I'm trying to automate the assigning of a PC manufacturer's service code
Articles and Tips: qna
15 May 2000
Q.
Dear Ab-end: I'm trying to automate the assigning of a PC manufacturer's service code to be used as an NT workstation's machine name after it has been imaged. I have most of the pieces in place, but a search of the registry on my test PC found 16 instances of the machine name/service code. I know some of these are volatile and some are not. The routine to replace all of them would be pretty ugly, so I'm trying to get it down to just a few entries. Do you know of any registry experts who can give me some feedback on this?
--Feelers Out in Fredonia
A.
Dear Feelers: According to Andrew Hill of Novell Consulting, when you actually change this through Control Panel, the following key gets modified:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet \Control\ComputerName\ComputerName] "ComputerName"="ZB7ZV"
The following key stays the same:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\ Control\ComputerName\ActiveComputerName] "ComputerName"="ZB7ZV"
This is because the new name is not "active" until the next boot. It should flip over when you reboot.
The following key deals with the setting on the DNS tab of your TCP/IP Protocol properties, which is the same name:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters]
"Hostname"="zb7zv"
Hope this helps!
* Originally published in Novell AppNotes
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The origin of this information may be internal or external to Novell. While Novell makes all reasonable efforts to verify this information, Novell does not make explicit or implied claims to its validity.