Batch job troubble (%~dp0)

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Just spend a few hours on a simple batch job issue 🙁

I had a job.cmd file I executed, but the containing commands was not executed as Windows could not locate the filename.exe files 😐  The problem was rather simple, the current directory (%cd%) while executing the job.cmd file was “c:windowssystem32”..  doh 🙁

Anyhow, found out that there is actually a simple way around this;

@Echo off
set IDP=%~dp0
set OLDDIR=%cd%
cd /d %IDP%
filename.exe /S
cd /d %OLDDIR%

This is rather simple, IDP (%IDP%) is set to the executing batch file’s directory via the IDP=%~dp0 and finally OLDDIR contain the ‘before’ current directory.  If you need to set the %cd% at the end, well no probably not (but hey I’m a nice guy 😉 )..

For further details;
http://weblogs.asp.net/whaggard/archive/2005/01/28/get-directory-path-of-an-executing-batch-file.aspx

http://technet2.microsoft.com/windowsserver/en/library/97731e49-ffa3-4918-87fb-5318743f29321033.mspx?mfr=true

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Windows Fundamentals (Reduced Win XP)

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I don’t quite know how, but this one managed to escape my attention until now (it was launched in 2006). Anyhow I just read about this while reading about the Asus Eee PC.

It would seem that there exist a reduced/limited Windows XP version for deployment to older pc’s and other equipment with reduced/outdated hardware (ram cpu etc). It should be able to run on 233mhz pc’s with as little as 64mb ram. Nice 🙂  also useful for the odd virtual PC.

It however require a SA license with Microsoft which makes the whole thing less interesting for home users. A shame as there is many old laptops lying around that would work fine for simple browsing etc.

Take a look here;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Fundamentals_for_Legacy_PCs

http://tonysblog.real-family.com/2006/09/windows-fundamentals-for-legacy-pcs.html

http://bink.nu/news/microsoft-windows-xp-fundamentals-for-legacy-pcs-screenshots.aspx

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MS-Forefront Client Security Update

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4s.gifIf you want to manually update the definitions in MS-Forefront Client Security you can download them here;

Download (Always the latest, downloads as an .exe file ready for installation).

For further details refer to;
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/935934

Update Dec 2009;
for tips on how to do a scripted (eg. daily) download look here;
https://readmydamnblog.com/?p=1085

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MS-Forefront Client Security issue

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Just a quick note on FCS (Forefront Client Security – Microsofts antivirus solution), I was in doubt if it would be a good idea to install Windows Defender as an added security to FCS, a quick Googling revealed that;

Answer found on Technet.
Client Security cannot be used to manage Windows Defender – as a matter of fact, Client Security requires that Windows Defender be removed.

Windows Defender can be managed with a Group Policy – please see the last item here: http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/about/releasenotes.mspx

–Kimborly Ditto-Ehlert

for full post;
http://forums.microsoft.com/ForeFront/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=1277937&SiteID=41

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SCCM 2007 – more “drivers”

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I earlier mentioned “Driver Magician” as a great tool for “extracting” drivers for use with Microsoft Systems Center Configuration Manager OS deployment.

knudsen-consulting.com was kind enough to mention another tool “Drivermax.com” with somewhat similar capabilities as “Driver Magician“, althoug Drivermax does seem more suited for debugging than extraction, as it shows ALL drivers and not just the ‘non native windows’ drivers, but still a great supplement for debugging those stubborn drivers 🙂

And Jesper my office college was kind enough also to share this link: http://totallydrivers.com which may prove equally useful.

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SCCM 2007 – more tips’n tricks

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For newbies on the MS-SCCM server here is another cool utility, it is aimed at the support role and will give you easy access to log-files and status of SCCM agents.

SMS Client Center – http://sourceforge.net/projects/smsclictr

And as its open source its quite cheap 😉

Thanks to: knudsen-consulting.com for sharing this tip 🙂

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Sccm 2007 – Top Tips’n tricks

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During one of those late nights browsing the net I stumbled across what turned out to be a time-saver in the high-roller end, what is the real interesting thing is that it is a was a total coincidence I got to think of an alternative use for a small utility aimed at a complete different audience.

If you are using MS-SCCM 2007 you know the hassle of hardware certification of new and old pc-models. If you wish to keep a tight leach on which drivers you install to the PC’s you deploy using MS-SCCM, you have to figure out which drivers are actually needed and obtain unpacked versions.  Now even if this may sound like a very simple task, experience quickly makes you think twice, take a modern Laptop PC and try to see how many odd hardware devices it contains.

The process has so far been to install the PC using your installation CD, then download the drivers from the manufacture and install them and figure out which driver was related to which unknown hardware device.  Then you would need to unpack the strange driver packages and figure out which files was actually required and import them to SCCM.  Often you would end up with installation packages which could not easily be unpacked (if at all), and you would have to do a lot of manual labour and testing to obtain the drivers. 

Well think again…  and let me cut your hardware certification time to a fraction…  Now you take your new laptop out of the box, start it up and let it install the preloaded OS.  Then install “Driver Magician” and use the build in backup function to extract the drivers, finally import the extracted driver-directory to SCCM and you are done, the pc model can now be deployed using SCCM.

“Driver Magician” was not actually made with this in mind, it is actually what I would describe as a geek tool.  It is intended for those who often install their computers and wish to minimize the time it takes to install the drivers, but believe me as a side effect it does a VERY good job of hardware certification for use with MS-SCCM.

This mean you can likely save at least 4-6 hours per pc model you need to hardware certify.

Piece of pie..

Watch a geeked YouTube intro, mind you this is not aimed at SCCM usage but more the original intend.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uq6U0y25mE

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Adobe AIR

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get_adobe_air.pngVirtualization now cross platform 

Adobe has taken application virtualization one step further than Softgrid/Thinstall, now you can use the web aware Adobe Air applications on any compatible platform (basically any web-able os).

Its an interesting idea that surely will appeal to many web-service providers. 

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Link

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Remotely enable Remote Desktop (TS)

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Need to administer a remotely located server that has not enabled remote desktop!?  Sure you can make a GP or do some registry editing, but hey it all takes time, some nice guy has made a util that will deal with this for you, just point and click..

http://www.intelliadmin.com/blog/2006/06/remotely-enable-remote-desktop.html

 remotedesktopenablerscreenshot.jpg

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VMware acquire Thinstall

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Nice, Microsoft is about to get some healthy competition to their Softgrid software virtualization.  VMware just bought Thinstall, for those of you who have no experience with Softgrid / Thininstall the brief description of what is is all about would be something like this;  Software virtualization is more or less the same as VMware Server / Microsoft Virtual Server is to OS virtualization, it allow you to run an application without installing it and without polluting the host os with registry entries and config files stored all over, an other cool thing is it will allow you to eg. install Office 2000, 2003 and 2007 all at the same time.. 

Goto http://www.vmware.com/whatsnew/thinstall.html to watch a demo or try http://www.thinstall.com/.  Thinstall has the upper hand over Microsoft as Thininstall does not require client software to be installed in order to use a virtual application, Thinstall also include the option to create .msi files (just as softgrid).

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Visual tour; http://www.thinstall.com/demos/intro_dec11/
Very cool, and pice of pie… thrust me….

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