Acuityware Blog

Deploying Printers and Print Drivers Remotely

2012-01-13T15:48:00.006-05:00

Today we’re going to go over a quick method to deploy print queues and printer drivers to multiple machines when other deployment methods, including deploying via GPO are not feasible. We’re going to use PsExec from Windows SysInternals in combination with some PrintUI.DLL commands. If you’re not familiar with PrintUI.DLL, it is the file that contains the different functions used by the printer configuration dialogs. So without further ado, let’s get started …

The first thing we need to do is determine what systems we want to push the printers and drivers to. In our example, we’re going to create a local folder on the C: drive called DEPLOY. Inside the C:\DEPLOY folder, we create a simple text file with a list of the machines – one per line. If you’re comfortable with scripting, the odds are that you’ve used a file like this in your scripting adventures. We save the file as COMPUTERS.TXT. The file itself looks like this:

COMPUTERNAME1
COMPUTERNAME2
COMPUTERNAME3
etc

Once we have our list of systems, we set it aside and compile our list of print queues and printer drivers that we want to create on our target machines. For this, we’re going to create a file called PRINTUI.CMD in our C:\DEPLOY folder. For each printer or driver we want to deploy, we create a corresponding line in our PRINTUI.CMD file – for example:

RUNDLL32 PRINTUI.DLL, PrintUIEntry /ia /f %windir%\inf\ntprint.inf /m “HP LaserJet 4”
Let’s break down this command and look at each piece of it:

/ia – install a printer driver using a .inf file
/f [file] – either .inf file or output file. When adding in-box drivers, use ntprint.inf as in our example above
/m [model] – printer driver model name. In our example, we’re specifying the HP LaserJet 4

Digressing for a moment, if we were going to use PrintUI.DLL to install a local printer, our syntax would look like this:

RUNDLL32 PRINTUI.DLL, PrintUIEntry /if /f %windir%\inf\ntprint.inf /b “Printer1” /m “HP LaserJet 4” /u /r “LPT1:” /Z
Let’s take a quick look at some of the differences in our syntax:

/if – install a printer driver using a .inf file
/b [name] – base printer name. In our example, we are calling the printer “Printer1”
/u – use the existing printer driver if it is already installed
/r [port] – port name – in our case LPT1
/Z – share the printer. You can only use this switch with the /if option

If we add the /y switch, we can specify that printer as the default printer
Getting back to our deployment scenario, we’re going to deploy a locally attached HP LaserJet 4 printer to each of our target machines with the following settings:

Printer Name = Printer1
Port = LPT1
The printer must be shared out

So, within our PRINTUI.CMD file we have the following entries:

rundll32 printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /ia /f %windir%\inf\ntprint.inf /m "HP LaserJet 4" 
rundll32 printui.dll PrintUIEntry /if /f %windir%\inf\ntprint.inf /b "Printer1" /m "HP LaserJet 4" /u /r "LPT1:" /Z
rundll32 printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /y /n "printer1"

Note: The first line is not actually required in our example, but we left it in our example to demonstrate how you can use the command to deploy drivers. The printer driver itself is installed in the second line with the /m switch that looks inside the ntprint.inf file to find the HP LaserJet 4 driver.

Now that we have our list of computers, and we know what the requirements are for the remote machines, we’re ready to use PsExec to carry out our deployment. The syntax for this command is:
PSEXEC @C:\DEPLOY\COMPUTER.TXT –i –n 20 –u DOMAIN\USER –c C:\DEPLOY\PRINTUI.CMD

There are some new pieces of syntax here – let’s examine them:

@file – directs PsExec to run the command on each computer listed in the specified text file
-i – run the program so that it interacts with the desktop of the specified session on the remote system. If no session is specified then the process runs in the console session. We include this option so that we can see any errors the process might generate on the remote system
-n – specifies the timeout in seconds for remote computer connections
-u – specifies the user name to use when connecting to the remote system
-c copies the specified program to the remote system for execution. If you omit this option, the application must be in the system’s path on the remote computer

The PsExec command copies our PRINTUI.CMD file to the remote systems and carries out the PrintUI.DLL commands. There are some caveats to this method. For example, the name of the printer driver may vary depending on which edition of Windows you are deploying the printers to. Thus you need to verify that the actual driver name is the correct one. Refer to the PsExec help and PrintUI.dll reference guide for more options on configuring the target printers.
Finally, PrintUI.DLL commands are flexible and can allow for some odd configurations that are rarely seen. Although it is possible to add per-machine printer connections using the /ga switch, this can result in some unpredictable printing behaviors and is not recommended. And with that, we have reached the end of our post. Thanks for stopping by!
Additional Resources:

Great little site with all types of tweaks and fixes

2012-01-12T11:16:00.003-05:00

Click Here to go there....

Using Views in Microsoft SQL Server

2011-11-30T15:15:00.001-05:00

Views are a very useful feature of relational technology in general, and Microsoft SQL Server specifically. They are wonderful tools that ease data access and system development when used prudently. Furthermore, views are simple to create and implement. But unfortunately most users do not adhere to a systematic and logical approach to view creation. This causes the advantages of views to become muddled and misunderstood. As you read this article you will find that views are very useful when implemented wisely, but can be an administrative burden if implemented without planning.

View Overview
Before discussing how best to implement views, let's review the basics of views. All operations on a SQL Server table result in another table. This is a requirement of the relational model and is referred to as relational closure.

A view is basically the relational model's way of turning a SELECT statement into a "table" that is accessible using SQL. Therefore, a view can be considered a logical table. No physical structure is required of a view; it is a representation of data that is stored in other tables. The data "in the view" is not stored anywhere and only physically exists in the underlying tables. Views can also be based on other views. For clarification, refer to Figure 1.

Figure 1. View Composition

Views are very flexible. They can consist of any combination of the following:

Rows from tables, including: a subset of rows from a single table, all rows from a single table, a subset of rows from multiple tables, or all rows from multiple tables.
Rows from views, including the same combinations as listed above for tables.
Columns from tables, including: a subset of columns from a single table, all columns from a single table, a subset of columns from multiple tables, or all columns from multiple tables.
Columns from views including the same combinations as listed above for tables.

Views are defined using SQL and are represented internally to SQL Server by a SELECT statement, not by stored data. The SQL comprising the view is executed only when the view is accessed and views can be accessed by SQL in the same way that tables are — by SQL.

When modifying data through a view (that is, using INSERT or UPDATE statements) certain limitations exist depending upon the type of view. Views that access multiple tables can only modify one of the tables in the view. Views that use functions, specify DISTINCT, or utilize the GROUP BY clause may not be updated. Additionally, inserting data is prohibited for the following types of views:

views having columns with derived (i.e., computed) data in the SELECT-list
views that do not contain all columns defined as NOT NULL from the tables from which they were defined

It is also possible to insert or update data through a view such that the data is no longer accessible via that view, unless the WITH CHECK OPTION has been specified.

Almost any SQL that can be issued natively can be coded into a view; there are exceptions, however. For example, the UNION operator can not be used in a view and you cannot create a trigger on a view.

All of the basic DDL statements can be used to create and manage views including CREATE, DROP, and ALTER. The text of any view can be retrieved from the SQL Server system catalog using the system procedure sp_helptext (unless the view was created specifying WITH ENCRYPTION). For example, this statement:

sp_helptext Sample_view

Might return the following output:
TextCREATE VIEW Sample_View
AS SELECT title, au_fname, au_lname
FROM titles, titleauthor, authors
WHERE titles.title_id=titleauthor.title_id
AND authors.author_id=titleauthor.author_id

It is also possible to rename a view using the system procedure sp_rename.

View Implementation Rules
Understanding the basic features of views will provide a framework for you to develop rules governing view usage. This section provides the rules of thumb for when it is wise to create views. Guidelines such as these should be instituted within your organization to reduce the amount of time and effort required to implement effective views.

The following rules will ensure that views are created in a responsible and useful manner at your shop. These rules were developed over a number of years as a result of implementing large relational databases in many different environments. There may be more uses for views than are presented here, so do not needlessly fret if you do not see your favorite use for views covered in this article—unless you blindly use base table views. There is no adequate rationale for enforcing a strict rule of one—view per base table for SQL Server application systems. In fact, the evidence supports not using views in this manner.

There are three basic view implementation rules:

The View Usage Rule
The Proliferation Avoidance Rule
The View Synchronization Rule

These rules define the parameters for efficient and useful view creation. Following them will result in a shop implementing views that are effective, minimize resource consumption, and have a stated, long-lasting purpose.

The View Usage Rule
The first rule is the view usage rule. Simply stated, your view creation strategy should be goal-oriented. Views should be created only when they achieve a specific, reasonable goal. Each view should have a specific application or business requirement that it fulfills before it is created. That requirement should be documented somewhere, preferably in a data dictionary or repository.

Although this rule seems obvious, views are implemented at some shops without much thought as to how they will be used. This can cause the number of views that must be supported and maintained to continually expand until so many views exist that it is impossible to categorize their uses.

There are seven primary uses for which views excel. These are:

to provide row and column level security
to ensure efficient access paths
to mask complexity from the user
to ensure proper data derivation
to provide domain support
to rename columns, and
to provide solutions which can not be accomplished without views

Let's examine each of these uses.

Security
One of the most beneficial purposes served by views is to extend the data security features of SQL Server. Views can be created that provide a subset of rows, a subset of columns, or a subset of both rows and columns from the base table.

How do views help provide row and column level security? Consider an EMPLOYEE table that contains all of the pertinent information regarding an enterprise's employees. Typically, name, address, position, birth date, hire date, and salary information would be contained in such a table. However, not every user will require access to all of this information. Specifically, it may become necessary to shield the salary information from most users. This can be done by creating a view that does not contain the salary column and granting most users the ability to access the view, instead of the base table.

Similarly, row level security may be necessary. Consider a table that contains project information. Typically this would include project name, purpose, start date, and who is responsible for the project. Perhaps the security requirements of the projects within your organization deem that only the employee who is responsible for the project can access their project data. By storing the login id of the responsible employee in the PROJECT table, a view can be created using the USER special register such as the one shown below:

CREATE VIEW MY_PROJECTS
	(PROJ_NO, PROJ_NAME, DEPT_NO,
	PROJ_STAFF, PROJ_START_DATE,
	PROJ_END_DATE)
AS	SELECT	PROJNO, PROJNAME, DEPTNO,
		PRSTAFF, PR_STDATE, PR_ENDATE
	FROM	PROJECT_TABLE
	WHERE	RESPONSIBLE_EMP=USER_NAME()

The USER_NAME() function returns the login id of the user initiating the request. So, if user Sammy issues a SELECT statement against the MY_PROJECTS view, only rows where the RESPONSIBLE_EMP is equal to "Sammy" will be returned. This is a fast and effective way of instituting row level security.

By eliminating restricted columns from the SELECT list and providing the proper predicates in the WHERE clause, views can be created to allow access to only those portions of a table that each user is permitted to access.

Efficient Access
Views can also be used to ensure optimal access paths. By coding efficient predicates in the view definition SQL, efficient access to the underlying base tables can be guaranteed. The use of proper join criteria and predicates on indexed columns can be coded into the view. For example, consider the following view:

CREATE VIEW EMP_DEPTS
	(EMP_NO, EMP-_FIRST_NAME, EMP_MID_INIT,
	EMP_LAST_NAME, DEPT_NO, DEPT_NAME)
AS	SELECT	E.EMPNO, E.FIRSTNME, E.MIDINIT,
		E.LASTNAME, D.DEPTNO, D.DEPTNAME
	FROM	EMP_TABLE	E,
		DEPT_TABLE	D

WHERE D.DEPTNO=E.WORKDEPT
By coding the appropriate join criteria into the view definition SQL you can ensure that the correct join predicate will always be utilized.

Complexity
Somewhat akin to coding appropriate access into views, complex SQL can be coded into views to mask the complexity from the user. This can be extremely useful when your shop employs novice SQL users (whether those users are programmers, analysts, managers, or typical end users).

Consider a database that tracks projects and each individual activity for the project. The following rather complex SQL implements relational division:

SELECT	DISTINCT PROJNO
FROM	PROJACT		P1
WHERE	NOT EXISTS
	(SELECT		ACTNO
	FROM		ACT A
	WHERE		NOT EXISTS
		(SELECT		PROJNO
		FROM		PROJACT	P2
		WHERE		P1.PROJNO=P2.PROJNO
		AND		A.ACTNO=P2.ACTNO);

This query uses correlated subselects to return a list of all projects in the PROJACT table that require every activity listed in the ACT table. By coding this SQL into a view called, say ALL_ACTIVITY_PROJ, then the end user need only issue the following simple SELECT statement instead of the more complicated query:

SELECT		PROJNO
FROM		ALL_ACTIVTY_PROJ

Now isn't that a lot simpler?
Derived Data
Another valid usage of views is to ensure consistent derived data by creating new columns for views that are based upon arithmetic formulae. For example, creating a view that contains a column named TOTAL_COMPENSATION which is defined by selecting SALARY + COMMISSION + BONUS is a good example of using derived data in a view.

Domain Support
It is a sad fact of life that there are no commercial relational database management systems that support domains; and SQL Server is no exception. Domains are an instrumental component of the relational model and, in fact, were in the original relational model published in 1970 — almost 30 years ago! Although the purpose of this article is not to explain the concept of domains, a quick explanation is in order. A domain basically identifies the valid range of values that a column can contain.¹

Some of the functionality of domains can be implemented using views and the WITH CHECK OPTION clause. The WITH CHECK OPTION clause ensures the update integrity of SQL Server views. This will guarantee that all data inserted or updated using the view will adhere to the view specification. For example, consider the following view:

CREATE VIEW EMPLOYEE
	(EMP_NO, EMP_FIRST_NAME, EMP_MID_INIT,
	EMP_LAST_NAME, DEPT, JOB, SEX, SALARY)
AS		SELECT	EMPNO, FIRSTNME, MIDINIT, LASTNAME,
			WORKDEPT, JOB, SEX, SALARY
		FROM	EMP
		WHERE	SEX IN ('M', 'F')
WITH CHECK OPTION;

The WITH CHECK OPTION clause, in this case, ensures that all updates made to this view can specify only the values 'M' or 'F' in the SEX column. Although this is a simplistic example, it is easy to extrapolate from this example. Your organization might create views with predicates that specify code ranges using BETWEEN, patterns using LIKE, and a subselect against another table to identify the domain of a column.

A word of caution however: when inserts or updates are done using these types of views, SQL Server will evaluate the predicates to ensure that the data modification conforms to the predicates in the view. Be sure to perform adequate testing prior to implementing domains in this manner to be safeguard against possible performance degradation.

Column Renaming
As you can tell from looking at the sample views shown in the other sections, you can rename columns in views. This is particularly useful if a table contains arcane or complicated column names.

Consider the following view:

CREATE VIEW ACCOUNT
	(ACCT_NUMBER, CUST_NUMBER, ACCT_TYPE,
	ACCT_BALANCE, ACCT_STATUS, ACCT_OPEN_DATE)
AS
	SELECT	ACNO, CUNO, ACTP, ACBL,
		ACST, ACOD
	FROM	ACCT

Not only have we renamed the entity from ACCT to the more easily understood name, ACCOUNT, but we have also renamed each of the columns. Isn't it much easier to understand ACCT_TYPE than ACTP, or ACCT_OPEN_DATE than ACOD? Of course, this is a contrived example with very awkward column names, but I have seen worse in actual production systems. Whenever tables exist with clumsy table and/or column names, views can provide an elegant solution to renaming without having to drop and recreate anything.

Single Solution Views
The final view usage situation might actually be the most practical usage for views—when views are the only solution! Sometimes, a complex data access request may be encountered that can not be coded using SQL alone. But, sometimes a view can be created to implement a portion of the access. Then, the view can be queried to satisfy the remainder.

