group on the TS Session Broker server.

Membership in the local Administrators group is the minimum required to complete this procedure.

Important

You must perform this procedure on the server where you installed the TS Session Broker role service.

To add terminal servers to the Session Directory Computers local group

1. On the TS Session Broker server, click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Computer Management.

2. In the left pane, expand Local Users and Groups, and then click Groups.

3. In the right pane, right-click the Session Directory Computers group, and then click Properties.

4. Click Add.

5. In the Select Users, Computers or Groups dialog box, click Object Types.

6. Select the Computers check box, and then click OK.

7. Locate and then add the computer account for each terminal server that you want to add.

8. When you are finished, click OK.

Configure TS Session Broker settings for terminal servers in the farm

You can configure a terminal server to join a farm in TS Session Broker and to participate in TS Session Broker Load Balancing by using Group Policy or the Terminal Services Configuration tool. However, you must use Terminal Services Configuration to configure the following settings:

· The IP addresses to be used for reconnection.

· The relative weight of the server when using TS Session Broker Load Balancing.

For information about how to configure the settings by using Group Policy, see Configure TS Session Broker settings by using Group Policy. Configuring the settings by using Group Policy is a recommended best practice.

For information about how to configure the settings by using Terminal Services Configuration, see Configure TS Session Broker settings by using Terminal Services Configuration.

Important

Group Policy settings take precedence over configuration settings in the Terminal Services Configuration snap-in and those that are made by using the Terminal Services WMI provider.

Configure TS Session Broker settings by using Group Policy

To assign TS Session Broker settings through Group Policy, it is a best practice to group the terminal servers that are in the same terminal server farm into a single OU in Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS). Then, configure the TS Session Broker settings in a GPO that applies to the OU.

Note

For the TS Session Broker settings to be effective on a server, the server must have the Terminal Server role service installed.

The following procedure describes how to configure TS Session Broker Group Policy settings by using the Group Policy Management Console (GPMC) on a Windows Server 2008-based domain controller.

To change Group Policy settings for a domain or an OU, you must be logged on as a member of the Domain Admins, Enterprise Admins, or the Group Policy Creator Owners group, or have been delegated the appropriate control over Group Policy to complete this procedure.

To apply TS Session Broker settings to an Active Directory OU

1. To start the GPMC, click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Group Policy Management.

2. In the left pane, locate the OU that contains the terminal servers.

3. To modify an existing GPO for the OU, expand the OU, and then click the GPO.

To create a new GPO, follow these steps:

a. Right-click the OU, and then click Create a GPO in this domain, and link it here.

b. In the Name box, type a name for the GPO, and then click OK.

c. In the left pane, click the new GPO.

4. In the right pane, click the Settings tab.

5. Right-click Computer Configuration, and then click Edit.

6. In the left pane, under Computer Configuration, expand Policies, expand Administrative Templates, Windows Components, Terminal Services, and Terminal Server, and then click TS Session Broker.

7. In the right pane, double-click the Join TS Session Broker policy setting, click Enabled, and then click OK.

8. Double-click the Configure TS Session Broker farm name policy setting, and then do the following:

a. Click Enabled.

b. In the TS Session Broker farm name box, type the name of the farm in TS Session Broker that you want to join, and then click OK.

Important

TS Session Broker uses a farm name to determine which servers are in the same terminal server farm. You must use the same farm name for all servers that are in the same load-balanced terminal server farm. Although the farm name in TS Session Broker does not have to be registered in AD DS, it is recommended that you use the same name that you will use in DNS for the terminal server farm. (The terminal server farm name in DNS represents the virtual name that clients will use to connect to the terminal server farm.) If you type a new farm name, a new farm is created in TS Session Broker and the server is joined to the farm. If you type an existing farm name, the server joins the existing farm in TS Session Broker.

9. Double-click the Configure TS Session Broker server name policy setting, and then do the following:

a. Click Enabled.

b. In the TS Session Broker server name box, type the name of the server where you installed the TS Session Broker role service, and then click OK.

10. Double-click the Use TS Session Broker load balancing policy setting, click Enabled, and then click OK.

11. Optionally, if you are using a hardware load balancer that supports token redirection, double-click Use IP Address Redirection and configure the setting. See the Group Policy Explain text for more information.

Note

To configure TS Session Broker settings by using local Group Policy, use the Local Group Policy Editor. To start the Local Group Policy Editor, click Start, click Run, type gpedit.msc, and then click OK. To configure local Group Policy settings, you must be a member of the Administrators group on the local computer or you must have been delegated the appropriate authority.

Configure TS Session Broker settings by using Terminal Services Configuration

You can configure a terminal server to join a farm in TS Session Broker and to participate in TS Session Broker Load Balancing by using Terminal Services Configuration.

Note

The following steps are only applicable if the Terminal Server role service is installed.

Membership in the local Administrators group is the minimum required to complete this procedure.

