August, 2005

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I change a user’s primary group? -- AS Hey, AS. You know, one of the Scripting Guys knows how to make an incredibly rich rocky road brownie, a brownie that’s topped with melted marshmallows and walnuts and chunks of dark...

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I increment the last line in a text file; that is, if the last line is 1, indicating we’ve done one backup, I need to increment it to 2, indicating that we’ve now done a second backup. -- TH Hey, TH. If you’ve ever been...

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I get a list of all the users whose passwords never expire? -- NW Hey, NW. As you probably know, Internet gambling is illegal in the USA. That’s too bad, because if it wasn’t we’d be willing to bet $10 that the answer to...

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I determine the 20 largest files on a computer? -- PW Hey, PW. Having recently returned from a vacation in Europe, the Scripting Guy who writes this column now understands that there are different ways to do things. Some...

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I find all the users with remote access permissions; that is, all those with the Dial-In or VPN property set to Allow ? -- RC Hey, RC. You know, it seems like people are always looking for something: true love, happiness...

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I determine when the last patch from Windows Update was applied? -- JP Hey, JP. You know, you picked a good time to ask this question; that’s because we just published a Tales from the Script column that introduces scripters...

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I run a script to unhide all the files in a folder? -- GA Hey, GA. You know, when one of the Scripting Guys was a bit younger he and the other kids in his neighborhood spent countless hours playing variations on hide-and...

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I find out which attributes are replicated to the global catalog? -- AS Hey, AS. When people envision the future, they often foresee enormous skyscrapers, buildings so large that you might live your whole life without ever...

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I remove all duplicate lines from a text file? -- SW Hey, SW. You know, to be a Scripting Guy means to embark on a never-ending quest to find the ultimate solution to a given problem. (Or at least that’s what we tell our...

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I start up and shut down a Virtual Server session? -- DW Hey, DW. One of the Scripting Guys once had a neighbor who used to say, over and over again, “You know, I think I should have a garage sale. I really should have a...

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I enumerate all the universal groups in Active Directory? -- MW Hey, MW. You know, we’re glad you asked this question. Any time people talk about Active Directory then tend to talk about groups as if Active Directory had...

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I monitor the event logs for the occurrence of a specific event? -- JP Hey, JP. Why, you use an event log monitoring script, of course. (Yes, it’s hard to believe, but they really do pay us to come up with brilliant answers...

Hey, Scripting Guy! In my HTA, I would like to query a computer for a list of local user accounts, then dynamically create a list box containing those accounts. How can I do that? -- BN Hey, BN. You know, if you’d ever seen the Scripting Guys in …...

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I change the icon for an existing shortcut? -- DF Hey, DF. You know, the Scripting Guys (some of them, at least) are old enough to remember a time when you would never even think about changing an icon; after all, back in...

Hey, Scripting Guy! Given a specific date, how can I determine the beginning and ending date of the previous month? In other words, given 8/11/2005, I need to get back 7/1/2005 and 7/31/2005. -- PH Hey, PH. You know, this was a tough question for us...

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I tell if the screen saver is active and, if so, how long it has been running? -- MS Hey, MS. Interesting question; we don’t think we’ve ever been asked that before. And at first it had us stumped; after all, there aren...

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I modify a disk quota entry under Windows 2000? -- CL Hey, CL. We have some good news and some bad news for you. The bad news is that we’re doing one of those good news-bad news things that nobody ever likes. The good news...

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I get a list of all the songs (and their artists) in the Windows Media Library? -- KF Hey, KF. Three words: practice, practice, practice. You know, the old joke about how do you get to Carnegie Hall and this is kind...

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I change the printer port for a printer? For example how can I change it from FILE: to LPT1:? -- HK Hey, HK. Despite the Scripting Guys reputation as sophisticated intellectuals - really? We don’t have a reputation as sophisticated...

Hey, Scripting Guy! In Microsoft Word, how can I change the file locations for User Templates and Workgroup Templates ? -- SB Hey, SB. At least one of the Scripting Guys has always had a lifelong fear that he would write, say, the greatest novel ever...

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I insert a Wingding symbol into a Word document? -- RC Hey, RC. In case you’re wondering, there were two reasons why we decided to answer your question. First, we just liked the phrase insert a Wingding symbol . (No, we...

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I determine the uptime for a server? -- LF Hey, LF. This is an easy one. After all, we’re assuming you’re talking about a Windows server, and Windows servers never go down, right? Therefore, the uptime must be forever. Problem...

Hey, Scripting Guy! You’ve shown us how to search a text file for a single word or phrase, but how can I search a text file for two phrases? I need to know if a file contains either Windows 2000 or Windows XP . -- JR Hey, JR. You know, it’s hard enough...