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New version of IntelliAdmin Lan Edition released
We just polished off a new version of IntelliAdmin Lan Edition. If you have never tried it before it's a program that lets you remote control computers across your network.
Download Trial
The big feature of this product is that it can control machines on your LAN - without installing a thing. Usually when you want to set something like this up, you need to walk around to each machine and install an agent.
Instead, you type in the computer name, and IntelliAdmin automatically installs the software it needs over the LAN (Provided that you have administrative credentials for the remote machine).
You all have been great at requesting features and sending us bug reports. We have tried our best to implement the most popular requests.
Here are a couple of them
Launch via URL:
If you already know the name of the computer you want to connect, you can just type this in the run window (Click Start, then Run)
iadmin://computer1
Click OK and IntelliAdmin is immediately attempting to connect to computer1
Connection shortcuts:
This allows you to easily use different settings for different machines. For example, if you have that really slow machine in accounting and you want to reduce the colors. You could tweak it out for best performance, and save the shortcut to the desktop.
Double click on it, and you are connecting to that machine in seconds - with all of your preferred settings.
Agent UnInstall progress:
IntelliAdmin allows you to get into a machine, and remove all traces when disconnecting. In previous versions we did not display any progress indication of the agent removal. This did cause problems, since many times users would close the application before it was finished. Now, when you select the option to remove the agent when disconnecting, you are shown the progress of the removal:
For a more detailed look at its features please check out the users manual.
Two major bugs were fixed in this version:
Dual Monitor Bug - Second monitor was shown, but mouse movements not sent to it.
Authentication Bug - Reported error when should have shown password box
We have tried our best to design this product specifically for use on your local network. If you are looking for a remote control solution that works over the internet, you may want to check out Remote Control Internet Edition
One final note - All registered users can upgrade to 2.7 for free. Just use the same download link when you purchased. If you lost it, send me an email at steve.wiseman@intelliadmin.com
Posted By: Steve Wiseman on Friday, September 22, 2006
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Starting and stopping services across an entire domain
Stopping and starting services within windows is quite easy. From the command line you can simply type:
net stop to stop a service
or
net start to start a service
Or even easier, open the service manager by clicking on start, run and then type 'services.msc' and click OK
A complete list of services is displayed:
Now you can right click on the service you would like to modify, and start or stop it using the respective menus.
The tricky part is when you need to stop the same service on 400 machines across your LAN. That could be a real pain. What if, for example, a critical flaw was found in VNC and you wanted to quickly stop it on every machine within your network?
The first question we need to ask: How can we stop or start a service remotely?
One way is to use the GUI. The service manager I showed you before can connect to a remote computer. Using this method it takes three clicks and about 45 seconds. 45 Seconds x 400 machines = about 5 hours of lots of clicking.
We definitely want to use the command line for this one.
Microsoft has a utility in the resource kit for Windows XP professional named (sc.exe)
It follows this syntax:
sc.exe computername action service_name
It lets you start and stop services of a remote computer from the command line. Now we are on the right track. Still...I don't like the way this program operates. The major feature it is missing is authentication. I want to provide a username and password all in the same command line tool.
I took the liberty to create such a tool. (Free) It can be downloaded from here
It follows this syntax:
RemoteService.exe HOST ACTION SERVICENAME [USERNAME] [PASSWORD]
Possible actions are: STOP, or START
Username and password are optional.
Here is what it would look like if we used it to start and stop WinVNC on a computer named Computer1
Now. How do we automate this to stop or start a service on *every* computer within a domain? Simple: We create a VB script that will do it for us.
You can download it from here (Right click, and Save As...)
RemoteService.vbs
Here is how it works:
It gets a list of all the computers within the domain you specify. Then it executes our RemoteService.exe with the appropriate command line parameters. RemoteService.exe then returns an exit code, which we use to display the result.
Here is the syntax for the script
RemoteService.vbs Domain Action ServiceName [UserName] [Password]
Action can be either STOP, or START
Again, username and password are optional
I suggest using the cscript.exe VB Script interpreter to invoke it, otherwise you will get a message box for each machine that it processes.
