alex

Hi. We have a number of Windows 2000 SP4 workstations which require DirectX
9 (currently on DirectX 7) to be installed as a prerequisite for some
additional software we are rolling out. I have created a simple batch
script which copies the installer form a central file share, expands the
files to the %temp% directory, executed the installer silently and then
cleans up all the files. Everything works when testing the script/install
logged onto a workstation, although the install/update appears to be taking
20-25 minutes, there are no errors and DirectX 9 is successfully installed.

When I call the script as a computer startup script, the script again
executes fine and from the DirectX log file appears to running as expected
for ~5 minutes. After 5 minutes Windows then continues to boot and displays
the login screen. On checking the DirectX log file the installation appears
to have been terminated after 5 mintues even though the install hadn't
finished. There are no errors in the DirectX log, it's just as thought the
installation process was killed off.

Can anyone tell me what I'm doing wrong ? I'm not sure why DirectX is
taking as long to install/update, but is there a timeout on how long a
startup script can take to execute and complete ?

Thanks,
Alex.

pegasus \(mvp\)

I wonder why you post your question here, seeing that this is a VB Scripting
newsgroup and you're running a batch file. Or did you perhaps mean "VB
Script" when you wrote "batch script"? Anyway, there is no timeout built
into the logon process. You should capture the output from your batch file
like so in order to find out what's going on:
call InstallDirectX.bat 1>>c:\install.log 2>>&1

Inserting a "pause" command at the end of the batch file might help too.

richard mueller [mvp]

Also, remember that Startup scripts run with the permissions of the local
system. There is no user. This means the script should have permissions to
install software locally, but not have any permissions elsewhere in the
network. Sometimes you must grant permissions to the computer object for
network shares, for example. When this is necessary I grant permissions to
the group "Domain Computers". If the script runs fine when you run it, the
problem is most likely permissions. Also, the script must run silently.

--
Richard Mueller
MVP Directory Services
Hilltop Lab - http://www.rlmueller.net
--

pegasus \(mvp\)

AFAIR, startup scripts run within the context of the user logging on, not
the local system. This means that they can access networked resources, e.g.
roaming profiles.

richard mueller [mvp]

Startup scripts (configured in GPO) run before a user logs on. When my
startup script writes to a log file in a share, I must grant permissions in
the share to "Domain Computers" (or to the individual computer objects)
before it works.

--
Richard Mueller
MVP Directory Services
Hilltop Lab - http://www.rlmueller.net
--

pegasus \(mvp\)

I was thinking of startup scripts invoked by means of the user's account
profile (usually called the "Logon script").

al dunbar

But those are always called logon scripts, as they run at logon time.
Startup scripts are called startup scripts because they run at startup time.

/Al

pegasus \(mvp\)

Doh!

alex

Thanks for the replies. At the moment I have used a batch script as I just
wanted to check that the principal for upgrading directx 9 silently this way
was suitable, I was then going to move it to a vbscript. The batch script I
was using is below :

start /wait \\fileserver\distributions\directx9\directx_aug200 8_redist.exe
/Q /T:"%temp%\DX9\" > c:\dxInstall1.log 2>>&1
start /wait %temp%\DX9\DXSETUP.exe /silent > c:\dxInstall2.log 2>>&1
del %temp%\DX9\" /F /S /Q
rd "%temp%\DX9\" /Q

As explained in my original post if I run the above batch script while
logged in with administrative rights the directx upgrade runs without
problem and I've confirmed the upgrade was successful (the batch script and
files are all located on a file server, permissions have been setup to allow
access as Administrator as well as Domain Computers). The install does take
a long time ~40 minutes, I'm not sure if this is becuase I'm testing inside
a virtual machine, or just the amount of time it takes for a directx
upgrade. If I assign the above script as a startup script, it starts
running fine, the redist.exe is expanded to the local %temp%\DX9\ and
dxsetup then continues for ~18minutes producing the same directx.log file as
running the install locally. After ~18 mintues the installation then just
appears to terminate, there are no errors and the installation is not
complete. The dxInstall1.log and dxInstall2.log are always empty. The
official directx.log contains the same entries as the local installation,
but it just gets terminated after ~18 minutes, there are no errors in the
log.

Can anyone suggest what I'm doing wrong ?

Thanks,
Alex.

pegasus \(mvp\)

<snip>

Since you're using a batch file, all of your crossposts are inappropriate. I
suggest you repost in microsoft.public.win2000.cmdprompt.admin and in
alt.msdos.batch.nt. After you have resolved the batch file issue and if you
still have a problem, post your update here.