The Prodigal Son on 26th G Street

HowTo: (OSXp) Turn your XP to OSX

2008-05-24T02:42:00.004+08:00

I got tired of the boring XP graphics so i worked on transforming my machine to OSX style desktop.

What you need:

1. Download and install Rocket Dock

1.1 Configure the Dock and Icon Settings

1.2 Set to Run on startup

2. Hide the XP taskbar (You can set it to auto hide and lock)

3. Disable the Desktop

3.1 Browse the regkey: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer\NoDesktop (Create the key if not found - DWORD) and set the value to 1

3.2 Log off and relogin.

Optional:

Get an OSX wallpaper, install Safari and iTunes for more OSX feel!

Sample Snapshots of my new OSXp:

If at first you fail, call it version 1.0

PimPod2DaMax

2008-04-10T01:57:00.002+08:00

Just to share my latest setup, as promised!

Note: No Customize or Summerboard themes were used for this Mod. These are just all simple icon replacements using iPhone Browser. (Read my previous blogs for instructions)

Home Screen (Transparent Dock) with Kat Von D:

iTouchApps (Grouped by Category.App), activated by the first Icon on the Dock:

gPod (Grouped by Category.App), activated by gPod icon under iTouchApps:

iGamez (Grouped by Category.App), activated by the iGamez under iTouchApps:

iToolz (Grouped by Category.App), activated by the iToolz icon under iTouchApps:

Swipe to scroll to the next collection in iToolz category:

Pimped Weather Theme. Ain't using customize or summerboard, just replaced the default background via iPhone Browser (",)

Special thanks to the creators of Punisher, Bright Acrylic, Vista Ultimate, Divinity Themes for the icons and to Designer Set Customize Themes for the background images on Weather App and to Wallpaper.App and wallpaper contributors (if you install Wallpaper.App, please share your wallpaper, it's better to give than to receive) for the Categories background images and finally to the creator of ScreenShot.App! (",)

NES Emulator on iPod Touch

2008-04-10T01:35:00.002+08:00

1. Using iGopher, create the local script on your PC and Export them to your iPod.

2. Launch Installer.App and install the NES emulator.

3. Restart your iPod.

4. Create the NES folder in /var/mobile/Media/ROMS/NES. You can use any of the following:

a. SSH

b. Term VT100

c. iPhone Browser

d. MobileFind.App \ Find.App

5. Upload the ROMs in the folder that you've just created. (Using any of the following method above)

6. Launch NES.App, browse your ROMs and...

7. Enjoy the nostalgic games! Oh yeah, tilt to play in wide screen mode!

Normal Mode (Full Screen OFF):

Wide Screen Mode (Full Screen OFF):

Note: NES ROMs are Copyrighted! Do the right thing!

Pimp my iPod using iPhone Browser (USB Mod)

2008-04-09T22:37:00.005+08:00

It's been a while since I posted again, guess I was too busy with my iPod...

Thanks to iPhone Browser, now who needs WiFi, SSH, Customize, Summerboard and Installer to install apps and fully modify your Pod?!?

You've got a USB cable, then you can do it all...

First download the iPhone Browser (Windows), install it, plug your iPod (you don't even need to run iTunes to have the Pod detected by the browser).

Then browse the content of your iPod, drag files in to the GUI browser to transfer files to your iPod. Removal of files from the iPod is safe (iPhone Browser will back up the files in your local HDD before deletion... COOL)!

Replace all the default icons from /Application/AppName.App/icon.png with whatever you want. You can backup your current Summerboard Themes Icons by copying out /var/mobile/Library/Summerboard/Themes/Theme_Name_Folder.... so you can use any icons from any themes on your Pod (mix and match!).

To install the Application, use iGopher (instructions from my previous post) to download the packages to your PC, then unpack them to your iPod using iPhone Browser! Simple!

I've got PSX4All installed with NBA Live 2003 ROM, NES Emulator with tons of ROMs as well... getting a bit lazy to post the screen shots and additional instructions for the emulator installation and config... will do it next time... watch out for it!

If at first you fail, call it version 1.0

iPod Touch Full Mod (ZiPhone and iGopher)

2008-03-26T00:27:00.003+08:00

Just want to share setup (",)

I have jailbroken my iPod Touch 8GB with ZiPhone and have restored to 1.1.4 Firmware due to technical problems, errr... more of a user fault...

Errors Committed:
1. Changed the default root password, result: Springboard Infinite Loop!

2. Installed Poof and accidentally hidden all Icons, result: Luckily I have BossPrefs installed and set "SSH always on reboot". Had to SSH to my gPod and

launch Categories.app (requires unix skills here ={D).

Now I've got it setup that it can pass as a phone and unmatched as a workstation.

Note: If you're a new user of iPhone\iPod and thinking of jailbreaking it, you don't have to sweat anymore. Follow the prodigal son's steps for the easiest

MOD!

1. Upgrade your Pod to 1.1.4 (MailApp, StocksApp, Wiggle)

2. Install ZiPhone and connect your Pod to PC with iTunes (atleast v7) running.

3. Use the jailbreak option, wait for the entire process to complete and it will reboot automatically. After the reboot, Installer.App will be available.

This will include all the community sources available in the default package. You will need WiFi access to refresh the sources and install the apps. (But

wait... just keep on reading and you will learn that you do not need WiFi access to install Apps on your Pod ={D , just keep reading...)

