February, 2009

How Can I Tell if I’m Running a Script on the 32-Bit or the 64-Bit Version of Windows Vista? Hey, Scripting Guy! I need to be able to tell if the version of Windows Vista I am running a script on is 32 bit or 64 bit. I have tried looking at system...

Hey, Scripting Guy! I know I can use the DNS WMI provider and query a DNS server. But what if I am not using a Microsoft DNS server? Or what if I do not have admin rights on the DNS server? What happens then? I really do not want to resort to parsing...

Hey, Scripting Guy! I need to create several new zones in DNS, and I do not want to waste time working through the GUI wizard. I mean, real network administrators do not use wizards. In the old days, this was easy: I’d just edit a .dns file and I’d be...

Hey, Scripting Guy! We are adding some new Exchange Servers to our messaging infrastructure, and I want to create some new MX (Mail Exchanger) records in DNS. I do not want to to create these records manually because carpal tunnel is not my friend and...

Hey, Scripting Guy! We are having name resolution issues at work. It is so bad that when my wife calls me, the guy in the other cube gets the call. This manifests itself in concrete ways as well. Opening Office Outlook seems to take forever; going to...

How Do I Determine the Versions of Several Executable Files Not Registered in the Registry? Hey, Scripting Guy! I need your help. I need to know the version of several executable files not registered in the registry. I can find the version of a...

Hey, Scripting Guy! I need to do hardware inventory on all our workstations and on all our servers. I know System Center Configuration Manager can do this and a whole lot more. We actually have it budgeted for deployment next year. However, that does...

Hey, Scripting Guy! Is there a way to figure out which tables and columns are in a database without having to open it up? - DT Hi DT, The Impressionists are back in Chicago! For the past six months, they were hibernating down in Ft. Worth, Texas...

Hey, Scripting Guy! Being able to create a database from a script is nice, and I appreciated your article yesterday. But I need to have a database with more than one table in it. Obviously this can be done, but I am at a loss as to how to go about it...

Hey, Scripting Guy! I have looked everywhere, and I cannot find a script that will create a new Microsoft Office Access database, and automatically add a new table and columns to it. If you had such a thing in Windows PowerShell it would be even better...

How Do I Troubleshoot Some Scripts Not Executing on Certain Computers? Hey, Scripting Guy! I have VBScripts executed using GPOs per organizational unit. For some reason, the scripts are not executed on certain computers. Sometimes, clicking Repair...

Hey, Scripting Guy! We have a number of Group Policy Objects (GPOs) that are not really doing anything. In fact, they are about as useless as an old hound dog with sinus problems. What I need is an easy way to find these old GPOs and produce a list so...

Hey, Scripting Guy! Good morning. We are in the process of modifying our Group Policy implementation, and I anticipate having to create 15 or so new Group Policy objects. I know that I can open the Group Policy Management Console, right-click, and go...

Hey, Scripting Guy! I have a problem. I have been elected, given the honor, granted the opportunity to excel (whatever management euphemism you wish to use to describe giving me more work) to clean up our Group Policy strategy. The problem is that the...

Hey, Scripting Guy! Do you ever wonder how some people ever get their jobs? We had a guy who was hired to organize our Group Policy implementation. The person was a loser. I mean, I do not think he could even spell Group Policy. Needless to say, the whole...

How Can I Pipe Over a Variable for Use in a File Name? Hey, Scripting Guy! Sorry to bother you but I have been looking for an answer to this for a few hours now. I’ve also been experimenting but have had no luck figuring it out yet. How do you get...

I give a lot of presentations, and the background picture of my baby alpaca, while fascinating to me, probably does not have the same level of attraction to my clients. I know I can mouse around and change the desktop picture to some bland color, but...

My scripting husband travels a great deal with his job, and he takes these really cool pictures. Unfortunately, he is somewhat lazy about downloading the pictures from the camera. As a result, we have pictures from Hawaii that are named Phoenix_Desert_05...

I want to use SharePoint for our company’s script library, but it will not allow us to upload a VBScript file. It accepts PS1 files just fine, but we still have quite a few VBScripts and we need to keep a central repository of them. We have decided to...

I know most people have heard of Moore’s Law that is named after Gordon Moore, but have you ever heard of Bob’s law? Bob was the senior network administrator when I first became an IT pro, and he created what he called Bob's Law. Briefly stated it says...