Consider the scenario where you want to report on detail information and summary information from a single table. For instance, what if you would need to report on account balance information from an ACCOUNT table similar to the one discussed previously? For each account, provide all column details, and on each row, also report the maximum, minimum, and average balance for that customer. Additionally, report the difference between the average balance and each individual balance. Try doing that in one SQL statement!

Instead, you could create a view to solve the dilemma. Consider the following view, BALANCE that creates the maximum, minimum, and average balances by customer:

CREATE VIEW BALANCE
	(CUST_NUMBER, MAX_BALANCE,
	MIN_BALANCE, AVG_BALANCE)
AS
	SELECT	CUST_NUMBER, MAX(BALANCE),
		MIN(BALANCE), AVG(BALANCE)
	FROM	ACCOUNT
	GROUP BY	CUST_NUMBER

After the view is created, the following SELECT statement can be issued joining the view to the base table, thereby providing both detail and aggregate information on each report row:

SELECT		A.CUST_NUMBER, A.ACCT_NUMBER, A.BALANCE,
		MAX_BALANCE, MIN_BALANCE, AVG_BALANCE,
		A.BALANCE - AVG_BALANCE
FROM		ACCOUNT A,
FROM		BALANCE B
WHERE		A.ACCT_NUMBER = B.ACCOUNT_NUMBER
ORDER BY		1, 3

Situations such as these are a great opportunity for using views to make data access a much simpler proposition.

The Proliferation Avoidance Rule
The second overall rule is the proliferation avoidance rule. It is simple to state and directly to the point: do not needlessly create SQL Server objects that are not necessary.

Whenever a SQL Server object is created additional entries are placed in the system catalog tables. Creating needless views (and, indeed any object), causes what I call catalog clutter — entries in the catalog for objects which are not needed or not used.

In terms of views, for every unnecessary view that is created SQL Server will insert rows into the following system catalog tables: syscolumns, syscomments, sysdepends, sysobjects, sysprocedures, and sysprotects. If uncontrolled view creation is permitted, disk usage will increase, I/O problems can occur, and inefficient catalog organization may result.

The proliferation avoidance rule is based on common sense. Why create something that is not needed? It just takes up space that could be used for something that is needed.

The View Synchronization Rule
The third, and final view implementation rule is the view synchronization rule. The basic intention of this rule is to ensure that views are kept in sync with the base tables upon which they are based.

Whenever a change is made to a base table, all views that are dependent upon that base table should be analyzed to determine if the change would impact them. All views should remain logically pure. The view was created for a specific reason (see the View Usage Rule above). The view should therefore remain useful for that specific reason. This can be accomplished only by ensuring that all subsequent changes that are pertinent to a specified usage are made to all views that satisfy that usage.

For example, say a view was created to satisfy an access usage, such as the EMP_DEPTS view discussed earlier. The view was created to provide information about employees and their departments. If a column is added to the EMP table specifying the employee's social security number, it should also be added to the EMP_DEPT view if it is pertinent to that view's specific use. Of course, the column can be added to the table immediately and to the view at the earliest convenience of the development team.

The synchronization rule requires that strict change impact analysis procedures be in place. Every change to a base table should trigger the usage of these procedures. Simple SQL queries can be created to assist in the change impact analysis. These queries should pinpoint ad hoc queries, application programs, and analytical queries that could be using views affected by the specific changes to be implemented.

View synchronization is needed to support the view usage rule. By keeping views in sync with table changes the original purpose of the view is maintained.

View Naming Conventions
Views also instigate another area of conflict within the world of SQL Server—that being how to name views. Remember, a view is a logical table. It consists of rows and columns, exactly the same as any other table. A SQL Server view can (syntactically) be used in SQL SELECT, UPDATE, DELETE, and INSERT statements in the same way that a table can. Furthermore, a view can be used functionally the same as a table (with certain limitations on updating as outlined in earlier). Therefore, it stands to reason that views should utilize the same naming conventions as are used for tables.

End users querying views need not know whether they are accessing a view or a table. That is the whole purpose of views. Why then, enforce an arbitrary naming standard, such as putting a V in the first or last position of a view name, on views? DBAs and technical analysts, those individuals who have a need to differentiate between tables and views, can utilize the system catalog or system procedures to determine which objects are views and which objects are tables.

Most users do not care whether they are using a table or a view. They simply want to access the data. And, in a relational database, tables and views all logically appear to be identical to the end user: collections of rows and columns. Although there are certain operations that can not be performed on certain types of views, users who need to know this will generally be sophisticated users. For example, very few shops allow end users to update any table they want using a query tool (like Forest & Trees or Crystal Reports). Updates, deletions, and insertions (the operations that are not available to some views) are generally coded into application programs to be executed. Most end users need to query tables dynamically. Now you tell me, which name will your typical end user remember more readily when he needs to access his marketing contacts: MKT_CONTACT or VMKTCT01?

Do Not Create One View Per Base Table
Often times the dubious recommendation is made to create one view for each base table in an application. This is what I call The Big View Myth. The reasoning behind The Big View Myth revolves around the desire to insulate application programs from database changes. Some "experts" believe this insulation can be achieved by mandating that all programs are written to access views instead of base tables. When a change is made to the base table, the programs do not need to be modified because they access a view—not the base table.

Although this sounds like a good idea in principle, indiscriminate view creation should be avoided. The implementation of database changes requires scrupulous analysis regardless of whether views or base tables are used by your applications. Consider the simplest type of database change—adding a column to a table. If you do not add the column to the view, no programs can access that column unless another view is created that contains that column. But if you create a new view every time you add a new column it will not take long for your environment to be swamped with views. Even more troublesome is which view should be used by which program? Similar arguments can be made for removing columns, renaming tables and columns, combining tables, and splitting tables.

In general, if you follow good SQL Server programming practices, you will usually not encounter situations where the usage of views initially would have helped program/data isolation anyway. By dispelling The Big View Myth you will decrease the administrative burden of creating and maintaining an avalanche of base table views.

Always Specify Column Names
When creating views SQL Server provides the option of specifying new column names for the view or defaulting to the same column names as the underlying base table(s). It is always advisable to explicitly specify view column names instead of allowing them to default, even if using the same names as the underlying base tables. This will provide for more accurate documentation and easier view maintenance.

Code SQL Statements in Block Style
All SQL within each view definition should be coded in block style. As an aside, this standard should apply not only to views but also to all SQL statements. Follow these guidelines for coding the SELECT component of your views:

Code keywords such as SELECT, WHERE, FROM, and ORDER BY such that they stand off and always begin at the far left of a new line.
Use parentheses where appropriate to clarify the intent of the SQL statement.
Use indentation to show the different levels within the WHERE clause.

Do Not Encrypt Views
The WITH ENCRYPTION clause can be specified on SQL Server views to encrypt the actual text of the view. When this clause is specified, you can not retrieve the actual SQL used for the view from the system catalog. This is true whether you use sp_helptext or issue a SELECT statement against syscomments.

For this reason, unless there is a very compelling security reason, avoid using the WITH ENCRYPTION clause. Encrypted views are very difficult to administer, maintain, and modify.

Synopsis
Views are practical and helpful when implemented in a systematic and thoughtful manner. Hopefully this article has provided you with some food for thought pertaining to how views are implemented at your shop. And if you follow the guidelines contained in this article, in the end, all that will remain is a beautiful view!

Modifying Data Through a View

2011-11-30T15:11:00.000-05:00

Syntax:

Insert data using a view:
INSERT [ INTO ]
     view_name
     [ ( column1, ... ) ]
        VALUES ( value1, ... )
Update data using a view:
UPDATE view_name
SET column1=value1, ...
[ WHERE condition ]
Remove Data using a view:
DELETE
   [ FROM ]
      view_name
   [ WHERE condition ]
To get information about a view:
sp_helptext view_name
Dependencies of a view:
sp_depends view_name

INTO

An optional keyword used between the INSERT keyword and the name of the view.

view_name

The name of the view.

(column1, ...)

The list of columns into which values are to be inserted or updated.

VALUES

The keyword used just before the list of values.

(value1, ...)

The values that are to be inserted or updated, in the columns mentioned.

SET

The keyword which specifies the list of columns to be updated.

WHERE

The keyword that specifies the conditions that limit the rows to be updated.

condition

The condition that determines which rows are to be updated or deleted.

Views can be used for data modification:

If the view contains at least one table in the FROM clause of the view definition.
If no aggregate functions (such as MIN, MAX, AVG, COUNT, SUM, etc.), GROUP BY, UNION, DISTINCT, or TOP clauses are used in the main query. Aggregate functions, however, can be used in a subquery.
The view has no derived columns (columns derived using operators and functions) in the result set.

Customizing Windows Server Backup Schedule

2011-11-23T10:38:00.001-05:00

Windows Server Backup (WSB) is the built-in backup solution for Windows Server 2008 that replaces the venerable NT Backup from Windows Server 2003 and before. WSB protects the files and the server os/application binaries within itself as a single-server solution. To consolidate protection across multiple servers or applications like SQL Server, Exchange, SharePoint or Hyper-V, then Microsoft would recommend looking at System Center Data Protection Manager (DPM).

By design, WSB ensures that you have recent backups by performing its local backup operations at least once per day. While this is good and recommended there may be reasons specific to your environment where you may want to take backups at a lesser frequency or have multiple backup schedules (e.g. daily and weekly). For example, you may want to backup your files every day, while backing up the system state at lesser frequency say once a week.

You can extend the functionality of Windows Server Backup to meet all these advanced needs through simple scripts that uses Windows Server Backup Command Line Tool (WBADMIN) and the Windows Task Scheduler (SCHTASKS).

If you are not aware of Task Scheduler, it is a a management application provided in Windows operating systems that allows you to schedule any task for a given set of conditions. Task Scheduler also provides a command line interface (CLI) through the command SCHTASKS.

Samples

The samples here assume the following configuration of the system:
·        A single disk containing system drive (C:),
·        Two data volumes (D: and E:)
·        Dedicated backup volumes (H:, I: and J:).

These volume names and parameters are used as boldface in the samples below. Readers can customize them as per their requirements.

Sample 1: Daily Data Volume Backup

The following command will create a Task Scheduler task named DailyVolumeBackup with the start time of 23:00. This task will run DAILY with the HIGHEST privileges. It will run the Windows Server Backup CLI to backup volume E: to target volume H:.

Syntax:

SCHTASKS /Create /SC DAILY /TN /RL HIGHEST /ST /TR

Example:

SCHTASKS /Create /SC DAILY /TN DailyVolumeBackup /RL HIGHEST /ST 23:00 /TR "WBADMIN START BACKUP -backupTarget:H: -include:e: -quiet >> C:\backupLogs.txt"

Sample 2 : Weekly Backup of System State

The following command will create a Task Scheduler task named WeeklySystemStateBackup that runs every Saturday (SAT) at 19:00. This task will run WEEKLY with the HIGHEST privileges. It will run the Windows Server Backup CLI to backup SYSTEMSTATEBACKUP to target volume I:.

Syntax:

SCHTASKS /Create /SC WEEKLY /D /TN /RL HIGHEST /ST /TR

Example:

SCHTASKS /Create /SC WEEKLY /D SAT /TN WeeklySystemStateBackup /RL HIGHEST /ST 19:00 /TR "WBADMIN START SYSTEMSTATEBACKUP -backupTarget:I: -quiet >> C:\backupLogs.txt "

Sample 3 : Complete System Backup Once in Two Weeks

The following command will create a Task Scheduler task named OnceInTwoWeeksFullBackup that runs every Sunday (SUN) at 1:00 once every 2 weeks. This task will run WEEKLY with the HIGHEST privileges. It will run the Windows Server Backup CLI to backup allCritical volumes to target volume J:.

Syntax:

SCHTASKS /Create /SC WEEKLY /MO /D /TN /RL HIGHEST /ST /TR

Example:

SCHTASKS /Create /SC WEEKLY /MO 2 /D SUN /TN OnceInTwoWeeksFullBackup /RL HIGHEST /ST 01:00 /TR "WBADMIN START BACKUP -backupTarget:J: -allCritical -quiet >> C:\backupLogs.txt "

Notes:

Above tasks needs to be ran with highest privileges as Windows Sever Backup requires administrative privileges to run. If you are using “Task Scheduler” UI to configure the jobs make sure you use the "[ ] Run with highest priviledges" UI option in the security options of the task.
Since WBADMIN command will fail if any other backup job is already running, ensure that the backup jobs are scheduled with a sufficiently long time interval between two jobs.
Backups scheduled using windows scheduler (SCHTASKS) will not appear in the Windows Server Backup application user interface.
You can use a network location (i.e. \\servername\foldername) as a backup target in above commands. However, network backups will save only the latest version of the backup, deleting the previous version, as multiple versions on the network share are not supported.
You can use other WBADMIN CLI options to customize the backup, such as the option vssFull. Please see Windows Server Backup CLI for more details on CLI options.
You can use Task Scheduler advance functions like setup additional tasks to run before/after the above jobs. Example of the pre-tasks are disabling an antivirus, closing a service etc. Example of the post-tasks are upload the logs, send an email etc.
Since command line interface is interactive in nature and give error/completion information in the console itself, output of all the above invocation should be directed to a log file so that it can be referred in case of any error while running the backup.
For optimal storage space utilization on the backup target you can modify the VSS shadow storage using the following command:vssadmin resize shadowstorage /for= /on= /maxsize=UNBOUNDEDFor example: vssadmin resize shadowstorage /for=H: /on=H: /maxsize=UNBOUNDED

2011-11-04T13:16:00.001-04:00

Use a Built-In Windows Utility to Create Self-Extracting Archives

Most any savvy computer user is probably pretty handy with a free compression and archiving tool (like, say, 7-Zip), but not everyone they send files to will be. IExpress.exe, a built-in utility you simply type into the "Run" menu in Windows XP or "Start Search" in Vista, can create self-extracting archives to be emailed to anyone using Windows. Just choose "Extract files only" while clicking through the wizard interface, choose the files to be zipped up, and the end user only has to double-click to get them. IExpress also works as an easy way to convert batch files into executables. Need more info on IExpress? Check out Microsoft's help page on the tool.

2011-11-03T21:19:00.002-04:00

Command Line Printer Control

in Windows 2000 / XP

Many, but not all, printer settings can be done from Windows 2000's command line using PRINTUI.DLL and RUNDLL32.EXE.

The list of functions on this page was generated using the following command in Windows 2000 (Professional):

RUNDLL32 PRINTUI.DLL,PrintUIEntry /?

Notes:	(1)	I certainly did not test each of these switches myself! To be honest, I usually prefer to use the (VBScript) printer management scripts that come with Windows 2000 and later (`%windir%\System32\prn.vbs`).
	(2)	In Windows 7, `PRINTUI.EXE` can be used as shorthand for `RUNDLL32 PRINTUI.DLL,PrintUIEntry`

More information is available at Microsoft's TechNet under Q189105.

Download Microsoft's PrintUI.DLL User's Guide and Reference for more detailed, task oriented explanations of command line options.