4. Launch Installer.App, Go straight to Sources and touch Refresh to update the packages, this might take a while, so go for a fag or coffee break... Once

the refresh is completed, touch Install and you may start browsing for packages to install 3rd party apps. Make sure to check the updates page, it might

require you to update Installer.App... If you find an update package, install the update and restart Installer.App... Then

5. Install the packages in this order (Don't skip anything, trust me
you need all of them):
-BSD Subsystem 2.1
-BSD Subsystem 2.0 Termfix,

-SUID Libfix
-Community Sources
-OpenSSH
-Term-VT100
-BoosPrefs (Set SSH on Reboot and Wifi On)
-BossTool

Important Note, Installer.App is unable to detect the larger partition in the Pod... Yeah there are 2 partitions in your Pod...
Smaller Partition has 300MB (allocated for the OS and Apps) and the rest are allocated to the 2nd partition (allocated for Pics\Vids\Music..etc)...
If you keep installing applications, you will run out of disk space on the smaller partition and Installer.App will no longer allow you to install...

Luckily, at this point, you already have BossTool installed in your Pod... you can use it to move the Apps\Ringtone\Fonts to the bigger partition...
Technically, it's Nix MV and LN for dummies... meaning... the tool will move the files to the bigger partition and create a link to the folder...
Read on More Info in BossTool and be very careful, if the first files you moved (Fonts) did not make any file size increase in smaller partition...
Do not proceed in moving the apps... skip this and move on to the next step...

Or If Once that's done with no errors...

This part will tweak your Pod to create links and folders in the larger partion... WHY?!?
So that all the installations will be placed in the larger partition... MEANING?!?
YOU CAN INSTALL AS MUCH 3rd PARTY APPS AS YOU WANT!!! upto FULL 7GB... LOL

You can SSH into Your Ipod using (password is "alpine", first login takes 30-45 sec = ignore 15sec msg) or Launch Terminal VT100
1. Go to /private/var/root/
2. Create a new folder called "Media" (without "")
3. Run the following commands, hitting enter after each line:
cp -R /private/var/root/Media /private/var/mobile/
rm -r /private/var/root/Media
ln -s /private/var/mobile/Media /private/var/root/Media
cp -R /private/var/root/Library /private/var/mobile/
rm -r /private/var/root/Library
ln -s /private/var/mobile/Library /private/var/root/Library

Restart your Pod.

Now you can install till your Pod is full of Games\Apps\Utilities and such using Installer.App... Ooops.. You need WiFi to download and install packages...

Ahhhhh... That sucks...

Don't fret on it!!!

As promised... You can install packages without WiFi... Yeah you can via USB cable!!!
Catch? You still need Internet access on your PC... but trust me this is so much easier than downloading and installing apps using WiFi and very slow net...

New Steps:
1. Install the latest version of iGopher on your PC (you can get em here: http://code.google.com/p/igopher/)
2. Extract it in any folder (Alpha version doesn't have any installer yet... and yeah read on the requirements... .Net runtime and such)
3. Launch Gopher.exe (your iTunes running and Pod plugged in)
It will not be able to detect the Pod yet as the Installer.App do not have access to system files...
Fix is here (well this will be the last time you will need WiFi to install Apps... promise!!!)
3.1 Add http://i.unlock.no in your sources (Launch Installer.App, touch sources, touch edit, touch add then keyin the URL)
3.2 Refresh your Sources then browse under install then search for "ZiPhone iBrickr Fix", you need to restart ur Pod after installing it.
3.3 iGopher should have already detected your Pod
3.4 You may need to update the resources in Gopher (in the folder where you extracted iGopher, open AllSources.txt and update it with known Repos)
3.5 After refreshing the Sources in iGopher. you can browse for all Apps and installed as much to your heart's desire...

Enjoy It!!!

If you need help, mail me: Smooth Fingerz

Check out screen caps of my iPod Touch setup.

If at first you fail, call it version 1.0

Outlook: Move Items to Folder (with GUI folder list and not inputbox)

2008-02-14T23:00:00.004+08:00

I was searching for a Macro online for Outlook mail items moved to different folders.

Have seen few codes that performs the same but with this code I used the GUI folder listing instead of prompting for an inputbox to avoid errors as most users are not aware of the Folder paths.

I submitted the code to OutlookCodeDotCom: Moving mail items to specified folder

It has 30++ downloads so far... not bad!

Sub MoveMailToFolders()
Dim objNS As Outlook.NameSpace
Dim MyFolder As Outlook.MAPIFolder
Dim objItem As Outlook.MailItem
Dim ctr As Integer
On Error Resume Next
ctr = 0
Set objNS = Application.GetNamespace("MAPI")
Set MyFolder = objNS.PickFolder
MsgBox "The selected mail item(s) will be moved to: " & vbCrLf & vbCrLf & _
"Folder Path: " & MyFolder.FolderPath & vbCrLf & _
"Folder Name: " & MyFolder.Name _
, vbOKOnly + vbInformation, "Outlook Help"
For Each objItem In Application.ActiveExplorer.Selection
If MyFolder.DefaultItemType = olMailItem Then
If objItem.Class = olMail Then
ctr = ctr + 1
objItem.Move MyFolder
End If
End If
Next
MsgBox "Moved: " & ctr & " mail item(s) to: " & MyFolder.Name, vbInformation, "Outlook Help"
Set objNS = Nothing
Set MyFolder = Nothing
End Sub

Then using the Customize option on the toolbar, you can create a button for the Macro and assign a shortcut key to it!

