THE ONLY HANDS-ON, UP-TO-DATE GUIDE TO VBSCRIPT, THE WINDOWS COMMAND LINE, AND WINDOWS POWERSHELL Windows 7 and Vista contain state-of-the-art tools for streamlining or automating virtually any system management task. If you’re a power user, administrator, or developer, these tools can help you eliminate repetitive work and manage your systems far more reliably and effectively.   Renowned Windows expert Brian Knittel brings together the practical knowledge you need to use all these tools, including VBScript and Windows Scripting Host (WSH), traditional batch files, the advanced PowerShell command console, and more. Using plenty of examples, Knittel explains how each tool works, and how to solve real-world problems with them.   You’ll master techniques ranging from accessing files to manipulating the Registry, sending automated emails to configuring new users. Knittel also provides concise, handy references to Windows 7/Vista’s command line, GUI scripting, and object-based management tools.   The only single-source guide to all leading methods of Windows scripting and automation, this book will help you get far more done–in far less time!    Understand Windows Scripting Host (WSH) and the modern Windows scripting environment    Script objects with VBScript, JScript, ActivePerl, and ActivePython    Read and write files, including XML and HTML files    Manipulate programs and shortcuts    Manage network, printer, and fax connections    Make the most of PowerShell under Windows 7 and Vista    Monitor and administer Windows systems with Windows Management Interface (WMI)    Use ADSI to control Active Directory and Microsoft Exchange, and manage users more efficiently    Avoid mistakes that can compromise script security    Use Windows’ debugging tools to test and troubleshoot scripts    Develop batch files that take full advantage of the command line    Send faxes and email messages from scripts with Windows Fax and Collaboration Data Objects (CDO)    Deploy your scripts throughout your organization   Brian Knittel has been a software developer for more than 30 years. He has coauthored five titles in Que’s Special Edition Using series, covering Microsoft Windows Vista, XP, and 2000. He is also author of Windows XP Under the Hood, and coauthor of Upgrading and Repairing Windows (with Scott Mueller).      

Table of Contents:
Introduction 1 I Scripting with Windows Script Host 1 Windows Script Host 9     What Is a Windows Script? 9         The “Script” Part 9         The “Windows” Part 10         The “Host” Part 11         How Is This Different from Writing Batch Files? 13     Scripting Languages 13         VBScript 14         JScript 14         Perl 15         Python 15         Open Object REXX 15         Ruby 15         Choosing a Language 16     A Simple Script 16     Types of Script Files 19         JSE and VBE: Encoded Scripts 20         Windows Script Files (WSF) 21         Windows Script Components (WSC) 23         WSH Settings 23     Creating Your First Script File 24         Making and Securing a Script Folder 24         Creating a Script 26         Script Editing Tools 27     How Windows Runs Scripts 28         Wscript and Cscript 28         Ways to Run a Script 29         Passing Information to Scripts 31         Saving the Results from Scripts 32         Wscript and Cscript Command Options 33     Running Your Own Scripts 36         Adding Scripts to the Path 37         Running Scripts with a Shortcut Icon 38         Making a Script Shortcut 39         Running Scripts from Batch Files 39         Running Scripts Automatically 40     Security Concerns 40         Trust Policy and Script Signing 42     Debugging Scripts 42     Where to Get More Information 47 2 VBScript Tutorial 49     Introduction to VBScript 49         Variables 50         Constants 51         Named Constants 52         Operators and Expressions 53         Automatic Conversion 57     Flow Control 57         The If…Then Statement 58         The Select Case Statement 61         The Do While Loop 63         Terminating a Loop with Exit Do 65         Counting with the For…Next Statement 66         Processing Collections and Arrays with For…Each 67     VBScript Functions 68         Calling Functions and Subroutines 69         Documentation and Syntax 70         String-Manipulation Functions 71         Date and Time Functions 74     Interacting with the User 79         The MsgBox( ) Function 79         The InputBox( ) Function 82         Printing Simple Text Messages with Wscript.Echo 84     Advanced VBScript Topics 85         Error Handling 86         Procedures: Functions and Subroutines 87         Arrays 89         Variable Scope 91     Where to Go from Here 92 3 Scripting and Objects 93     Introduction to Objects 93         Classes and Instances 94         Containers and Collections 95         Object Naming 97     Using Objects with VBScript 98         Automation and Document Files 99         The Difference Between Properties and Methods 100         Nested Objects 101         Releasing Objects 102         Working with Collections 102     Using Objects with JScript 104         Case Sensitivity 104         Working with Collections 104     Using Objects with ActivePerl 106         Running Perl Scripts in WSH 106         The Perl Object Interface 107         Working with Collections 108     Using Objects with ActivePython 109         Working with Collections 110     Using the WScript Object 111         Retrieving Command-Line Arguments 113     Locating and Using Unusual Objects 115 4 File and Registry Access 123     Getting Real Work Done 123     Manipulating Files and Folders 124         Scripting.FileSystemObject 124         Working with File and Pathnames 130         The Scripting.Drive Object 135         The Scripting.Folder Object 139         The Scripting.File Object 144     Reading and Writing Files 149         The TextStream Object 150         