Usage:

RUNDLL32 PRINTUI.DLL,PrintUIEntry [ options ] [ @commandfile ]

/a[file]	binary file name
/b[name]	base printer name
/c[name]	unc machine name if the action is on a remote machine
/dl	delete local printer
/dn	delete network printer connection
/dd	delete printer driver
/e	display printing preferences
/f[file]	either inf file or output file
/ga	add per machine printer connections
/ge	enum per machine printer connections
/gd	delete per machine printer connections
/h[arch]	driver architecture, one of the following: `Alpha \| Intel \| Mips \| PowerPC`
/ia	install printer driver using inf file
/id	install printer driver using add printer driver wizard
/if	install printer using inf file
/ii	install printer using add printer wizard with an inf file
/il	install printer using add printer wizard
/in	add network printer connection
/j[provider]	print provider name
/k	print test page to specified printer, cannot be combined with command when installing a printer
/l[path]	printer driver source path
/m[model]	printer driver model name
/n[name]	printer name
/o	display printer queue view
/p	display printer properties
/q	quiet mode, do not display error messages
/r[port]	port name
/s	display server properties
/Ss	Store printer settings into a file
/Sr	Restore printer settings from a file
	Store or restore printer settings option flags that must be placed at the end of command:
	2	PRINTER_INFO_2
	7	PRINTER_INFO_7
	c	Color Profile
	d	PrinterData
	s	Security descriptor
	g	Global DevMode
	m	Minimal settings
	u	User DevMode
	r	Resolve name conflicts
	f	Force name
	p	Resolve port
/u	use the existing printer driver if it's already installed
/t[#]	zero based index page to start on
/v[version]	driver version, one of the following: `Windows 95 or 98 \| Windows NT 3.1 \| Windows NT 3.5 or 3.51 \| Windows NT 3.51 \| Windows NT 4.0 \| Windows NT 4.0 or 2000 \| Windows 2000`
/w	prompt the user for a driver if specified driver is not found in the inf
/y	set printer as the default
/Xg	get printer settings
/Xs	set printer settings
/z	do not auto share this printer
/Z	share this printer, can only be used with the /if option
/?	help this message
@[file]	command line argument file

Examples:

Run server properties:: RUNDLL32 PRINTUI.DLL,PrintUIEntry /s /t1 /n\\machine
Run printer properties: RUNDLL32 PRINTUI.DLL,PrintUIEntry /p /n\\machine\printer
Run add printer wizard localy: RUNDLL32 PRINTUI.DLL,PrintUIEntry /il
Run add printer wizard on \\machine: RUNDLL32 PRINTUI.DLL,PrintUIEntry /il /c\\machine
Run queue view: RUNDLL32 PRINTUI.DLL,PrintUIEntry /o /n\\machine\printer
Run inf install: RUNDLL32 PRINTUI.DLL,PrintUIEntry /if /b "Test Printer" /f %windir%\inf\ntprint.inf /r "lpt1:" /m "AGFA-AccuSet v52.3"
Run add printer wizard using inf: RUNDLL32 PRINTUI.DLL,PrintUIEntry /ii /f %windir%\inf\ntprint.inf
Add per machine printer connection: RUNDLL32 PRINTUI.DLL,PrintUIEntry /ga /c\\machine /n\\machine\printer /j"LanMan Print Services"
Delete per machine printer connection: RUNDLL32 PRINTUI.DLL,PrintUIEntry /gd /c\\machine /n\\machine\printer
Enumerate per machine printer connections: RUNDLL32 PRINTUI.DLL,PrintUIEntry /ge /c\\machine
Add printer driver using inf: RUNDLL32 PRINTUI.DLL,PrintUIEntry /ia /c\\machine /m "AGFA-AccuSet v52.3" /h "Intel" /v "Windows 2000" /f %windir%\inf\ntprint.inf
Remove printer driver: RUNDLL32 PRINTUI.DLL,PrintUIEntry /dd /c\\machine /m "AGFA-AccuSet v52.3" /h "Intel" /v "Windows 2000"
Set printer as default: RUNDLL32 PRINTUI.DLL,PrintUIEntry /y /n "printer"
Set printer comment: RUNDLL32 PRINTUI.DLL,PrintUIEntry /Xs /n "printer" comment "My Cool Printer"
Set printer port: RUNDLL32 PRINTUI.DLL,PrintUIEntry /Xs /n "printer" PortName "port:"
Get printer settings: RUNDLL32 PRINTUI.DLL,PrintUIEntry /Xg /n "printer"
Get printer settings saving results in a file: RUNDLL32 PRINTUI.DLL,PrintUIEntry /f "results.txt" /Xg /n "printer"
Set printer settings command usage: RUNDLL32 PRINTUI.DLL,PrintUIEntry /Xs /n "printer" ?
Store all printer settings into a file: RUNDLL32 PRINTUI.DLL,PrintUIEntry /Ss /n "printer" /a "file.dat"
Restore all printer settings from a file: RUNDLL32 PRINTUI.DLL,PrintUI /Sr /n "printer" /a "file.dat"
Store printer information on level 2 into a file: RUNDLL32 PRINTUI.DLL,PrintUIEntry /Ss /n "printer" /a "file.dat" 2
Restore from a file printer security descriptor: RUNDLL32 PRINTUI.DLL,PrintUIEntry /Sr /n "printer" /a "file.dat" s
Restore from a file printer global devmode and printer data: RUNDLL32 PRINTUI.DLL,PrintUIEntry /Sr /n "printer" /a "file.dat" g d
Restore from a file minimum settings and resolve port name: RUNDLL32 PRINTUI.DLL,PrintUIEntry /Sr /n "printer" /a "file.dat" m p

More to explore:

Microsoft Knowledge Base articles: How to add printers with no user interaction in Windows XP and How to add printers with no user interaction in Windows (2000/2003).

How to print files from the command line (or batch files).

An overview of Registry Entries for Printing by Microsoft.

If RUNDLL32 just won't do the job:

Sometimes we need to do just alittle more than RUNDLL32 is capable of, like installing a TCP/IP printer port.
In that case, consider buying yourself a copy of the Windows 2000 Server/Windows Server 2003 Resource Kit and use PRNADMIN.DLL and the accompanying sample scripts written in VBScript.

My own AddIPPrn.bat uses these VBScripts to install a printer, its driver and a TCP/IP printer port on a remote computer.

If all you need is to backup/restore, clone or migrate existing printers:

Often the printer configurations of existing computers need to be cloned to other computers, or restored after reinstalling Windows.
In those cases, a backup/export and restore/import with Microsoft's PrintMig 3.1 may be the best (and easiest) solution.
Though earlier versions of PrintMig were GUI only, version 3.1 can also be run without user interaction from the command line or in a batch file:

Microsoft (R) Windows (TM) Printer Migrator 3.1
Copyright (C) 1997-2002 Microsoft Corp. All rights reserved

usage: PRINTMIG [options] [server]
       [-?] Display this message
       [-b] Backup - followed by CAB file name
       [-r] Restore - followed by CAB file name
       [-l] Attempt to convert LPR Ports to SPM
       [-i] Suppress warning popups.  Info still written to log file.

If server is not specified then the local machine is implied.

Example command line to restore an existing config to a server:
  printmig -r d:\print\ps1.cab \\prt-srvr1

Example command line to backup a server to the specified file:
  printmig -b "\\filesrv\store\print server 2.cab" \\prt-srvr2

PrintMig can be used for Windows (Server) 2000, XP and Server 2003.
For Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008, use the Printer Backup Recovery Migration tool (PRINTBRM) instead.
PRINTBRM is a great (native) command line tool to backup/restore and migrate printers.

Its command line couldn't be any simpler.
To backup:

%windir%\System32\Spool\Tools\PrintBRM -s \\sourcecomputername -b -f filename.printerExport

And to restore:

%windir%\System32\Spool\Tools\PrintBRM -s \\destinationcomputername -r -f filename.printerExport

For more help:

%windir%\System32\Spool\Tools\PrintBRM /?

Export printer drivers:

With Microsoft's PrintMig tool you can create backups of your complete set of printers, ports, drivers, print processors and print monitors.
Unfortunately there is no way to selectively backup nor restore, so you may want to backup a clean test system with just the printers and components you need to migrate.

If you need to migrate a single printer, use my ExpPrnDr.bat (Export Printer Driver) instead.
It uses Microsoft's DEVCON.EXE to list all files belonging to a specific printer driver, and PRINTUI.DLL to install that printer driver on any computer.

2011-11-03T08:47:00.000-04:00

Mount a Windows Shared Folder on Linux with Samba

If you want to "map a drive" from a Linux computer to a shared folder on a Windows computer or a shared folder on a Linux computer running Samba, there's a simple way that you can do this from the command line.

Installing Prerequisites

If you are running on Ubuntu or another Debian distribution, you can install the required software by simply running the following command from a terminal prompt:

sudo apt-get smbclient smbfs

Testing the Connection

Now that you have the right tools installed, it's time to test the connection to the Windows or Samba box with the shared folder. For this we can use the smbclient command like so:

smbclient –L geekmini –U geek

In this example, geekmini is the servername and geek is the username. You'll be prompted for the password.

You'll notice that you can successfully see a list of shares on the remote computer. In our case, we want to "map a drive" to the shared folder named "root".

Create the Mount Point

Any time you want to map a drive in Linux, you should create the folder first. In this case, I want to access that shared folder from /media/Video, so I'll first need to create the folder.

sudo mkdir /media/Video

Note that I'm using sudo because I'm creating the folder in a system-wide location owned by root.

Actually Mounting the Shared Folder

You can run the following command to mount the shared folder to a local path:

mount –t cifs –o username=geek,password=thepass //geekmini/root /media/Video

Note that you'd want to use your own details in the command. At this point you should be able to access the shared folder from /media/Video

2011-10-27T12:17:00.003-04:00

Universe Editor Commands

The EDITOR can be called with the followingformats:

ED (fileand record id's will be prompted)

ED file (recordid's will be prompted)

ED file id (editthe record 'id' in 'file')

ED file id id... (editmultiple id's in 'file')

ED file * (editall records in 'file')

SELECT ... (may precede 'ED file' command)

Special ASCII characters may be entered as:

...^nnn... where nnn is the decimal character code

...^^... will enter a single UP ARROW character.

An Editorcommand ending with a '?' will be placed on the command stack, butwill not be executed.

The followingcommands may be used in the Editor:

A -Do the last 'A any' (APPEND) command again.

A any - APPEND 'any' to this line.

ABORT - Toggle command execution ABORTbetween ON and OFF.

B - Set the current line pointer to the BOTTOMline.

B any - BREAK the current line after'any' into two lines.

BLOCK - Toggle BLOCK operationverification between ON and OFF.

C - Do the last 'CHANGE' commandagain.

C/// - CHANGE one or more lines.

Formatspermitted are:

C/from/to C/from/to/#

C/from/to/G C/from/to/#G C/from/to/G#

C/from/to/B C/from/to/BG C/from/to/GB

where / - is any delimiter character.

from - is thecharacter string to be replaced.

to - is thecharacter string to substitute.

# - is thenumber of lines to CHANGE. (The defaultis one)

G - isthe letter 'G' (global) CHANGE all instances in line.

B - is theletter 'B', CHANGE all lines in the defined BLOCK.

CASE - Toggle CASE mode betweenON and OFF. When CASE is ON, input willremain in the
case as typed. When CASE is OFF, input will be UPCASEd for case insensitivitysupport.
TCL CASE insensitivity must be ON touse CASE.

CAT any - CONCATENATE the next line onto the current line, separated by 'any'.

COL - Display relative COLUMNPOSITIONS on the CRT.

COPY - COPY a BLOCK (see '<' and'>' ), source block is unchanged.

D - DELETE the current line.

D# - DELETE '#' lines starting with the currentline.

DE - DELETE the current line.

DE# - DELETE '#' lines startingwith the current line.

DELETE - DELETE the entire record fromthe FILE.

DROP - DROP (DELETE) all lines inthe defined BLOCK (see '<' and '>' ).

DUP - DUPLICATE the current line.

DUP# - DUPLICATE the current line'#' times.

EX - EXIT the editor (same asQUIT).

F - Do the last 'FIND' commandagain.

any - FIND the next line that startswith the string 'any'.

F# any - FIND the next line that contains the string 'any' starting in column '#'.

FANCY.FORMAT               - Format a BASIC program to showlogical structure by indenting. This command is
   similarto the FORMAT command except that it handles comments and labels
  differently.

FD -Delete the entire record from the file (same as DELETE).

FI -FILE the record (same as FILE).

FIL -FILE the record under the originally specified name.

FILE name -FILE the record under the specified 'name'.

FILE f name - FILE record 'name' in file 'f'.

FORMAT -FORMAT a BASIC program to show logical structure by indenting.

G# - GO TO line '#' (set line pointer to line '#'; 'G' is optional).

G< -GO TO line defined by the beginning of the current BLOCK.

G> -GO TO line defined by the end of the current BLOCK.

HELP -Prompt user to display HELP information on the CRT.

HELP any -Display HELP information on CRT for 'any'.

I - INSERT newlines AFTER the current line. Prompt forsuccessive lines of INPUT until
NULL input. An INPUT line of a single spacewill store a NULL line.

IB - INSERT new linesBEFORE the current line. Prompt forsuccessive lines of INPUT until
NULL input. An INPUT line of a single spacewill store a NULL line.

I any -INSERT (INPUT) the line 'any' AFTER the current line.

IB any -INSERT (INPUT) the line 'any' BEFORE the current line.

L -Do the last 'LOCATE' command again.

L any - LOCATE the next line that contains the string 'any'.

L# - LIST '#' lines starting with the current line on to the CRT.

LOAD name -LOAD the record 'name' from the current FILE; line #'s willbe prompted.

LOAD f name - LOADthe record 'name' from file 'f'; line #'s will be prompted.

M - Do thelast 'MATCH' command again.

M any - Search for next line that MATCHES thepattern 'any'.

MOVE - MOVE a BLOCK (see '<' and '>'); source block is deleted.

N - Go on to next selected record; used when SELECT list is active.

OOPS -RESTORE the record to the condition prior to the last change.

P -PRINT on CRT the same number of lines specified with last 'P#'.

P# - PRINT on CRT '#' lines starting with thecurrent line.

PB -PRINT on CRT all lines in the defined BLOCK (see '<' and '>' ).

PE -The PE command allows a user to execute any legal PERFORM command from within
the editor. Upon completion of the command, control will be returned to the editor.

PERFORM            - ThePERFORM command allows a user to execute any legal PERFORM command from
                                   withinthe editor. Upon completion of thecommand, control will be returned to the
                                editor.

PL# -PRINT the current line and the next '#' lines; do not change the current linepointer.

PL-# -PRINT the current line and the prior '#' lines; do not change the current line pointer.

PO# -POSITION current line pointer to line '#' ('PO' is optional).

PP# - PAGE.PRINT a window of '#'lines around the current line; do not change the current
linepointer.

Q -QUIT - EXIT the editor.

QUIT -QUIT - EXIT the editor.

R -Do the last 'REPLACE' (R any) command again.

R any -REPLACE this line with 'any'.

R/// -CHANGE one or more lines (same as C/// command.)

RELEASE -RELEASE the update record LOCK for this file.

SAVE -SAVE (FILE) a copy of this record under the original name.

SAVE name -SAVE (FILE) a copy of this record underthe specified 'name'.

SAVE f name - SAVE(FILE) a copy of this record as record 'name' in file 'f'.

SEQ/// -Generate SEQUENTIAL numbers. Formats permitted are:

SEQ/from/start/# SEQ/from/start/#/inc

where / - is any delimiter character.

from - is the optional character string toreplace.

start - isthe starting sequential number.

# - is the number of lines to SEQUENCE, orthe letter 'B'

(sequence in defined BLOCK).

inc - is theoptional increment (default is one).

SIZE -Display the SIZE of this record (# of LINES/FIELDS, # of BYTES).

SPOOL -SPOOL entire record to PRINTER.

SPOOL# -SPOOL '#' lines to the PRINTER.

SPOOLHELP -SPOOL the HELP listing to the default PRINTER.

STAMP                 - INSERT a 'last modified'stamp into the record, which begins with a '*' (for BASIC
                'comment'), and contains the account name,LOGIN name (if different from account
              name), date and time. Used to mark when record was last changed.

T -Set current line to the TOP (before first line).

UNLOAD name - UNLOAD torecord 'name' in this FILE; line #'s are prompted.