If at first you fail, call it version 1.0

Latest Project: Server Monitoring Using WMI

2008-01-30T22:33:00.000+08:00

It was a while since my last post. Year ender is quite busy and the new year was as much.

I've been working on a latest project for our team. I set up a monitoring server running WMI scripts against remote servers in intervals of 2 or 30mins (depending on the frequency of data required).

Below are few simple snippets I used in to collect remote data and pump it in an html template and send it via email to the team (if ever performance thresholds were exceeded).

Code Snippets:

Sub DisplayErrorInfo
WScript.Echo "Error: : " & Err
WScript.Echo "Error (hex) : &H" & Hex(Err)
WScript.Echo "Source : " & Err.Source
WScript.Echo "Description : " & Err.Description
Err.Clear
End Sub

#1 Bytes Converter Snippet (One of my favorite snippet, pretty handy!)

Function SetBytes(Bytes,fKB)
If fKB=True then Bytes = Bytes * 1024
If Bytes >= 1073741824 Then
SetBytes = FormatNumber((Bytes / 1024 / 1024 / 1024),2,,-1,-1) & " GB"
ElseIf Bytes >= 1048576 Then
SetBytes = FormatNumber((Bytes / 1024 / 1024),2,,-1,-1) & " MB"
ElseIf Bytes >= 1024 Then
SetBytes = FormatNumber((Bytes / 1024),2,,-1,-1) & " KB"
ElseIf Bytes <>
SetBytes = Bytes & " Bytes"
End If
End Function

#2 Get Available Memory on the server

strComputer = "."
Set objWMIService = GetObject("winmgmts:\\" & strComputer & "\root\cimv2")
Set colItems = objWMIService.ExecQuery _
("Select * From Win32_PerfRawData_PerfOS_Memory")
For Each objItem in colItems
intValue = objItem.AvailableBytes
Wscript.Echo "Available memory = " & SetBytes(intValue,false)
Exit For
Next

Note: This requires cooking. If you you have no idea how that works then just use AvailableMBytes instead.

#3 Get CPU Usage (%)

Function GetCPUProcUsg(svr)
c = 0
strComputer = "."
Set objWMIService = GetObject("winmgmts:\\" _
& strComputer & "\root\cimv2:Win32_PerfRawData_PerfOS_Processor.Name='_Total'")
If Err = 0 Then
While (True)
N1 = objWMIService.PercentProcessorTime
D1 = objWMIService.TimeStamp_Sys100NS
Wscript.Sleep(1000)
Set objWMIService2 = GetObject("winmgmts:\\" _
& strComputer & "\root\cimv2:Win32_PerfRawData_PerfOS_Processor.Name='_Total'")
N2 = objWMIService2.PercentProcessorTime
D2 = objWMIService2.TimeStamp_Sys100NS
PercentProcessorTime = (1 - ((N2 - N1)/(D2-D1)))*100
Wscript.Echo "Processor Usage: " & Round(PercentProcessorTime,2) & "%"
GetCPUProcUsg = Round(PercentProcessorTime,2) & "%"
Wend
Else
DisplayErrorInfo
End If
Set objWMIService = nothing
Set objWMIService2 = nothing
End Function

#4 Get Available Disk Space

strComputer = "."
strUser =
strPass =
Set objSWbemLocator = CreateObject("WbemScripting.SWbemLocator")
Set oWMI = objSWbemLocator.ConnectServer(strComputer, "root\cimv2", strUser, strPass)
Set colDisks = oWMI.InstancesOf("win32_PerfRawData_PerfDisk_LogicalDisk.Name")
For Each objDisk in colDisks
intBaseValue = objDisk.PercentFreeSpace_Base
dblActualFreeSpace = (100 * objDisk.PercentFreeSpace) / intBaseValue
Wscript.Echo objDisk.Name & Int(dblActualFreeSpace)
Next

If at first you fail, call it version 1.0

HowTo: Enum Citrix Server License using LMSTAT

2007-09-13T22:23:00.000+08:00

Our PS4 server seems to fail to execute the license information scripts from Citrix.Com (Dependency on SDK).

So instead of relying on it, I decided to develop a script using LMSTAT and a short vb script to parse the output file and write it to a .CSV file for better viewing (Data Filtering and such...)

