Windows 7: Offer Remote Assistance

In Windows 7 create a shortcut to:

%windir%\system32\msra.exe /offerra

Enjoy.

Thanks KZ for finding this

ManageSoft Distribution Error "Unavailable"

After distributing a new package to a distribution server and you check to confirm it was successfully, you find the package sitting in the "Unavailable" column with the message "Access Denied".
To resolve, this RDP to the distribution server, Logon, and open "Services" applet, now Stop & Start the "ManageSoft Connection Agent".

How to deploy Windows 7 Taskbar Pinned Icons by Group Policy

Windows 7 Taskbar pinned icons are stored in the following locations:

File System:
%APPDATA%\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\User Pinned\Taskband

Registry:
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Taskband]

To deploy it, you can perform the following steps:

1. Configure Pinned items on a Windows 7 system as a reference computer.

2. Export Registry Key to pinned.reg file:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Taskband]

And copy items in the "%APPDATA%\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\User Pinned\TaskBar" to a shared folder.

3. Create a logon script to deploy the registry keys and copy the corresponding files.

Please note that the “%APPDATA%\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\User Pinned” folder is only created after a user has pinned an icon to the taskbar. In the logon script, you will need to create the “%APPDATA%\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\User Pinned\TaskBar” folder if it does not exist.

More Information:

If you want to pin items to the Start Menu, you may refer to the following script:

Pin Items to the Start Menu or Windows 7 Taskbar via Script

http://blogs.technet.com/deploymentguys/archive/2009/04/08/pin-items-to-the-start-menu-or-windows-7-taskbar-via-script.aspx

Credit:

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/winserverGP/thread/d172b4de-be7c-4149-8958-bebfe042ade1

Hummingbird DM Extensions 5.1.x client deployment

Head over to http://www.AppDeploy.com for my recent post on automating the install/uninstall for Hummingbird DM Extentions 5.1.x and 5.2.x

Package KB: Hummingbird DM Extensions
http://www.appdeploy.com/packages/detail.asp?id=1854


The cleanest method to both install and uninstall DM Extensions 5.1.x is to use the Deployment Package Wizard. With this tool you can create a silent unattended install which can be run from a network share.

The format of the install string is \\servername\sharename\setup.exe dp="\\servername\sharename\deployment\packagename\packagename.ini"

One thing to add to the packagename.ini is SkipFinishDlg=Y under the [Hummingbird] section. This will suppress the Finished dialog from appearing.

To uninstall DM Extensions 5.1.x use the same Deployment Package Wizard, however click the 'Clear All' button in the wizard to deselect all components. The resulting ini file will then remove all DM Extensions features from the client pc. The same SkipFinishDlg=Y ini option should be added to this packagename.ini file too.

The Deployment Package Wizard should be run from your DM server: Start > Programs > Hummingbird > DM Extensions Server Setup.

Mitch

A "Set Network Location" dialog box appears when you first log on to a domain-joined Windows 7-based client computer

Hotfix available from Microsoft

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2028749/

ERROR: GetHHCodePackages reported: HHCM_DEVICE_NOT_SUPPORTED

Issue
Below error is received in BlackBerry Manager console when trying to deploy applications to handheld device.

GetHHCodePackages reported: HHCM_DEVICE_NOT_SUPPORTED Upgrade your copy of device.xml

Cause
BlackBerry Enterprise Server does not recognise the handset version.

Solution
Update Device.xml and Vendor.xml on all BES instances.

Complete the following steps:

1. Download the updated device.xml and vendor.xml files from the following web sites:
   https://www.blackberry.com/Desktop/Download/XML/Device.xml
   https://www.blackberry.com/Desktop/Download/XML/Vendor.xml
2. Copy these files to the following folder: C:\Program Files\Common Files\Research In Motion\AppLoader.

Note: There is no need to restart any services.

Source:
http://www.blackberryforums.com.au/forums/general-bes-discussion/2551-how-update-device-xml-file.html

Enumerate the Windows Uninstall key

Recently I created an application install script where I needed to scan for the existence of another MSI based install and remove it (if found) before installing a newer version. This script uses the StdRegProv object to create an array of subkeys in SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall.

============================
Option Explicit

Const blnDebug = False
Const HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE = &H80000002

Dim sSystemFolder, sUserProfile, sQuickLaunch, sComputer, oReg
Dim strKeyPath, subkey, arrSubKeys
Dim oWSH : Set oWSH = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
Dim oFSO : Set oFSO = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
Dim oNET : Set oNET = CreateObject("WScript.Network")
sUserProfile = oWSH.ExpandEnvironmentStrings("%USERPROFILE%")
sQuickLaunch = sUserProfile & "\Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch"
sSystemFolder = oFSO.GetSpecialFolder(1)
sComputer = oNET.ComputerName

Set oReg=GetObject("winmgmts:{impersonationLevel=impersonate}!\\" & sComputer & "\root\default:StdRegProv")

strKeyPath = "SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall"
oReg.EnumKey HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, strKeyPath, arrSubKeys

For Each subkey In arrSubKeys
If subkey = "{ProductGUID#1}" Or subkey = "{ProductGUID#2}" Then
'WScript.Echo subkey & " Application found, removing it now..."
oWSH.Run "MSIEXEC.EXE /X" & subkey & " /qn", 1, False
End If
Next

InstallMSIMST "\\servername\Packages\appname\appversion", "Setup.msi", "\\servername\Packages\appname\appversion", "Setup.mst", " /qn /norestart"

Function InstallMSIMST(szMSIPath, szMSIFile, szMSTPath, szMSTFile, szParams)
oWSH.Run (sSystemFolder & "\msiexec.exe /i " & Chr(34) & szMSIPath & "\" & szMSIFile & Chr(34) & " TRANSFORMS=" & Chr(34) & szMSTPath & "\" & szMSTFile & Chr(34) & szParams), 0, True
End Function

============================

Mitch