UNLOAD f name- UNLOAD to record 'name' in file 'f'; line #'s are prompted.

X -EXIT (QUIT) from the editor and abandon an active SELECT list.

XEQ - The XEQ command allowsa user to execute any legal PERFORM command from
withinthe editor. Upon completion of thecommand, control will be returned back to
theeditor.

.A# any - Append 'any' to stack command '#'. The default for '#' is 1.

.C#/s1/s2 - CHANGE string 's1' to string 's2' in stack command '#'. The default for '#' is 1. '/' is
any delimiter character.

.D# -DELETE stack command '#'. The defaultfor '#' is 1.

.D name -DELETE pre-stored command record 'name' from file '&ED&'.

.D f name -DELETE pre-stored command record 'name' from file 'f'.

.I# - Prompt for successive command lines to INSERT at stack command '#'until null input.
'#'defaults to 1.

.I# any -INSERT (INPUT) 'any' at command stack '#'. '#' defaults to 1.

.L# -LIST, on the CRT, the last '#' commands in the command stack. '#' defaults to 9.

.L name -LIST, on the CRT, the pre-stored command string in record 'name' in file'&ED&'.

.L f name -LIST, on the CRT, the pre-stored command string in record 'name' in file 'f'.

.L f * -LIST, on the CRT, the names of the pre-stored command records in file 'f'. 'f' defaults
to '&ED&'.

.R# -RECALL command '#' to stack position 1(moves command '#', does not copy it).

.R name -RECALL pre-stored command record 'name' to the stack.

.R f name -RECALL pre-stored command record 'name' in file 'f' to the stack.

.S# name -SAVE commands, starting with command '#' and ending with command 1 in thestack,
in record 'name' in file '&ED&'.

.S# f name -SAVE commands, starting with command '#' and ending with command 1 in thestack,
in record 'name' in file 'f'.

.S n s#,e# - SAVE commands starting withcommand 's#' and ending with command 'e#' in the
stack, in record 'n' in file '&ED&'.

For example, '.S n 4,2' savesthree commands, with stack command #4becoming
pre-stored command #1, in record 'n' in file '&ED&'.

.S f n s#,e# - SAVE commands starting with command's#' and ending with command 'e#' in the
stack, in record 'n' in file 'f'.

For example, '.S n 4,2'saves three commands, with stack command#4 becoming
pre-stored command #1, in record 'n' in file 'f'.

.X# -EXECUTE stack command '#' and put it in stack position 1.

.X name -EXECUTE the pre-stored commands in record 'name' in file '&ED&'.

.X f name -EXECUTE the pre-stored commands in record 'name' in file 'f'.

.XK -EXECUTE KILL. This command ABORTs a pre-stored command string after execution is
suspended by a PAUSE command.

.XR -EXECUTE RESUME. This command RESTARTs apre-stored command string after
execution is suspended by a PAUSE command.

PAUSE                  - Is a pre-stored commandstring command (i.e. It is valid only within the pre-stored
  command string itself) that suspends commandexecution when encountered. A '.XR'
  commandrestarts execution and a '.XK' command aborts execution.

LOOP #1 #2         - Is a pre-stored command string command (i.e. It is valid only within the pre-stored
  command string itself) that repeats the sequenceof commands beginning with
  command '#1' and ending with the LOOP command itself, for '#2' iterations.Both '#1'
  and '#2' default to 1.

+# -Advance current line POINTER by '#' lines.

-# -Back up current line POINTER by '#' lines.

# -Set the current line POINTER to the '#' line.

< -Define the first line of a BLOCK (for COPY/CHANGE/DROP/MOVE/PB).

> -Define the last line of a BLOCK (forCOPY/CHANGE/DROP/MOVE/PB).

<> -Define first and last line of a BLOCK (for COPY/CHANGE/DROP/MOVE/PB).

^ - Switch UP ARROW on/off to display non-printing characters as ^nnn where nnn is
the decimal equivalent of ASCII code.

? -PRINT key parameters on the CRT.

Understanding file permissions on Unix: a brief tutorial

2011-09-15T09:52:00.000-04:00

Understanding file permissions on Unix: a brief tutorial

(For files on AFS fileservers, see below)

Every user on a Unix system has a unique username, and is a member ofat least one group (the primary group for that user). This groupinformation is held in the password file (/etc/passwd). A user canalso be a member of one or more other groups. The auxiliary groupinformation is held in the file /etc/group. Only the administrator cancreate new groups or add/delete group members (one of the shortcomingsof the system).Every directory and file on the system has an owner, and also anassociated group. It also has a set of permission flags which specifyseparate read, write and execute permissions for the 'user' (owner),'group', and 'other' (everyone else with an account on the computer)The 'ls' command shows the permissions and group associated with fileswhen used with the -l option. On some systems (e.g. Coos), the '-g'option is also needed to see the group information.
An example of the output produced by 'ls -l' is shown below.

drwx------ 2 richard staff  2048 Jan  2 1997  private
drwxrws--- 2 richard staff  2048 Jan  2 1997  admin
-rw-rw---- 2 richard staff 12040 Aug 20 1996  admin/userinfo
drwxr-xr-x 3 richard user   2048 May 13 09:27 public

Understanding how to read this output is useful to all unix users, butespecially people using group access permissions. Field 1:   a set of ten permission flags.
Field 2:   link count (don't worry about this)
Field 3:   owner of the file
Field 4:   associated group for the file
Field 5:   size in bytes
Field 6-8: date of last modification (format varies, but always 3 fields)
Field 9:   name of file (possibly with path, depending on how ls was called)

The permission flags are read as follows (left to right)

position	Meaning
1	directory flag, 'd' if a directory, '-' if a normal file, something else occasionally may appear here for special devices.
2,3,4	read, write, execute permission for User (Owner) of file
5,6,7	read, write, execute permission for Group
8,9,10	read, write, execute permission for Other
value	Meaning
-	in any position means that flag is not set
r	file is readable by owner, group or other
w	file is writeable. On a directory, write access means you can add or delete files
x	file is executable (only for programs and shell scripts - not useful for data files). Execute permission on a directory means you can list the files in that directory
s	in the place where 'x' would normally go is called the set-UID or set-groupID flag.

On an executable program with set-UID or set-groupID, that program runswith the effective permissions of its owner or group.

For a directory, the set-groupID flag means that all files createdinside that directory will inherit the group of the directory. Withoutthis flag, a file takes on the primary group of the user creating thefile. This property is important to people trying to maintain adirectory as group accessible. The subdirectories also inherit theset-groupID property.

The default file permissions (umask):

Each user has a default set of permissions which apply to all filescreated by that user, unless the software explicitly sets somethingelse. This is often called the 'umask', after the command used tochange it. It is either inherited from the login process, or set inthe .cshrc or .login file which configures an individual account, or itcan be run manually. Typically the default configuration is equivalentto typing 'umask 22' which produces permissions of:

-rw-r--r-- for regular files, or
drwxr-xr-x for directories.

In other words, user has full access, everyone else (group and other) hasread access to files, lookup access to directories.When working with group-access files and directories, it is common to use 'umask 2' which produces permissions of:

-rw-rw-r-- for regular files, or
drwxrwxr-x for directories.

For private work, use 'umask 77' which produces permissions:

-rw------- for regular files, or
drwx------ for directories.

The logic behind the number given to umask is not intuitive.The command to change the permission flags is "chmod". Only the ownerof a file can change its permissions.
The command to change the group of a file is "chgrp". Only the owner ofa file can change its group, and can only change it to a group of whichhe is a member.
See the online manual pages for details of these commands on any particular system (e.g. "man chmod").
Examples of typical useage are given below:

chmod g+w myfile: give group write permission to "myfile", leaving all other permission flags alone
chmod g-rw myfile: remove read and write access to "myfile", leaving all other permission flags alone
chmod g+rwxs mydir: give full group read/write access to directory "mydir", also setting the set-groupID flag so that directories created inside it inherit the group
chmod u=rw,go= privatefile: explicitly give user read/write access, and revoke all group and other access, to file 'privatefile'
chmod -R g+rw .: give group read write access to this directory, and everything inside of it (-R = recursive)
chgrp -R medi .: change the ownership of this directory to group 'medi' and everything inside of it (-R = recursive). The person issuing this command must own all the files or it will fail.

WARNINGS:
Putting 'umask 2' into a startup file (.login or .cshrc) will makethese settings apply to everything you do unless manually changed.This can lead to giving group access to files such as saved email inyour home directory, which is generally not desireable.
Making a file group read/write without checking what its group is canlead to accidentally giving access to almost everyone on the system.Normally all users are members of some default group such as "users",as well as being members of specific project-oriented groups. Don'tgive group access to "users" when you intended some other group.
Remember that to read a file, you need execute access to the directoryit is in AND read access to the file itself. To write a file, yourneed execute access to the directory AND write access to the file. Tocreate new files or delete files, you need write access to thedirectory. You also need execute access to all parent directories backto the root. Group access will break if a parent directory is madecompletely private.

AFS Access Control Lists (ACLs)

Files on the central AFS fileservers all have the traditional Unix permissions as explained above, but they are also controlled by Access Control Lists (ACL) which take precedence.They provide access levels more flexible than the user/group/other attribute bits, but they work on the level of complete directories, not files. The command to set and list ACLs is fs.
"fs" is a big ugly command that does lots of things related to AFS filesystems depending on the arguments you call it with.For details see the man pages for: fs_setacl, fs_listacl, fs_cleanacl, fs_copyacl
For brief help, do (e.g.) "fs help setacl"
The default is to give the same permissions to a new directory as areon the parent directory. In practice, this is usually to give completerights to the owner of the directory, and lookup rights to any otheruser (equivalent to execute attribute on a directory).
To render a directory private, the simplest command is:
fs setacl -d DIRNAME -clear -a MYNAME all
- replace DIRNAME with the appropriate directory name (or "." for the current directory, and MYNAME with your login name.
Check it with:
fs listacl DIRNAME
It should reply with:

Access list for DIRNAME is
Normal rights:
  USERNAME rlidwka

(see man fs_setacl for a description of the meaning of the flags "rlidwka")
To explicitly give public read/lookup access, use:
fs setacl -d DIRNAME -a system:anyuser read
This can be abbreviated to
fs sa DIRNAME system:anyuser read
If "fs" is not found, or the man pages are not found, your paths are not set up correctly. I recommend you run /usr/local/bin/mknewdotfiles to correct that.

Unix File Permissions

2011-09-15T09:48:00.002-04:00

FILE PERMISSIONS:
--------------------------------

There are 3 fields, owner, group and other :

      owner group other
   rwx rwx rwx
   421 421 421
   7   7   7

   rwx r-- r--
   421 4-- 4--
   7   4   4

   rw- r-- r--
   42- 4-- 4--
   6   4   4

SUMMARY (from man page listed below):

           -r--------     Read by owner
           --w-------     Write by owner
           ---x------     Execute (or search directory) by owner; do not set
                          user ID on execution
           ---s------     Execute/search by owner; set user ID on execution
           ---S------     No execute/search by owner; set user ID on
                          execution
           ----r-----     Read by group
           -----w----     Write by group
           ------x---     Execute/search by group; do not set group ID on
                          execution
           ------s---     Execute/search by group; set group ID on execution
           ------S---     No execute/search by group; set group ID on
                          execution
           -------r--     Read by others
           --------w-     Write by others
           ---------x     Execute/search by others; do not set sticky bit on
                          execution
           ---------t     Execute/search by others; set sticky bit on
                          execution
           ---------T     No execute/search by others; set sticky bit on
                          execution


NOTE: a file owned by root should NEVER be set with "w" permission in "other".

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
to change the permission add the bits to find the value desired
and use the chmod command, examples:

chmod 1777 file1
-rwxrwxrwt   1 root       sys              0 Aug 7 11:41 file1

chmod 1755 file2
-rwxr-xr-t   1 root       sys              0 Aug 7 11:41 file2

chmod 2644 file3
-rw-r-Sr--   1 root       sys              0 Aug 7 11:41 file3

chmod 2777 file4
-rwxrwsrwx   1 root       sys              0 Aug 7 11:41 file4

chmod 3777 file5
-rwxrwsrwt   1 root       sys              0 Aug 7 11:41 file5

chmod 3644 file6
-rw-r-Sr-T   1 root       sys              0 Aug 7 11:41 file6

chmod 4640 file7
-rwSr-----   1 root       sys              0 Aug 7 11:41 file7

chmod 5666 file8
-rwSrw-rwT   1 root       sys              0 Aug 7 11:41 file8

chmod 6777 file9
-rwsrwsrwx   1 root       sys              0 Aug 7 11:41 file9

=========================================================================
chmod(1)               chmod(1)
NAME
      chmod - change file mode access permissions

SYNOPSIS
      /usr/bin/chmod [-A] [-R] symbolic_mode_list file ...

    Obsolescent form:
      /usr/bin/chmod [-A] [-R] numeric_mode file ...

DESCRIPTION
      The chmod command changes the permissions of one or more files
      according to the value of symbolic_mode_list or numeric_mode. You can
      display the current permissions for a file with the ls -l command (see ls(1)).

    Symbolic Mode List
      A symbolic_mode_list is a comma-separated list of operations in the
      following form. Whitespace is not permitted.

       [who]op[permission][,...]

      The variable fields can have the following values:

       who           One or more of the following letters:

                u   Modify permissions for user (owner).
                g   Modify permissions for group.
                o   Modify permissions for others.
                a   Modify permissions for all users (a is
               equivalent to ugo).

       op           Required; one of the following symbols:

                +   Add permission to the existing file mode
               bits of who.
                -   Delete permission from the existing file
               mode bits of who.
                =   Replace the existing mode bits of who with
               permission.

       permission One or more of the following letters:

                r   Add or delete the read permission for who.
                w   Add or delete the write permission for who.
                x   Add or delete the execute file (search
               directory) permission for who.
                s   Add or delete the set-owner-ID-on-file-
               execution or set-group-ID-on-file-execution
               permission for who. Useful only if u or g
               is expressed or implied in who.
                t   Add or delete the save-text-image-on-file-
               execution (sticky bit) permission. Useful
               only if u is expressed or implied in who.
               See chmod(2).
                X   Conditionally add or delete the
               execute/search permission as follows:
               + If file is a directory, add or delete
                    the search permission to the existing
                    file mode for who.   (Same as x.)
               + If file is not a directory, and the
                    current file permissions include the
                    execute permission (ls -l displays an x
                    or an s) for at least one of user,
                    group, or other, then add or delete the
                    execute file permission for who.
               + If file is not a directory, and no
                    execute permissions are set in the
                    current file mode, then do not change
                    any execute permission.

               Or one only of the following letters:

                u   Copy the current user permissions to who.
                g   Copy the current group permissions to who.
                o   Copy the current other permissions to who.

      The operations are performed in the order specified, and can override
      preceding operations specified in the same command line.

      If who is omitted, the r, w, x, and X permissions are changed for all
      users if the changes are permitted by the current file mode creation
      mask (see umask(1)). The s and t permissions are changed as if a was
      specified in who.

      Omitting permission is useful only when used with = to delete all
      permissions.

    Numeric Mode (Obsolescent)
      Absolute permissions can be set by specifying a numeric_mode, an octal
      number constructed from the logical OR (sum) of the following mode
      bits:

      Miscellaneous mode bits:

       4000   (= u=s) Set user ID on file execution (file only)
       2000   (= g=s) Set group ID on file execution (file only)
       1000   (= u=t) Set sticky bit; see below and chmod(2)

      Permission mode bits:
       0400   (= u=r) Read by owner
       0200   (= u=w) Write by owner
       0100   (= u=x) Execute (search in directory) by owner
       0040   (= g=r) Read by group
       0020   (= g=w) Write by group
       0010   (= g=x) Execute/search by group
       0004   (= o=r) Read by others
       0002   (= o=w) Write by others
       0001   (= o=x) Execute/search by others

    Options
       -A   Preserve any optional access control list (ACL) entries
       associated with the file (HFS file systems only). By
       default, in conformance with the IEEE Standard POSIX
       1003.1-1988, optional HFS ACL entries are deleted. For JFS
       ACLs, this option has no effect, because optional JFS ACL
       entries are always preserved. For information about access
       control lists, see acl(5) and aclv(5).

