jalexander319

I am trying to figure out a way to validate that some BIOS settings are properly set on some Panasonic ToughBooks. Currently I can do this for HP as they have been so gracious as to add a WMI namespace with all of their BIOS settings easily accessable. Lenovo has a tool where I can capture a reference machines BIOS and then apply it to other machines across the network. So I have methods for those manufacturers that ensure there BIOS is set correctly. Unfortunately I have not found anything specific for Panasonic ToughBooks. I did come across some information for SMBIOS data using the MSSmBios_RawSMBiosTables class out of the WMI namespace. Within that class there is a property called SMBiosData that is a dump of the SMBIOS information. What I am curious about is if anyone knows specifics about this information....like if it contains the information for the various BIOS settings. Some testing seems to indicate that it does as I can capture the data, make changes to the BIOS settings, capture the data again, and it is different. The problem seems to be that it is not always consistent, especially when then trying a different machine. So I suspect that some of the information is unique to the machine (although I have read some things that indicate that unique information is excluded). I am wondering if anyone knows more specific information with regard to the SMBiosData or of another way that I can validate that the BIOS settings are set to a specific configuration using something that can run out of WinPE and be executed from a batch file or vbscript to allow me to write a log file to a share based on the results. (Currently if settings are found to be incorrect for HP, I have a script that parses the log files every 5 minutes and then emails a group when errors are found allowing us to correct the mistakes before the machines are reboxed. I appreciate anyones help. -Jeff

I use WDS regularly as a front end to deliver a customized winpe image to my clients. I don't use WDS to deliver any OS images. I am setting up a new 2008r2 server and either something has changed or I am having a complete brain fart. My understanding was that if you have the architecture discovery disabled then it would always use the x86 folder and would not download the wdsnbp file. This is how it has been working for several years now on our 2003 WDS setup. But with this new installation it doesn;t matter whether I have it disabled or enabled, the client always responds with "Downloaded WDSNBP... Architecture:x64 Contacting Server: <blah> TFTP Download: boot\x64\pxeboot.n12" which I don't want to happen. I want all clients to boot from the x86 folder. Mainly just so I don't have to maintain both folders when I make a change. I have used WDSUTIL to enable it, disable it with all combinations of starting and stopping WDS and the entire server. I even checked the registry setting for the architecture discovery. What am I missing?

Awesome utility! I am so glad you shared this!!! Update: After playing with this I realize I need to be able to use different ghost switches for different images. It appears that the way it is currently coded, all images will use the same switches. Is there an easy way to change that or has anyone already added that functionality? Thanks...