First I piped the result of lmstat -a to a text file then I used the script below to parse the contents then write it to a .CSV file

Code Snippet:

Parse the source file (lmstat output file): srcfile

Sub GetData(srcfile)
Set f = fso.GetFile(srcfile)
Set ts = f.OpenAsTextStream(ForReading, TristateUseDefault)
Do While ts.AtEndOfStream <> True
readResults = Trim(UCase(ts.ReadLine))
If InStr(readResults, "/27000") Then
mps = split(readResults, Chr(32))
msg = mps(1) & "," & mps(3) & "," & mps(4) &amp; "," & mps(5) & mps(6) & mps(8) &amp; " " & mps(9) &amp; " " & mps(10)
WriteToCSV msg, license_out
End If
Loop
End Sub

Write to CSV function: oCsv(Output File), msg(parsed ReadLine results)

Function WriteToCSV(oCsv,msg)
If Not fso.FileExists(oCsv) Then fso.CreateTextFile(oCsv)
Set f = fso.GetFile(oCsv)
Set ts = f.OpenAsTextStream(ForAppending, TristateUseDefault)
ts.Write msg & vbCrlf
msg = ""
ts.Close
End Function

If at first you fail, call it version 1.0

Event Log

2007-09-12T22:59:00.001+08:00

Event Log Manipulations:

1. Reading the Event Log
2. Clearing the Event Log
3. Creating backup of the Event Log

Code Snippet #1:

strComputer = "."
Set objWMIService = GetObject("winmgmts:" _
& "{impersonationLevel=impersonate}!\\" _
& strComputer & "\root\cimv2")
Set colLoggedEvents = objWMIService.ExecQuery _
("Select * from Win32_NTLogEvent " _
& "Where Logfile = 'System'")
For Each objEvent in colLoggedEvents
Wscript.Echo "Category: " & objEvent.Category & VBNewLine _
&amp; "Computer Name: " & objEvent.ComputerName & VBNewLine _
& "Event Code: " & objEvent.EventCode & VBNewLine _
& "Message: " & objEvent.Message & VBNewLine _
& "Record Number: " & objEvent.RecordNumber & VBNewLine _
& "Source Name: " & objEvent.SourceName & VBNewLine _
& "Time Written: " & objEvent.TimeWritten & VBNewLine _
&amp; "Event Type: " & objEvent.Type & VBNewLine _
& "User: " & objEvent.User
Next

Code Snippet #2:

strComputer = "."
Set objWMIService = GetObject("winmgmts:" _
& "{impersonationLevel=impersonate,(Backup)}!\\" & _
strComputer & "\root\cimv2")
Set colLogFiles = objWMIService.ExecQuery _
("Select * from Win32_NTEventLogFile " _
& "Where LogFileName='Application'")
For Each objLogfile in colLogFiles
objLogFile.ClearEventLog()
WScript.Echo "Cleared application event log file"
Next

Code Snippet #3:

strComputer = "."
Set objWMIService = GetObject("winmgmts:" _
& "{impersonationLevel=impersonate,(Backup)}!\\" & _
strComputer & "\root\cimv2")
Set colLogFiles = objWMIService.ExecQuery _
("Select * from Win32_NTEventLogFile " _
& "Where LogFileName='Application'")
For Each objLogfile in colLogFiles
errBackupLog = objLogFile.BackupEventLog( _
"c:\scripts\application.evt")
WScript.Echo "File saved as c:\scripts\applications.evt"
Next

If at first you fail, call it version 1.0

MFCOM: Farm Session Count

2007-07-13T20:06:00.000+08:00

Another day of Citrix Administration, a simple MFCOM script to view Active Farm Sessions.

Code Snippet:

Const cMetaFrameWinFarmObject = 1
Const MFSessionStateActive = 1
Set theFarm = CreateObject("MetaFrameCOM.MetaFrameFarm")
theFarm.Initialize(cMetaFrameWinFarmObject)
intSessionCount = 0
intActiveCount = 0
For Each oSession In theFarm.Sessions
intSessionCount = intSessionCount + 1
If (oSession.SessionState = MFSessionStateActive) and (oSession.SessionName <> "Console") Then
intActiveCount = intActiveCount + 1
WScript.Echo vbcrlf & "*****************************"
WScript.Echo "User Name: " & oSession.UserName
WScript.Echo "IP Address: " & oSession.ClientAddress
WScript.Echo "Server: " & oSession.ServerName
WScript.Echo "Application: " & oSession.AppName
WScript.Echo "Logon Time: " & oSession.ConnectedTime
End If
Next
WScript.Echo "Total Session Count = " & intSessionCount & vbcrlf & _
"Active Session Count = " & intActiveCount

If at first you fail, call it version 1.0

MFCOM: Connection licenses and usage count

2007-07-13T20:05:00.000+08:00

Yet Another Citrix Administrator Task, monitor the connection licenses and usage count in the farm...

Feel like a hill billy...

Code Snippet:

Dim fso
Set fso = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
If not fso.FolderExists("c:\liclog" ) then
Set MyFolder = fso.createFolder("c:\liclog" )
else
End if
if not fso.FileExists("c:\liclog\licCount.log" ) then
Set MyFile= fso.createTextFile("c:\liclog\licCount.log")
MyFile.writeline "Date " & " Time " & "Lic Type " & "Used"
MyFile.close
else
end if
Const ForAppending = 8
Set MyFile= fso.OpenTextFile("c:\liclog\licCount.log", ForAppending,True)
Dim theFarm, aLicense
Set theFarm = CreateObject("MetaFrameCOM.MetaFrameFarm")
' Initialize the farm object.
theFarm.Initialize(MetaFrameWinFarmObject)
For Each aLicense In theFarm.LicenseSets(MFLIcenseClassConnection)
if aLicense.LicenseID = "0000000000000003" then
MyFile.WriteLine date & "," & time & "," & aLicense.Name &amp; "," & aLicense.pooledinuse("")
else
end if
next
MyFile.Close

If at first you fail, call it version 1.0

Merlin the great!