To configure TS Session Broker settings by using Terminal Services Configuration

1. Start Terminal Services Configuration. To do this, click Start, point to Administrative Tools, point to Terminal Services, and then click Terminal Services Configuration.

2. In the Edit settings area, under TS Session Broker, double-click Member of farm in TS Session Broker.

3. On the TS Session Broker tab, click to select the Join a farm in TS Session Broker check box.

4. In the TS Session Broker server name or IP address box, type the name or the IP address of the TS Session Broker server.

Note

The TS Session Broker server is the server where you installed the TS Session Broker role service.

5. In the Farm name in TS Session Broker box, type the name of the farm that you want to join in TS Session Broker.

Important

6. To participate in TS Session Broker Load Balancing, select the Participate in Session Broker Load-Balancing check box.

7. Optionally, in the Relative weight of this server in the farm box, modify the server weight. By default, the value is 100. The server weight is relative. Therefore, if you assign one server a value of 100, and one a value of 200, the server with a relative weight of 200 will receive twice the number of sessions.

8. Verify that you want to use IP address redirection. By default, the Use IP address redirection (recommended) setting is enabled. If you clear the check box, the server switches to token redirection mode.

9. In the Select IP addresses to be used for reconnection box, click to select the check box next to each IP address that you want to use. When you select the IP addresses to use, consider the following:

· Only the first selected IPv4 address will be used by clients that are running RDC 5.2 and earlier.

· Using IPv6 addresses is not recommended if the terminal server farm contains servers that are running Windows Server 2003.

10. When you are finished, click OK.

Configure DNS for TS Session Broker Load Balancing

To configure DNS round robin for TS Session Broker Load Balancing, you must map the IP address of each terminal server in the farm to the terminal server farm name in DNS.

The following procedure provides the steps to configure DNS on a Windows Server 2008-based domain controller.

You must be a member of the Domain Admins, Enterprise Admins, or the DnsAdmins group to complete this procedure.

To add DNS entries for each terminal server in the farm

1. Click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then click DNS.

2. Expand the server name, expand Forward Lookup Zones, expand the domain name, and then click the appropriate zone.

3. Right-click the zone, and then click New Host (A or AAAA).

4. In the Name (uses parent domain name if blank) box, type the terminal server farm name.

The farm name is the virtual name that clients will use to connect to the terminal server farm. For management purposes, it is recommended that you use the same farm name that you specified when you configured the terminal servers to join a farm in TS Session Broker.

Important

Do not use the name of an existing server for the farm name.

5. In the IP address box, type the IP address of a terminal server in the farm.

6. Click Add Host, and then click OK when you receive the message that the host record was successfully created.

7. Repeat steps four through six for each terminal server in the farm. For each DNS entry, ensure that you specify the same farm name in the Name (uses parent domain name if blank) box. For example, if you have three terminal servers in a farm named FARM1, with IP addresses of 192.168.1.20, 192.168.1.21, and 192.168.1.22, the entries would look similar to the following:

Farm1 Host(A) 192.168.1.20

Farm1 Host(A) 192.168.1.21

Farm1 Host(A) 192.168.1.22

8. When you are finished, click Done.

Additional information

Configure dedicated redirectors (optional)

When you register the IP address of each terminal server in the farm to a single terminal server farm name in DNS, incoming Terminal Services clients will try to connect to the first IP address for the farm name that is returned by DNS. The terminal server that receives this initial connection request acts as the redirector.

To increase session redirection performance in a large terminal server farm, you can configure terminal servers to be dedicated redirectors. These servers will process incoming requests, but will not accept user sessions. To configure dedicated redirectors, you must do the following:

1. Create DNS round robin entries for the terminal servers that you want to use as dedicated redirectors. When you do so, you must map the IP address of each terminal server that you are using as a dedicated redirector to the terminal server farm name in DNS. (The farm name is the virtual name that clients will use to connect to the terminal server farm.) The farm name must not match an existing server name in AD DS.

2. Configure the servers to deny new user logons. For more information about how to deny new user logons, see Deny logons to a terminal server in a load-balanced farm.

Because these dedicated redirectors have no user sessions, they do not require roaming profiles or any installed programs. This enables a faster logon experience, and makes the server easier to manage and more reliable.

The following diagram provides a more detailed representation of the traffic flow. In the diagrammed scenario, two terminal servers are deployed as dedicated redirectors. (In a large terminal server farm, you may want to have more than two dedicated redirectors.) The terminal servers will redirect initial connection requests, but will not host any sessions (that is, they are configured to deny new user logons). Only the two redirectors have host resource records in DNS that map to the terminal server farm name. All terminal servers in the farm (including the redirectors) are configured to use the same farm in TS Session Broker (in the Terminal Services Configuration settings).

1. A user on the client computer starts the RDC client. In the Computer field, they specify the name of the terminal server farm (in this case, Farm1). The client contacts the DNS server to resolve the Farm1 name to an IP address.

