Tell Us About Your Favorite Utility
Perspectives
- Have a Favorite Tool? Tell Me About It and Possibly Win $100
This & That
- Spend a Day With Some Technical Experts
Script Watch
- HTA Lets You Install Printers in a Minute or Less
- Stored Procedure Let's You Prove That the Database Isn't to Blame
Scripter's Toolkit
- Get Rid of Unwanted WPA Balloons
Info to Go
/* ==================================== */
:: **** Perspectives ****
by Karen Bemowski, kbemowski@windowsitpro.com
Have a Favorite Tool? Tell Me About It and Possibly Win $100
In last month's issue of Scripting Central
( http://penton.whatcounts.com/t?ctl=3709E:7F5CF7 ),
David Gray shared two freeware programs he created: WinDummy (which helps
debug calls to external programs) and WWSimStatus (which lets you simulate
any status code generated by an external program). Undoubtedly, many readers
will find these utilities handy.
The Internet is home to many other free utilities that are also helpful to
scripters. However, because the Internet is so vast, scripters often don't
know about the various tools available. To help bring to light handy
utilities that scripters might want to add to their scripting toolkit,
Scripting Central is running a contest.
To participate, just send me an email message that includes a list of the
utilities you often use in your scripting endeavors. Here are the conditions:
- The utility must be freeware or shareware.
- Because many people already know about the various Microsoft utilities,
please don't include any Microsoft tools.
- You must be able to use the utility in a script or code snippet (in any
scripting language) or at the command line.
- For each utility, please include the utility's title, where you can
download the utility, and a short explanation of why you find the tool handy.
Don't put off sending me your list--I need to have it by Friday, September
15, at the very latest. After I receive your list of favorite utilities, your
name will be entered in a drawing for $100.
In the October 6 issue of Scripting Central, I'll share the results with
you. Equally important, I'll announce the lucky winner of the drawing.
:: **** This & That ****
Spend a Day With Some Technical Experts
Spend a day with technical experts Michael Otey, Gil Kirkpatrick, Dustin
Puryear, and Randy Dyess. Designed specifically for IT professionals who work
in a "Windows Plus" environment, TechX World is a four-track, one-day event
featuring information about OS interoperability, data interoperability,
directory and security integration, and virtualization. The content will
focus on interoperability tips to help make disparate systems work well
together.
TechX World is brought to you by people who understand that the world you
live in never fits the textbook IT infrastructure. The regional event series
will visit four cities between October 24 and November 2, including
Washington DC, Chicago , Dallas, and San Francisco. For a complete agenda and
speaker details, go to
http://penton.whatcounts.com/t?ctl=370A4:7F5CF7
:: **** Script Watch ****
HTA Lets You Install Printers in a Minute or Less
If you're looking for an automated way to install printers on a printer
server, you'll want to check out an HTML Application (HTA) named
Install_Printer. With this HTA, installing a printer is just a matter of
specifying the printer's name, IP address, and printer driver. Learn more
about this HTA in the Reader to Reader article "HTA Makes Installing Shared
Printers Easy" in the October issue of Windows Scripting Solutions. When this
article goes live in mid September, go to
http://penton.whatcounts.com/t?ctl=370A3:7F5CF7 and enter 93233 in the
InstantDoc ID box.
Stored Procedure Let's You Prove That the Database Isn't to Blame
If you ever had users call to tell you that a SQL Server database is slow,
you'll likely find sp_Now a handy tool. This stored procedure determines what
processes are currently executing and consuming resources on a database
server. This information is helpful when troubleshooting sporadic performance
problems, especially in an environment in which applications span multiple
servers. For example, if a user calls and complains that the database is
slow, you can run sp_now to quickly determine what the database server is
actually doing. Learn more about sp_Now in the Reader to Reader article
"Prove That the Database Isn't to Blame" in the October issue of SQL Server
Magazine. When this article goes live in mid September, go to
http://penton.whatcounts.com/t?ctl=370A5:7F5CF7 and enter 93150 in the InstantDoc ID box.
:: **** Scripter's Toolkit ****
Get Rid of Unwanted WPA Balloons
When you set up a temporary test Windows Server 2003 or Windows XP system,
Windows continually displays Windows Product Activation (WPA) balloons that
prompt you to activate the product. In this circumstance, you'll likely want
to get rid of this activation reminder without activating the product.