2007-07-09T15:56:00.000+08:00

Imagine how amazed your users will be when they login to the domain and Merlin greets them...

You can call Merlin using Agent Control and make do the moves while you perform you login scripts in the background...

You can load information about the logged on user either using ADSI scripts or just by reading on the environment variable table...

Take note of the length of the messages or actions you throw at Merlin, you might need to make use of the Sleep method, otherwise the sentences or the animation will overlap...

Code Snippet:

strAgentName = "Merlin"
strAgentPath = "Msagent\Chars\" & strAgentName &amp; ".acs"
Set objAgent = CreateObject("Agent.Control.2")
objAgent.Connected = True
objAgent.Characters.Load strAgentName, strAgentPath
Set merlin_d_great = objAgent.Characters.Character(strAgentName)
With merlin_d_great
.Show
Set objRequest = .MoveTo(500,400)
Set objRequest = .Play("Announce")
Set objRequest = .Play("Explain")
Set objRequest = .Speak("Hi ")
Set objRequest = .Play("Read")
wscript.sleep 2000
Set objRequest = .Speak("Today is " & Now() & "...")
Set objRequest = .Play("ReadContinued")
wscript.sleep 2000
Set objRequest = .Speak("and the time is " & Time() & "...")
wscript.sleep 2000
Set objRequest = .Play("ReadReturn")
wscript.sleep 2000
Set objRequest = .MoveTo(750, 450)
Set objRequest = .Play("Pleased")
wscript.sleep 5000
Set objRequest = .Speak("I will be back shortly...")
wscript.sleep 5000
Set objRequest = .Play("Wave")
wscript.sleep 5000
.Hide
End With

Have a blast with Merlin, and oh... you can use other characters aswell...

If at first you fail, call it version 1.0

KD Memory.dmp debugging

2007-07-09T13:38:00.000+08:00

One of our Citrix server encountered a BSOD, luckily we had RSA and managed to hard reboot the server.

I've gathered the memory dump to view the cause of BSOD and found the Symantec Antivirus has caused a module error on the NIC driver.

We have then disabled the Network Drives in the File System Auto Protect and it had not experienced the same ever since.

Did not find any help from Symantec regarding the root cause other than it's a known issue.

Below are some steps that you could use for debbuging:

Launch windbg passing it the location of the symbol files, the source files (i386 directory) and the dump file. Example: windbg -y dump\symbols -i SRC\i386 -z dump\Memory.dmp

At the bottom of the Command window there is a kd> prompt.

The commands are entered into that prompt: kd>!analyze -v

Two things to look for in the results: the memory referenced and the FAULTING_IP

The command: kd>lm - will produce a listing of modules and their memory location.

Look to see which module's memory the memory referenced identified above falls in.

That usually indicates the process that caused the crashed and will probably match the FAULTING_IP if listed.

Also informative: kd>.reload –v

If at first you fail, call it version 1.0

HowTo: Add cmd.exe to right click context menu

2007-06-28T09:31:00.000+08:00

If you want the command prompt to be available whenever you right click on objects on your desktop or explorer, you can opt to create the keys in the registry:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Folder\shell\MenuText\Command

Change the (Default) value to cmd.exe /k cd "%1"

Or you can script it!

Code Snippet:

Const HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT = &H80000000
Const HKEY_CURRENT_USER = &H80000001
Dim WSHShell, objWMIService, strComputer, lcValue1
strComputer = "."
Set objWMIService = GetObject("winmgmts:\\" & strComputer &amp; "\root\cimv2")
Set objWSHShell = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
Set objRegObj = WScript.CreateObject("RegObj.Registry")
objWSHShell.Popup "This will enable CMD with explorer options for the Current User"
objWSHShell.RegWrite "HKCR\Folder\Shell\MenuText\Command\", "cmd.exe /k cd " & chr(34) & "%1" & chr(34)
objWSHShell.RegWrite "HKCR\Folder\Shell\MenuText\", "Launch CMD"
tmp = objWSHShell.RegRead("HKCR\Folder\Shell\MenuText\")
objWSHShell.Popup ("Current Value: " + tmp)

If at first you fail, call it version 1.0

HowTo: Enable disabled services

2007-06-28T09:16:00.000+08:00

If you want to automate startups on services that might be disabled by GPO, you can use Win32_Service class and change properties like the startup (Automatic\Manual\Disabled) or start\stop the service.

In my case, I prefer to use themes on my XP machine at work but our GPO disables them so our machines look like NT desktops... it sucks ain't it?

So to overcome this, I placed the script in my startup to enable the Themes and start the service.

Code Snippet:

strComputer = "."
Set objWMIService = GetObject("winmgmts:" _
& "{impersonationLevel=impersonate}!\\" & _
strComputer & "\root\cimv2")
Set colServiceList = objWMIService.ExecQuery _
("Select * from Win32_Service where Name = 'Themes'")
For Each objService in colServiceList
'Wscript.Echo objService.Name
errReturnCode = objService.Change( , , , , "Automatic")
If objService.State <> "Running" Then
objService.StartService()
Else
objService.StopService()
Wscript.Echo "Stopping..."
Wscript.Sleep 5000
objService.StartService()
Wscript.Echo "Applying Themes"
Wscript.Sleep 5000
End If
Next

Change line #6 value to any services that you want to enable (my case it's Name = 'Themes').