2. The DNS server, which is configured to use round robin to load balance the initial connection requests, returns the IP addresses that are registered for Farm1 (in this case, the IP addresses of the two redirectors).

3. The client sends the connection request to the first IP address in the list that is returned by DNS. In this example, this is the IP address of Redirector2 (10.0.0.3).

4. The redirector (Redirector2) queries the TS Session Broker server to determine which terminal server the client should log on to.

5. The TS Session Broker server checks its database and does either of the following:

· If the user has an existing session, the TS Session Broker server returns the IP address of the terminal server where the session exists to the redirector.

6. Redirector2 sends the client the IP address of the terminal server that the client should connect to (in this example, TerminalServer5).

7. The client sends the connection request to TerminalServer5. TerminalServer5 processes the logon request and the user starts a Terminal Services session.

8. TerminalServer5 notifies the TS Session Broker server of the successful logon.

Note

In the diagram, TS Session Broker is installed on a separate server. You can install TS Session Broker on one of the terminal servers that will act as a dedicated redirector.

Deny logons to a terminal server in a load-balanced farm

In Windows Server 2008, you can configure a terminal server to deny logon requests from new users. With the ability to deny logons from new users to specific servers in a farm, you can maintain your terminal server environment without disrupting end-user service. If you configure a terminal server to deny new logons, the following behavior occurs:

· Users with existing sessions can still reconnect to the server. Only new logons to that server are denied. However, an administrator can still log on to the server locally to perform maintenance on the server.

Note

An administrator can also connect remotely by starting the RDC client from the command line with the /admin option (mstsc /admin).

· If you are using TS Session Broker Load Balancing, TS Session Broker will redirect new users to other servers in the farm, where new user logons are enabled.

Before you take a server down for maintenance, you can notify users with existing sessions to log off from the server by using Terminal Services Manager to send a message.

To deny new user logons

1. Click Start, point to Administrative Tools, point to Terminal Services, and then click Terminal Services Configuration.

2. In the Edit settings area, double-click User logon mode under General.

3. On the General tab, click either of the following:

· Allow reconnections, but prevent new logons

· Allow reconnections, but prevent new logons until the server is restarted

4. Click OK.

When you are finished doing maintenance, ensure that Allow all connections is selected.

Wednesday 21 September 2011

To Disable the Software / Programs Uninstall Option in Windows

Go to the Run command type Gpedit.msc then go to User Configuration / Administrative Templates / Control Panel / Add Remove Programs / Remove Add Remove Programs / enable it

Configure a silent installation of the 2007 Office

Configure a silent installation of the 2007 Office system by using Config.xml

The Config.xml file is used to configure installation tasks and is used only while running Setup. It is not installed or cached on users' computers. You can edit the Config.xml file to customize the installation. By default, the Config.xml file that is stored in the core product folders (core_product_folder_name.WW folder, for example, Enterprise.WW or Pro.WW) directs Setup to install that product. For example, the Config.xml file in the Pro.WW folder installs Microsoft Office Professional 2007.

Modifying the Config.xml file to configure a silent installation

To configure a silent installation (unattended installation) of a 2007 Microsoft Office system product that requires no user interaction, modify the Config.xml file for the product you are installing and set the Display element's Level attribute to"none" (Display Level="none"), and then save the Config.xml file, as shown in the following procedure. TheDisplay element specifies the level of user interface that Setup displays to users.

Specify silent installation options in Config.xml

Open the Config.xml file for the Office product (such as Office Professional 2007) that you are installing by using a text editor tool such as Notepad.
Locate the line that contains the Display element, as shown in the following example:

Modify the Display element entry with the silent options that you want to use. For example, use the following syntax:
<Display Level="none" CompletionNotice="no" SuppressModal="yes" AcceptEula="yes" />
These options will direct Setup to run silently, prevent prompting users to enter information, and prevent the installation from waiting for any user interaction. For more information about the syntax and Config.xml, seeDisplay element in Config.xml file in the 2007 Office system.
Save the Config.xml file.

Make sure that no Office applications are running when you install the 2007 Office system. For example, to install Office Professional 2007 after you modify the Config.xml file to specify silent install options, use the following command:

\\server\share \setup.exe /config \\server\share\Pro.WW\config.xml

where:

\\server\share is the path to the Office Professional 2007 source files

/config is a Setup command-line option that specifies the location of the Config.xml file. See Setup command-line options for the 2007 Office system.

\\server\share \Pro.WW\config.xml is the location of your modified Config.xml file for Office Professional 2007.

For information about customizing your Office installation, see Deploy custom configurations of the 2007 Office system (step-by-step).

You can also set silent install options by using the Office Customization Tool (OCT). For information, see the Display level and license agreement settings in “Licensing and user interface” in Office Customization Tool in the 2007 Office system.

