appytizers

This is a quick way to get the version string from the output of the Command Prompt ver command within a VBScript.

Dim oShell, oExec
Dim sText, bQuit
Dim iIndexStart, iIndexEnd

sText = ""
bQuit = False

Set oShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
Set oExec = oShell.Exec("%comspec% /c ver")

Do While bQuit = False
    If Not oExec.StdOut.AtEndOfStream Then
        sText = sText & oExec.StdOut.ReadAll()
    End If

    If oExec.Status = 1 Then
        bQuit = True
    Else
        WScript.Sleep(100)
    End If
Loop

'ver returns Microsoft Windows [Version 6.0.6001]
'parse it to return only the version number string
iIndexStart = InStr(1, sText, "[", 1)
iIndexEnd = InStr(1, sText, "]", 1)

MsgBox Mid(sText, iIndexStart+9, iIndexEnd-iIndexStart-9)

Version Strings for Windows Releases

This is my solution to keep my local copy of the wonderful Sysinternals tools synchronized with updates as they are published to the live.sysinternals.com site. Note that this is a quick-and-dirty bandwidth-intensive solution. I am not liable for any kind of disaster you may cause and the standard disclaimers apply.

On my system, I place tools and utilities in a single folder at C:\Tools\. I append this folder to the system PATH.

Step#1: Download wget from http://www.christopherlewis.com/WGet/WGetFiles.htm and extract the contents to C:\Tools\.

Step#2: Create a batch file that will download only the utilities and libraries. Save this batch file as C:\Tools\SYNC-SysinternalsTools.bat.

REM Get latest SysInternals tools from http://live.sysinternals.com/tools/
REM Tools are downloaded into C:\Tools\
REM wget script leached from http://tinyurl.com/wgetcmdline
REM added HLP/hlp to skip help files

c:\tools\wget.exe -m -nd -N -I /tools -R HLP,hlp,url,txt,scr,chm,index.html -PC:\Tools\ http://live.sysinternals.com/tools/

Step#3: Create a scheduled task to refresh your local files. The task runs on Sundays at 2:30 PM. The task is named SYNC-SysinternalsTools and invokes the batch file we created in Step#2. Open a Command Prompt and type:

SCHTASKS /CREATE /TN SYNC-SysinternalsTools /SC WEEKLY /D SUN /ST 14:30 /TR C:\Tools\SYNC-SysinternalsTools.bat

Step#4: Test the task. Open a Command Prompt and type:

SCHTASKS /RUN /TN SYNC-SysinternalsTools

You should see the following message and another window with wget downloading files.

SUCCESS: Attempted to run the scheduled task "SYNC-SysinternalsTools".

And you are done.

This post was inspired by a forum thread at 2BrightSparks.

Here is a VBScript that generates and executes a batch file to set up ACLs for the C:\Inetpub\wwwroot folder. This works on Windows 2003 Server.

Const SCRIPT_FILE = "SetupACLs.bat"
Const FLDR_WWW = "C:\Inetpub\wwwroot"

Sub Main
Call SaveScript(SCRIPT_FILE, GenerateScript)
Call RunScript(SCRIPT_FILE)
End Sub

Function GenerateScript
Dim sScript

sScript = "REM " & SCRIPT_FILE & " generated on " & Now & vbCrLf
sScript = sScript & SetupWwwRootACLs(FLDR_WWW) & vbCrLf

GenerateScript = sScript
End Function

Function SetupWwwRootACLs(sPath)
Dim sScript

sScript = "REM SetupWwwRootACLs" & vbCrLf

sScript = sScript & Perms(sPath, "Network Service", "r") & vbCrLf
sScript = sScript & Perms(sPath, "IIS_WPG", "r") & vbCrLf
sScript = sScript & Perms(sPath, "ASPNET", "r") & vbCrLf

SetupWwwRootACLs = sScript
End Function

Sub SaveScript(sPath, sScript)
Dim oFSO
Dim oFile

Set oFSO = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
Set oFile = oFSO.CreateTextFile(sPath, True)

oFile.WriteLine (sScript)

oFile.Close

Set oFSO = Nothing
End Sub

Sub RunScript(sPath)
Dim WshShell
Set WshShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")

WshShell.Run sPath, 1, True
End Sub

Function Perms(sPath, sUser, sPermission)
Perms = "cacls """ & sPath & """ /e /g """ & sUser & """:" & sPermission
End Function