Hey, Scripting Guy! Blog

Hey, Scripting Guy! Tell Me About Aliases in Windows PowerShell

2009-11-09T08:01:00Z

Hey, Scripting Guy! I have been playing around with Windows PowerShell 2.0 in Windows 7 and I think that I like it. However, it seems to require an awful lot of typing. The double command names, such as Get-Process , are somewhat helpful for remembering things, but it is quite a bit of typing. Yes, it is shorter than writing a VBScript to return the same information, but did you have to make everything so long? And by the way, while I am whining, I hate typing the hyphen. It is too hard to find on...(read more)

Hey, Scripting Guy! Quick-Hits Friday: The Scripting Guys Respond to a Bunch of Questions (11/6/09)

2009-11-06T08:01:00Z

In this post : Using the Active Directory DirectoryEntry Class How Can I Run a Script Whenever a New USB Drive Is Attached to a Computer? Making a Specific Windows PowerShell 2.0 Script Work with Windows PowerShell 1.0 Can I Use VBScript to Distinguish Between Versions of Windows Server 2008? How Can I Determine the Drive Letter of My CD-ROM Drive? Using the Active Directory DirectoryEntry Class Hey, Scripting Guy! I have been writing some scripts for Active Directory, and this past weekend I ran...(read more)

Hey, Scripting Guy! Can I Start an Event Based on When a Registry Value Is Changed?

2009-11-05T08:01:00Z

Hey, Scripting Guy! I need to be notified when a particular registry key value gets changed. The registry value is in the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE hive. What I am trying to accomplish is this: I am using a script to install software. After the first piece of software is successfully installed, I want to install a subsequent piece of software. And after this is done, I will reboot the computer. I have tested this technique in our lab, and I am able to postpone the reboot. I have tried pausing the execution...(read more)

Hey, Scripting Guy! Can I Format a Portable Drive When It Is Inserted Into a Computer?

2009-11-04T08:01:00Z

Hey, Scripting Guy! I work with portable USB drives all the time. These are used for backup purposes, for temporary storage, for Sneakernet , and as a means to work with extremely large files that I do not want cluttering up the small hard disk drive on my corporate standard desktop. The problem is that I now have more than a dozen portable USB drives, some of which are continually connected, and others that I shuttle in and out of my computer on an hourly basis to transfer files from one computer...(read more)

Hey, Scripting Guy! Can I Be Informed When a Portable Drive Is Added by My Computer?

2009-11-03T08:01:00Z

Hey, Scripting Guy! I would love to be able to write a Windows PowerShell script that will inform me when a portable drive is added to my computer. Do you have ideas you could suggest? -- RC Hello RC, Microsoft Scripting Guy Ed Wilson here. Well it has already been a rather interesting week. I bought a new computer and loaded Windows 7 over the weekend. My new computer is hot. I loaded it up with 8 GB of RAM, 4 processor cores, and a solid-state boot drive for the operating system. I practically...(read more)

Hey, Scripting Guy! How Can I Write an Event-Driven Script?

2009-11-02T08:01:00Z

Hey, Scripting Guy! I have a problem at work. It is not with the pointy-headed boss, but I believe the problem is probably related to him anyway. There is this application that runs on a workstation in our computer room. It is not a client server application, and of course the workstation is not really a server—it is running Windows XP. Anyway, here is the problem. When the workstation reboots, the application starts automatically (the shortcut to it is placed in the Startup folder). After the application...(read more)

Hey, Scripting Guy! Quick-Hits Friday: The Scripting Guys Respond to a Bunch of Questions (10/30/09)

2009-10-30T07:01:00Z

In this post : How Do I Run Scripts? Which WMI Class Works with IDE Controllers? How Can I Randomize and Repeat Sequences? How Can I Run a VBScript I Find on the Script Center? How Can I Enable the Windows Scripting Host on My Computer? How Do I Run Scripts? Hey, Scripting Guy! I am trying to open the script environment because the Script Center site implies that this is best for running scripts to avoid all the windows that can be returned. I cannot seem to find a way of running this. I tried clicking...(read more)

Hey, Scripting Guy! Tell Me About Remoting in Windows PowerShell 2.0

2009-10-29T07:01:00Z

(Editor’s note: Portions of today's Hey, Scripting Guy! Blog post are excerpted from the Microsoft Press book, Windows PowerShell 2.0 Best Practices by Ed Wilson which is now available for pre-order .) Hey, Scripting Guy! I have heard that remoting is one of the cool new features of Windows PowerShell 2.0. What are the remoting features in Windows PowerShell 2.0, and how should I use them? -- FL Hello FL, Microsoft Scripting Guy Ed Wilson here. I spent yesterday evening crawling around in my attic...(read more)

Hey, Scripting Guy! What Improvements Does Windows PowerShell 2.0 Have?