Friday 2 September 2011

Branding Windows with your name

Open notepad dump the following lines into it and save it with the name OEMINFO.INI in the c:\windows\system32 directory:

[General]
Manufacturer=Your Name Here
Model=Your Model Here
[Support Information]
Line1=Your Name Here
Line2=Your Address Here
Line3=Your Email Address Here

Save the file, then make a right click on my computer select properties, in the general tab a button will be highlighted (support information) make a click on it, you will be able to see the changes.
Now if you want to display some more information then simply increase the line in the file.
ex: Line4=Your Working Hours Here

Thursday 1 September 2011

Make bootable disk of windows integrate drivers,applications costimiz windows

Have you ever wanted to remove Windows components like Media Player, Internet Explorer, Outlook Express, MSN Explorer, Messenger...
How about not even to install them with Windows ?

nLite is a tool for pre-installation Windows configuration and component removal at your choice. Optional bootable image ready for burning on media or testing in virtual machines.
With nLite you will be able to have Windows installation which on install does not include, or even contain on media, the unwanted components.

Features

Service Pack Integration
Component Removal
Unattended Setup
Driver Integration *
Hotfixes Integration **
Tweaks
Services Configuration
Patches ***
Bootable ISO creation

* - Textmode (CD Boot) and normal PnP
** - hotfixes with white icons, *KB*.exe, including update packs
and Internet Explorer 7
***- supports generic SFC, Uxtheme, TcpIp and Usb Polling patching.

nLite supports Windows 2000, XP x86/x64 and 2003 x86/x64 in all languages.
It needs .NET Framework 2.0 in order to run... Check if you have it already, maybe on some of your CDs before downloading if your connection is slow.

You may report on the forum any bugs or annoyances found. And remember it is freeware, meaning that only fuel is a good word or a donation.

Download

Disk Management from command line using Diskpart

Diskpart enables a superset of the actions that are supported by the Disk Management snap-in. The Disk Management snap-in prohibits you from inadvertently performing actions that may result in data loss. It is recommended that you use the Diskpart utility cautiously because Diskpart enables explicit control of partitions and volumes.

You can use Diskpart to convert a basic disk to a dynamic disk. The basic disk can either be empty or contain either primary partitions or logical drives. The basic disk can be a data disk or system or boot drive. The basic disk cannot have fault-tolerant disk driver (FtDisk) sets such as stripes or mirrors. To convert basic disks that have FtDisk driver sets, use Disk Management on Windows 2000 or convert the disk before you upgrade to Windows XP.

You can use Diskpart to convert a dynamic disk to a basic disk. You must delete any dynamic volumes before the conversion process. It is not recommended that you delete partitions on a dynamic disk except in emergency situations. It is recommended that you delete all volumes on the drive, and then convert the disk to basic. You must delete all dynamic data partitions. Also, never mix the basic primary and dynamic partitions on the same drive. If you do so, the computer may be unable to restart.

You can use Diskpart to create a partition at an explicit disk offset. The Disk Management snap-in places the partition at the end of any occupied area or on the first sufficiently large area. On master boot record (MBR) disks, the partition offset and the size are rounded to preserve the required cylinder alignment. Offsets are rounded to the closest valid value, and the size is always rounded up to the next valid value. Diskpart does not assign a drive letter to a newly created partition. Use the assign command to assign either a mount point or a drive letter.

Diskpart follows the same policy as the snap-in. Dynamic disks can only be created on fixed disks. You cannot convert removable disks, such as 1394 or universal serial bus (USB) drives, to dynamic disks.

Diskpart permits certain partition deletion operations that are blocked by the snap-in. For example, you can use Diskpart to delete MBR OEM partitions. However, these partitions often contain files that are important to the platform operation. Diskpart blocks the deletion of the current system, boot, or paging volumes and partitions. Also, Diskpart blocks deletion of the partitions that underlie dynamic disks.

You cannot use Diskpart to create a partition on removable media. Windows supports at most one MBR partition on removable media. If the media is manufactured with an MBR, that MBR cannot be altered, but the MBR is followed even if multiple partitions or logical drives are configured. If the media is manufactured without an MBR, the media is treated as a "superfloppy" and no partition structure is written to the media.

The drive letter for a removable drive is associated with the drive, and not with the media. You can use Diskpart to change the drive letter.

Diskpart causes disk signatures, GUID partition table (GPT) disk globally unique identifiers (GUIDs), and GPT partition GUIDs to be generated. You cannot explicitly set these items by using Diskpart.

The Diskpart utility (like the snap-in) includes support for the new Itanium disk partition scheme called GPT. You cannot use GPT disks on any x86-based Windows XP-based or Windows 2000-based computers. Diskpart enables the conversion of GPT partitioning to MBR partitioning only for empty disks.

You can use Diskpart to delete missing dynamic disks. Dynamic disks contain a shared database; all of the dynamic disks on a computer have knowledge of all other dynamic disks on that computer. When dynamic disks are moved, the original computer considers theses disks as "missing".

Drive letters are not automatically assigned when you use Diskpart. To ensure that a given partition or volume has a drive letter, you must explicitly assign a drive letter. You can either assign the drive letter or allow the next available drive letter to be allocated.