Lets see an example use of the script. Lets say I want to stop WinVNC on all machines within the IntelliAdmin domain:
cscript.exe RemoteService.vbs IntelliAdmin Stop WinVNC
(Make sure RemoteService.vbs and RemoteService.exe are in the same folder)
Another question that pops up is: What is the appropriate service name for use on the command line?
This is a good question. If we go back to our service list that we viewed before (By Launching services.msc) We can double click on any of the services. Now a property window will be shown.
The "Service Name" is what you need to use when invoking the script. It sometimes can be confusing since the name of the service displayed in the GUI can be totally different than the name you can use within the command line.
That's all there is to it. Now with only one line in the command window you can stop or start a service across your entire domain.
Posted By: Steve Wiseman on Friday, September 22, 2006
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Get rid of those unhelpful printer balloon notifications
It always happens to me. I am working as fast as I can to get something done for the day. I start to print. Behold - Windows has the genius to tell me that yes. YES! It is printing.
Um. Yes I did know that it was printing - since I started the print job. The biggest problem with these notifications is that they always seem to block something down in that corner and keep me from getting to it with my mouse.
This is one of those 'features' that should be easy to disable, but in reality it is difficult to find the actual place to turn it off!
After googling for a while I found what you need to do - to get rid of those wonderful print job help balloon's
First, open up "Printers and Faxes" in the control panel.
Click on File, and then "Server Properties"
Once this is open, click over to the advanced tab.
Uncheck the "Show Informational Notifications For Local Printers"
And Uncheck the " Show Informational Notifications For Network Printers"
Look at that - not even a registry key to change this time! You should now be free of the pesky printer notification balloons.
Posted By: Steve Wiseman on Tuesday, September 19, 2006
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Hide user accounts from the Windows XP Welcome screen
The Windows XP Welcome screen. Pretty pictures for each user account. What a nice thought on Microsoft's part. The only trouble is - I want to create an administrator account, and not have others tempted to try getting into it while they are on my computer.
When windows XP is not joined to a domain, it displays a welcome screen when it first boots:
The welcome screen displays all of the local users on the system, except the built-in administrator account that was created during setup. If we want to hide a specific user from the list, we need to create a special value under this registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\SpecialAccounts\UserList Under this key you simply create a new DWORD value - the name matches the users name exactly, and the value is one of the following (Decimal format) 0 - Hides the user just from the welcome screen 1 - The user is shown Before you start putting values in this key, I want to warn you. This tip is particularly dangerous. If you make the wrong move, you could make it nearly impossible to get back into your system. Don't blame me if you hose your system!To hide the users I want, I browse to the registry key on my system:
Now I want to hide all of the accounts except Jennifer, so I add each of the accounts shown on the welcome screen, and give them a value of zero.
that's all we need to do. I log off, and now I only see Jennifer's account:
Here's the big question. How do you log on as a hidden user? If you are running windows XP Professional you simply need to press CTRL-ALT-DEL twice, and the standard logon screen will be displayed. This has one pitfall - it will fail to work if a user is still currently logged in. If you are having trouble getting it to show, then reboot and press it twice before any users have logged in. Secondly, if you are running Windows XP Home, you will need to boot in safe mode to use the hidden account. The CTRL-ALT-DEL trick does not work for XP Home. Now here is the cool part. We have made a program that will do this for you. No need to mess around in the registry! The program, while easier, does not exclude you from the danger I spoke of before. Please think about what you are doing before you remove a user from the list!
Just download it from hereAs always we do not have any spyware, or adware in our freeware, and just like most of our freeware this program will run fine from a floppy, CD-Rom, or USB flash drive...no installation needed.
Posted By: Steve Wiseman on Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Check out our utilities for windows
New version of Remote Reboot released
We have polished off another version of our Remote Reboot program. We never thought that it would be so popular.