I prefer to use Cscript when executing any vbs scripts to avoid having to click on message prompts whenever you Echo.

If at first you fail, call it version 1.0

Bytes Converter Function

2007-06-28T09:10:00.000+08:00

A simple function that converts Bytes to GB, MB or KB.

Code Snippet:

Function SetBytes(Bytes,fKB)
if fKB=True then Bytes = Bytes * 1024
If Bytes >= 1073741824 Then
SetBytes = FormatNumber((Bytes / 1024 / 1024 / 1024),2,,-1,-1) & " GB"
ElseIf Bytes >= 1048576 Then
SetBytes = FormatNumber((Bytes / 1024 / 1024),2,,-1,-1) & " MB"
ElseIf Bytes >= 1024 Then
SetBytes = FormatNumber((Bytes / 1024),2,,-1,-1) & " KB"
ElseIf Bytes < 1024 Then
SetBytes = Bytes & " Bytes"
End If
End Function

Usage: SetBytes(Size,true\false)

If at first you fail, call it version 1.0

Kix Copy script with GUI (Kixtart UDF)

2007-06-26T15:48:00.000+08:00

Another KIXtart UDF, well the title says it all...

Dependencies:
KiX 4.02 (or higher)
Shell32.dll version 4.71 or later. (Included with: Windows 2000, Windows NT 4.0 with Internet Explorer 4.0, Windows 98, Windows 95 with Internet Explorer 4.0.)

Usage:
GUICopy("source", "destination", "optional flag", "optional flag")
@ERROR " : " @SERROR ?

Optional Flags:
4 - Do not display a progress dialog box.
8 - Give the file being operated on a new name in a move, copy, or rename
operation if a file with the target name already exists.
16 - Respond with "Yes to All" for any dialog box that is displayed.
64 - Preserve undo information, if possible.
128 - Perform the operation on files only if a wildcard file name (*.*) is
specified.
256 - Display a progress dialog box but do not show the file names.
512 - Do not confirm the creation of a new directory if the operation requires
one to be created.
1024 - Do not display a user interface if an error occurs.
2048 - Version 4.71. Do not copy the security attributes of the file.
4096 - Only operate in the local directory. Don't operate recursively into
subdirectories.
8192 - Version 5.0. Do not copy connected files as a group. Only copy the
specified files.

Returns The exitcode of the command in the @ERROR macro.
@ERROR = 0 The operation completed successfully.
@ERROR = 2 The system cannot find the file specified. (Refers to Source file.)
@ERROR = 3 The system cannot find the path specified. (Bad destination path.)
@ERROR = 9 The storage control block address is invalid. (Most likely cancelled copy.)
@ERROR = 10 The environment is incorrect. (Incorrect Shell32.dll version.)
@ERROR = 87 The parameter is incorrect. (Use 0 or 1 to specify Copy or Move.)

Code Snippet:

Function GUICopy($sSrc, $sDest, OPTIONAL $lFlags, OPTIONAL $bMove)
Dim $sVer,$objShell,$objFldr
If Not Exist($sSrc) Exit 2 Endif
If Not Exist($sDest) Exit 3 Endif
If @INWIN=1
$sVer=GetFileVersion(%WINDIR%+"\System32\Shell32.dll","FileVersion")
Else
$sVer=GetFileVersion(%WINDIR%+"\System\Shell32.dll","FileVersion")
Endif
If $sVer<"4.71" Exit 10 Endif
$objShell=CreateObject("Shell.Application")
$objFldr=$objShell.NameSpace($sDest)
If @ERROR<0 Exit VAL("&"+Right(DecToHex(@ERROR),4)) EndIf
Select
Case $bMove=1 $objFldr.MoveHere($sSrc,$lFlags)
Case $bMove=0 $objFldr.CopyHere($sSrc,$lFlags)
Case 1 Exit 87
EndSelect
If @ERROR<0 Exit VAL("&"+Right(DecToHex(@ERROR),4)) EndIf
Exit @ERROR
EndFunction

If at first you fail, call it version 1.0

Kix FTP (Kixtart UDF)

2007-06-26T15:30:00.000+08:00

FTP via Kix? Yes!!!

Using Microsoft.XMLHTTP and ADODB.Stream.

Usage:

FTPget("ftp_address", "target_dest_drive", "id", "password")

Code Snippet:

Function FTPget($sURL, $sTargetFile, optional $sUser, optional $sPass)
Dim $oFTP, $oStream $sUser=""+$sUser
$oFTP = CreateObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP")
if @error
$ftpget=1
exit 1
endif
$oStream = CreateObject("ADODB.Stream")
if @error
$ftpget=2
exit 2
endif
if $sUser
$oFTP.Open("GET", $sURL, not 1, $sUser, $sPass)
else
$oFTP.Open("GET", $sURL, not 1)
endif
if @error
$ftpget=3
exit 3
endif
$oFTP.Send
$oStream.Type = 1
$oStream.Mode = 3
$oStream.open
$oStream.Write($oFTP.responseBody)
if @error
$ftpget=4
exit 4
endif
$oStream.SaveToFile($sTargetFile, 2)
if @error
$ftpget=5
exit 5
endif
$oStream.Close
EndFunction

If at first you fail, call it version 1.0

Perl SMTP

2007-06-26T14:53:00.001+08:00

IIS6 requires an Application Pool (like Sharepoint or Exchange) other than Default Application Pool for your Web or Virtual Directory for .Net mail sending via your webpage or else CDONTS library will throw Access Denied errors In Yer Face!

