Friday, 29 August 2014
The ALS/MND Ice Bucket Challenge!
Ok guys, so I did the Ice Bucket Challenge last night! Obviously I've nominated my three victims, however, I'm also nominating anyone that reads this! You don't have to do the ice bucket thing, but please, please, please text ICED55 £5 to 70070 to donate £5 to the Motor Neurone Disease Association! Motor Neurone Disease (MND) is a disease that progressively attacks
the motor neurones, or nerves, in the brain and spinal cord. This means
messages gradually stop reaching muscles, which leads to weakness and
wasting. It affects the way you walk, talk, eat, drink and breathe. Stephen Hawking is a famous sufferer of MND. If you do actually do the challenge though, drop me a link to your video in the comments box! Here is my ice bucket challenge!
If you would like more information about MND, and other ways you can get involved and raise money, this here is the link for the MNDA website :)
Thursday, 28 August 2014
Capturing and Deploying a System Image In Windows 7 Part 1: Preparing The Answer File.
In order to capture a deploy a system image in Windows 7 you will need:
- A Technician Computer - This is the computer you will install the AIK onto.
- A Reference Computer -This is the computer that you will be capturing the image of.You build this installation using the Autounattend.xml file that you will be creating later in this tutorial.
- A Destination Computer - This is the computer you will be deploying the image onto.
- Windows Automated Installation Kit
- A Network Connection
- UFD Drive (USB Flash Drive)
- CD-Burning Software
- Windows 7 Installation Disk.
Before you can capture an image of Windows 7 you will need to download the Windows Automated Installation Kit (Windows AIK) and the Microsoft Download Manager. You can get the AIK from here.
Once you have downloaded the AIK you will need to burn it to a disc. (You can download the AIK on any computer that you are using, it doesn't have to be the one you are capturing an image of). You then need to put this disc into your technician computer and run the program.
When the program starts up click Windows AIK Setup.
The Windows Installer will then start up.
You will need to agree to the terms and conditions, and then select where you would like the AIK to be installed, and then the installation will start.
Once the AIK has installed you will need to put the Windows 7 Installation disk into the PC. You will need to navigate to My Computer, right click on the Windows 7 Installation disk and select Open,
You then need to open the Sources folder.
Then you need to locate the Install.wim file and copy it somewhere locally onto the technician computer, (I'm just going to drag it onto the desktop so it copies there.)
Now you need to create an answer file. To do this you need to open the Windows SIM, which you do by opening the start menu, selecting Windows AIK from the All Programs list and the selecting the Windows System Image Manager.
In the file menu of the Windows SIM, select Select Windows Image
You then need to select the Install.wim file that you copied from the Windows 7 installation disk.
You will be prompted to create a catalogue file associated with the version of windows that you have the install.wim file for. You need to click yes here.
You may need to give administrator privileges using the Windows UAC.
The catalogue file will then be created.
Once the catalogue file has been generated, you then need to select File and New Answer File.
In the windows image window you will see a list of folders appear. You can now add and configure windows settings. If it isn't already expanded, you will need to expand the Components folder to see all of the available settings.
There are a number of settings you need to add to your answer file. The first is Microsoft-Windows-Deployment (it's a much longer name as you can see below), you then need to select Reseal.
You need to right-click on Reseal and select to add the setting to pass 7 oobeSystem (oobe means out of box experience).
You will need to right click and select the setting for all of the following (The highlighted options are the ones you need to select, for example in the first one it is Add Setting to Pass 1 windowsPE):
Microsoft-Windows-International-Core-WinPE\SetupUILanguage
Microsoft-Windows-Setup\DiskConfiguration\Disk\CreatePartitions\CreatePartition. You will need to do this twice.
Microsoft-Windows-Setup\DiskConfiguration\Disk\ModifyPartitions\ModifyPartition. You will need to do this twice.
