I got a question from Lewis this week:

“I hope this email finds you well. I have a plotter here at my company, and the driver is really temperamental. At least twice a week the driver crashes, and then all of the jobs get stuck in the spooler. To fix it I need to stop the spooler service, delete all the jobs and start the service again. Is there any easy way to do this remotely with a script? Have a Merry Christmas Steve, and thanks for all the tips”

Good question. A script in this case won’t always work. This is because with Vista, Windows 7, and 2008 the print spooler folder is restricted. Only the system account can access it.

A way around this is to use our Network Administrator tool. It will remotely execute the script in the system account context.

This is how the script would look if we wanted to stop the print spooler, delete the files, and start it again:

net stop spooler
del %systemroot%\System32\spool\printers\*.shd /q
del %systemroot%\System32\spool\printers\*.spl /q
net start spooler


.shd, and .spl files are print job files. If you delete them, it will wipe away any pending jobs.

You could put this into a bat file, and simply use the remote execute option of Network Administrator. To make it a smoother experience, we created a plugin that will handle everything for you:

You can also tell it if you want to delete all the pending jobs:

This can be quite helpful if you have a huge backlog of print jobs:

Using Network Administrator to do this is quicker than manually deleting the jobs since it does not have to talk back and forth with the printer driver to do it.

Get your free copy from our download page:

http://www.intelliadmin.com/index.php/downloads/

The free version is free for commercial and personal use. No spyware or adware – only software goodness.

If you spend any amount of time working with Unix, you will come across Cron and the CronTab file.

What is it?

Cron allows you to schedule programs to run at specified intervals, like every Sunday at 1AM.

Now I can already hear it…”Steve, that is what the task scheduler is for in Windows”

While it is true you can schedule tasks in Windows, one big issue with task scheduler is how do you transfer scheduled tasks from one computer to another?

You could copy the folder c:\windows\tasks, but this is totally unsupported and it does not always work.

That is the beauty of Cron. Every bit of scheduling info is contained within the Crontab file.

If you want a group of servers to have the same scheduled jobs, you just need to sync this file. No registry hacks, no tricks. Just one file.

Not only that, since it is just a simple text file you can easily schedule jobs from PHP, PowerShell or VBScript…without any ActiveX or hooks into Windows. You just need to modify a simple text file.

There are a few Windows implementations out there…but most of them are quite old. We wanted something that would work on 2000 through 2008 x64 – so we built our own

To use it, download the setup file from our downloads page:

http://www.intelliadmin.com/index.php/downloads/

The install does not create any icons, or shortcuts. It installs all the application files into c:\program files\IntelliAdmin\Cron by default, and automatically starts the cron service (Named icronsvr).

There are two files for configuration, they are both in the same folder as the service.

The first to look at is the file config.cfg:

[Configuration]
status_enabled=true
status_handler=
path=


Here is what each option does:

status_enabled (true/false) – If set to true, each time a program is executed it is logged to a file named status.log in the same folder as the service

status_handler – If set to point to an executable file, it is executed each time a process is run. The first argument is the status text shown in status.log. (Example usage of this would be to send an email each time a process is executed by cron..using a bat file and a command like tool blat)

path – An alternative path for the crontab file. By default the service looks for the crontab in the same folder as the service. Setting this tells the service to look at the specified folder for the crontab file

The next is the actual crontab file. It roughly follows the same format as the Unix crontab

The file is formatted in this way:

[M] [H] [D] [M] [DOW] [Process Name] [Process Arguments]

M – The minute that the process should be executed (0-59)
H – The hour that the process should be executed (0-23)
D – The day that the process should be executed (1-31)
M – The month that the process should be executed (1-12)
DOW – The day of the week that the process should be executed (0-6 Sunday = 0, Monday = 1, Etc)

Note: Our format does not support names such as THU, or JAN…only numerical values

Each section can:

-Have a range of values like this: 12-24 (All items from 12 to 24)
-Have a list of values like this: 12,13,14,15
-Include all possible values like this: *
-Skip values using the / like this: 0-59/5 (This would only include 0,5,10,15,20,etc)

Lets put it all together. If we wanted a process to run every 5 minutes we would create a line like this in our crontab file:

*/5 * * * * c:\process.bat

See how the skip value works? We specified the * for the minute section (All minutes), and then told it to skip 5. This means it will run at 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, etc.