Setting Focus

Most Diskpart commands operate on a specific target disk, partition, or volume. The targeted object has "focus." Focus simplifies the common configuration task in which you create multiple partitions on the same disk. An object is put into focus by the select command. All Commands except for list, help, rem, exit, or help require focus.

Use the select command to explicitly change the focus. To implicitly change the focus, use a command such as create. You must set the disk focus before you manage a basic disk. On basic disks, the partition focus and volume focus are the same. If you change the focus on one item, you change the focus on the other. On dynamic volumes, only the volume focus is important because the previous partition focus is always lost and the disk focus is only important for simple volumes.

Consider the following examples of a computer that has two disks:

Each disk contains two primary partitions. The first disk contains the C and D partitions; the second disk contains the E and F partitions. You must set the disk focus to disk 1 before you set the partition focus to either the C or D partitions. You can set the volume focus to either the C, D, E, or F partitions at any time. In this example, if you set the volume focus to the C or D partition, the disk focus does not change; however, if you set the volume focus to the E or F partitions, the disk focus may be moved to the other disk.
Each disk is dynamic and contains a simple volume and free space. The first disk contains the C partition, and the second disk contains the E partitions. You must set the disk focus before you add a simple volume to the first disk. To extend the C partition, you need to set only the volume focus. Similarly, to add a mirror to the E partition, you need to set only the volume focus to the E partition. If you create a simple volume or extend an existing volume onto the same disk, you do not change the disk focus. If you add a mirror, create a stripe set, or extend an existing volume onto a different disk, you can cause the disk focus to be lost.

Scripting

Diskpart supports scripted operations. To initiate a Diskpart script, use the diskpart /s script.txt command. You can script Diskpart on Windows XP, Windows 2000, Remote Installation Services (RIS) unattended install environments, or on the Windows Preinstall Environment (PE) for OEMs.

By default, Diskpart can quit command processing and return an error code if there is a problem in the script. To continue to run a script in this scenario, include the noerr parameter on the command. This parameter allows you to use a single script to delete all partitions on all data drives, regardless of the total number of drives. However, not all commands support the noerr parameter. Even if you use the noerr parameter, an error is always returned on command syntax errors.

The following list describes the error codes for Diskpart:

0 - No error occurred. The entire script ran without failure.
1 - A fatal exception occurred. There may be a serious problem.
2 - The arguments specified on a Diskpart command line were incorrect.
3 - Diskpart was unable to open the specified script or output file.
4 - One of the services Diskpart uses returned a failure.
5 - A command syntax error occurred. The script failed because an object was improperly selected or was invalid for use with that command.

After you run Diskpart, the Diskpart version and current computer name are displayed.

Command Summary

Commands to Set Focus

select

Use the select command to set the focus to the specified target. To obtain a list of focus types, leave the Type field blank. If you do not specify an identification (ID) number, the current focus object is displayed.

select disk[=n]

Use the select disk command to set the focus to the disk that has the specified Windows NT disk number. If you do not specify a disk number, the command displays the current in-focus disk.

select partition[=n/l]

Use the select partition command to set the focus to the specified partition. If you do not specify a partition, the current in-focus partition is displayed.

On basic disks, you can specify the partition by either index, drive letter, or mount point. You can only specify the partition by index on dynamic disks.

select volume[=n/l]

Use the select volume command to set the focus to the specified volume. If you do not specify a volume, the command displays the current in-focus volume.

You can specify the volume by either index, drive letter, or mount point path. On a basic disk, if you select a volume, the corresponding partition is put in focus.

Commands to Display Disk Configuration

Use the list command to display a summary. To display more information, set the focus, and then use the detail command.

detail disk

Use the detail disk command to obtain the detailed information about the current in-focus disk, for example:

Diskpart> select disk 3 
  
Disk 3 is now the selected disk. 
  
Diskpart> detail disk 
  
Maxtor 90432D2
Disk ID: F549D151
Type   : IDE
Bus    : 0
Target : 0
LUN ID : 0 
  
  Volume ###  Ltr  Label        Fs     Type              Size     Status     Info 
  ----------  ---  -----------  -----  ----------------  -------  ---------  -------- 
  Volume 0     F   My RAID Set  NTFS   RAID-5            4096 MB  Healthy 
  Volume 1     G   FATSTRIPE    FAT32  Stripe            6144 MB  Healthy 
  Volume 2     H   My Mirror    NTFS   Mirror            2048 MB  Healthy
  Volume 3     I   My Span      NTFS   Spanned              9 GB  Healthy

detail partition

Use the detail partition command to obtain detailed information about the current in-focus partition;

Diskpart> select disk 0

Disk 0 is now the selected disk.

Diskpart> select partition 1

Partition 1 is now the selected partition.