Microsoft-Windows-Setup\ImageInstall\OSImage\InstallTo
Microsoft-Windows-Setup\UserData
Microsoft-Windows-Shell-Setup\OOBE
Microsoft-Windows-IE-Internet-Explorer
In the answer file panel you need to select Microsoft-Windows-International-Core-WinPE, and enter the information into the boxes below (all of these boxes will be blank before you enter anything so it should be fairly easy to work out which boxes you're putting information in). If you are in the US you will need to enter en-us. *I made a mistake here and it should be en-gb not en-uk*
You need to follow the same process for the following:
Microsoft-Windows-International-Core-WinPE\SetupUILanguage
Microsoft-Windows-Setup\DiskConfiguration\Disk
Microsoft-Windows-Setup\DiskConfiguration\Disk\CreatePartitions\CreatePartition. (This is for the first create partition option you added)
Microsoft-Windows-Setup\DiskConfiguration\Disk\CreatePartitions\CreatePartition. (This is for the second create partition option you added)
Microsoft-Windows-Setup\DiskConfiguration\Disk\ModifyPartitions\ModifyPartition (This is for the first modify partition option you added)
Microsoft-Windows-Setup\DiskConfiguration\Disk\ModifyPartitions\ModifyPartition (This is for the second modify partition option you added)
Microsoft-Windows-Setup\ImageInstall\OSImage\InstallTo
Microsoft-Windows-Setup\UserData
Microsoft-Windows-Setup\UserData\ProductKey (you need to put your own product key in here. Ideally this would be a volume licensing key)
Microsoft-Windows-Shell-Setup\OOBE
You can also choose to customise the internet explorer settings with the homepage that you would like the users who have this deployed image of Windows 7 to have. Its handy to do this because you can use this setting to ensure the autounattend file has worked by opening Internet Explorer once the installation of Windows is complete and checking the home page.
Now that you have created your answer file you need to validate the settings. To do this, select tools and then Validate Answer File at the top of the SIM window.
Once the file has validated, click file and then save answer file, and save the file as Autounattend.xml. This file should be saved onto a USB flash drive, as you will need to insert it into your reference computer when you build the installation.
You have now created a custom answer file, and you are ready to move onto step two, which is building the reference machine.
Wayne Manor Book Club Week 3
Good morning, readers!
This week I've read through a few comics, including Civil War, Saga Volumes 2, Walking Dead 130 and I finally finished Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe! I'm also reading my way through the first A Song of Ice and Fire book, A Game of Thrones.
Let's start with Civil War, I know I'm a really long way behind everyone else that has read this but hey, better late then never right?
I know a lot of people who didn't like Civil War very much, and I really don't understand why! I really thoroughly enjoyed it, I like the story and the way it is delivered and the artwork is just awesome!
For those of you who haven't read it, the idea is a team of young superheroes cause the deaths of a lot of civilians, including children, in a small town. Naturally, this makes people very angry and they start campaigning for all superheroes to be registered and become paid employees of the government. Of course the problem is only half of the superheroes in the Marvel universe agree with this, the other half are totally against it and war ensues. I really don't want to give too much away, but there are some really awesome things in it. Tony Stark builds Spiderman a brand new suit that can deflect bullets, there are robot versions of other superheroes, supervillians are recruited, and I was made really happy by the presence of the Punisher! There are parts of it that I feel could have been elaborated on, or better explained, and there are some parts that were a little dragged out, but overall it's a pretty good read!
Keeping with the Marvel theme, Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe... This was an immense read. The first part of the Deadpool killogy, (it's followed by Deadpool Killustrated and Deadpool Kills Deadpool) it sets the tone for what will undoubtedly be 3 volumes of unadulterated bloodshed. Basically it starts when the X-Men send Deadpool to a mental facility. What they don't realise is the doctor "treating" Deadpool is actually Psycho-Man in disguise. He tries to brainwash Deadpool into becoming his personal minion, but that fails and just leaves Deadpool even more unhinged. And then he goes on a murderous rampage to kill the entire Marvel universe, the idea being that if the Marvel universe is gone, along with all of its creators, then Deadpool himself could never have existed. I really love the way it ends, with Deadpool breaking out into the "real" world and confronting the artists and writers creating the story. The fourth wall, in true Deadpool style, is left completely decimated, and the last panel of the comic is Deadpool promising the reader "I will find you". It's a fun read, and the writers have been very clever about how Deadpool could go about killing everyone, including characters like the Hulk and Thor. Of course the problem of killing Wolverine, with his regeneration ability, was slightly more problematic, but they get round it. I've only just started on Killustrated so that will be one of next weeks topics! If you haven't read any of the killogy you really need to catch up!
Ok, so moving on to Saga Volume 2. This is a series that just keeps getting better and better! Every time I start a new chapter it surprises me. I'm still very much in awe of how beautiful the artwork is, and how well written the story is. Volume 1 ends with the arrival of Hazel's grandparents, after Alana, Marko, Izabel the ghost girl and Hazel have commandeered a tree-ship. You can imagine their shock at discovering their son has had a child with one of the enemy! What I really like about Saga is as the story goes on you find out more about Alana and Marko's back story, how they met and fell in love, and ultimately how Alana broke Marko out of jail and they escaped. You also see short flashbacks to Marko's childhood, which I really like.