       -R   Recursively change the file mode bits.   For each file
       operand that names a directory, chmod alters the file mode
       bits of the named directory and all files and subdirectories
       in the file hierarchy below it.

      Only the owner of a file, or a user with appropriate privileges, can
      change its mode.

      Only a user having appropriate privileges can set (or retain, if
      previously set) the sticky bit of a regular file.

      If the sticky bit is set on a directory, files inside the directory
      may be renamed or removed only by the owner of the file, the owner of
      the directory, or the superuser (even if the modes of the directory
      would otherwise allow such an operation).

      In order to set the set-group-ID bit, the group of the file must
      correspond to your current group ID.

      If chmod is used on a symbolic link, the mode of the file referred to
      by the link is changed.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

EXAMPLES
      Deny write permission to others:
       chmod o-w file

      Make a file executable by everybody:
       chmod a+x file

      Assign read and execute permission to everybody, and set the set-
      user-ID bit:
       chmod a=rx,u+s file

      Assign read and write permission to the file owner, and read
      permission to everybody else:
       chmod u=rw,go=r file

      or the obsolescent form:
       chmod 644 file

      Traverse a directory subtree making all regular files readable by user
      and group only, and all executables and directories executable
      (searchable) by everyone:
       chmod -R ug+r,o-r,a+X pathname

      If the current value of umask is 020 (umask -S displays
      u=rwx,g=rx,o=rwx; do not change write permission for group) and the
      current permissions for file mytest are 444 (a=r), displayed by ls -l
      as -r--r--r--, then the command
       chmod +w mytest

      sets the permissions to 646 (uo=rw,g=r), displayed by ls -l as
      -rw-r--rw-.

      If the current value of umask is 020 (umask -S displays
      u=rwx,g=rx,o=rwx; do not change write permission for group) and the
      current permissions for file mytest are 666 (a=rw), displayed by ls -l
      as -rw-rw-rw-, then the command

       chmod -w mytest

      sets the permissions to 464 (uo=r,g=rw), displayed by ls -l as
      -r--rw-r--.

DEPENDENCIES
      The -A option causes chmod to fail on file systems that do not support ACLs.

AUTHOR chmod was developed by AT&T and HP.

SEE ALSO chacl(1), ls(1), umask(1), chmod(2), acl(5), aclv(5).

======================================================================

Hewlett-Packard Company        - 5 -   HP-UX Release 11i: November 2000
ls(1)                                       ls(1)
NAME
      ls, lc, l, ll, lsf, lsr, lsx - list contents of directories
SYNOPSIS
      ls [-abcdefgilmnopqrstuxACFLR1] [names]
      lc [-abcdefgilmnopqrstuxACFLR1] [names]
      l [ls_options] [names]
      ll [ls_options] [names]
      lsf [ls_options] [names]
      lsr [ls_options] [names]
      lsx [ls_options] [names]

DESCRIPTION
      For each directory argument, the ls command lists the contents of the
      directory. For each file argument, ls repeats its name and any other
      information requested. The output is sorted in ascending collation
      order by default (see Environment Variables below). When no argument
      is given, the current directory is listed. When several arguments are
      given, the arguments are first sorted appropriately, but file
      arguments appear before directories and their contents.

      If you are a user with appropriate privileges, all files except . and
      .. are listed by default.

      There are three major listing formats. The format chosen depends on
      whether the output is going to a login device (determined by whether
      output device file is a tty device), and can also be controlled by
      option flags. The default format for a login device is to list the
      contents of directories in multicolumn format, with entries sorted
      vertically by column. (When individual file names (as opposed to
      directory names) appear in the argument list, those file names are
      always sorted across the page rather than down the page in columns
      because individual file names can be arbitrarily long.) If the
      standard output is not a login device, the default format is to list
      one entry per line. The -C and -x options enable multicolumn formats,
      and the -m option enables stream output format in which files are
      listed across the page, separated by commas. In order to determine
      output formats for the -C, -x, and -m options, ls uses an environment
      variable, COLUMNS, to determine the number of character positions
      available on each output line. If this variable is not set, the
      terminfo database is used to determine the number of columns, based on
      the environment variable TERM. If this information cannot be
      obtained, 80 columns is assumed.

      The command lc functions the same as ls except that the lc default
      output is columnar, even if output is redirected.

    Options
      ls recognizes the following options:

       -a   List all entries; usually entries whose names begin with a
       period (.) are not listed.

       -b   List nonprinting characters in the octal \ddd notation.

       -c   Use time of last modification of the inode (file created,
       mode changed, etc.) for sorting (-t) or printing (-l (ell)).

       -d   If an argument is a directory, list only its name (not its
       contents); often used with -l (ell) to get the status of a
       directory.

       -e   List the extent attributes of the file.   If any of the files
       has a extent attribute, this option lists the extent size,
       space reserved and allocation flags. This option must be
       used with the -l (ell) option.

       -f   Interpret each argument as a directory and list the name
       found in each slot. This option disables -l (ell), -r, -s,
       and -t, and enables -a; the order is the order in which
       entries appear in the directory.

       -g   Same as -l (ell), except that only the group is printed
       (owner is omitted). If both -l (ell) and -g are specified,
       the owner is not printed.

       -i   For each file, list the inode number in the first column of
       the report. When used in multicolumn output, the number
       precedes the file name in each column.

       -l   (ell) List in long format, giving mode, number of links,
       owner, group, size in bytes, and time of last modification
       for each file (see further DESCRIPTION and Access Control
       Lists below). If the time of last modification is greater
       than six months ago, or any time in the future, the year is
       substituted for the hour and minute of the modification
       time. If the file is a special file, the size field
       contains the major and minor device numbers rather than a
       size. If the file is a symbolic link, the filename is
       printed, followed by -> and the pathname of the referenced
       file.

       -m   Stream output format.

       -n   The same as -l, (ell) except that the owner's UID and
       group's GID numbers are printed, rather than the associated
       character strings.

       -o   The same as -l, (ell) except that only the owner is printed
       (group is omitted). (If both -l (ell) and -o are specified,
       the group is not printed).

       -p   Put a slash (/) after each file name if that file is a
       directory.

       -q   List nonprinting characters in file names as the character
       (?).

       -r   Reverse the order of sort to get reverse (descending)
       collation or oldest first, as appropriate.

       -s   List size in blocks, including indirect blocks, for each
       entry.   The first entry listed is the total number of blocks
       in the directory. When used in multicolumn output, the
       number of blocks precedes the file name in each column.   The
       number of indirect blocks in a file is filesystem dependent.

       -t   Sort by time modified (latest first) before sorting
       alphabetically.

       -u   Use time of last access instead of last modification for
       sorting (-t option) or printing (-l (ell) option).

       -x   List multicolumn output with entries sorted across rather
       than down the page.

       -A   The same as -a, except that the current directory . and
       parent directory .. are not listed. For a user with
       appropriate privileges, this flag defaults to on, and is
       turned off by -A.

       -C   List multicolumn output with entries sorted down the
       columns.

       -F   After each file name, put one of:

       + A slash (/) if the file is a directory or a symbolic link
           to a directory.
       + An asterisk (*) if the file is executable;
       + An at-sign (@) if the file is a symbolic link to a file;
       + A vertical bar (|) if the file is a fifo.

       -L   If the argument is a symbolic link, list the file or
       directory to which the link refers rather than the link
       itself.

       -R   Recursively list subdirectories encountered.

       -1   (one) List the file names in single column format regardless
       of the output device. This forces single column format to
       the user's terminal.

      Specifying more than one of the options in the following mutually
      exclusive pairs is not considered an error: -C and -l (ell), -m and -l
      (ell), -x and -l (ell), -C and -1 (one), and -c and -u.

      ls is known by several shorthand-version names for the various
      formats:

       l   is equivalent to ls -m
       ll   is equivalent to ls -l (ell)
       lsf   is equivalent to ls -F
       lsr   is equivalent to ls -R
       lsx   is equivalent to ls -x

      The shorthand notations are implemented as links to ls. Option
      arguments to the shorthand versions behave exactly as if the long form
      above had been used with the additional arguments.

      Mode Bits Interpretation (-l option)
      The mode printed in listings produced by the -l (ell) option consists
      of 10 characters, for example, -rwxr-xr-x.

      The first character indicates the entry type:

       b   Block special file
       c   Character special file
       d   Directory
       l   Symbolic link
       n   Network special file
       p   Fifo (also called a "named pipe") special file
       s   Socket
       -   Ordinary file

      The next 9 characters are interpreted as three sets of three
      characters each which identify access and execution permissions for
      the owner, group, and others categories, as described in chmod(1).
      The - indicates the permission is not granted. The various
      permissions can be put together in any combination, except that the x,
      s, S, t, and T characters are mutually exclusive, as implied below.

       -r--------      Read by owner
       --w-------      Write by owner
       ---x------      Execute (or search directory) by owner; do not set
              user ID on execution
       ---s------      Execute/search by owner; set user ID on execution
       ---S------      No execute/search by owner; set user ID on
              execution
       ----r-----      Read by group
       -----w----      Write by group
       ------x---      Execute/search by group; do not set group ID on
              execution
       ------s---      Execute/search by group; set group ID on execution
       ------S---      No execute/search by group; set group ID on
              execution
       -------r--      Read by others
       --------w-      Write by others
       ---------x      Execute/search by others; do not set sticky bit on
              execution
       ---------t      Execute/search by others; set sticky bit on
              execution
       ---------T      No execute/search by others; set sticky bit on
              execution

      The mode characters are interpreted as follows:

       -   Deny all permissions in the corresponding position.

       r   Grant read permission to the corresponding user class.

       w   Grant write permission to the corresponding user class.

       x   Grant execute (or search in directory) permission to the
       corresponding user class.

       s   Grant execute (search) permission to the corresponding user
       class.   Execute the file as if by the owner (set user ID,
       SUID) or group (set group ID, SGID), as indicated by
       position.

       S   Deny execute (search) permission to the corresponding user
       class.   Execute the file as if by the owner (set user ID,
       SUID) or group (set group ID, SGID), as indicated by
       position.

       t   Grant execute (search) permission to others. The "sticky"
       (save text image) bit is set (see the description of S_ISVTX
       in chmod(2)).

       T   Deny execute (search directory) permission to others. The
       "sticky" (save text image) bit is set.

      When an option is specified that results in a listing of directory
      and/or file sizes in bytes or blocks (such as the -s or -l (ell)
      option), a total count of blocks, including indirect blocks, is also
      printed at the beginning of the listing.

    Access Control Lists (ACLs)
      If a file has optional ACL entries, the -l (ell) option displays a
      plus sign (+) after the file's permissions. The permissions shown are
      a summary representation of the file's access control list, as
      returned by stat() in the st_mode field (see stat(2)). To list the
      contents of an access control list, use the lsacl command (see
      lsacl(1) and acl(5)) for HFS file systems, or the getacl command (see
      getacl(1) and aclv(5)) for JFS file systems.

EXTERNAL INFLUENCES
    Environment Variables
      If the COLUMNS variable is set, ls uses the width provided in
      determining positioning of columnar output.

      LANG determines the locale to use for the locale categories when both
      LC_ALL and the corresponding environment variable (beginning with LC_)
      do not specify a locale.   If LANG is not set or is null, it defaults
      to C (see lang(5)).

      LC_COLLATE determines the order in which the output is sorted.

      LC_CTYPE determines which characters are classified as nonprinting for
      the -b and -q options, and the interpretation of single- and/or
      multibyte characters within file names.

      LC_TIME determines the date and time strings output by the -g, -l
      (ell), -n, and -o options.

      LC_MESSAGES determines the language in which messages (other than the
      date and time strings) are displayed.

      If any internationalization variable contains an invalid setting, they
      all default to C (see environ(5)).

    International Code Set Support
      Single- and multibyte character code sets are supported.

RETURN VALUE
      ls exits with one of the following values:

        0   All input files were listed successfully.

       >0   ls was aborted because errors occurred when accessing files.
       The following conditions cause an error:

       + Specified file not found.
       + User has no permission to read the directory.
       + Process could not get enough memory.
       + Invalid option specified.

EXAMPLES
      Print a long listing of all the files in the current working directory
      (including the file sizes). List the most recently modified
      (youngest) file first, followed by the next older file, and so forth,
      to the oldest. Files whose names begin with a . are also printed.
       ls -alst

WARNINGS
      Setting options based on whether the output is a login (tty) device is
      undesirable because ls -s is very different from ls -s | lp. On the
      other hand, not using this setting makes old shell scripts that used
      ls almost inevitably fail.

      Nonprinting characters in file names (without the -b or -q option) may
      cause columnar output to be misaligned.

DEPENDENCIES
    NFS
      The -l (ell) option does not display a plus sign (+) after the access
      permission bits of networked files to represent existence of optional
      access control list entries.

AUTHOR
      ls was developed by AT&T, the University of California, Berkeley and HP.

FILES
      /etc/group            For group IDs for -l (ell) and -g.
      /etc/passwd            For user IDs for -l (ell) and -o.
      /usr/share/lib/terminfo/?/*   For terminal information.

SEE ALSO
      chmod(1), find(1), getacl(1), lsacl(1), stat(2), acl(5), aclv(5).

Get OS Version through Visual Basic Scripting

2011-08-25T15:35:00.002-04:00

Just create a new document on your desktop and rename it to GetOS.vbs

Right click and edit, paste the code below and save it. Double click and run it to display your Windows Version. Good code to use in batch or other functions.

msgbox GetOS

Function GetOS()

'Requires WSH 5.6

'CMD window will flash as there is no way to supress it when using exec.

Dim WshShell : Set WshShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")

Dim strVer : set strVer = WshShell.exec("%comspec% /c ver")

Dim sResults

sResults = strVer.stdout.readall

Select Case True

'Add more info to the 98 and 95 to get the specific version. i.e. 98SE 95 a,b,or c

Case InStr(sResults, "Windows 95") > 1 : GetOS = "W95"

Case InStr(sResults, "Windows 98") > 1 : GetOS = "W98"

Case InStr(sResults, "Windows Millennium") > 1 : GetOS = "WME"

Case InStr(sResults, "Windows NT") > 1 : GetOS = "NT4"

Case InStr(sResults, "Windows 2000") > 1 : GetOS = "W2K"

Case InStr(sResults, "Windows XP") > 1 : GetOS = "WXP"

Case InStr(sResults, "Version 6.0") > 1 : GetOS = "Vista"

Case InStr(sResults, "Version 6.1") > 1 : GetOS = "W7"

Case Else : GetOS = sResults

End Select

End Function

Migrate users from one Linux machine to another

2011-08-12T17:54:00.001-04:00

Have you ever had a need to migrate current running Linux users from installation to another? That would be a simple task if the user count was low. But what happens when the user count is in the hundreds? What do you do then? If you’re not using LDAP, you know you will have to migrate the users’ data, passwords, etc from the old machine to the new. Believe it or not, this is just a matter of a few commands – not necessarily simple commands, but it’s not as complex as you would think.

In this article I am going to show you how to make this migration so your Linux users do not loose their data and their passwords are all retained.

What we migrating

The list is fairly simple:

/etc/passwd - Contains information about the user.
/etc/shadow - Contains the encrypted passwords.
/etc/group - Contains group information.
/etc/gshadow - Contains group encrypted passwords.
/var/spool/mail - Contains users email (the location will depend upon the mail server you use).
/home/ - Contains users data.

