Ben's questions

I need to put a bootable image of a usb stick on a website so that our users can download it and burn it to USB themselves.

They aren't especially technical, so I don't want them to have to download any other software (e.g. Rufus / MagicISO etc).

My ideal is for something like the Windows 10 Media Creator (https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/software-download/windows10).

I've seen some posts suggesting WinToFlash's Boot Replicator (https://wintoflash.com/home/en/) but the site flags up as malicious.

Is there a tool I can use that is safe and will create an exe which users can run to download and burn to a bootable USB?

OK - a bit more information to confirm this is on topic...

I am an IT professional and we have just rolled out 250 or so laptops to our offices around the world. The laptops were shipped by the manufacturer with an incorrect BIOS setting (SATA operations set to Raid rather than AHCI) which means that some recent driver updates from the manufacturer has rendered them unstable. (They are bluescreening regularly with an error with the iAstorA.sys driver.)

The fix for this is to switch them to AHCI, but this means we need to redeploy the image to our users (who may or may not be based in offices, and are spread all over the world).

Our best fix option is to get USB flash drives to them, as we have streamlined our rollout process to be basically self configuring for the users. The logistics of getting the physical USB drives around the world is a nightmare though - much better if we can provide somewhere the users (employees) can download them.

However, having to use a tool like Rufus will freak them out. I need a way that they can download a single file from the web which when run will prompt them to insert a USB stick, and then burn the bootable USB image to it.

How can I achieve this?

I am trying to write a scheduled task that will run in the context of the currently logged in user.

It appears there was an option to run the task as a group in Windows 7 (see https://superuser.com/questions/656964/what-user-must-a-scheduled-task-run-as-in-order-to-be-visible-for-all-users), but this option is not present in Windows 10:

How can I achieve this in Windows 10?

How can I report on the number of users actively using Lync in my organisation? I want to be able to find out what the uptake is.

Thought about going through our mail server, but the saved conversations don't go via SMTP. Also wondered if there's a Powershell way to get the date of the last login / last conversation.

I'm using Lync 2010 via Office 365.

I want to capture COM output to a daily file. I can capture manually, using something like RS232 Data Logger, but I want to run a scheduled task so I get a daily log of the data captured.

Is there anything out there command line based (from a Windows server) so I could knock up a script to do it?

We have an SMTP relay (just an XP box with SMTP) on our network. It's hanging around because some legacy apps used to use it so send emails from code.

It hardly gets any traffic, I can see from the SMTP log that it's only used every few days, if that.

Before I turn it off, I want to track where the emails are coming from (I can see the originating server, but I want to be able to see the SMTP header to get sender, recipient and if possible the body.)

How can I do this over a long period of time? I thought about wireshark, but am planning on leaving it running for a couple of weeks. Is this manageable or is there a better solution?

Is there are way to script export and import of rules in Outlook 2010?

I am writing a script to remove and recreate user profiles (in Powershell), and as part of this I need to backup and reimport their rules.

Can enumerate through in PS, but I want to create a backup file (as if doing it through the outlook UI) and have that reimported.

I need to recreate a load of users' mail profiles in Outlook 2010. (It's a long story!)

To try and reduce "user error" I want to script this, so that it removes the user's mail profile, and recreates a replacement.

Is this possible? I've seen the Customer Maintenance Wizard for Outlook 2003, but can't find an equivalent for 2010.

Is there a way I can set an OWA server in my DMZ to talk to a DC in the local site?

The DMZ is located at the same (physical) site as a LAN with DCs on it. (There is no DC in the DMZ.)

Can I force it to use a DC on this (local) subnet, as its picking random ones at the other side of the world!

I have a user who has somehow managed to set up some kind of "hidden rule". If he receives a mail with the subject "Scanned from a Xerox multifunction device" the mail never reaches his inbox.

I've checked his rules, and have checked his Junk email options - but there's nothing there.

If I connect using OWA, the mail is received as normal, but then disappears.

If I conenct using OWA, and his Outlook client is shut down, the mail stays. (As soon as he fires up Outlook the mail disappears, however.)