One of my favourite things about Volume 2 is the arrival of Gwendolyn, Marko's ex-girlfriend. She's a really cool character, and I'm really looking forward to seeing how firey things get when she inevitably encounters Marko and Alana! There's also the Will and Lying Cat, who I absolutely love. After the Stalk is killed in volume 1, the Will really isn't bothered about finishing his mission, but he really does want to rescue Slave Girl from Sextillion, obviously without the money to buy her it's difficult for him to do this. Until he meets Gwendolyn, who wants to know why he hasn't finished his mission to kill Marko and Alana and take the child. He tells her he'll do it if she gives him enough money to free Slave Girl, a phone call and some fighting later and Slave Girl is theirs, and then she tells them that she can hear Gwendolyn's necklace talking to it's friends - the engagement rings that she gave to Marko! So now, Gwnedolyn, the Will and Slave Girl have a way to track our enamoured heroes, who are dealing with Marko's father's death, the animosity between Alana and Marko's mother, and also being on the run! Towards the end of Volume 2 you find out they are hiding in the lighthouse of the writer of the book that Alana started reading before her and Marko ran away, the book that started the whole thing... Definitely looking forward to reading volume 3, if the first two volumes are anything to go by it will be incredibly, totally amazing. The story flows beautifully, and the artwork really is just stunning, there is a depth to the characters and their relationships that I really like, and I love the way each volume leaves me wanting more. I think it might be a good idea to catch up and start reading them monthly!
And last but not least, the Walking Dead issue 130. Well, it was certainly interesting. After the end of issue 129 I almost expected the newcomers to free Negan. I was a little relieved and a little disappointed when they didn't, although it was mostly relief if I'm honest. I much prefer the idea of Negan being free when Rick's about, it's been a while since he lost his temper with someone and I miss crazy Rick! I'm feeling really sorry for Carl at the minute, going all the way to the hilltop to be an apprentice, only to find out the apprenticeship has been taken by another boy. Poor Carl! Of course the big talking point of 130 is the little tagline on the cover "There were whispers and I was afraid". Could the dead really be talking? That would certainly be an interesting turn of events wouldn't it? The zombies starting to become sentient! Much like the zombies in Night of the Living Deadpool! (Totally not the same, but the zombies in that could talk!). There are still a couple weeks left before the realease of 131 and I'm really dying to know how it's going to play out!
So, at next weeks book club, we'll be talking Saga Volume 3, Deadpool Killustrated and Neil Gibson's Twisted Dark, which is a volume I picked up and LFCC, having had a conversation with Neil, I haven't got round to reading it yet, so I'll get it read this week to talk to you guys about it next week!
If there are any books/comics you've read that you wanna have a chat about, or you wanna chat about the comics that I've mentioned (I will get round to finishing ome books soon so we can talk about them!) drop me a comment in the box!
Happy reading guys!
This week I've read through a few comics, including Civil War, Saga Volumes 2, Walking Dead 130 and I finally finished Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe! I'm also reading my way through the first A Song of Ice and Fire book, A Game of Thrones.
Let's start with Civil War, I know I'm a really long way behind everyone else that has read this but hey, better late then never right?
I know a lot of people who didn't like Civil War very much, and I really don't understand why! I really thoroughly enjoyed it, I like the story and the way it is delivered and the artwork is just awesome!
For those of you who haven't read it, the idea is a team of young superheroes cause the deaths of a lot of civilians, including children, in a small town. Naturally, this makes people very angry and they start campaigning for all superheroes to be registered and become paid employees of the government. Of course the problem is only half of the superheroes in the Marvel universe agree with this, the other half are totally against it and war ensues. I really don't want to give too much away, but there are some really awesome things in it. Tony Stark builds Spiderman a brand new suit that can deflect bullets, there are robot versions of other superheroes, supervillians are recruited, and I was made really happy by the presence of the Punisher! There are parts of it that I feel could have been elaborated on, or better explained, and there are some parts that were a little dragged out, but overall it's a pretty good read!