Diskpart> detail partition

Partition 0
Type  : 07
Hidden: No
Active: Yes

  Volume ###  Ltr  Label        Fs     Type        Size     Status     Info
  ----------  ---  -----------  -----  ----------  -------  ---------  --------
* Volume 2    C                 NTFS   Partition   4110 MB  Healthy    System

detail volume

Use the detail volume command to obtain the detailed information about the current in-focus volume, for example:

Diskpart> select volume 1 
  
Volume 1 is now the selected volume. 
  
Diskpart> detail volume 
  
  Disk ###  Status      Size     Free     Dyn  Gpt 
  --------  ----------  -------  -------  ---  --- 
  Disk 1    Online         8 GB      0 B   * 
  Disk 2    Online         8 GB      0 B   * 
  Disk 3    Online         8 GB      0 B   *

list disk

Use the list disk command to obtain summary information about each disk in the computer. The disk with the asterisk (*) has the current focus. Only fixed disks (for example, integrated device electronics [IDE] or small computer system interface [SCSI]) or removable disk (for example, 1394 or USB) are listed. The removable drives are not displayed.

Diskpart> select disk 3 
  
Disk 3 is now the selected disk. 
  
Diskpart> list disk 
  
  
  Disk ###  Status      Size     Free     Dyn  Gpt 
  --------  ----------  -------  -------  ---  ---
  Disk 0    Online      4118 MB      0 B
  Disk 1    Online         8 GB  4002 MB   * 
  Disk 2    Online         8 GB      0 B   * 
* Disk 3    Online         8 GB      0 B   * 
  Disk M0   Missing        8 GB      0 B   *

list partition

Use the list partition command to obtain information about each partition on the in-focus disk, for example:

Diskpart> select disk 4 
  
Disk 4 is now the selected disk. 
  
Diskpart> list partition 
  
  Partition ###  Type              Size     Offset 
  -------------  ----------------  -------  ------- 
  Partition 1    Primary           4094 MB    31 KB 
  Partition 2    Extended          4581 MB  4094 MB 
  Partition 3    Logical           2047 MB  4094 MB 
  Partition 4    Logical           2533 MB  6142 MB
 
All partitions (regardless of type) are displayed.

list volume

Use the list volume command to obtain information about each volume in the computer, for example:

Diskpart> list volume 
  
  Volume ###  Ltr  Label        Fs     Type              Size     Status      Info    
  ----------  ---  -----------  -----  ----------------  -------  ----------  --------
  Volume 0     F   My RAID Set  NTFS   RAID-5            4096 MB  Healthy
  Volume 1     G   FATSTRIPE    FAT32  Stripe            6144 MB  Failed
  Volume 2     H   My Mirror    NTFS   Mirror            2048 MB  Healthy
  Volume 3     I   My Span      NTFS   Spanned              9 GB  Healthy
  Volume 4     D                CDFS   CD-ROM                0 B
  Volume 5     C                NTFS   Partition         2047 MB  Healthy     System
  Volume 6     E                NTFS   Partition         2063 MB  Healthy     Boot
  Volume 7     J   My Primary   NTFS   Partition         4095 MB  Healthy
  Volume 8     K   My Logical   NTFS   Partition         2047 MB  Healthy
  Volume 9     L   My Next Log  NTFS   Partition         2534 MB  Healthy

Commands to Manage Basic Disks

This section describes commands that you can use to create and delete partitions and to assign drive letters and mount points. The commands in this section apply only to basic disks. Refer to the following sections for commands that are valid on dynamic disks or for commands that you can use to convert basic disk to dynamic disks.

On all MBR disks, the size or offset parameters are rounded up to cylinder alignment. On GPT disks, the size or offset parameters are rounded to sector alignment. If an offset parameter is not specified, the partition is placed in the first unoccupied contiguous disk extent that is large enough. If a size parameter is not listed, the partition may be extended to occupy the determined disk extent up to the size of the entire disk.

After the new disks are first discovered, they are assumed to be MBR disks. You must explicitly convert a disk to GPT before you attempt to create a GPT partition. It is recommended that you create the MSR as the first partition on every data disk and the second partition (after the ESP) on any system or boot disk. After you convert from MBR to GPT, the MSR partition is automatically created on the disk.

After you create any new partition, the newly created partition gains the partition focus. After you delete any partition, the partition focus is lost. The disk focus remains unchanged in all cases.

active

Use the active command to set the current in-focus partition to "active." This setting informs the firmware that the partition is a valid system partition. Diskpart does not validate the partition contents.

NOTE: If you use this command, the computer may be unable to restart.

assign [[letter=l]/[mount=path]] [noerr]

Use the assign command to assign a letter or mount point to the current in-focus partition. If you do not specify a drive letter, the next available drive letter is assigned. If the letter or mount point is already in use, an error is generated unless you use the noerr parameter.

You can use this command to change the drive letter that is associated with a removable drive.

The drive letter assignment is blocked on the system, boot, or paging volumes. This command cannot be used to assign a drive letter to an OEM partition or any GPT partition, other than the Msdata partition.

create partition primary [size=n] [offset=n] [id=byte/guid] [noerr]

Use the create partition primary command to create a primary partition of length size and a starting address offset on the current drive.

