Silent install of msp patch

msiexec /p mspfile.msp /qn

Tricks with the Echo command in XP

rem generate list with echo
for /l %a in (1,1,9) do echo "station-0%a"

rem Generate a file with echo to a room of computers
for /l %a in (1,1,50) do echo "station-%a" > \\station-%a\c$\myfile.txt

Printing from the command line in XP

rem Print from command line


notepad /p textfile.txt

Set remote desktop from command line

reg add "\\computer\hklm\system\currentcontrolset\control\terminal server" /v "fDenyTSConnections" /d 0 /t REG_DWORD /f

0 is off and 1 is on

Generate a command window for each iteration of a loop

rem This is good for those commands that take a lot of time.
rem Each iteration generates a new cmd window

for /l %a in (1,1,10) do start cmd /k psexec \\computer-%a time-consuming.exe

Force a live update from command line

This will perform a silent live update of Symantec Antivirus 10.2

"c:\Program Files\Symantec AntiVirus\VPDN_LU.exe" /fUpdate /s

Adding a printer with vbscript from a network share

rem Add the connection
cscript prnmngr.vbs -ac -p \\server\printer_share


rem Set it as a default
cscript prnmngr.vbs -t -p "\\server\printer name"

rem If you don't know the name
cscript prnmngr.vbs -l

Keeping track of station numbers with a text file

rem Usually I keep track of the configurations associated with a station by its mac
rem Without the macs, one can keep track of what configuration to use by using a counter
rem
rem This works well with a network or a flash drive


for /f %%a in ('type \\server\share\count.txt') do SET temp=%%a
rem echo %temp%
SET /A temp+=1
echo %temp% > \\server\share\count.txt

rem The counts of count.txt is simply a number and can be used in a script

Power configuration from command line with xp

powercfg /setactive "always on"

powercfg /query

net time commands

net time (time from domain server)

net time /querysntp

net time /set \\another_pc

net time /setsntp:time.apple.com

Change a computer name with vbscript

Scripting the changing of computer names in windows is straight-forward with a vbscript.

You can change a computer via the registry, so this is the approach used here.

Set the computer name you want in the sNewName variable.

sNewName = "new_pc_name"

Set oShell = CreateObject ("WSCript.shell")



sCCS = "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\"

sTcpipParamsRegPath = sCCS & "Services\Tcpip\Parameters\"

sCompNameRegPath = sCCS & "Control\ComputerName\"



With oShell

.RegDelete sTcpipParamsRegPath & "Hostname"

.RegDelete sTcpipParamsRegPath & "NV Hostname"



.RegWrite sCompNameRegPath & "ComputerName\ComputerName", sNewName

.RegWrite sCompNameRegPath & "ActiveComputerName\ComputerName", sNewName

.RegWrite sTcpipParamsRegPath & "Hostname", sNewName

.RegWrite sTcpipParamsRegPath & "NV Hostname", sNewName

End With ' oShell

VBScript tricks : no logo, filesystem, control blocks, argument

'When running from the console, here is how to hide the logo

cscript //Nologo myscript.vbs

'How to reference an argument
WScript.Arguments.Item(0)


'Here is how to read a file

set f = fso.opentextfile(source, 1,false)



if fso.fileexists(source) then



while not f.atendofstream



inputline = f.readline



msgbox inputline

wend

end if

Universal scripted uninstall (XP)

Given the displayname value, this vbscript will go and find it in the registry and uninstall the corresponding program.

This is where it searches:

hklm\software\microsoft\windows\currentversion\uninstall

' arg 1 - displayname


if (wscript.arguments.count > 0 ) then

 set shell = wscript.createobject("wscript.shell")
 strcmd = "reg query hklm\software\microsoft\windows\currentversion\uninstall /s"

 set oexec = shell.exec(strcmd)

 temp = 0
 parent = ""

 do while not oexec.stdout.atendofstream

  strline = oexec.stdout.readline


  if len(strline) > 0 then
   a=split(strline,vbtab)
   if mid(trim(a(0)),1,4) = "HKEY" then
    b = split(trim(a(0)),"\")
    parent = b(ubound(b))
    temp = 1
   end if   
   alen = ubound(a) + 1
   if alen >= 3 then
    if trim(a(0)) = "DisplayName" and trim(a(2)) = wscript.arguments(0) and temp = 1 then
     wscript.echo "msiexec /x " & parent & " /qn"
     temp = 0
     shell.exec("msiexec /x " & parent & " /qn")
     exit do
    end if
        
   end if
  end if
 loop




end if

Viruses are back again!

Just when you thought XP Antivirus 2008 died out, enter AntiSpyware 2009. This piece of crap gets on your machine by screwing up internet explorer and the startup environment. The damn thing protects itself even in safe mode. I'm not sure how it does this; usually this is done with winlogon.exe, but the winlogon registry key seemed to be clean. We've just been reghosting the machine. Watch where you click! When you see a dialog box about spyware (and it's definitely not your antivirus software) restart your machine (this dialog box is from internet explorer).

Blackberry desktop manager

Working with the BDM has not been a general pleasure for me and other technicians where I work. It doesn't sync all the time, most likely due to corrupt organizer data and/or buggy software. The weird thing is that it was working kind alright when we had an Exchange server, but it got crappy when we migrated to a MAPI connector with Sun. I got it syncing by installing the exchange redirector BDM (we're still using outlook) and disabling redirection?! In the process of stumbling on this, I became familiar with just about every troubleshooting BB trick. Fun!

IT Rant II : Disk Imaging

If you have many computers, then you probably dread the time of year where you have to refresh their configurations. There are so many solutions available, but the ones that work and are simple to use are few and far between. Ghost 11 is not one of those programs, and neither is NetInstall for OS X 10.4.11. Ghost 11 would not clone Windows x64 nor regular XP sp3 (it worked for me before with Vista). I have gotten NetInstall to work in the past, but there was some issue with System Image utility failing to copy files. It looks like Apple has done a half ass job of updating OS X once again. I should have upgraded to Leopard server... I guess it's back to my reliable friend disk utility for restores until that happens.

Recently, my disk masters have reached very great sizes -- 100GB and up. This becomes a matter of give and take, because I want to do all my setups on the master. However, by doing so, I am creating images that are far too large. If I have sample files and/or programs that can be copied later, then this is the thing to do. I can copy the files with for loops like so:

Mac -
for ((i=1;i<21;i++))
do
scp somefile mylogon@station${i}.local:samples #make sure you copy the public key from ssh-keygen
done # to each station in ~/.ssh


Windows-
for /l %a in (1,1,20) do copy samplefile.txt \\station%a\c$\samples

There are all kinds of ways to simplify network tasks, but this still doesn't give us an excuse to procrastinate when building disk images. Try and do everything that is to be cloned in the master. Also, try to save space.

IT Rant I - Viruses and malware running amok

Every week I find myself cleaning off someone's machine. Typically, the cleaning process starts with booting into safe mode and running an antivirus scan. Also, cleaning out the registry and startup regions with autoruns. These are steps that may be followed after trying a system restore. The problem with a system restore is that you have to run an antivirus scan anyway, just to be sure.

Recently, I met some particularly annoying viruses such as Graybird, XP Security Center (also known as XP Antivirus 2008), and some others. I'm not sure which one it was, but it removed the svchost. I couldn't use the taskbar, start menu, read event log messages, copy files, or start internet explorer. It looks like the dllcache was emptied too, since sfc /scannow didn't work. It seems Windows users should just be locked down. Let's just give them a simple finder shell.