Keeping with the Marvel theme, Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe... This was an immense read. The first part of the Deadpool killogy, (it's followed by Deadpool Killustrated and Deadpool Kills Deadpool) it sets the tone for what will undoubtedly be 3 volumes of unadulterated bloodshed. Basically it starts when the X-Men send Deadpool to a mental facility. What they don't realise is the doctor "treating" Deadpool is actually Psycho-Man in disguise. He tries to brainwash Deadpool into becoming his personal minion, but that fails and just leaves Deadpool even more unhinged. And then he goes on a murderous rampage to kill the entire Marvel universe, the idea being that if the Marvel universe is gone, along with all of its creators, then Deadpool himself could never have existed. I really love the way it ends, with Deadpool breaking out into the "real" world and confronting the artists and writers creating the story. The fourth wall, in true Deadpool style, is left completely decimated, and the last panel of the comic is Deadpool promising the reader "I will find you". It's a fun read, and the writers have been very clever about how Deadpool could go about killing everyone, including characters like the Hulk and Thor. Of course the problem of killing Wolverine, with his regeneration ability, was slightly more problematic, but they get round it. I've only just started on Killustrated so that will be one of next weeks topics! If you haven't read any of the killogy you really need to catch up!
Ok, so moving on to Saga Volume 2. This is a series that just keeps getting better and better! Every time I start a new chapter it surprises me. I'm still very much in awe of how beautiful the artwork is, and how well written the story is. Volume 1 ends with the arrival of Hazel's grandparents, after Alana, Marko, Izabel the ghost girl and Hazel have commandeered a tree-ship. You can imagine their shock at discovering their son has had a child with one of the enemy! What I really like about Saga is as the story goes on you find out more about Alana and Marko's back story, how they met and fell in love, and ultimately how Alana broke Marko out of jail and they escaped. You also see short flashbacks to Marko's childhood, which I really like.
One of my favourite things about Volume 2 is the arrival of Gwendolyn, Marko's ex-girlfriend. She's a really cool character, and I'm really looking forward to seeing how firey things get when she inevitably encounters Marko and Alana! There's also the Will and Lying Cat, who I absolutely love. After the Stalk is killed in volume 1, the Will really isn't bothered about finishing his mission, but he really does want to rescue Slave Girl from Sextillion, obviously without the money to buy her it's difficult for him to do this. Until he meets Gwendolyn, who wants to know why he hasn't finished his mission to kill Marko and Alana and take the child. He tells her he'll do it if she gives him enough money to free Slave Girl, a phone call and some fighting later and Slave Girl is theirs, and then she tells them that she can hear Gwendolyn's necklace talking to it's friends - the engagement rings that she gave to Marko! So now, Gwnedolyn, the Will and Slave Girl have a way to track our enamoured heroes, who are dealing with Marko's father's death, the animosity between Alana and Marko's mother, and also being on the run! Towards the end of Volume 2 you find out they are hiding in the lighthouse of the writer of the book that Alana started reading before her and Marko ran away, the book that started the whole thing... Definitely looking forward to reading volume 3, if the first two volumes are anything to go by it will be incredibly, totally amazing. The story flows beautifully, and the artwork really is just stunning, there is a depth to the characters and their relationships that I really like, and I love the way each volume leaves me wanting more. I think it might be a good idea to catch up and start reading them monthly!
And last but not least, the Walking Dead issue 130. Well, it was certainly interesting. After the end of issue 129 I almost expected the newcomers to free Negan. I was a little relieved and a little disappointed when they didn't, although it was mostly relief if I'm honest. I much prefer the idea of Negan being free when Rick's about, it's been a while since he lost his temper with someone and I miss crazy Rick! I'm feeling really sorry for Carl at the minute, going all the way to the hilltop to be an apprentice, only to find out the apprenticeship has been taken by another boy. Poor Carl! Of course the big talking point of 130 is the little tagline on the cover "There were whispers and I was afraid". Could the dead really be talking? That would certainly be an interesting turn of events wouldn't it? The zombies starting to become sentient! Much like the zombies in Night of the Living Deadpool! (Totally not the same, but the zombies in that could talk!). There are still a couple weeks left before the realease of 131 and I'm really dying to know how it's going to play out!
So, at next weeks book club, we'll be talking Saga Volume 3, Deadpool Killustrated and Neil Gibson's Twisted Dark, which is a volume I picked up and LFCC, having had a conversation with Neil, I haven't got round to reading it yet, so I'll get it read this week to talk to you guys about it next week!
If there are any books/comics you've read that you wanna have a chat about, or you wanna chat about the comics that I've mentioned (I will get round to finishing ome books soon so we can talk about them!) drop me a comment in the box!
Happy reading guys!