Unfortunately these files can not simply be copied from one machine to another – that would be too easy. Just make sure you enter the following commands correctly.

Source machine

These are the commands you will need to run on the machine you are migrating users FROM. I will assume you are doing this on a system that uses a root user (such as Fedora), so all commands will be done as root:

mkdir ~/MOVE

The above command creates a directory to house all of the files to be moved.

export UGIDLIMIT=500

The above command sets the UID filter limit to 500. NOTE: This value will be dictated by your distribution. If you use Red Hat Enterprise Linux, CentOS, or Fedora this value is shown in the command above. If you use Debian or Ubuntu that limit is 1000 (not 500).

awk -v LIMIT=$UGIDLIMIT -F: ‘($3>=LIMIT) && ($3!=65534)’ /etc/passwd > ~/MOVE/passwd.mig

The above command copies only user accounts from /etc/passwd (using awk allows us to ignore system accounts.)

awk -v LIMIT=$UGIDLIMIT -F: ‘($3>=LIMIT) && ($3!=65534)’ /etc/group > ~/MOVE/group.mig

The above command copies the /etc/group file.

awk -v LIMIT=$UGIDLIMIT -F: ‘($3>=LIMIT) && ($3!=65534) {print $1}’ /etc/passwd | tee – |egrep -f – /etc/shadow > ~/MOVE/shadow.mig

The above command copies the /etc/shadow file.

cp /etc/gshadow ~/MOVE/gshadow.mig

The above command copies the /etc/gshadow file.

tar -zcvpf ~/MOVE/home.tar.gz /home

The above command archives /home.

tar -zcvpf ~/MOVE/mail.tar.gz /var/spool/mail

The above command archives the mail directory. NOTE: If you are using Sendmail this is the correct directory. If you are using Postfix that directory most likely will be /etc/postfix.

Now it’s time to move everything in ~/MOVE over to the new server. You can do this using the scpcommand like so:

scp -r ~/MOVE/* USER@IP_OF_NEW_SERVER:/home/USER/

Where USER is the username you will use to send the file and IP_OF_NEW_SERVER is the address of thenew server. NOTE: If this server is not on line yet you can always copy these files onto a thumb driveand move them that way.

Target machine

Now we’re working on the new server. Follow these commands (run as the root user):

mkdir ~/newsusers.bak

The above command will create a new directory that will house the backup of the current users.

cp /etc/passwd /etc/shadow /etc/group /etc/gshadow ~/newsusers.bak

The above command will copy the necessary files to the new backup directory.

cd /PATH/TO/DIRECTORY
cat passwd.mig >> /etc/passwd
cat group.mig >> /etc/group
cat shadow.mig >> /etc/shadow
/bin/cp gshadow.mig /etc/gshadow

The above commands will restore all password files onto the new system. NOTE: Where /PATH/TO/DIRECTORY is the location where you copied the files onto the new system.

cd /
tar -zxvf /PATH/TO/DIRECTORY/home.tar.gz

The above commands will first change you to the / directory and then unpack the archived /homedirectory. NOTE: Where /PATH/TO/DIRECTORY is the location where you copied the files onto the new system.

cd /
tar -zxvf /PATH/TO/DIRECTORY/mail.tar.gz

The above commands will first change you to the / directory and then unpack the archived/var/spool/mail directory. NOTE: Where /PATH/TO/DIRECTORY is the location where you copied the files onto the new system.

You can now reboot your system with the users in place.

Screensavers starting randomly after upgrade to OS X Lion

2011-08-12T08:46:00.001-04:00

The Screen Saver options in OS X Lion are no different from those offered in Snow Leopard, and like Snow Leopard are available to configure in the Desktop & Screen Saver system preferences. As a result, you should expect the screensavers to behave as they did in Snow Leopard; however, a few people are noticing after upgrading to Lion that their screensavers seem to be randomly activating.

If this problem is happening to you, first try adjusting some of your Screen Saver settings by either changing the screensaver, adjusting its activation time, or setting various hot corners that you may have previously used for activating or inactivating the screensaver. If this does not work then the next step would be to remove the screensaver preferences file, in case it is corrupted or otherwise contains settings that are incompatible with Lion.

To remove the Screen Saver preferences, press the Option key and select Library from the Finder's Go menu. In the library, go to the /Preferences/ByHost/ folder and delete the file called "com.apple.screensaver.NUMBER.plist," where NUMBER is a string of alphanumeric characters that will be unique to your computer.

After the preferences have been deleted, go back to your Screen Saver system preferences and configure your screensavers again.

D3 Tape Configuration using the dev-make command

2010-07-27T11:17:00.000-04:00

For each physical tape drive, several devices can be created with different characteristics to deal with
different situations.
The tape type is optionally followed by a label size for compatibility with tapes generated on other
platforms, typically a tape written on a Pick licensee’s machine. For example, to read a 4mm tape made
on a machine with a label size of 80 bytes, create a device with a tape type of d80. The users may also
have several DAT devices which can deal with a label size of 50 or 512 bytes.
The TCL command dev-make allows creating devices immediately. There is no need to stop and restart
the D3 VME service. The general syntax is:
dev-make -t tape -a “tape.name,tape.type{label size}{,density}”
where tape.name is the device name as defined in Windows Tape Devices (i.e. tape0. Tape1).
and tape.type is one of the following:
f for floppy } optionally followed by the floppy density
p for pseudo tape
q for quarter inch QIC/SCT
h for half inch
d for 4mm DAT } optionally followed by
v for 8mm/Video } a numeric tape label size
label size can be any number. Example:
a 4mm DAT with 80-byte label: dev-make -t tape -a “tape0,d80”
and density is for tape density.
For floppy: q=quad (1.44)
h=high (1.2)
o=octal (2.88)
d=standard (360),
s=single (180).
For other tape devices, densities are included for information only, not for functionality. Possible
densities are: h=high, m=medium, l=low, and s=standard.
The following three commands can be entered at TCL or added to the user coldstart proc to create three
Pick tape devices, if tape0 is a DAT drive in the NT registry, in the example:
dev-make -t tape -a “\\.\tape0,d80,h” (80-byte label)
dev-make -t tape -a “\\.\tape0,d50,h” (50-byte label)
dev-make -t tape -a “\\.\tape0,d,h” (defaults to 512)
Note: ALL dev-make commands are lost once D3 has been shutdown or stopped. All dev-make
commands should be added to the user-coldstart proc so that the tape devices will be available again
once the D3 service is restarted.

Automatically Boot into Safe Mode

2010-07-13T07:49:00.000-04:00

This batch file will backup your current boot.ini file, then add two safe mode options to your boot.ini file.
One is the same you would get when pressing F8 and choosing Safe Mode, the other is the just the minimal safe mode with no logging or display of drivers.
Copy the text in the code block into Notepad and save the file on your desktop as addsafe.bat (Be sure to change the Save as Type box in Notepad's Save dialog to All Files)
Double click the file to add the Safe Mode options.
Double click again to remove them.

Code:

@Echo Off
SetLocal EnableDelayedExpansion
PushD %SystemDrive%\
If Not Exist boot.ini Echo Unable to locate the boot.ini file&Goto _End
Attrib -H -R -S boot.ini
If Exist boot.TO~ (
Attrib -H -R -S boot.TO~
Del Boot.ini
Ren boot.TO~ boot.ini>Nul
Echo Safe Mode options have been removed from the boot menu
Goto _End
) Else (
Copy boot.ini boot.TO~>Nul
Attrib +H +R +S boot.TO~
)
If Exist boot.tmp Del boot.tmp
For /F "Tokens=1,2 Delims==" %%I In (boot.ini) Do (
Set _line=%%I
If /I "%%I"=="default" Set _Def=%%J
If "!_line:~0,1!"=="[" (
>>boot.tmp Echo.%%I
) Else (
>>boot.tmp Echo.%%I=%%J
))
>>boot.tmp Echo.%_Def%="Windows XP Safe Mode (minimal)" /safeboot:minimal
>>boot.tmp Echo.%_Def%="Windows XP Safe Mode (F8)" /safeboot:minimal /sos /bootlog /noguiboot
Del boot.ini
Ren boot.tmp boot.ini
Echo Safe Mode options have been added to the boot menu
:_End
Attrib +H +R +S boot.ini>Nul
PopD
Pause

Can't open EXE files

2010-07-06T13:10:00.000-04:00

SYMPTOMS
When you try to open EXE files, you may get errors messages like: "Access Deny",...

When you try to open EXE files, you may get errors messages like: "Access Deny", "Runtime error" etc.

CAUSE
Corrupt registry settings or some third party product (or virus) can change the...

Corrupt registry settings or some third party product (or virus) can change the default configuration for running EXE files. This may lead to failed operation when you try to run EXE files.

1. Click Start, and then click Run.

2. Type "command.com" , and then press Enter. (A DOS window opens.)

3. Type the following:

"cd\"

"cd \windows"

Press Enter after typing each one.

4. Type copy "regedit.exe regedit.com" and then press Enter.

5. Type "start regedit.com" and then press Enter.

6. Navigate to and select the key:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\exefile\shell\open\command

7. In the right pane, double-click the (Default) value.

8. Delete the current value data, and then type:

"%1" %*

Tip: Type the characters: quote-percent-one-quote-space-percent-asterisk.

9. Close Regedit utility.

Note: If you are using Windows XP and you enable "System Restore" , you need to
disable "System Restore" in "Safe Mode" before using the instructions above.

Set Up Find My iPhone on Multiple iPhones With One MobileMe Account

2010-06-30T15:24:00.001-04:00

Find My iPhone, to many people, is the ultimate integration between the iPhone and MobileMe. With your iPhone connected to your MobileMe account you can quickly find your lost, or stolen, iPhone and return to your landscape texting ways.

Unfortunately, some families have multiple iPhones and only one MobileMe account. If your wife, husband, or any family member or close friend, has an iPhone and a penchant for losing it, there is a way to add Find My iPhone to their device without dumping your entire email, contact and calendars on their iPhone.

1. Navigate on the iPhone in question to Settings>Mail, Contacts, Calendars.

2. Tap on Fetch New Data. Turn on Push. You'll need this to communicate with MobileMe in a timely fashion.

3. Return Settings>Mail, Contacts, Calendars, tap on Add Account... Tap the MobileMe option

4. Add your super-secret information. Note: Once you place your MobileMe account on another iPhone or iPod touch, that person has access to your email and contact information.

5. Turn off the other MobileMe options. Your kid probably doesn't care that you have a meeting at 11:30 to discuss the latest proposal. Turn on Find My iPhone.

6. Fire up your favorite browser and head to Me.com. Click on the Settings tab and then on the Find My iPhone option. After about 15 minutes, the iPhone will show up with its location.

UPDATE: On the Find My iPhone page, each phone will get its own map. There is no need to "choose" which iPhone is being displayed. Just scroll down to see the rest of your activated iPhones.

I personally have two iPhones set up on my one MobileMe account with no problem. Have fun ~~stalking~~ finding your family's iPhones.

Cannot start Microsoft Office Outlook. Cannot open the Outlook window.

2010-06-24T08:34:00.001-04:00

Start->run..then type the following -> "Outlook.exe /resetnavpane"

Should solve your problem.

How to manage the Office 2003 templates in Office 2003 programs

2010-06-16T13:51:00.000-04:00

Office 2003 saves all the new custom template files that you create in any Office 2003 program in one location.

There are four template categories in Office 2003. When you click On my computer in the New task pane, the Office 2003 program that you are using looks in the following locations for the templates that belong to that program:

The User templates file location
The Workgroup templates file location
The Advertised and Installed templates file location
The non-file-based templates files location

The User templates file location

Newly created or newly modified templates are saved in a folder in your profile directory. The folders that are under your profile contain your configuration preferences and options. Everything that has to roam with you is stored in these directories as part of your profile.

By default, User templates files are stored in the following location:

C:\Documents and Settings\user name\Application Data\Microsoft\Templates

Note You can change the location of User templates files.

How to change the template location

You can use Microsoft Office Word 2003 to change the location where your new templates are saved. To do this, follow these steps.

Note If you use Word 2003 to change the location where your new templates are saved, you will also change the location where all Office 2003 program templates are saved.

Start Word 2003.
On the Tools menu, click Options.
On the File Locations tab, click User templates, and then click Modify.
In the Modify Location dialog box, change the setting in the Folder name or the Look in list to the folder where you want to save your new templates, and then click OK.
Click OK or Close to close the Options dialog box.

The changed path is noted in the Windows registry, and it is used the next time that you want to save a new template. For more information, see the "Changes in the Windows Registry settings for the User templates file location and for the Workgroup templates file location" section.

Note A network administrator can change the location where your new templates are saved by using the policy templates that are included with the Microsoft Office 2003 Resource Kit. For more information, contact your network administrator.

You can also create custom tabs that appear in the Templates dialog box by creating a new folder within the Templates folder in your profile. Tabs with the same name as your new folder appear in the Templates dialog box. These tabs let you categorize your new templates even more.

To view the Templates dialog box, use one of the following methods depending on the Office 2003 program that you are using:

In Microsoft Office Access 2003, click New on the File menu, and then click On my computer in the New File task pane.
In Microsoft Office Excel 2003, click New on the File menu, and then click On my computer in the New Workbook task pane.
In Microsoft Office FrontPage 2003, click New on the File menu, and then click More page templates or More Web site templates.
In Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2003, click New on the File menu, and then click On my computer in the New Presentation task pane.
In Microsoft Office Publisher 2003, click New on the File menu, and then click Templates on the New Publication task pane.

Note There is no Templates dialog box in Publisher 2003. Instead, your new custom template folder will appear under Templates on the New Publication task pane.
In Word 2003, click New on the File menu, and then click On my computer on the New Document task pane.

Workgroup templates file location

The templates that are saved in this location are basically the same as the templates that are saved in your User templates file location, except that the location is typically a shared folder on a network drive. By default, the Workgroup templates file location is not set to a specific folder and is blank.

Note Your network administrator may set a shared location as a source from which to provide templates that are used throughout your workgroup or company. The Workgroup template file location typically is a read-only shared network folder.

Besides looking in your default User templates file location for existing templates, Office 2003 programs look in the Workgroup templates file location for additional templates that may exist.

For more information about the Workgroup templates file location and about how to share a template with your workgroup or your company, contact your network administrator.

Advertised and Installed templates file location

Advertised templates are the templates that are included with Office 2003. These templates appear in the Templates dialog box. Depending on the type of installation, you may not have all the templates installed on your computer. However, in the Templates dialog box, each Office 2003 program displays the templates as they are available.

When you select a template, the Office 2003 program determines whether the template is installed. If the template is installed, a new document that is based on the template opens. If the template is advertised but not installed, you receive a message from the program to install the template.

You can remove installed templates by starting the Office 2003 installation program and then by setting the template group to Installed on First Use. This effectively removes the templates from the computer, and they again become advertised templates. By default, all Microsoft Office installed templates are installed to the following folder:

C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Templates\Language ID Number

Note The language ID number is a four-digit code representing the language types currently installed. For example, the English (US) version of Office 2003 installs a "1033" folder, the Arabic version installs a "1025" folder, and the German version installs a "1031" folder. Office 2003 supports many other languages, and you can have multiple languages installed at the same time. Therefore, you may have a Templates folder that contains several of these language ID folders.

Non-file-based templates

Office 2003 programs use non-file-based templates to create new workbooks, documents, databases, and slides. As the name suggests, there is no physical template from that these special files are created from. Each Office 2003 program has the necessary information to create a new file of the correct type.

For example, if the global template (Normal.dot) that Microsoft Word uses to create a blank document, Word uses its internally stored settings to create a new blank document.

