January, 2006

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I retrieve information about the latest event added to an event log? -- HG Hey, HG. You know, it seems like only yesterday that someone was asking us how they could find the oldest event in an event log. And we remember...

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I find the date of the oldest event in an event log? -- JL Hey, JL. You know, you just had to make a reference to “old” in your question, didn’t you? Just today one of the Scripting Guys received a letter from the American...

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I count the number of computers in a domain? -- TN Hey, TN. Here’s a true story for you. About 5 years ago, when one of the Scripting Guys first started at Microsoft, his group here (which might not be the most technically...

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I auto-delete specific file types from the My Pictures folder? If an error occurs with my fax machine, .drg and .txt files get added to My Pictures. I then have to delete these files before the fax machine will work again....

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I get a list of all the objects that have been added to Active Directory since a specified date? -- KR Hey, KR. First of all we’d like to apologize if our answer here is still a little soggy. No doubt you’ve seen cartoons...

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I display the IP addresses associated with a given MAC address? -- NK Hey, NK. Before we answer your question we should take a moment to answer a related question. People often ask us, “If I have a MAC address can I write...

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I add a user to a group, but only if that user is a member of the IT department? -- JV Hey, JV. You know, this is your lucky day: not only are we going to show you how you can add a specified user to a group (assuming, of...

Hey, Scripting Guy! I have a series of strings that look something like this: xxxxyyyyyyxx . How can I extract just the y’s? -- JB Hey, JB. And, yes, it is a Friday. But, hey, it’s just a coincidence that we happened to pick an easy question on a Friday...

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I tell which users are connected to a print queue? -- RE Hey, RE. You know, if your printers are anything like the ones the Scripting Guys are used to working with then it’s easy to tell which users are connected to a print...

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I change the size of a page file? -- HM Hey, HM. You know this is a somewhat unusual question for us. Why? Because there’s a very easy and straightforward answer, which doesn’t involve weird workarounds, doesn’t need to...

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I tell whether a logon script is running on a workstation or on a server? If the script is running on a server, I want to skip a portion of the script. -- RT Hey, RT. You know, a few years ago one of the Scripting Guys helped...

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I get the total number of items - and the total size - of all the items in my Inbox and Sent Items folders? -- CS Hey, CS. You know, one of the Scripting Guys has a foolproof method for determining this information. What...

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I list all the sub-OUs in an OU? That includes any OUs that might be in those sub-OUs. -- JE Hey, JE. If you’re the least bit familiar with this column then you know that we Scripting Guys love to answer questions that involve...

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I determine which day of the year a date falls on? For example, March 2, 2006 is the 61 st day of the year. -- TW Hey, TW. You know, we almost feel guilty about answering this question. Why? Well, after all, we can answer...

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I take ownership of a file or folder using a script? -- RV Hey, RV. Interesting question. In the past, the Scripting Guys have tried to take ownership of a Porsche 911, beachfront property in Hawaii, and the New York Yankees;...

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I change the font name and size for an entire Word document? -- CD Hey, CD. You know, this question reminded us of how old we Scripting Guys are getting - well, all of us except for Jean, of course, who continues to get...

Hey, Scripting Guy! On a Windows XP computer, how can I remove all the black-and-white printers, leaving only color printers? -- JL Hey, JL. You know, in one classic episode of the Simpsons, Bart, in the throes of a sugar high, joins the Junior Campers...

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I determine which text has been selected in an HTA? -- DO Hey, DO. You know, most people think that writing the Hey, Scripting Guy! column every day is one of the most glamorous and exciting jobs in the world. And it probably...

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I purge a print queue on a print server? I need to do this on both Windows 2000 and Windows Server 2003. -- KD Hey, KD. And hey: no fair! Lots of times we take the easy way out in this column: we provide an answer that works...

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I move all the users from one OU to another OU? -- PD Hey, PD. You know, when you work at Microsoft you quickly learn to hate to word “move.” After all, if it wasn’t for the fact that we own the buildings you would think...

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I remove all the blank lines from a text file? -- RE Hey, RE. You know, back in the year 2002, when the Scripting Guys were still just lowercase scripting guys, we began working on the Microsoft Windows 2000 Scripting Guide...