Well thanks to Perl's MIME-Lite and Net-SMTP you are likely to bypass this.

Code Snippet:

use MIME::Lite;

use Net::SMTP;

# This debug flag will print debugging code to your browser,

# depending on its value

# Set this to 1 to send debug code to your browser.

# Set it to 0 to turn it off.

my $DEBUG = 1;

if($DEBUG)

$| = 1;

open(STDERR, ">&STDOUT");

# Set this variable to your smtp server name

# my $ServerName = "YourSMTPServer";

# Creat a new SMTP object

#$smtp = Net::SMTP->new($ServerName, Debug => 1);

# If you can't connect, don't proceed with the rest of the script

#die "Couldn't connect to server" unless $smtp;

### Adjust Sender & Recepient email address

my $from_address = '';

my $to_address = '';

my $cc_address = '';

my $mime_type = 'multipart/mixed';

### Adjust subject and body message

my $subject = '';

my $message_body = "";

### Adjust the file to attach

my $filename1 = '';

my $recommended_filename1 = '';

### Creat the initial text of the message

my $mime_msg = MIME::Lite->new(

From => $from_address,

To => $to_address,

Cc => $cc_address,

Subject => $subject,

Type => $mime_type,

or die "Error creating MIME body: $!\n";

### Add the text message

$mime_msg->attach(

Type => 'TEXT',

Data => $message_body

) or die "Error adding the text message part: $!\n";

### Attach the attachmnet file

$mime_msg->attach(

Type => 'application/txt',

Path => $filename1,

Filename => $recommended_filename1,

Disposition => 'attachment',

or die "Error attaching test file: $!\n";

my $message_body = $mime_msg->body_as_string();

### Set this variable to your smtp server name

my $ServerName = "";

### Creat a new SMTP object

$smtp = Net::SMTP->new($ServerName, Debug => 1);

### If you can't connect, don't proceed with the rest of the script

die "Couldn't connect to server" unless $smtp;

MIME::Lite->send('smtp', $ServerName, Timeout=>60);

$mime_msg->send;

### Close the connection

$smtp->quit();

If at first you fail, call it version 1.0

WMI Ping (Win32_PingStatus)

2007-06-26T14:27:00.000+08:00

The code below is an example in how to use Win32_PingStatus class in WMI to check a remote machine's status on the network.

Code Snippet:

Function PingHost(sTarget)
Set cPingResults = GetObject("winmgmts:{impersonationLevel=impersonate}//" & _
sHost & "/root/cimv2"). ExecQuery("SELECT * FROM Win32_PingStatus " & _
"WHERE Address = '" + sTarget + "'")
For Each oPingResult In cPingResults
If oPingResult.StatusCode = 0 Then
If LCase(sTarget) = oPingResult.ProtocolAddress Then
WScript.Echo sTarget & " is responding"
Else
WScript.Echo sTarget & "(" & oPingResult.ProtocolAddress & ") is responding"
End If
Wscript.Echo "Bytes = " & vbTab & oPingResult.BufferSize & _
vbTab & "Time (ms) = " & vbTab & oPingResult.ResponseTime & _
vbTab & "TTL (s) = " & vbTab & oPingResult.ResponseTimeToLive & _
vbTab & "Hostname = " & vbTab & oPingResult.ProtocolAddressResolved
Else
WScript.Echo sTarget & " is not responding"
WScript.Echo "Status code is " & oPingResult.StatusCode
WScript.Echo "*********************************"
End If
Next
End Function

If at first you fail, call it version 1.0

How to: Enable Reply to All?

2007-06-26T12:46:00.000+08:00

Did your company disabled the reply to all option on your Outlook?
And even deployed a noreplyall.dll to remove the icon?

It sucks ain't it? Copying all the address from the previous email instead of just clicking on the Replyall button...

You could delete these two (2) keys in the registry then restart your Outlook.
Customize your Toolbar , search for the Actions category and enable the ReplytoAll button.

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Outlook\DisabledCmdBarItemsList
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Outlook\DisabledShortcutKeysList

If you have GPO applied, this settings will not be retained after you logoff or reboot your machine...

Well a short NT script on your startup can bring it back...

Code Snippet:

@Echo Off
> "%Temp%.\EnableRep2All.reg" Echo Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
>> "%Temp%.\EnableRep2All.reg" Echo
>> "%Temp%.\EnableRep2All.reg" Echo [-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Outlook\DisabledCmdBarItemsList]
>> "%Temp%.\EnableRep2All.reg" Echo [-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Outlook\DisabledShortcutKeysList]
>> "%Temp%.\EnableRep2All.reg" Echo
START /WAIT REGEDIT.EXE /S "%Temp%.\EnableRep2All.reg"
DEL "%Temp%.\EnableRep2All.reg"
Exit

If at first you fail, call it version 1.0

OS Performance monitoring (PowerShell)

2007-06-26T12:07:00.000+08:00

Another useful powershell code snippet, monitoring the OS performance...

