November, 2005

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I use WSH to close a command window with a specific title? -- MF Hey, MF. You know, some things are just really hard to believe, regardless of whether or not they happen to be true. For example, according to the Big Bang...

Hey, Scripting Guy! In Microsoft Word 2003, my documents open as Final Showing Markup . How can I change this so the default view is Final ? -- CD Hey, CD. You know, this is the first Hey, Scripting Guy! column we’ve written since returning from the...

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I rename files like _JKG1234.jpg to 272_DSC_1234.jpg? -- NA Hey, NA. You know, NA, we feel sorry for you. Why? Well, on the one hand you’re unbelievably lucky. After all, the Scripting Guys never write scripts that they...

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I use wildcards to get a list of all the groups whose name starts with G-S-Group? -- JD Hey, JD. It’s the day before Thanksgiving, and one of the Scripting Guys is headed out of town as soon as he finishes his Hey...

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I sort worksheets in a workbook? -- FS Hey, FS. How can you sort worksheets in a workbook? Well, to tell you the truth, not as easily as we had hoped you could sort worksheets in a workbook. This doesn’t mean it can’t be...

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I lock a workstation after five minutes of inactivity, something recommended to us by our auditors? -- NM Hey, NM. To tell you the truth, we don’t know. Locking a computer remotely can be a bit of a problem; for more information...

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I verify that ADAM is installed? -- CW Hey, CW. Although former President Ronald Reagan is usually given credit for the phrase “Trust but verify,” we’ve always thought that sounded more like the sort of thing a system administrator...

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I import a fixed-width file into Microsoft Excel? -- JP Hey, JP. We have a confession to make here, something we’re terribly ashamed of: for a moment - just for a moment, mind you - we doubted Microsoft Excel. Yes, we know...

Hey, Scripting Guy! Awhile back you showed us a method to determine the height and width of a picture file. However, that solution required us to import all our picture files into Windows Media Player. Isn’t there another way to get this information,...

Hey, Scripting Guy! I have a fixed-width text file which includes first name (6 characters), last name (13 characters), and department (9 characters) all on a single line. How do I read that using ADO? -- DW Hey, DW. Well, to be perfectly honest, we...

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I tell if ActiveX is enabled in Internet Explorer? -- JV Hey, JV. You just had to ask this question, didn’t you? Actually, this isn’t a particularly hard question to answer, it’s just a little complicated. But that has to...

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I get the command window to stay open after running a tool like Ping or Ipconfig? -- DB Hey, DB. Now this question takes us back. Back when one of the Scripting Guys first started here at Microsoft many people thought WMI...

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I receive notification any time something is printed to a particular printer? -- IL Hey, IL. You know, one of the Scripting Guys once had a summer job in an organization where the only decent printer in the entire building...

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I clear an HTA window? -- DF Hey, DF. Well, to tell you the truth, if you’d ever seen at least one of the Scripting Houses you wouldn’t be asking us if we knew how to clear a window; it’s pretty obviously some of us don...

Hey, Scripting Guy! On May 3 rd you showed us how to merge multiple files in Microsoft Word. I’d like to do that, but put a page break between each file. -- CE Hey, CE. You know, when we read your email our first thought was this: no way did we show...

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I list all the sites in Active Directory as well as all the servers in those sites? -- DW Hey, DW. You know, you’re putting us to the test here. Ask us a question about users and groups and we’re fine; we at least kind of...

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I add a hyperlink to an Excel spreadsheet? -- J B-N Hey, J B-N. To begin with, we’d like to point out that we’re well aware of all the recent media scandals involving such prestigious organizations as The New York Times...

Hey, Scripting Guy! In my HTA, how can I determine the ADsPath for the logged-on user? -- AC Hey, AC. You know, when you work at Microsoft people automatically assume that you spend your days in an ivory tower, totally removed from the day-to-day activities...

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I determine the name of the local Administrators group? This can vary depending on the operating system language; for example, in German the name of the group is Administratoren. -- DS Hey, DS. You know, the first thought...

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I change the sAMAccountName from KMyer to Ken.Myer? -- CP Hey, CP. You know, William Shakespeare once said, “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” What does that have to do with your question abut changing the...