When I need to remove activation reminder balloons, I use a short Windows
Script Host (WSH) script named DisableWpaNotification.vbs. I keep this script
in my network tools collection so that I can quickly browse to it and use it
to disable notifications when necessary. As the code
Set wpaColl = GetObject("winmgmts://./root/cimv2"). _
InstancesOf("Win32_WindowsProductActivation")
For Each wpa in wpaColl
wpa.SetNotification 0
Next
shows, DisableWpaNotification.vbs begins by creating an instance of the
Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) Win32_WindowsProductActivation
class. You set the Win32_WindowsProductActivation class's SetNotification
method to a value of 0 to disable the notification prompts and remove the
activation icon from the tray.
After I'm done testing a Windows 2003 or XP system and I'm certain it's
stable, I re-enable the notification balloons with the
EnableWpaNotification.vbs script:
Set wpaColl = GetObject("winmgmts://./root/cimv2"). _
InstancesOf("Win32_WindowsProductActivation")
For Each wpa in wpaColl
wpa.SetNotification 1
Next
EnableWpaNotification.vbs is similar to DisableWpaNotification.vbs, except
that EnableWpaNotification.vbs sets the SetNotification method to a value of
1. Setting the method to 1 enables the notification prompts and adds the
activation icon to the tray.
You can download DisableWpaNotification.vbs and EnableWpaNotification.vbs
from the Windows Scripting Solutions Web site. Go to
http://penton.whatcounts.com/t?ctl=370A3:7F5CF7 , enter 48312 in the InstantDoc
ID text box, then click the "Download the Code Here" link. Note that these
scripts work only on Windows 2003 and XP because the
Win32_WindowsProductActivation class isn't available in earlier OSs.
If you use DisableWpaNotification.vbs to suppress activation prompts, make
sure you add to your calendar or personal planner a deadline for re-
activation that's before the product's expiration date. There will be logon
notification reminders beginning 7 days before product expiration, but I
don't recommend that you rely on this final warning. If you run the system
unattended or send it to a remote site, you might not see that reminder in
time to prevent a crisis.
Thanks to Alex K. Angelopoulos for writing and sharing his
DisableWpaNotification.vbs and EnableWpaNotification.vbs scripts.
:: **** Info to Go ****
Gear up for TechX World Roadshow
Hear first-hand from leading interoperability experts, vendors, and peers
at this exclusive one-day event. You'll learn about managing OS
interoperability, directory migration, data interoperability, and much more.
This event provides in-depth information on how Windows and other systems
cooperate with each other.
http://penton.whatcounts.com/t?ctl=370A2:7F5CF7
Interop New York 2006
Getting the right information, to the right people, at the right time is
the ultimate measure of IT success. And there's no better place to learn how
to succeed than at Interop New York. With more than 100 educational sessions
and over 150 exhibitors, you'll gain first-hand knowledge from industry
leaders and get hands-on access to the full range of IT solutions.
http://penton.whatcounts.com/t?ctl=370A1:7F5CF7
Does your company have $500,000 to spend on one email discovery request? Join
us for this free Web seminar to learn how you can implement an email archiving
solution to optimize email management and proactively take control of
e-discovery--and save the IT search party for when you really need it! Live
Event: Tuesday, September 12
http://penton.whatcounts.com/t?ctl=3709C:7F5CF7
You know you need to manage your email data; how do you do it? What steps are
you taking? What additional measures should you enact? What shouldn't you do?
Learn the answers to these questions and get control of your vital messaging
data. Download the free eBook today!
http://penton.whatcounts.com/t?ctl=3709D:7F5CF7
Dramatically simplify Exchange troubleshooting with an in-depth look at
built-in troubleshooting tools and third-party applications. Join us as we
analyze a typical troubleshooting process, address the problems with using
standard tools, and learn how automated troubleshooting can solve these
challenges. Live Event: Thursday, September 14
http://penton.whatcounts.com/t?ctl=3709B:7F5CF7
Help your small or midsized business protect one of its most valuable
assets--business information. Easily store, manage, protect, and share
information by using hardware designed with the needs of your business in
mind. Manage IT without the large staff and extensive training--learn how
today!
http://penton.whatcounts.com/t?ctl=3709F:7F5CF7
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