2009-10-28T07:01:00Z

( Editor’s note : Portions of today's Hey, Scripting Guy! Blog post are excerpted from the Microsoft Press book, Windows PowerShell 2.0 Best Practices by Ed Wilson which is now available for pre-order .) Hey, Scripting Guy! I am curious about some of the new features of Windows PowerShell 2.0. I know that all of the old cmdlets from Windows PowerShell 1.0 are still around, but have there been any improvements? -- MB Hello MB, Microsoft Scripting Guy Ed Wilson here. Today I am listening to Die Zauberflote...(read more)

Windows Management Framework (with Windows PowerShell 2.0) was officially released today!

2009-10-27T19:11:00Z

Windows Management Framework, which includes Windows PowerShell 2.0, WinRM 2.0, and BITS 4.0, was officially released to the world this morning. You can now easily manage your Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2008, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003, and Windows XP computers through Windows PowerShell remoting! You can download the packages here: http://bit.ly/2vNaz6...(read more)

Hey, Scripting Guy! What Are the New Cmdlets in Windows PowerShell 2.0?

2009-10-27T07:01:00Z

( Editor’s note : Portions of today's Hey, Scripting Guy! Blog post are excerpted from the Microsoft Press book, Windows PowerShell 2.0 Best Practices by Ed Wilson which is now available for pre-order .) Hey Scripting Guy! I am curious about the new cmdlets that are available in Windows PowerShell 2.0. Do you have some sort of a list? -- RC Hello RC, Microsoft Scripting Guy Ed Wilson here. Things are rather mellow around here this morning, I am listening to Gran Ventura from Madama Butterfly , and...(read more)

Hey, Scripting Guy! Can I Use Windows PowerShell 1.0 Scripts on Windows PowerShell 2.0?

2009-10-26T07:01:00Z

( Editor’s note : Portions of today's Hey, Scripting Guy! Blog post are excerpted from the Microsoft Press book, Windows PowerShell 2.0 Best Practices by Ed Wilson which is now available for pre-order .) Hey, Scripting Guy! I see that Windows PowerShell 2.0 has officially released now and is included in Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. When will it be available for down-level systems? Should I go to the trouble to upgrade those systems to Windows PowerShell 2.0? -- JS Hello JS, Microsoft Scripting...(read more)

Hey, Scripting Guy! Quick-Hits Friday: The Scripting Guys Respond to a Bunch of Questions (10/23/09)

2009-10-23T07:01:00Z

In this post : Can I Submit Ideas for the 2010 Scripting Games? How Can I Load the ISE on Windows Server 2008 R2? How Can I Prevent Pop-Up Windows When Running a VBScript Script? How Can I Overwrite Existing Files When Using VBScript and the FileSystemObject? How Can I Change the Local Administrator Password with a Script? How Can I Prompt the User for a Computer Name in a VBScript Script? How Can I Simultaneously Delete Multiple Groups from the Same OU in Active Directory? How Can I Use WMI in a...(read more)

Hey, Scripting Guy! Part 2: How Can I Update Many Office Word Documents at Once?

2009-10-22T07:01:00Z

( Editor's note : This is part 2 of a two-part article originally intended for TechNet Magazine . Part 1 was published yesterday .) Now we arrive at the entry point to the script. The first thing to do in the entry point of the script is to create a collection of all the .doc and docx files in the folder indicated by the $path variable. The Get-ChildItem cmdlet is used to gather the collection of files. The Recurse parameter is used to tell the Get-ChildItem cmdlet to retrieve all files in the path...(read more)

Hey, Scripting Guy! Part 1: How Can I Update Many Office Word Documents at Once?

2009-10-21T07:01:00Z

( Editor's note : This is part 1 of a two-part article originally intended for TechNet Magazine . Part 2 will be published tomorrow.) Little clouds of dust rise from the ground like miniature tornados carrying powdery sand that drifts along lazily on a nearly still breeze. The tires that support the ancient bus grind well-worn rocks and produce more powdery sand that readily fills any void created by previous traffic. Hushed voices leave words that hang in the air like the soft dust that clings to...(read more)