January, 2007

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I determine the default buffer size for the command window? -- GO Hey, GO. You know, some of you might be wondering, “Why a daily scripting column ? Why not, say, a daily scripting TV show?” That’s a...

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I delete all the .csg files on drive C of a computer? -- DL Hey, DL. You know, it’s funny how quickly things can change. Just a few hours ago the Scripting Guy who writes this column was in such a bad mood that...

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I get a list of all the subfolders in a folder and then put that list into an array? -- PW Hey, PW. We know how anxious you’ve all been, waiting to hear whether the Scripting Guys were successfully moved from Building...

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I convert an Office Excel spreadsheet to XML? -- KE Hey, KE. We apologize in advance if today’s column seems a little rushed; at the moment, we’re sitting in an office, surrounded by boxes and packing crates...

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I determine if Office Outlook is running and, if it isn’t, start it? -- NA Hey, NA. You know, this past weekend the Scripting Guy who writes this column found himself wandering through the local shopping mall, a...

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I get the name of the last user to log on to a computer? -- SV Hey, SV. You know, the Scripting Guy who writes this column never watches the news on TV. (OK, sports news being the one exception.) That’s not because...

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I create a new folder each night, using a folder name based on the current date? -- DM Hey, DM. In answer to your unasked question, no, the Scripting Guy who writes this column did not get selected to sit on a jury; as...

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I insert a field in a Word document that shows the date two weeks from today? -- HO Hey, HO. As you’re reading this the Scripting Guy who writes this column is no doubt sitting in the bowels of the King County Superior...

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I change the desktop wallpaper to one of six pre-defined selections? -- SB Hey, SB. You know, when the Scripting Guy who writes this column first sat down to tackle this problem he thought he had a really cool solution...

Hey, Scripting Guy! I have a file that has IP addresses and server names on each line. How can I delete the IP addresses, leaving just the server names? -- RR Hey, RR. In case you’re wondering, as we’re writing today’s column temperatures are still...

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I set Office Excel’s default file path to a user’s home directory? -- LL Hey, LL. We hope that the script we’re about to show you will answer your question; if it doesn’t, you might have to wait...

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I list all the groups in a Windows NT 4.0 domain? -- MN Hey, MN. It’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Day here in the USA, and, normally, you’d expect the Scripting Guy who writes this column to start things off by...

Hey, Scripting Guy! On a Windows 2000 computer, how can I subtract days from a UTC date-time value? -- KP Hey, KP. Yes, we do blame all of this on Scripting Guy Dean Tsaltas. The Scripting Guy who writes this column has known Dean for six years...

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I read the first line of every file in a folder and then move each file if the line contains thisdomain.com or thatdomain.com ? -- AZ Hey, AZ. We’ll get to your question in a moment. However, before we do that we...

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I retrieve the Subject property for a .MSI file? -- J L-G Hey, J L-G. Before you ask, the Scripting Guy who writes this column has no comment on the January 8 th Florida-Ohio State football game. That’s primarily...

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I add a new item to Office Word’s AutoCorrect list? -- OK Hey, OK. To begin with, we should point out that we have no way of knowing whether your initials really are O and K; after all, they could just as easily...

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I determine the version of DirectX installed on a computer? -- ML Hey, ML. How can you determine the version of DirectX installed on a computer? That’s an important question, and we’ll get to that in a moment...

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I get the Date Picture Taken property from a .JPG file? -- MW Hey, MW. Before we answer your question we should point out that this is likely to be the last Hey, Scripting Guy! column for quite some time to come. Not...

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I number the lines in a text file? -- AS Hey, AS. You know, after being on vacation for three weeks the Scripting Guy who writes this column has a lot of catching up to do. In turn, that means that you have a lot of catching...

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I clear all the formatting from a Microsoft Word document? -- TF Hey, TF. After a much-deserved holiday hiatus we are back, with the first official Hey, Scripting Guy! column for the year 2007. And yes, we know: technically...

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I append a blank line to a text file, then append the current date and time? -- PL Hey, PL. You know, back in the 1600s people were inordinately worried about witches and witchcraft. Fortunately, though, they developed a...