If an ID byte is not specified on an MBR disk, this command creates a partition with type "0x6." You can use the ID parameter to specify the partition type. There is no validity or other checking of the ID byte.

If you do not specify an ID GUID on a GPT disk, this command creates an Msdata partition. You can use the ID parameter to specify any GUID. There is no validity, duplication, or other checking of the GUID. The partition instance GUID is automatically generated.

MBR and GPT partitions are created so that Windows does not automatically allocate drive letters. You must explicitly assign a drive letter.

create partition extended [size=n] [offset=n] [noerr]

Use the create partition extended command to create an extended partition of length size and starting address offset on the current drive. The drive must be an MBR disk.

After the partition is created, the new extended partition gains the focus. You can create only one extended partition. You can create logical drives only after you create an extended partition.

create partition logical [size=n] [offset=n] [noerr]

Use the create partition logical command to create a logical drive of length size and starting address offset in an existing extended partition on the current disk. The drive must be an MBR disk.

If an offset is not listed, the logical drive is placed in the first unoccupied contiguous disk extent in the extended partition that is large enough. If a size is not listed, the partition may be extended to occupy the entire extended partition.

After you create the partition, the logical drive gains the partition focus.

create partition msr [size=n] [offset=n] [noerr]

The create partition msr command is the equivalent of creating the partition with the MSR GUID E3C9E316-0B5C-4DB8-817D-F92DF00215AE.

create partition esp [size=n] [offset=n] [noerr]

The create partition esp command is the equivalent of creating the partition with ESP GUID C12A7328-F81F-11D2-BA4B-00A0C93EC93B.

delete partition [noerr] [override]

Use the delete partition command to delete the current in-focus partition.

Diskpart blocks the deletion of the current system, boot, or paging volume. To delete either an ESP, MSR, or a known OEM partition, you must specify the override parameter.

extend [size=n][noerr]

Use the extend command to cause the current in-focus volume to be extended into contiguous unallocated space. The unallocated space must follow (it must be of higher sector offset than) the in-focus partition. The intended use of this command is to grow an existing basic data partition into newly created space on an extended hardware Raid logical unit number (LUN).

If the partition had been previously formatted with the NTFS file system, the file system is automatically extended to occupy the larger partition, and data loss does not occur. If the partition had been previously formatted with any file system format other than NTFS, the command is unsuccessful and does not change the partition.

Diskpart blocks the extension of only the current system or boot partition.

remove [[letter=l]/[mount=path]/[all]] [noerr]

Use the remove command to remove a letter or mount point from the current in-focus partition. If you specify the all parameter, all of the current drive letters and mount points are removed. If you do not specify a letter or mount point, the drive letter is removed.

Use this command to change the drive letter that is associated with a removable drive.

The drive letter removal is blocked on the system, boot, or paging volumes. You cannot use this command to remove a drive letter to an OEM partition, any GPT partition with an unrecognized GUID, or any of the special non-data, GPT partitions, such as, the ESP partition.

Commands to Manage Dynamic Disks

You can use the commands that are described in this section to create and delete volumes, repair fault tolerant volumes, and import disks.

The size parameters are always rounded up to MB alignment. You cannot specify an explicit offset. The volume is always placed in the first unoccupied contiguous disk extent that is large enough. If a size is not listed, the largest possible volume is created.

After a volume is created, the volume focus is put on the newly created volume. The current disk focus is lost if the volume spans the disks. The volume focus is lost if a volume is deleted. If there had been a valid disk focus before you deleted the volume, that disk focus remains.

NOTE: Diskpart forces the creation of an MSR partition on any empty disk when that disk is converted to a dynamic or GPT disk.

active

Use the active command to set the current in-focus volume as "active." This setting informs the firmware that the partition is a valid system partition. Diskpart verifies only that the volume is capable of containing an operating system bootable image, but the utility does not validate the partition contents. If you use this command, the computer may not be able to restart.

add disk=n [noerr]

Use the add command to add a mirror to the current in-focus volume on the specified disk. Only two mirror plexes are supported. The current in-focus volume must be a simple volume.

assign [[letter=l]/[mount=path]] [noerr]

Use the assign command to assign a letter or mount point to the current in-focus volume. If you do not specify a drive letter, the next available drive letter is assigned. If the letter or mount point is already in use, an error is generated unless you specify the noerr parameter.

The drive letter assignment is blocked on the system, boot, or paging volumes.

break disk=n [nokeep] [noerr]

Use the break command to break the current in-focus mirror.

By default, the contents of both mirror plexes are retained because both plexes become simple volumes. If you specify the nokeep parameter, only the specified plex is retained, the other plex is removed and converted to free space.