If you wanted to run a process every Sunday at 1 pm:

00 01 * * 00 c:\process.bat

Or how about, only every Sunday from June to the end of the year:

00 01 * 06-12 00 c:\process.bat

At 15, and 30 minutes past every hour:

15,30 * * * * c:\process.bat

This might give you a clearer picture:

*     *     *   *    *     C:\SomeEXE.EXE ARG1 ARG2 ARG3
-     -     -   -    -
|     |     |   |    |
|     |     |   |    +----- day of week (0 - 6) (Sunday=0)
|     |     |   +------- month (1 - 12)
|     |     +--------- day of        month (1 - 31)
|     +----------- hour (0 - 23)
+------------- min (0 - 59)

It takes a little time to get used to the format, but once you do it is a breeze to work with.

A few things to think about when using this:

-Make sure you secure the crontab file by only allowing ‘System’ and Administrator write access. Otherwise a standard user could simply alter the crontab file and start running stuff as ‘System’

-The programs are run in the context of a service. By default the user account is ‘System’, and for security reasons it does not have network share access. If you want to allow access to network shares you would have to go into the settings of the IntelliAdmin Cron Service, and have it login as a user with the appropriate rights.

-Since it is a service, make sure your program does not pop up forms or message boxes…otherwise they will just get stuck and you will never see them. Test…test…test before you deploy.

If you have any other features you would like to add to this little tool, let us know and we will see what we can do.

I like to keep my wireless network secure. Too easy for neighbors to pick up my passwords, and info just by connecting to my network. Worse yet, they could download pirated music or cause all kinds of trouble on my Internet connection.

The problem with having a complex password is that it is hard for visitors to enter into their computer. Wife has some friends over, they need to use the Internet.

I am at the office. I get the phone call – “Ok, type 659872323865765798798756. Oh Sorry. It is 6. Then 5. Then 9. Oops lets start over”

Yea, not so fun when it happens a lot.

I found an easy way to share your Wireless settings from Windows 7 (A Windows XP machine can import them).

Start out by clicking on the wireless icon down by the time:

Then click on “Open Network and Sharing Center”

That will open a big ole window:

Find the option that says “Manage Wireless Networks” and click on it.

Now you should see a list of your wireless networks. Right click on the one you want to share and click properties:

Now, another window will pop up. Look for the option that says “Copy this network profile to a USB Flash Drive”

Walk through the wizard that shows up:

Once it is complete, it will place a program on the flash drive:

Now – To add the wireless network to a Windows machine, you just run that application and it connects automatically. From that point on, the wireless key is saved in its settings.

In addition to that, it generates a list of instructions for different versions of Windows.

I posted them here in case you want to print them out.

It is that time again. Microsoft is getting close to releasing IE 9 in its final form. According to my sources, it will be released on Monday, March 14th.

This also means it will show up in automatic updates as an “Important Update”

If you want to prevent this from happening, you can setup a registry key that will block it.

The key is under this path:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Setup\9.0

You will need to create the key above. Once you do that, add this DWORD value:

DoNotAllowIE90

Set it to 1 to block, Set it to 0 to unblock.

We also have updated the free version of Network Administrator to set this key for you – that way you don’t have to mess around with the registry by hand:

Download a free copy from here

One final note – keep in mind this will only prevent it from showing up in Automatic Update. Users can still install IE 9 by hand if they wish.

If you are using Windows 7, then you must have run into the “Auto Maximize” feature. Microsoft calls it “Smart Window Arrangement”

Here is a short youtube clip that shows you what I am talking about:

Essentially if you move your window around and touch the corner, it will automatically maximize the window. After a while it can get quite annoying.

So how do you turn it off?

It is one registry key change.

Drill down to

HKCU\Control Panel\Desktop

Look for the value named “WindowArrangementActive” and set it to 0.

You will need to log off, and log on to make it active. After that, windows will no longer automatically maximize.