Code Snippet:

$computer = "."
$perf = get-wmiobject -class "Win32_PerfFormattedData_PerfOS_System" -computer $computer
$uptime=$perf.SystemUpTime/3600
write-host "Performance Stats: "
write-host "Processes", $perf.Processes
write-host "Threads", $perf.Threads
write-host "System Up Time `(hours`)", $uptime.tostring("00.0")
write-host "Alignment Fixups/sec", $perf.AlignmentFixupsPersec.tostring("###,##0.0")
write-host "Context Switches/sec", $perf.ContextSwitchesPersec.tostring("###,##0.0")
write-host "Exception Dispatches/sec", $perf.ExceptionDispatchesPersec.tostring("###,##0.0")
write-host "File Control Bytes/sec", $perf.FileControlBytesPersec.tostring("###,##0.0")
write-host "File Control Operations/sec", $perf.FileControlOperationsPersec.tostring("###,##0.0")
write-host "File Data OperationsPersec", $perf.FileDataOperationsPersec.tostring("###,##0.0")
write-host "File Read Bytes/sec", $perf.FileReadBytesPersec.tostring("###,##0.0")
write-host "File Read Operations/sec", $perf.FileReadOperationsPersec.tostring("###,##0.0")
write-host "File Write Bytes/sec", $perf.FileWriteBytesPersec.tostring("###,##0.0")
write-host "File Write Operations/sec", $perf.FileWriteOperationsPersec.tostring("###,##0.0")
write-host "Floating Emulations/rsec", $perf.FloatingEmulationsPersec.tostring("###,##0.0")
write-host "Percent Registry Quota Used", $($perf.PercentRegistryQuotaInUse/100).tostring("P")
write-host "Processor Queue Length", $perf.ProcessorQueueLength
write-host "System Calls Persec", $perf.SystemCallsPersec
write-host ""

Sample Output:
Performance Stats:
Processes 66
Threads 573
System Up Time (hours) 24.8
Alignment Fixups/sec 0.0
Context Switches/sec 9,857.0
Exception Dispatches/sec 0.0
File Control Bytes/sec 0.0
File Control Operations/sec 0.0
File Data OperationsPersec 1,232.0
File Read Bytes/sec 3,943,044.0
File Read Operations/sec 1,232.0
File Write Bytes/sec 0.0
File Write Operations/sec 0.0
Floating Emulations/rsec 0.0
Percent Registry Quota Used 9.00 %
Processor Queue Length 0
System Calls Persec 51752

If at first you fail, call it version 1.0

Software Inventory in a jiffy (Powershell)

2007-06-26T11:54:00.000+08:00

WMIC and WSH are good enough to perform software inventory collection... but the coding's just a little bit longer...

Well to query wmi is not a big task, it's formatting the output that will get your code extra few lines of unnecessary vbtab's and vbcrlf's.

Install Windows Power Shell, then it will take only three (3) lines of codes to get it running and the output is as lovely as a well defined tabular echo's on your console.

Code Snippet:

#Software Inventory
$computer = "."
$prod = Get-WmiObject -class "win32_product" -computer $computer
$prod | sort name | ft Name, Version, Vendor, Installdate -a

Just save it as *.ps1 then execute it with powershell...

If at first you fail, call it version 1.0

ADSI Kixtart UDF for Citrix login

2007-06-18T15:34:00.001+08:00

Having a mixed mode environment gave us a lot of hassle when logging in to NT and querying group membership in AD... Specially in our case, we have nested OU's...

Ifmember.exe is useful for this problem but it does cause a slight delay in the login process and the users are complaining on the slow login session, some couldn't wait and cancels the connection... catastrophic experience ends up as a global complain... hmmm... some people are just impatient...

So to be able to execute an ADSI query through kix login script the function below can be inserted anywhere in the login script to perform InGroup query... or this can fully replace the built in InGroup function in kixtart.

Code Snippet:

Function fnInGroupAD($sGroup,Optional $bComputer)
Dim $objSys,$objTarget,$aMemberOf,$sMemberOf
$objSys = CreateObject("ADSystemInfo")
$objTarget = GetObject("LDAP://"+Iif($bComputer,$objSys.ComputerName,$objSys.UserName))
$aMemberOf = $objTarget.GetEx("memberOf")
For Each $sMemberOf in $aMemberOf
If InStr($sMemberOf,"CN="+$sGroup+",")
$fnInGroupAD = Not 0
Exit
EndIf
Next
$fnInGroupAD = NOT 1
EndFunction

If at first you fail, call it version 1.0

Windows Management Instrumentation Command-line (WMIC) tool

2007-06-16T03:21:00.000+08:00

I previously posted an article regarding wbemtest that can be utilized in performing wmi query.

I recently visited M$oft and found an article on wmi command-line.

It was a good read and I was pleased to know that it provides you a simple command-line interface to Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI).

If you’ve never used WMIC, open a command prompt and type: WMIC

You should get a brief installation message followed by a WMIC prompt. You can type exit to return to the command prompt. WMIC has an interactive mode like NSLOOKUP or you can access it directly from the command line.

For example, run "wmic os get caption,csdversion", then you should get something like this:

Caption CSDVersion
Microsoft Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2

Type WMIC /? to view more info.

Note: Use the /RECORD global switch to redirect WMIC output to a file.

If at first you fail, call it version 1.0