Dave in our forums asked if we could add the reason field that Windows 2003 has when you shut it down. I guess he has a boss that always wants to know why servers were shutdown - go figure ;)
It is still a stand-alone program that does not require any installation, DLLs or runtimes. Just put it on a floppy, or your favorite flash drive and it will run.
Visit our downloads page to download it. Totally free - No spyware, or adware. We always keep it clean. If you have any good ideas for freeware - drop a note in our forum.
Posted By: Steve Wiseman on Monday, September 11, 2006
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Deleting prefetch folder *does* improve boot time.
Yesterday I posted an article about improving boot times. My first tip was about deleting the prefetch folder, and modifying the prefetch registry key to improve boot time. Over and over I have seen posted on the net how this is a myth.
In fact - at this moment an article is on the front page of Digg making the "myth" claim about the prefetch folder. Every site that makes the "myth" claim this sighting an article that is on one website. I am much more likely to believe the "Windows XP Annoyances" by O'reilly than a random site on the net.
Also, one big point of contention - We are trying to improve boot time. Not overall performance. If you do the prefetch tip, it will slow down application launch time. We are not claiming this will improve overall performance! Sometimes a faster boot time is more important than launching MS Word more quickly.
I have decided that the only way to finish the argument is to do some real world testing.
Lets start out with my brand new Mac Book. I have committed the ultimate sin and put windows XP on it.
I have used this machine for about a month, so it should have enough in the prefetch to prove my point. I powered it off, and started my stopwatch. I waited until the final screen was shown . 52 Seconds I followed the steps in the first part of my article, and deleted the contents of the prefetch, and updated the registry key. Powered it off. Started stopwatch and powered it on at the same time. 37 Seconds A slight improvement. Still - only one boot, and one computer. Did the test a second time. 38 Seconds - Still an improvement. One machine is not enough. I had two more machines to test. The first one is a 2003 server we have had in production for about a year...Its the weekend so I can reboot all I want without the programmers here getting upset with me ;) 
that's me in the picture by the way... Original boot time of this old beast: 1 Minute and 49 Seconds After following the procedure: 1 Minute and 45 Seconds Not a *huge* improvement, but boot after boot it was always 4 seconds faster Now on to my dad's old jalopy
He has every program that has ever been offered for free on the internet - since 1995 (It was fun moving from 98 to XP!) His boot time before the change: 5 Min and 37 Seconds!!! Boot time after the change: 5 Min and 30 Seconds. After this the results are clear. It does improve boot time...Slightly. You remove spyware, defrag the hard drive, and clean up your startup menu it can add up - and you will get a faster boot time.
Posted By: Steve Wiseman on Saturday, September 09, 2006
Check out our utilities for windows
Why windows takes so long to start up.
Most of us have had a brand new computer at one time. It's a great feeling. You boot up windows and within 30 seconds you are surfing the net, checking your email, or playing your favorite game. 10 months down the road things aren't so nice anymore. You power up your computer and it seems to take forever to load.
Even when you are careful about what you install it seems that each day it takes longer for it to boot. It's not your imagination - and there are a couple of good tips to keep your boot time short and sweet.
As always - backup your system before you start any of this. If you make a mistake you might need to restore from backup
Update (09/08/2006) - There has been some controversy about the prefetch folder. I think this issue needs to be looked into. I did have a reputable source for this information: It was the "Windows XP Annoyances" book by O'Reilly. Page 210. Titled "Keeping an eye on prefetch"
1. The prefetch cache
The first tip I want to talk about is the windows prefetch. Windows XP has this feature that loads commonly used programs - at boot time.
Here is how it works: Yesterday you used MS Word, and Duke Nukem 3D. Today you boot your system to check e-mail. It sees parts of these two programs in the prefetch folder and loads them into memory before windows completes the boot process. The benefit is faster application launch times. If you really wanted to use MS Word, it would pop up really quick when you double clicked on it.
The problem is most people have been running windows for years, and the prefetch gets clogged with stuff that you almost never use. Windows takes forever to boot because it is prefetching a 1.0 copy of Napster, and you just want to check your email before you have to go to work.