If you don’t like plunking around in the registry, we have added it as a plugin to Network Administrator:

It is a free download if you want to use it on 3 computers or less.

You can download it from here:

http://www.intelliadmin.com/NetworkAdministrator.exe

We have just put the finishing touches on Beta 4 of our Enterprise product.

What is it?

It is a remote administration solution that allows you to get to your computers from anywhere. Traditionally if you want to remote into a PC, you need to open ports, and determine its IP address. With Enterprise remote control, you don’t need to do any of that. Just setup the enterprise server on a public IP address, and it will take care of the rest.

Simply install the agent on the computers you want to control. Then when you need to get to them, launch the viewer, and click the find button. It will show you a list of computers that are online:

The Enterprise server will automatically negotiate the connection, finding the most efficient method of connecting to the remote machine. It will try its best to get a direct connection. If that is not possible, the Enterprise server will ‘reflect’ the connection so it will still work properly behind a firewall.

Let me say that another way. You are out of the office, and get a call. You need to get to a users workstation to make a quick fix. As long as you can get your laptop on the Internet, you can remote back into that machine and get the job done – Secured with 256 bit AES encryption. No need to look anything up. You can find the PC by simply typing in part of the users name, and their machine will jump to the top.

During the beta period we are offering an unlimited license for only $599. This means no limits on the number of administrators, or the computers that you can control. After the beta is over we will charge per computer controlled.

To purchase the unlimited license,

Visit our online store to purchase today

If this is your first time hearing about Enterprise remote control, this article explains how the install works:

Installation Instructions

Here are the latest download links:

Agent (Install on the computer you want to control)

http://www.intelliadmin.com/reflector_agent5.exe (Build Number 5.427)

Client (Software you use to control computers)

http://www.intelliadmin.com/reflector_client5.exe (Build Number 5.0.0.128)

Reflector (Server software that manages it all)

http://www.intelliadmin.com/reflector_server5.exe (Build Number 1.0.0.98)

If you are upgrading from a previous version, please note that the new features in the reflector will not work unless your agents are updated to the latest version.

What is new in this version?

We re-factored a large chunk of the code in the reflector – as a result it runs faster, with less memory, and less CPU consumption.

In addition to the performance updates, we have added a few features.

You can control the service tray icon, and automatic updates:

In the users section, we streamlined the settings for a user account:

The computer list section was totally rebuilt. You can quickly search for computers:

If any field matches the search text, it will be displayed in the results. Using the search box, you can filter by operating system, agent version, logged on user, name, or description.

You can filter out online, or offline computers – making it easier to find that system you are looking for:

There are now two views…a simple view:

And a detailed view:

Hopefully, navigating your list of computers is easier now.

If you have more than 100 machines, and you purchased an unlimited license, you can enter it in now. Otherwise it defaults to a 100 computer license:

There may be a few tweaks and changes I missed, but I think you will be happy with the updates.

What is next?

Distribution. I know in the last beta I promised that would be up next. When we started work on this we realized that we had to work on the reflector first because of some changes it needed for our distribution software to function.

We know that many of you are begging for an easy way to distribute the agent. I promise you will get many distribution options in beta 5.

A few ways you will be able to distribute the agent:

-From the viewer. There will be an option to automatically register and install the agent from the viewer

-From a distribution tool. We will update our distribution tool to automatically register and install the agent

-From a MSI setup file. We will have an online form where you can build a custom MSI with all of your preferred settings for the agent, and then build an MSI that you can give out to others or silently install from 3rd party applications.

That is Beta 5

Beta 6, which will be the last beta. It will fix a bug with fast user switching in the agent (under XP and 2003), and update the viewer to allow changes to settings while you are still connected. After that the software will be released as the final version.

Our current target for the official release is June 1st. I know this is later than we originally thought, but we want to make sure this is a solid release.

Send your ideas, bug reports, or any other comments to support@intelliadmin.com

I was digging around to find a way to get an email when someone logged on to our source control server. It is a pretty important server, so I want to make sure people are only logging into it when they are supposed to.

When I first started working on this idea I was going to write a custom application, and use that along with blat. Blat is an email sending program that can be used from the command line.

