Network Monitoring

http://www.netmon.org/
Monitoring tools and tutorials.
Excellent freeware tools and reference information
http://demosten.com/showtraf/
http://www.objectplanet.com/Probe/
http://www.t4000.freeserve.co.uk/netpad.htm

Internet Explorer Install Files

Thanks to: http://www.zenvendor.com/special/DLD_IE6_Complete.htm

If you wish to download the complete IE6 with integrated SP1 to apply to IE 4.0 - IE 6.0:
1. Create C:\IE6SP1
2. Download the Service Pack 1 IE installer and save it in C:\IE6SP1
3. Go to Start click Run and type in EXACTLY or better yet copy and paste
"C:\ie6SP1\ie6setup.exe" /c:"ie6wzd.exe /d /s:""#E"
4. Provide C:\IE6SP1 as your download directory

Outlook::Exchange::Undo Security

PROBLEM:
Trying to get an Outlook macro/script/add-on to use Outlook to send a message for me and security warning keeps coming up.
SUGGESTION:
When you have the choice, do NOT use MAPI. Develop stuff to send SMTP messages as alerts.
SOLUTION:
There is a lengthy procedure that needs to be done to Exchange by an administrator to allow security to be adjusted. Then there is a registry key that must be added at the client(s) to tell them to look for the altered security settings.
The procedure is described at:
http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/esecup/admin.htm
MS KB 290499
Overview:
- Get the MS Office Resource Kit
- Create a public folder on the Exchange system named Outlook Security Settings and grant permission to review this folder to all users for which security settings are to be altered.
- Install from the ORK the Outlook E-mail Security Administrator package.
- Use the utility to generate and publish a custom form into the public folder.
- Administer changes to security on this form. Save the form with settings.
- Put registry key and value on the client machines.

Outlook::Corrupt Rules

PROBLEM:

User gets error processing rules even when all rules are disabled. All rules are removed and still get error.

SOLUTION:

Export all the rules. Delete them all. Then remove rule items using MDBVU32.
Procedure from Microsoft Article 320022

1. Start the Mdbvu32.exe utility on the client computer. This utility is located on your Exchange Server CD in the CD-ROM_Drive\Server\Support\Utils\I386 folder.
   
2. Click OK, select your profile in the Choose Profile dialog box, and then click OK.
   
3. In the MDB Viewer Test Application dialog box, click OpenMessageStore on the MDB menu.
   
4. Make sure that your mailbox is selected, and then click Open.
   
5. Click Open Root Folder on the MDB menu.
   
6. In the MAPI_Folder-Root dialog box, double-click Top of Information Store in the Child Folders list.
   
7. In the MAPI_Folder-Top of Information Store dialog box, double-click Inbox in the Child Folders list.
   
8. Examine the contents of the Associated Messages in Fld list where all your rules are listed. Click the rule that you want to delete (to examine rule's properties, double-click it).
   
9. In the Operations available (Select operation, then push Call Function button) text box, click the down arrow to open the list of available functions.
   
10. Click lpFld ->DeleteMessages() (ON SELECTED MSGS), and then click Call Function.
    
11. In the MAPI_FOLDER - Inbox ->DeleteMessages() dialog box, click OK to delete the rule that you selected.
    
12. Click Close three times.
    
13. In the MDB Viewer Test Application dialog box, click Store Logoff on the MDB menu, and then click OK twice.
    
14. In the MDB Viewer Test Application dialog box, click Exit on the Session
    

Windows 2000::Setup::Removing Games Automatically-REVISITED

PROBLEM:
I need to remove the Windows 2000 games automatically for all my domain's workstations

Best Solution(workaround):
Setup a domain policy restricting users from running the EXE files associated with the games. This will prevent users from playing games even if they manage to reinstall them or copy them to another path or execute them from diskette.

PERSONAL PROBLEM:
But some bosses don't like elegant workarounds that save IT inordinate amounts of work while at the same time accomplishing more than what their micromanaging minds determine is necessary.

DISCUSSION

Being required to remove the games (and also do it silently) several sub-problems arise:

1. Most users do not have local administrator permission

2. Window File Protection protects these game files as if they were a vital OS component so you must run an uninstall to remove them or else the files will come back magically. If a BAT file removes them from the DLLCACHE directory in addition to their installed location then users will get a prompt that something tried to alter the system files and prompt them for a CD to remedy the catastrophe.

3. The default view under Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs > Windows Components doesn't even provide the option to remove the games.

Like always, on the way to the real solution I learned a lot of interesting things that *might* have contributed to some resolution that involved custom scripting.

For #2 above, I found that Windows File Protection can be totally disabled. See 2/23 Post
Although I've grow to despise WFP during my "just delete the darn files" stage of research, I doubt that is a good thing. (As I think back a few years to innocently installing Lotus 123v5 for Windows which just overwrites all the DLLs it wants to in C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM with it's own older versions..... It's been a couple years since I sat down and compared lists of DLL's from working, partially working, and totally screwed up machines...)

Under topic#3 above I learned that under the default location C:\WINNT\INF the file SYSOC.INF can be modifed to remove "HIDE" from components to make them visible in Add/Remove Programs > Windows Components. See my prior post
Searching for resolutions to #1 I found a cool utility at AppDeploy.com which is quickly becoming one of my favorite sites. The tool is RunasPwd and provides a cmdline way to run a program as another user *and* provide the password (Win2K RUNAS won't let you provide the PW.)
I also found that individual items can be uninstalled using cmdlines:

rundll32.exe setupapi.dll,InstallHinfSection FreecellUninstall 132 c:\winnt\inf\games.inf

rundll32.exe setupapi.dll,InstallHinfSection MinesweeperUninstall 132 c:\winnt\inf\games.inf

rundll32.exe setupapi.dll,InstallHinfSection SolitaireUninstall 132 c:\winnt\inf\games.inf

rundll32.exe setupapi.dll,InstallHinfSection PINBALL.Remove 132 c:\winnt\inf\pinball.inf

However WFP would put the files back (grrrrrrr.)

FINAL SOLUTION

PART 1:

From: MS KB#222444

SYSOCMGR.EXE /I:SYSOC.INF /U:UNATTEND.TXT /Q

Will silently run the Windows Components setup using the install script in UNATTEND.TXT which the article kindly tells the reader:

"can be any Windows answer file and only parses the [Components] and [NetOptionalComponents] sections. An example file is shown below: "

and proceeds to give an example in which the arguments are in lower case. It did not work for me until I used upper case like below:

UNATTEND.TXT

[Components]
Pinball = OFF
Solitaire = OFF
FreeCell = OFF
Minesweeper = OFF

And when testing this command line, it should be noted that, if you make a mistake, no matter what you have done wrong, you will always get SAME the error message:

Windows 2000 Setup: The application could not be initialized.

PART2:

To run this on every machine in the system context (as local administrator) a system startup script can be specified in Active Directory and applied to every machine in the domain. Do this by creating the group policy object and then copying the BAT containing the cmdline to some ungodly location like:

\\SERVERDC1\SYSVOL\subdomain.domain.net\Policies\{E742566A-1523-41BE-977F-B7605496EA05}\Machine\Scripts\Startup

After that it's all just fiddling to get it right.

I hope this can help someone avoid all the fun I had along the way.

Windows::Network Boot Disk Creation

Good FAQ on creating a bootable diskette to access a network share:
http://www.appdeploy.com/faq/browse.asp