What can be done about it? Well there are a few things we can do to tweak the prefetch cache. One method is to disable it partially, and this can be done quite easily.
Simply browse to the windows folder (Ex: C:\Windows) and under there you should see the prefetch folder. Go into the prefetch folder and delete all the files (Careful! It should look like this c:\windows\prefetch) And here is a screenshot of one if you still have questions
The first thing to note is the next reboot will be slow. This is because windows needs to relearn the prefetch for system files. Subsequent boots will run much faster since the sludge of programs has been removed, and only new ones are in the cache.
The trouble is that it will only help you for a while - until the prefetch gets clogged up again. We need to edit a registry key to tweak it. Open regedit and browse to this key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management\PrefetchParameters
Under this key you should see a value named: EnablePrefetcher
It has 4 possible values:
0 - Disabled : The prefetch system is turned off.
1 - Application : The prefetch only caches applications.
2 - Boot : The prefetch only caches boot system files.
3 - All : The prefetch caches boot, and application files.
We don't want to disable it entirely. This would actually make boot times *longer*. This is because this feature is also used to speed up the loading of boot files. That is why we are going to pick the number 2 option. It allows us to keep the advantage of caching system files, without continually clogging the system up with applications.
Set the value to 2 and reboot.
The 2nd time you boot it should boot much faster. Remember that the side effect is that launching individual applications once windows has loaded will now be slightly slower.
2. Hard drive fragmentation
Over time your hard drive will become fragmented. An over simplified explanation of fragmentation is when your files and folders are not all stored in the same spot. For example lets say you had a large movie file. If it were fragmented the first 5 megabytes are at the beginning of the hard drive, and then next 5 are at the end. It takes longer for windows to read the file than it would if it were all in the same spot. The point is that if each file is stored in a linear fashion, and the drive does not have to move all over the place to read it - it will load faster. XP has a built-in defrag tool, and it is simple to run. Open "My Computer" right click on the boot drive, and go to properties. Now click on the tools tab.
Click "Defragment Now" and the following window should appear:
Before you click on the "Defragment" button you want to close all applications and be aware that it might take hours to complete. If you leave something running it might keep windows from completing the defragment operation.
Click on the defragment button and you can walk away. Or you can watch it defrag your hard drive:
3. Disconnected network drives
I am using networked drives all the time. If you have ever put your machine on a network and connected to a shared drive, this can slow you down too. If you have a drive that is still mapped, but cannot be reached it will slow down windows during boot time. This is because windows will wait...wait...and wait some more for the remote server to respond. To clean these out open "My Computer" and go to the tools menu. Click on "Disconnect Network Drives" It will open a window that looks like this:
Click on the drives you no longer need, and click OK.
4. Spyware & Adware
These can have a big impact on your start times. If your PC gets loaded with spyware, it spends a large portion of its boot time making sure those pesky programs are loaded and ready to throw popup adverts at you all day. To check and clean your system of spyware there are three free programs that I highly recommend:
1. Microsoft Windows Defender
2. Ad-Aware
3. SpyBot Search And destroy
5. File and Printer Sharing
One other item that can significantly impact is the "File and Printer Sharing" feature within windows. Obviously, if you are sharing your printer, or folders you don't want to disable this - so this tip is not for you. If you never use it, then why waste your time waiting for it to load?
Here is how to turn it off:
Go into the control panel. Click on "Network Connections"
Now right click on "Local Area Connection" and click on properties
Uncheck the "File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks"
Click OK, and reboot.
That wraps up our windows startup optimization. And if you are tired of waiting for windows to shutdown, then check out our article on speeding that up too!
Stay tuned. We are about to release a new version of our Remote Reboot program. This version adds a feature suggested by David in our forum. It allows you to specify the shutdown reason that is written to the event log on Windows XP, and 2003. If you are not sure what I am talking about...this should remind you:
One final note, if you have any ideas for a free utility you would like to see, please post to our forum...or better yet check out the ones we already have
Posted By: Steve Wiseman on Thursday, September 07, 2006
Check out our utilities for windows
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