I was surprised that I could get exactly what I wanted, without any third party application. This works for 2008, Vista, and Windows 7 – if you are still running Windows 2003 you will need to cobble together a collection of apps that will accomplish this (Sorry)

Start out by opening the event viewer. Right click on the security log on the left hand side. Click on the menu item that says “Attach a task to this log”, and a task wizard will be displayed.

Type in a description for your task:

This page is annoying. I have not had time to test on other systems. But on mine all the fields are disabled. It would be nice if I could enter the info I wanted here. Instead we will need to go into the advanced settings of the task – more on that in a little bit. Just click next.

See. There is our option. Send an email. You could launch a program too, or have a message pop up for a specific user

Fill out your email settings. I pointed it at our internal exchange server:

Very important Don’t miss this one. Make sure you check the option to open advanced properties. Otherwise you will get an email message for every entry in the security log:

Click finish, and the advanced properties are displayed. Set the task to always run. Otherwise it would only run while you are logged on – and that would be silly

Go to the “Actions” tab, and double click on the only action listed

Set your source as “Microsoft Windows security auditing.” And your event ID number as 4624 (You can use 4634 for logoff)

Click OK and you are done. When someone logs on to your system, you will receive an email notification with all of the event info.

The best part about this tip is that you don’t need any third party apps – it is all built into Windows.

Over the holidays I had the joy of cleaning up a few computers. It is surprising how fast a system can get loaded with software that increases boot time.

Normally I cleanup by hand using msconfig, and regedit. I was tired of disabling critical software by accident (Like printer helper apps), so I searched around, and I found a tool that allows you to visualize how each program impacts your boot time.

It is called Soluto, and you can download from here:

http://www.soluto.com

The install is simple. Download and run the setup file:

Reboot your system, and it will analyze all of the processes that launch at boot time. The cool part is that it looks up each application in a database that is updated by users like yourself – it has a built in wiki editing tool to update information about apps it does not recognize:

When it is finished, you can see all of the programs that impact your boot time. It shows you an exact boot time, and how much time each application takes to launch.

The application is crisp, and almost fun to use. The amount of detail on each application is amazing. The color coding will keep you from making mistakes – something easy to do when you are plunking away while drinking your third egg nog.

When you want to keep an app from running, simply pause it. It will never run again unless you manually launch it.

With a few quick clicks you can pause the applications you don’t need and dramatically reduce your boot time.

Nice tool, best of all it is free – definitely worth the download.

I am always digging around in my files, and I realized It would be nice if I could pin my hard drive to the Windows 7 task bar.

The only problem? When I drag my drive to the task bar it piles it under the folder icon:

I wanted it under a one click icon, so I could easily reach it when I have lots of windows open.

I found a trick that will make this happen.

On your desktop, create an empty text file and rename it to C Drive.exe (Doesn’t matter what you call it…as long as it ends in .exe)

Now drag it to the task bar. Once it is there…right click on it, then right click again on the name of the file (in my case it is C Drive)…and then left click on properties

Now a properties dialog will be displayed.

Change the target to C:\

And then click “Change Icon” to pick your favorite icon:

After this has been completed, a reboot is needed so explorer can see the new icon settings.

Now you can have one click access to your hard drive:

I got a question from Mark last week:

“Steve, I was wondering if you could add a plugin to Network Administrator that would disable control panel access. I know it is not the best way to keep people out, but it would save me a lot of headaches”

Actually, I have gotten a few requests for this. Disabling control panel access is actually quite easy. If you drill down to this registry key:

HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer

You just need to add a DWORD value of NoControlPanel, and set it to 1:

Windows 7 handles this smoothly. See my start menu before the change:

After the change, the control panel option is missing:

XP is not as nice, it keeps the icon…but you get a nasty message when clicking on it:

We added a plugin to Network Administrator. That way you can easily make the change without plunking around in the registry, plus you can push it remotely against machines on your network:

You can get your free download from here:

http://www.intelliadmin.com/NetworkAdministrator.exe

Disabling the control panel won’t keep everyone out, but in some situations it can really help.