Changes in the Windows Registry settings for the User templates file location and for the Workgroup templates file location

Important This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

322756 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/322756/ ) How to back up and restore the registry in Windows

Office 2003 uses two registry keys to record the User templates file location and the Workgroup templates file location. Both of these settings are recorded in the following registry key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Common\General

The user templates location is stored in the UserTemplates string value.

The workgroup templates location is stored in the SharedTemplates string value.

These string values do not exist until you make a change to the default locations for your custom templates. By default, all Office 2003 programs look for their installed templates. Therefore, no string value is required for the location of Office 2003 programs.

If you change the user templates location back to the default location as described in the "User templates file location" section, the UserTemplates string value is deleted from the registry. However, if you change the workgroup templates location back to its default, the SharedTemplates string value is retained in the registry.

Reset Account Password In Safe Mode

2010-03-23T15:39:00.001-04:00

This can happen to any of us, usually we forget Windows accounts' passwords, when we want it least of all. But such situations are very common and this is good when you know how to reset it, as it will save your time and efforts in future.

This is an instruction how to reset account password in Windows XP (on condition that you do not have password set on Administrator account):

1. Reboot PC/laptop in Safe Mode (press and hold 'F8' button when the PC starts and choose 'Safe Mode' in the list). Log in under 'Administrator' account.

Frequently this account doesn't have password set.

You're prompted to set password on it during Windows XP installation.

2. Go to [Start] > [Control Panel] > [Administrative Tools] > [Computer Management] :

3. Expend 'System Tools' node, then 'Local Users & Groups' and choose 'Users'. On the right side choose user account and right-click on it. Menu with options will appear.

Select "Set Password..." option.

4. The confirmation window will appear. Press 'Proceed' button to continue the process of resetting password:

5. After that the window with the passwords fields will appear. Enter new password twice, or leave these fields empty to log in without password.

Troubleshoot Slow Start Ups with Windows Boot Performance Diagnostics

2010-03-10T09:39:00.001-05:00

Sometimes, Windows might start correctly but might take an unusually long time to do so. Such a problems can be difficult to troubleshoot, because there’s no straightforward way to monitor processes while Windows is starting. To help administrators identify the source of startup performance problems, and to automatically fix some problems, Windows Vista includes Windows Boot Performance Diagnostics.

You can use the Group Policy settings to manage Windows Boot Performance Diagnostics in an Active Directory environment. In the Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\System\Troubleshooting and Diagnostics\Windows Boot Performance Diagnostics node, edit the Configure Scenario Execution Level policy. When this policy is enabled, you can choose from the following two settings:

Detection And Troubleshooting Only Windows Boot Performance Diagnostics will identify startup performance problems and will add an event to the Event Log, allowing administrators to detect the problem and manually troubleshoot it. Windows Boot Performance Diagnostics will not attempt to fix the problem, however.

Detection, Troubleshooting, And Resolution Windows Boot Performance Diagnostics will identify startup performance problems and automatically take steps to attempt to alleviate the problems.

If you disable the setting, Windows Boot Performance Diagnostics will neither identify nor attempt to resolve startup performance problems. For Windows Boot Performance Diagnostics to function, the Diagnostic Policy Service must be running.

Settings for Windows Shutdown Performance Diagnostics, which function similarly to the Windows Boot Performance Diagnostics, are located in the Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\System\Troubleshooting And Diagnostics\Windows Shutdown Performance Diagnostics node.

Windows 7 God Mode - Get Access To All Your Tweaks and Options in One Directory

2010-03-10T09:34:00.000-05:00

All your Tweaks and Options in One Huge Folder

Windows 7 has many tweaks and features that turn options on and off or adjust things. The problem is they are buried under Control Panel and other places that are a few clicks away. Many people don't know there are Master Folders that you can set up which give you easy access to this. This is called God Mode. To create the most common God Mode follow these directions.

Create a restore point in case you mess something up

Create a "New Folder" somwhere easily accessible to you (don't use an existing folder).

After you have created a new folder

Highlight the folder and choose rename

Copy this string to the folder name GodMode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}

Copy the names in AutoComplete to another computer

2010-03-04T22:06:00.001-05:00

Applies to
Microsoft Office Outlook® 2003

Do you miss the convenience of Outlook automatically completing people's names as you begin to type them on your new computer? Are you upgrading to a new computer and don't want to lose all the names stored in your Outlook AutoComplete feature? Wouldn't it be nice if Outlook installed on your new computer just "remembered" the names and filled them in for you?

You can copy the names in AutoComplete from your old computer to your new one.

Important You must exit Outlook before starting the following procedure. The names will be included in AutoComplete when you restart Outlook.

On the computer with the saved AutoComplete names, go to drive:\Documents and Settings\user name\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook.
Note Depending on your file settings, this folder might be hidden. To view the files in this folder, do one of the following:

Microsoft Windows XP
1. Click Start, and then click My Computer.
2. On the Tools menu, click Folder Options.
3. Click the View tab, and then, under Advanced settings, under Hidden files and folders, click Show hidden files and folders.
Microsoft Windows 2000
1. Double-click My Computer on your desktop.
2. On the Tools menu, click Folder Options.
3. Click the View tab, and then click Show hidden files and folders.
Right-click profile name.nk2, and then click Copy.
Tip You can copy the file to removable media, such as a floppy disk or a CD, and then copy the file to the correct location on the other computer. Or you can attach the file to an e-mail message and send the message to yourself. On the new computer, open the attachment in Outlook, and then save it to the correct location.
On the computer where you want to populate the AutoComplete feature, copy the file to drive:\Documents and Settings\user name\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook.
If the Outlook user profile name is different on the computer where you are moving the .nk2 file, you must rename the file with the same Outlook user profile name after you copy it to the correct folder. For example, if you move Kim Akers.nk2 from the original computer with an Outlook user profile name of Kim Akers, and you copy the Kim Akers.nk2 file to the new computer, you must rename it with the Outlook profile name being used on the new computer.
When prompted about replacing the existing file, click Yes.
Open Outlook to view changes.

Modify Master Browser Election by GPO

2010-02-01T18:18:00.000-05:00

If you are getting the following in the Event Log on Your Domain controller

"The master browser has received a server announcement from the computer that believes that it is the master browser for the domain on transport NetBT_Tcpip_{1A4EAF02-78F1

-47. The master browser is stopping or an election is being forced."

- Join the club I had this problem 13/09/04 here’s how to fix it

Essentially you can stop this in two ways - Stop all the routers on your network forwarding UDP traffic (to much work for me) or change the registry key below on all your clients

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Browser\Parameters\MaintainServerList from Auto to FALSE
You can do this from login script (bear in mind all users don’t have rights to change this key - if your network is setup securely.)

As Im a lazy sod! I decided to farm this change out via Group policy.

Go to a client PC that has the domain admin tools installed (adminpak.msi is on the 2K/2K3 CD or you can download it from my website http://www.petenetlive.com/Downloads/download.htm)

Log on with administrative access.

Start > Run > Regedit {enter}

Navigate to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Browser\Parameters

In the right hand window double click MaintainServerList and change its setting to FALSE (note upper case)

Exit the registry Editor

Click Start >administrative Tools > Active directory users and computers.

NOTE: At this point you can edit an existing policy if you wish but I prefer to keep a policy just for Registry changes,

Right click the domain name >Properties > Group policy > New

Call the new policy Reg_Changes, select the new policy and click Edit.

Computer Configuration > Windows Settings, In the right hand window open security settings.

Right Click Registry and select "Add Key"

Navigate to Machine > System > CurrentControlSet > Services > Browser > Parameters

Click OK, You will be prompted for security settings highlight USERS and select Full control, then Add Domain Users and give them Full Control. Click Apply then OK.

If you are prompted again for permissions select, "Propagate inheritable Permission to all sub keys" Click OK.

Exit Group policy Editor and Reboot.

How to Configure Windows Firewall in a Small Business Environment Using Group Policy

2010-01-07T10:14:00.001-05:00

Introduction

This document explains how to configure the features of Windows Firewall on computers running Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional Service Pack 2 (SP2) in a small or medium-sized business (SMB) environment. The environment might include domain controllers running Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003, Microsoft Windows Server™ 2003, or Microsoft Windows 2000 Server.

The most efficient way to manage Windows Firewall settings in an organization's network is to use the Active Directory® directory service and configure Windows Firewall settings in Group Policy. Active Directory and Group Policy allow you to centrally configure settings for Windows Firewall and apply those settings to all Windows XP SP2 client computers.

Windows XP SP2 includes new administrative templates for Group Policy objects (GPOs) to enhance security for your client computer and domain including functionality for Windows Firewall. To apply these templates you might have to install hotfixes, depending on the operating system of the domain server or workstation in use.

After these templates are applied, any Group Policy updates will include settings for Windows Firewall. Group Policy updates are sent from the domain controller to all members of the domain and may also be requested by a domain member through the use of the GPUpdate utility.

To configure Windows Firewall, use the Group Policy Object Editor while logged in as a member of the Domain Admins group or the Group Policy Creator/Owner security group.

The following table lists the default settings for Windows Firewall.

Table 1. Default Windows Firewall Settings

Option	Default configuration	Modify when
Network connection settings	All connections	You no longer require the protection of Windows Firewall on a specific network connection or you require individual settings for each network connection.
Program exceptions	Remote Assistance only	You need to receive connections from other programs or services to your computer.
Port exceptions	None	You require connections from another computer that uses specific ports on your computer.
ICMP exceptions	None	You require other computers to verify that your computer is running and TCP/IP is configured correctly.
Notifications	On	You no longer wish to receive notification when other computers attempt to connect to your computer and fail.
Logging	Off	You require a record of connections or connection attempts made to your computer.
Don't allow exceptions	Off	You learn that your computer has a security vulnerability or you use your computer in a less secure environment such as an airport lounge.

The tasks to configure Windows Firewall using Group Policy are:

Add hotfixes to the GPO administrative workstations and Windows Small Business Server 2003.
Create and update GPOs.
Configure Windows Firewall settings with Group Policy.
Apply configuration with GPUpdate.
Verify Windows Firewall settings are applied.

Complete the tasks described in this document to help keep your computer safe from computer worms and other malicious code and continue to allow connections to and from the Internet.

Microsoft strongly recommends that you test any Windows Firewall Group Policy settings in a test environment before you deploy them in your production environment to ensure that your Group Policy configuration does not cause downtime or loss of productivity.

For definitions of security-related terms, see the following:

The Microsoft Security Glossary on the Microsoft Web site at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=35468.

Objective of this Security Document

By conducting the processes detailed in this document, you will protect your Windows XP Professional clients from unauthorized users and malicious software by using a host–based firewall. In addition, these steps will enable advanced security management with Active Directory.

Top Of Page

Before You Begin

Important The instructions in this document were developed with the default menu that displays when you click the Start button. If you have modified your Start menu, the steps might differ slightly.

Windows XP with SP2 can be used on client computers in an Active Directory domain using domain controllers that run one of the following:

Windows Server 2003
Windows Small Business Server 2003
Windows 2000 Server SP4 or later

In most networks, the network hardware firewall, proxy, and other security systems provide a level of protection from the Internet to network computers.

If you do not have a host firewall (a locally installed software firewall) such as Windows Firewall, on your computer’s network connections, you are vulnerable to malicious programs that might be introduced by other computers when they attach to your network. Also, you are vulnerable when you use your computer away from your network, such as when you use a laptop computer at home or you connect to a hotel or airport network.

Before you install hotfixes, make sure that you have a good backup of the computer, including a backup of the registry.

For more information on how to back up the registry, see the following:

Microsoft Knowledge Base article 322756, "How to back up, edit, and restore the registry in Windows XP and Windows Server 2003," on the Microsoft Help and Support Web site at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=36365.

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Adding Hotfixes to Administrative Workstations and Windows Small Business Server 2003

If you manage GPO settings on computers that run earlier operating systems or service packs (for example, Windows XP with SP1 or Windows Server 2003), you must install a hotfix (KB842933) so policy settings appear correctly in the Group Policy Object Editor.

If you use Small Business Server 2003 you must install an additional hotfix (KB872769). By default, Small Business Server 2003 disables Windows Firewall. The hotfix resolves this issue.

Note The listed hotfixes are not included as part of Microsoft Update and must be installed separately. These hotfixes must be applied to all affected computers individually.

The KB842933 hotfix applies to the following:

Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Web Edition
Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition (32-bit x86)
Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition (32-bit x86)
Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition for Itanium–based Systems
Microsoft Windows XP Professional SP1
Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003 Premium Edition
Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003 Standard Edition
Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server
Microsoft Windows 2000 Server
Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional Edition

The KB872769 hotfix applies to the following:

Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003 Standard Edition
Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003 Premium Edition

For more information or to obtain these hotfixes, see the following:

Microsoft Knowledge Base article 842933 on the Microsoft Help and Support Web site at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=35474.
Microsoft Knowledge Base article 872769 on the Microsoft Help and Support Web site at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=35477.

For additional information about how to download Microsoft Support files, see the following:

"How to obtain Microsoft support files from online services" on the Microsoft Help and Support Web site at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/119591.

Requirements to Perform This Task

You will need the following to complete this task:

Credentials. You must log on to the client computer with an account that is a member of the Domain Admins or Local Administrators security group.
Tools. The appropriate downloaded hotfix for your operating system as explained in Knowledge Base articles 842933 and 872769.

How to Add Hotfixes

To add hotfix 842933 to Windows Small Business Server 2003 , Windows 2000 Server SP4 or later , Windows XP SP1 , or Windows Server 2003

From the Windows desktop, click Start, click Run, type the path and file name of the downloaded hotfix, and then click OK.
On the Welcome to KB842933 Setup Wizard screen, click Next.
On the License page, review the terms of the license agreement. To continue, click I Agree and then click Next.
On the Completing the KB842933 Setup Wizard screen, click Finish to complete the hotfix installation and restart the computer.
Repeat steps 1 through 4 for all affected computers (servers and management workstations).

To add hotfix 872769 to Windows Small Business Server 2003

From the Windows desktop, click Start, click Run, type the path and file name of the downloaded 872769 hotfix, and then click OK.
On the Welcome to KB872769 Setup Wizard screen, click Next.
On the License page, review the terms of the license agreement. To continue, click I Agree and then click Next.
On the Completing the KB872769 Setup Wizard page, click Finish to complete the hotfix installation and restart the computer.

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Create and Update a Group Policy Object

Windows XP SP2 adds settings to the Administrative Templates. To configure these new settings, you must update each GPO with the new Administrative Templates found in Windows XP SP2. If you do not update the GPOs, the Windows Firewall settings are not available.

On a Windows XP SP2 computer, you can use Microsoft Management Console (MMC) with the Group Policy Object Editor snap-in installed to update GPOs by simply opening an existing GPO.

After a GPO has been updated, you can configure the network protection settings that are appropriate for your computers that run Windows XP SP2. In the following exercise we will create a new GPO that will immediately have these updated network protection settings.

Requirements to Perform This Task

You will need the following to complete this task:

Credentials. You must log on to a Windows XP SP2 computer that is an Active Directory domain client, and you must use an account that is a member of the Domain Admins or the Group Policy Creator/Owner security group.
Tools. Microsoft Management Console (MMC) with the Group Policy Object Editor snap-in installed.

Creating and Updating Group Policy Objects

To update Group Policy Objects with Windows XP SP2 new administrative templates

From the Windows XP SP2 desktop, click Start, click Run, type mmc, and then click OK.
On the File menu, click Add/Remove Snap-in.
On the Standalone tab, click Add.
In the Available Standalone Snap-ins list, locate then click Group Policy Object Editor, and then click Add.
In the Select Group Policy Object dialog box, click Browse.
In the Browse for a Group Policy Object dialog box (shown in the following screen shot), click the Create New Group Policy Object button and name this new GPO Test Client Windows Firewall Policy.
Click OK, and then click Finish to close the Group Policy Wizard and apply the new administrative template to the selected GPO.
In the Add Standalone Snap-in dialog box, click Close.
In the Add/Remove Snap-in dialog box, click OK.
Close the MMC, click File then click Exit. Do not save changes to the console settings.