Thursday, 14 August 2014
Wayne Manor Book Club Week 2
So, this week we're going to talk about Y:The Last Man. I finished reading volume 1 last night and I absolutely love it. In fact, I'm just in the process of sending my friendly neighbourhood comic book shop owner a message to tell him I want volume 2.
It's a really cool premise - something random kills every living thing with a Y chromosome, except one man and his male monkey. And the story totally doesn't let you down, it's got this awesome countdown to the moment when all the men die, and Yorick, the main character, is on the phone to his girlfriend Beth who is in Australia. He;s just proposed to her but doesn't hear the answer because the phone disconnects and all the men apart from Yorick die. So basically he's on this massive quest to find his girlfriend to find out if she really does want to marry him, and he has to help out this bioengineering doctor along the way to see if they can clone him to make more men. And this doctor lady thinks she caused all the men to die because at the moment she gives birth to a clone (she clones her nephew so she can cure him of luekemia) all the men die. And then there's the mysterious Agent 355, I have nothing to say about her because I don't know anything about her!
The story is really well written and the art is awesome, and before I'd even made it halfway through the first volume I was totally prepared to pay for the remaining 9.
I have to be honest and say I almost expected some sexism, y'know because it's written by men, I figured they would be portraying women as weak characters, totally lost without men and entirely relying on this remaining man, but the female characters so far have been very strong, and very likeable.
I really need to read some more of this comic, it's totally awesome! And you know what I'm going to say.. if you haven't read it I recommend you do!
At next weeks book club we will be discussing Walking Dead #130 and Civil War (I know that's an old one but I'm a bit slow! So get reading!
It's a really cool premise - something random kills every living thing with a Y chromosome, except one man and his male monkey. And the story totally doesn't let you down, it's got this awesome countdown to the moment when all the men die, and Yorick, the main character, is on the phone to his girlfriend Beth who is in Australia. He;s just proposed to her but doesn't hear the answer because the phone disconnects and all the men apart from Yorick die. So basically he's on this massive quest to find his girlfriend to find out if she really does want to marry him, and he has to help out this bioengineering doctor along the way to see if they can clone him to make more men. And this doctor lady thinks she caused all the men to die because at the moment she gives birth to a clone (she clones her nephew so she can cure him of luekemia) all the men die. And then there's the mysterious Agent 355, I have nothing to say about her because I don't know anything about her!
The story is really well written and the art is awesome, and before I'd even made it halfway through the first volume I was totally prepared to pay for the remaining 9.
I have to be honest and say I almost expected some sexism, y'know because it's written by men, I figured they would be portraying women as weak characters, totally lost without men and entirely relying on this remaining man, but the female characters so far have been very strong, and very likeable.
I really need to read some more of this comic, it's totally awesome! And you know what I'm going to say.. if you haven't read it I recommend you do!
Tuesday, 12 August 2014
Old MacDonald Had A Farm
So, on Saturday my mum and I took James to Old MacDonald's farm in Brentwood. I'd picked up a voucher for discounted adult entry on Wowcher (which if you don't use it, is an amazing site), so we took a trip down on the train and we had a really good day out. James loved every second of it, and learnt an awful lot of new words. He saw a lot of animals he hadn't seen before and even cuddled a horse.
There's loads to do at the farm for kids, other than the animals. There are educational shows every hour, we managed to catch one with singing frogs and one with singing chickens, and there's a rollercoaster and other rides, and of course there's a big indoor play area. There are also some pretty cool animals there, namely alpacas, wallabies, otters and turtles.
If you're after a really good day out I definitely recommend going, though I don't recommend getting in a taxi in Brentwood, not only did it cost us £10 for a 10 minute drive, but when we wanted to get a taxi back we had to wait two hours!
Here's a link to the website, they've got a lot of good events coming up and it's guaranteed to be a god day, and here's a look at some of the pictures.
There's loads to do at the farm for kids, other than the animals. There are educational shows every hour, we managed to catch one with singing frogs and one with singing chickens, and there's a rollercoaster and other rides, and of course there's a big indoor play area. There are also some pretty cool animals there, namely alpacas, wallabies, otters and turtles.
If you're after a really good day out I definitely recommend going, though I don't recommend getting in a taxi in Brentwood, not only did it cost us £10 for a 10 minute drive, but when we wanted to get a taxi back we had to wait two hours!
Here's a link to the website, they've got a lot of good events coming up and it's guaranteed to be a god day, and here's a look at some of the pictures.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)