This pretty much says it's something Outlook related, but I'm stumped for where else to look. Is there a way of viewing any "hidden" rules, or somewhere else I should check?

(Client is Outlook 2010, Server is Exch 2003 SP2)

I have a few users whose mailboxes seem to grow much more rapidly than others. For example we archived off a load of mail from one particular user less than a year ago to get his mailbox down to about 4GB (yes - I know, that's ridiculous, but we're running a project to implement auto-archiving / quotas etc).

Anyway, I want to know if there is a (preferably free) tool available that we can use to analyse the mailbox in terms of volumes/sizes of attachments. Something like TreeSize, but for Outlook OSTs (or even at source at the server).

(We're running Exchange 2003 SP2, Outlook 2010 clients)

I am writing a login script which unmaps and remaps some drives.

The powershell calls a small batch file for the actual unmapping, as Powershell seems a bit flaky at reliably mapping the drives.

The code I am using is:

    $arrDrives = "m:","n:","o:","p:","q:","r:","s:","u:","v:","x:","y:"
    foreach ($drive in $arrDrives) { 
        if (test-path $drive) {
            UpdateSubHeading ("Removing drive " + $drive)
            c:\bin\removeDrive.bat $drive } 
    }

And the batch file it calls is just:

if exist %1 net use %1 /del

This all works fine, unless there is an open connection to the drive it is trying to unmap. If the user has a file open, then it hangs.

Is there a way I can check if there are any connections open to the mapped drive before I try and unmap it, and skip unmapping it if there are?

Thanks,

Ben

I want to prestage the print driver installations for all printers I have installed on my network.

I reckon I can do this with some jiggery-pokery with pnputil, but I need to know what I should be injecting.

Anyone have any idea how I can get all the print drivers off my print server?

Ta,

Ben

Anyone know how I can have a switch statement with multiple possible values like the example below?

switch ($myNumber) {
   1 3 5 7 9 { write-host "Odd" }
   2 4 6 8 10 {write-host "Even" }
}

Used to be easy in VBScript, so I'm sure i'm just missing something simple.

e.g in VBScript

Select Case myNumber 
   Case 1,3,5,7,9
      MsgBox "Odd"
   Case 2,4,6,8,10
      MsgBox "Even"
End Select

Cheers in advance,

Ben

I have written a powershell script which generates a "EULA" type popup which the user has to agree to.

It does this at logon by running as a scheduled task for a user (non-admin) account. It needs to run elevated, so I am using the following script to run it elevated:

$pw= convertto-securestring "myPassw0rd" -asplaintext –force
$credential = new-object -typename system.management.automation.pscredential -argumentlist "-default-",$pw
$localArgs = "/c Powershell c:\scripts\myScript.ps1" 

[System.Diagnostics.Process]::Start("cmd.exe", $localArgs, "Administrator", $credential.Password, $computer)

(I will be encrypting the password to make it slightly more secure, but that's not relevant to this question.)

Anyway - my problem is that when the script is called it displays the command prompt window behind my "pretty" EULA popup.

Is there a way to hide / minimise the command window?

Thanks,

Ben

Is there a way to run a powershell script automatically in Elevated mode?

I am trying to automate some post-image tasks without user intervention, but am getting caught with the UAC. Is there a way to "bypass" this, possibly by running as another user?

I want the machine to reboot and run various scripts, so it can complete the build process with no intervention.

Cheers,

Ben

I am writing a script to join a machine to the domain after it has been imaged. (Don't want to do it in Sysprep.)

On the machine I am writing the script on (a battered, world weary IT workhorse with all sorts of crud on it) my script works fine. However on one of my shiny new test machines, it doesn't find dsrm and dsadd.

I can only assume I have inadvertently installed this on my machine in the past. I want these to be used just for the purpose of joining the machines to the domain, so don't want any full blown admin-ware installed.

Where do I get / turn on dsrm etc?