Note Although you do not save console changes, this procedure imports the new Administrative Templates from Windows XP SP2 into the GPO. The Templates must be imported into each defined GPO.
Repeat the preceding steps for every GPO used to apply Group Policy to Windows XP SP2–based computers.

To update your GPOs for network environments using Active Directory and Windows XP SP2, Microsoft recommends that you use the Group Policy Management Console, a free download. For more information, see the following:

"Enterprise Management with the Group Policy Console" on the Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Web site at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkID=35479.

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Configuring Windows Firewall Settings Using Group Policy

There are two sets of Windows Firewall settings to configure:

Domain profile. These settings are used by computers that are connected to a network that contains domain controllers for the domain of which the computers are a member.
Standard profile. These settings are used by computers when they are not connected to a network, for example, when you travel with a laptop computer.

If you do not configure standard profile settings, the default values remain unchanged. Microsoft highly recommends that you configure both domain and standard profile settings, and that you enable Windows Firewall for both profiles. The only exception is if you are already using a third-party host firewall product (a locally installed software firewall). Microsoft recommends that you disable Windows Firewall if you are already using a third-party host firewall product.

The standard profile settings are typically more restrictive than the domain profile, because the standard profile settings do not include applications and services that are only used in a managed domain environment.

In a GPO, both the domain profile and standard profile contain the same set of Windows Firewall settings. Windows XP SP2 relies on network determination to apply correct profile settings.

Note For more information about network determination, see "Network Determination Behavior for Network-Related Group Policy Settings" on the Microsoft TechNet Web site at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=35480.

This section describes the possible Windows Firewall settings in a GPO and the recommended settings for a SMB environment. It also demonstrates how to configure the four major types of GPO settings.

Requirements to Perform This Task

You will need the following to complete this task:

Credentials. You must log on to a Windows XP SP2 computer that is an Active Directory domain client, and you must use an account that is a member of either the Domain Admins security group or the Group Policy Creator/Owner security group.
Tools. Microsoft Management Console (MMC) with the Group Policy Object Editor snap-in installed.

Note To open a GPO, use either an MMC with the Group Policy Object Editor snap-in or the Active Directory Users and Computers console. To use the Active Directory Users and Computers console on a Windows XP client computer, you must first run Aadminpak.msi from the Windows Server 2003 CD.

Configuring Windows Firewall Settings Using Group Policy

Use the Group Policy snap-in to modify the Windows Firewall settings in the appropriate GPOs.

After you complete the following steps tp configure the Windows Firewall settings, wait for the settings to be applied to client computers by the standard refresh cycles or use the GPUpdate utility on the client computer. By default, these refresh cycles are every 90 minutes, with a random offset of +/- 30 minutes. The next refresh of Computer Configuration Group Policy will download the new Windows Firewall settings and applies them to computers that run Windows XP SP2.

To configure Windows Firewall settings using Group Policy

From the Windows XP SP2 desktop, click Start, click Run, type mmc, and then click OK.
On the File menu, click Add/Remove Snap-in.
On the Standalone tab, click Add.
In the Available Standalone Snap-ins list, locate and click Group Policy Object Editor, and then click Add.
In the Select Group Policy Object dialog box, click Browse.
Select the Test Client Windows Firewall Policy GPO, click OK, and then click Finish.
Click Close to close the Add Stand-alone Snap-in box, and then on the Add/Remove Snap-in box click OK.
In the console tree of the Group Policy Object Editor, open Computer Configuration, Administrative Templates, Network, Network Connections, and then Windows Firewall (shown in the following screen shot).

Select either Domain Profile (shown in the following screen shot) or Standard Profile.

The following table summarizes the Windows Firewall Group Policy recommended settings for the domain and standard profiles.

Table 2. Windows Firewall Setting Recommendations

Setting	Description	Domain profile	Standard profile
Protect all network connections	Specifies that all network connections have Windows Firewall enabled.	Enabled.	Enabled.
Do not allow exceptions	Specifies that all unsolicited incoming traffic is dropped, including excepted traffic.	Not configured.	Enabled, unless you must configure program exceptions.
Define program exceptions	Defines excepted traffic in terms of program file names.	Enabled and configured with the programs (applications and services) used by the computers running Windows XP SP2 on your network.	Enabled and configured with the programs (applications and services) used by the computers running Windows XP SP2 on your network.
Allow local program exceptions	Enables local configuration of program exceptions.	Disabled, unless you want local administrators to configure program exceptions locally	Disabled.
Allow remote administration exception	Enables remote configuration using tools.	Disabled, unless you want to be able to remotely administer your computers with MMC snap-ins.	Disabled.
Allow file and print sharing exception	Specifies whether file and printer sharing traffic is allowed.	Disabled, unless the computers running Windows XP SP2 are sharing local resources.	Disabled.
Allow ICMP exceptions	Specifies the types of ICMP messages that are allowed.	Disabled, unless you wish to use the ping command to troubleshoot.	Disabled.
Allow Remote Desktop exception	Specifies whether the computer can accept a Remote Desktop-based connection request.	Enabled.	Enabled.
Allow UPnP framework exception	Specifies whether the computer can receive unsolicited UPnP messages.	Disabled.	Disabled.
Prohibit notifications	Disables notifications.	Disabled.	Disabled.
Allow logging	Allows traffic logs and configures log file settings.	Not configured.	Not configured.
Prohibit unicast response to multicast or broadcast requests	Discards the unicast packets received in response to a multicast or broadcast request message.	Enabled.	Enabled.
Define port exceptions	Specifies excepted traffic in terms of TCP and UDP.	Disabled.	Disabled.
Allow local port exceptions	Enables local configuration of port exceptions.	Disabled.	Disabled.

Double-click each setting listed in Table 2, click Enabled, Disabled or Not Configured, and then click OK.

Enabling Exceptions for Ports

To enable exceptions for ports

In either the Domain Profile or the Standard Profile settings area, double-click Windows Firewall: Define port exceptions. The following dialog box will display.
Select Enabled, and then click Show. The Show Contents dialog box (shown in the following screen shot) will display.
Click Add, and the Add Item dialog box will display. Type the information about the port that you want to block or enable. The syntax is as follows:

port:transport:scope:status:name
- port is the port number
- transport is TCP or UDP
- scope is either * (for all computers) or a list of the computers that are allowed to access the port
- status is either enabled or disabled
- name is a text string used as a label for this entry
The example shown in the following screen shot is named WebTest and enables TCP port 80 for all connections.
After you enter the information, click OK to close the Add Item dialog box. The Show Contents dialog box (shown in the following screen shot) will display.
Click OK to close the Show Contents dialog box.
Click OK to close Windows Firewall: Define port exceptions Properties.

Enabling Exceptions for Programs

To enable exceptions for programs

In either the Domain Profile or the Standard Profile settings area, double-click Windows Firewall: Define program exceptions. The following dialog box will display.
Select Enabled, and then click Show. The Show Contents dialog box (shown in the following screen shot) will display.
Click Add, and the Add Item dialog box will display. Type the information about the program that you want to block or enable. The syntax is as follows:

path:scope:status:name
- path is the program path and file name
- scope is either * (for all computers) or a list of the computers that are allowed to access the program
- status is either enabled or disabled
- name is a text string used as a label for this entry
The example shown in the following screen shot is named Messenger and enables the Windows Messenger program at %program files%\messenger\msmsgs.exe for all connections.
After you enter the information, click OK to close the Add Item dialog box. The Show Contents dialog box (shown in the following screen shot) will display.
Click OK to close the Show Contents dialog box.
Click OK to close Windows Firewall: Define program exceptions Properties.

Configuring Basic ICMP Options

To configure basic ICMP options

In either the Domain Profile or the Standard Profile settings area, double-click Windows Firewall: Allow ICMP exceptions. The following dialog box will display.
Select Enabled, and then select the appropriate ICMP exception or exceptions to enable. The example in this screen shot selects Allow inbound echo request.

You can also select Disabled to disable one or more ICMP exceptions.
Click OK to close Windows Firewall: Allow ICMP exceptions Properties.

Logging Dropped Packets and Successful Connections

To log dropped packets and successful connections

In either the Domain Profile or the Standard Profile settings area, double-click Windows Firewall: Allow logging. The following dialog box will display.
Select Enabled, select Log dropped packets, and then select Log successful connections. Type a Log file path and name, and leave the default Size limit (KB) for the log file size. Then click OK.

Note Ensure that the log file is saved in a secured location to prevent accidental or deliberate modification.
When you have completed making changes to the Windows Firewall settings, close the console.

Note When you close the console, you will be prompted to save the console. Regardless of whether you save the console, your GPO settings will be saved.
If prompted to save console settings, click No.

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Applying Configuration with GPUpdate

The GPUpdate utility refreshes Active Directory–based Group Policy settings. After you configure Group Policy, you can wait for the settings to apply to client computers by the standard refresh cycles. By default, these refresh cycles are every 90 minutes, with a random offset of +/- 30 minutes. To refresh Group Policy right away, you can use the GPUpdate utility.

Requirements to Perform This Task

You will need the following to complete this task:

Credentials. You must be logged on to a Windows XP SP2 computer that is an Active Directory domain client, and you must use an account that is a member of the Domain Users group.

Running GPUpdate

To run GPUpdate

From the Windows XP SP2 desktop click Start, and then click Run.
In the Run dialog box type cmd, and then click OK.
At the command prompt type GPUpdate, and then press ENTER. You should a screen similar to the following:
To close the command prompt type Exit, and then press ENTER.

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Verifying Windows Firewall Settings Are Applied

Note When you use Group Policy to configure Windows Firewall, you can prevent access to some elements of the configuration for local administrators. If you have prevented access, some tabs and options in the Windows Firewall dialog box are unavailable on user's local computers.

Requirements to Perform This Task

You will need the following to complete this task:

Credentials. You must be logged on to a Windows XP SP2 computer that is an Active Directory domain client, and you must use an account that is a member of the Domain Users group.

To verify Windows Firewall settings are applied

From the Windows XP SP2 desktop, click Start, and then click Control Panel.
Under Pick a category, click Security Center. A screen similar to the following will display.
Under Manage security settings for, click Windows Firewall.
Click the General, Exceptions, and Advanced tabs, and verify that the configuration in Group Policy is also applied to Windows Firewall on the client computer.

If the configuration settings are not applied, you must troubleshoot the application of Group Policy. To do so, see the following:

"Troubleshooting Group Policy in Microsoft Windows Server" on the Microsoft Download Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=35481.

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Related Information

For more information about the Windows XP SP2 firewall, see the following:

"Deploying Windows Firewall Settings for Microsoft Windows XP with Service Pack 2" on the Microsoft Download Center Web site at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=35303.
"Understanding Windows Firewall, Introduction" on the Microsoft Windows XP Web site at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=35305.

For more information about Windows XP SP2 security, see the following:

The Windows XP Security Guide on the Microsoft Download Center Web site at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=35309.

For definitions of security-related terms, see the following:

The Microsoft Security Glossary on the Microsoft Web site at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=35468.

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Exchange / Outlook - Allow Automatic Forwarding/Replying to the Internet

2009-11-11T18:22:00.000-05:00

Allow Automatic Forwarding/Replying to the Internet

As a secure default Exchange doesn’t allow sending automatic forwards, replies and Out of Office Assistant Messages to the Internet. The security in this is that there can’t be created any mail loops and that Exchange doesn’t reply to any spam messages which might lead to spam attacks. If you still want to disable this behavior after careful consideration you can do this in the following way;

Exchange 2007:

Open Exchange Management Console
Expand Organization Configuration-> Hub Transport
In the right pane select the Remote Domains tab
Right click Default and choose Properties
On the General tab you can set which type of Out of Office Messages you will allow
On the tab named “Format of original message sent as attachment to journal report:” you can enable or disable the automatic replying/forwarding.

Exchange 2000/2003:

Open Exchange System Manager
Expand your site-> Global Settings-> Internet Message Format
In the right pane right click Default and choose Properties-> tab Advanced
Here you can enable or disable the automatic replying/forwarding

Exchange 5.5:

Open Exchange 5.5 Administrator
Expand your site-> Configuration-> Connections
In the right pane right click Internet Mail Service and choose Properties-> tab Internet Mail Service-> button Advanced Options….
Here you can enable or disable the automatic replying/forwarding
Stop and restart the Internet Mail Service

Upgrading Your PC to Windows 7

2009-10-05T12:50:00.001-04:00

Acuityware Blog

Deploying Printers and Print Drivers Remotely

Great little site with all types of tweaks and fixes

Using Views in Microsoft SQL Server

Modifying Data Through a View

Customizing Windows Server Backup Schedule

Use a Built-In Windows Utility to Create Self-Extracting Archives

Command Line Printer Control

in Windows 2000 / XP

Usage:

Examples:

More to explore:

If RUNDLL32 just won't do the job:

If all you need is to backup/restore, clone or migrate existing printers:

Export printer drivers:

Mount a Windows Shared Folder on Linux with Samba

Contents

Installing Prerequisites

Testing the Connection

Create the Mount Point

Actually Mounting the Shared Folder

Understanding file permissions on Unix: a brief tutorial

Understanding file permissions on Unix: a brief tutorial

(For files on AFS fileservers, see below)

The default file permissions (umask):

AFS Access Control Lists (ACLs)

Unix File Permissions

Get OS Version through Visual Basic Scripting

Migrate users from one Linux machine to another

Screensavers starting randomly after upgrade to OS X Lion

D3 Tape Configuration using the dev-make command

Automatically Boot into Safe Mode

Can't open EXE files

SYMPTOMSWhen you try to open EXE files, you may get errors messages like: "Access Deny",...

CAUSECorrupt registry settings or some third party product (or virus) can change the...

Set Up Find My iPhone on Multiple iPhones With One MobileMe Account

Cannot start Microsoft Office Outlook. Cannot open the Outlook window.

How to manage the Office 2003 templates in Office 2003 programs

The User templates file location

How to change the template location

Workgroup templates file location

Advertised and Installed templates file location

Non-file-based templates

Changes in the Windows Registry settings for the User templates file location and for the Workgroup templates file location

Reset Account Password In Safe Mode

Troubleshoot Slow Start Ups with Windows Boot Performance Diagnostics

Windows 7 God Mode - Get Access To All Your Tweaks and Options in One Directory

Copy the names in AutoComplete to another computer

Modify Master Browser Election by GPO

How to Configure Windows Firewall in a Small Business Environment Using Group Policy

Introduction

Objective of this Security Document

Before You Begin

Adding Hotfixes to Administrative Workstations and Windows Small Business Server 2003

Requirements to Perform This Task

How to Add Hotfixes

Create and Update a Group Policy Object

Requirements to Perform This Task

Creating and Updating Group Policy Objects

Configuring Windows Firewall Settings Using Group Policy

Requirements to Perform This Task

Configuring Windows Firewall Settings Using Group Policy

Enabling Exceptions for Ports

Enabling Exceptions for Programs

Configuring Basic ICMP Options

Logging Dropped Packets and Successful Connections

Applying Configuration with GPUpdate

Requirements to Perform This Task

Running GPUpdate

Verifying Windows Firewall Settings Are Applied

Requirements to Perform This Task

Related Information

Exchange / Outlook - Allow Automatic Forwarding/Replying to the Internet

Allow Automatic Forwarding/Replying to the Internet

Exchange 2007:

Exchange 2000/2003:

Exchange 5.5:

Upgrading Your PC to Windows 7

SYMPTOMS
When you try to open EXE files, you may get errors messages like: "Access Deny",...

CAUSE
Corrupt registry settings or some third party product (or virus) can change the...