The original volume retains any and all drive letters or mount points. If the plex is not kept, the focus remains on the retained simple volume on the specified disk. Otherwise, the focus is changed to the specified retained plex on the specified disk. The plex becomes a simple volume; however, a drive letter is not assigned to the new volume.

create volume simple [size=n] [disk=n] [noerr]

Use the create volume simple command to create a simple volume of length size on the specified disk.

If you do not specify a size, the new volume can take up the remaining contiguous free space on the disk. If you do not specify a disk, the current in-focus disk is used.

After the volume is created, the disk focus is given to the targeted disk.

create volume stripe [size=n] disk=n[,n[,...]] [noerr]

Use the create volume stripe command to create a stripe set volume on the specified disks. The total size of the stripe volume is the size multiplied by (*) the number of disks.

If you do not specify a size, the largest possible stripe volume is created. The disk with the smallest available contiguous free space is determined. The size of that free space determines the size for the stripe volume. The same size is allocated on each disk.

create volume raid [size=n] disk=n[,n[,...]] [noerr]

Use the create volume raid command to create a Raid-5 set volume on the specified disks. An amount of space that is equal to "size" is allocated on each disk.

If you do not specify a size, the largest possible Raid 5 volume is created. The disk with the smallest available contiguous free space is determined. The size of that free space determines the size for the Raid 5 volume and the same size is allocated from each disk. The actual usable size of the volume is less than the size multiplied by the number of disks, because some of the space is used for the parity.

delete disk [noerr][override]

Use the delete disk command to delete a missing dynamic disk from the disk list.

If you do not specify the override parameter, all of the simple volumes that are contained on the disk are deleted and any mirror plexes are removed. If the disk contributes to a Raid 5 volume, the command is unsuccessful.

delete partition [noerr] [override]

Use the delete partition command to delete the current in-focus partition.

Diskpart blocks the deletion of any partitions that are used to contain existing online dynamic volumes. Those volumes must be deleted and the disk converted to basic. To delete an ESP, MSR, or known OEM partition, specify the override parameter.

You can delete partitions from dynamic disks, but you cannot create them. For example, you can delete an unrecognized GPT partition on a dynamic GPT disk. If you delete a partition, the free space does not become available. You can use this command to reclaim the space on a corrupted offline dynamic disk in an emergency situation in which you cannot use the clean command.

delete volume [noerr]

Use the delete volume command to delete the current in-focus volume. After you use this command, all data is lost.

extend disk=n [size=n] [noerr]

Use the extend command to extend the current simple or the extended volume onto the specified disk. The extend command only works with NTFS volumes.

If you do not specify a size, the volume can occupy all of the free space on the specified disk. Any existing disk focus is lost.

import [noerr]

Use the import command to import all of the disks from a foreign disk group.

If you set the focus on any disk in the foreign disk group, you can import all disks in the group. After you run this command, any existing volume or disk focus is lost.

online [noerr]

Use the online command to bring a disk or volume that had previously been taken offline back online. A change in focus does not occur if you use this command.

remove [[letter=l]/[mount=path]/[all]] [noerr]

Use the remove command to remove a letter or mount point from the current in-focus volume. If you use the all parameter, all of the current drive letters and mount points are removed. If you do not specify a letter or mount point, the path that is encountered first is removed.

The drive letter removal is blocked on the system, boot, or paging volumes.

retain

Use the retain command to prepare a dynamic simple volume to be used as a boot or system volume.

If you use the retain command on an x86-based computer, an MBR partition on the dynamic simple volume is created with focus. To create an MBR partition, the dynamic simple volume must start at a cylinder aligned offset and be an integral number of cylinders in size.

If you use the retain command on an Itanium-based computer, the retain command creates a GPT partition on the dynamic simple volume with focus.

Commands to Convert Disks

convert mbr [noerr]

Use the convert mbr command to set the partitioning style of the current disk to MBR. The disk may be a basic disk or a dynamic disk but the disk must not contain any valid data partitions or volumes.

convert gpt [noerr]

Use the convert gpt command to set the partitioning style of the current disk to GPT. The disk may be a basic or a dynamic disk but it must not contain any valid data partitions or volumes. This command is valid only on Itanium-based computers; it may be unsuccessful on x-86-based computers.

convert dynamic [noerr]

Use the convert dynamic command to change a basic disk into a dynamic disk. The disk may contain valid data partitions.

convert basic [noerr]

Use the convert basic command to change an empty dynamic disk to basic.

Miscellaneous Commands

exit

Use the exit command to stop Diskpart and return control to the operating system.

clean [all]

Use the clean command to remove partition or volume formatting from the current in-focus disk by zeroing sectors. By default, only the MBR or GPT partitioning information and any hidden sector information on MBR disks is overwritten. If you specify the all parameter, each and every sector can be zeroed, and all data that is contained on the drive can be deleted.

rem [...]

The rem command does nothing, and you can use it to comment script files.

rescan

Use the rescan command to rescan all I/O buses and cause any new disks that have been added to the computer to be discovered.

Help Commands

help

Use the help command to display a list of all commands.