I am deploying some custom corporate wallpaper as part of a Windows 7 rollout. Some people will be using dual monitors, and the additional monitors may be either 4:3 or widescreen.

I want to use the same wallpaper on both screens (i.e. 2 copies of the same wallpaper, not stretched across both.)

If I set the background to "stretch", it uses the aspect ratio of the primary monitor to stretch the wallpaper on both monitors. So, for example, if I have a dual monitor setup using a 4:3 TFT as primary and my (widescreen) laptop LCD as secondary - the image shows on the laptop LCD in 4:3, with a black stripe down either side.

I've only noticed this as an issue with my "custom" wallpaper. Both the default MS wallpaper and the built in Lenovo wallpaper don't seem to have this issue. Is this by using "trickery" such as using an image larger than the largest resolution you will have and centering it? (i.e. so you crop out part of the image.) Or can this be done "properly"?

I don't want to use 3rd party software to do this, but would happily do a bit of Powershell scripting if this would solve the issue.

Thanks in advance,

Ben

I am trying to get the IP of a PPP VPN network connection, but Win32_NetworkAdapterConfiguration does not seem to "see" it.

If I interrogate all adapters using my script, it will see everything but the PPP VPN adapter. Is there a specific filter or something I need to enable, or do I need a different class?

My Script:

$colItems = Get-wmiobject Win32_NetworkAdapterConfiguration
foreach ($objItem in $colItems) {
    Write-Host Description: $objItem.Description
    Write-Host IP Address: $objItem.IPAddress
    Write-Host ""
}

Script Output:

Description: WAN Miniport (SSTP)
IP Address:

Description: WAN Miniport (IKEv2)
IP Address:

Description: WAN Miniport (L2TP)
IP Address:

Description: WAN Miniport (PPTP)
IP Address:

Description: WAN Miniport (PPPOE)
IP Address:

Description: WAN Miniport (IPv6)
IP Address:

Description: WAN Miniport (Network Monitor)
IP Address:

Description: Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Connection
IP Address: 192.168.2.5

Description: WAN Miniport (IP)
IP Address:

ipconfig /all output:

PPP adapter My VPN:

   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . : 
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : My VPN
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
   IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 10.1.8.12(Preferred) 
   Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.255
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 0.0.0.0
   DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 10.1.1.3
                                       10.1.1.2
   Primary WINS Server . . . . . . . : 10.1.1.2
   Secondary WINS Server . . . . . . : 10.1.1.3
   NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled



Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection:

   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . : Belkin
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Connection
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-3F-3C-22-22-22
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
   IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.2.5(Preferred) 
   Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
   Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : 25 May 2010 20:33:19
   Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : 22 May 2020 20:33:17
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.2.1
   DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.2.1
   DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.2.1
   NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Thanks in advance,

Ben

I want to create an account that will perform the following:

• Join computers to a domain (not restricted to 10, like a normal user)
• Check for computer accounts in AD
• Delete computers from AD
• Move computers between OUs

I don't want to allow it to do anything else, so don't want a domain admin account.

Can anyone guide me in the right direction in terms of permissions? Not sure if I should be using delegation of control wizard?

Cheers,

Ben

I want to run a powershell script to query AD from a machine that is NOT on the domain.

Basically I want to query to see if there is computer account already on the domain for this machine and create it if there is not. Because this has to happen before the machine joins the domain I assume I will need to specify some credentials to enable it to run. (I'm pretty new to Powershell, so apologies if this is a newbie question!)

The script I am using to check the account is below, and then once this has run it will join the domain using the computername specified.

Can you tell me how to specify some domain credentials to run this section of the script as?

Cheers,

Ben

$found=$false
$thisComputer = <SERVICE TAG FROM BIOS>
$ou = [ADSI]"LDAP://OU=My Computer OU,DC=myDomain,DC=com"
foreach ($child in $ou.psbase.Children ) {   
    if ($child.ObjectCategory -like '*computer*') {
        If ($child.Name -eq $thisComputer) {
            $found=$true
        } 
    }
}

If ($found) { <DELETE THE EXISTING ACCOUNT> }