Reading Text from Files 152         Writing Text to Files 154         Working with Stdin and Stdout 159         Reading Binary Files 163     Reading and Writing XML 167         Some XML Basics 168         Reading an XML File 176         Creating an XML or HTML File 179     Manipulating Programs and Shortcuts 181         The WScript.Shell Object 182         Running Programs 186         Creating and Modifying Shortcuts 193     Working with the Environment 196         Extracting Environment Information 198         Managing Environment Settings 199     Working with the Registry 201         Examining Registry Keys and Values 202         Saving Information in the Registry 203 5 Network and Printer Objects 207     Managing Network and Printer Connections 207     Retrieving Network User Information 212     Managing Drive Mappings 214         Listing Drive Mappings with EnumNetworkDrives 214         Adding Drive Mappings 218         Deleting Drive Mappings 219         Setting Up Mappings in a Script 220     Managing Network Printer Connections 221         Displaying Printer Information 222         Connecting to Network Printers 223         Redirecting DOS Session Printers 225         Deleting Printer Connections 226         Setting the Default Printer 228     Printing from Scripts 229 6 Messaging and Faxing Objects 231     Sending Email from Scripts with CDO 231     The CDO Object Model 232         The CDO.Message Object 235         Working with Fields 242         Fields for the CDO.Message Object 244         The CDO BodyParts Collection 246         The CDO BodyPart Object 247         The ADO Stream Object 250         The CDO.Configuration Object 250     Sending a Message with CDO 256         Constructing the Message 257         Adding Attachments 261         Including Images with an HTML Message 262         Specifying the Recipients and Subject 263         Specifying the Delivery Server 263         Sending the Message 265         Putting It All Together 265     Faxing from Scripts 271         Sending a Fax with a Script 274         Getting More Information About Faxing 277 7 Windows Management Instrumentation 279     Introduction to Windows Management Instrumentation 279         WMI Functions 280         Namespaces 281         Managing Windows Remotely 283     Making WMI Connections 287         WMI Object Hierarchy 288         Connecting with the WbemScripting.SWbemLocator Object 291         Connecting with a Moniker 292         Connecting to the Local Computer 294         Security and Authentication 294         Specifying Security Options 299     WMI Collections and Queries 301         SWbemServices 302         WQL Queries 303         SWbemObject 306         SWbemMethodSet and SWbemPropertySet 307     Scriptomatic 310     WMI Examples 312         Collecting System Information 312         Managing Printers 313         Monitoring Windows Service Packs and Hotfixes 313         Managing Services and Tasks 315     For More Information 317 8 Active Directory Scripting Interface 319     Managing the User Directory 319         Uses of the Active Directory Scripting Interface 320         Limitations of ADSI with Windows Script Host 321     ADSI Concepts 322         Multiple Inheritance 324         Creating ADSI Objects 325         Directory Security 328         Determining the Difference Between Containers and Leaves 330     ADSI Objects for the WinNT: Provider 332         IADs 333         IADsCollection and IADsContainer 336         Working with ADSI Collections 339         IADsComputer and IADsComputerOperations 340         IADsDomain 342         IADsFileService and IADsFileServiceOperations 345         IADsFileShare 347         IADsGroup 349         IADsMembers 350         IADsNamespaces 351         IADsPrintJob and IADsPrintJobOperations 351         IADsPrintQueue and IADsPrintQueueOperations 354         IADsService and IADsServiceOperations 357         IADsSession 361         IADsUser 362     IIS and Exchange 364     Managing Active Directory 364         X.500 and LDAP Terminology 364     Active Directory Objects 368         RootDSE 368         IADsO and IADsOU 369     Developing ADSI Scripts 370     EzAD Scriptomatic 372     For More Information 373 9 Deploying Scripts for Computer and Network Management 375     Using Scripts in the Real World 375         Designing Scripts for Other Users 376     Using WSF Files 377         WSF File Format Reference 379         Providing Online Help with WSF Files 384         Processing Command-Line Arguments 386         Enclosing More Than One Script 390         Putting It All Together 390     Deploying Scripts on a Network 394     Creating Simple Installation Programs with IExpress 395         Creating IExpress Install Scripts or Batch Files 398         Dealing with User Account Control 400         Providing an Uninstall Option 402     Writing Scripts to Manage Other Computers 403         Remote Scripting 405         Replicating Scripts to Multiple Computers 406     Scripting Security Issues 408         Script Signing 409         The Script Encoder 415     Setting Up Logon Scripts 416         User Profile Logon Scripts 416         Scripts for Logon, Logoff, and Other Events on Windows 7 and Vista 418         Group Policy Logon, Logoff, Startup, and Shutdown Scripts 418     Scheduling Scripts to Run Automatically 421         Writing Unattended Scripts 421         Sending Messages to the Event Log 423         Scheduling Scripts with the Task Scheduler 428 II The Command Line Environment 10 The CMD Command-Line 433     The Command Prompt 433         CMD Versus COMMAND 434     Running CMD 435         Opening a Command Prompt Window with Administrator         Privileges 436         CMD Options 437         Disabling Command Extensions 439     Command-Line Processing 439         Stopping Runaway Programs 440         Console Program Input and Output 441         Using the Console Window 442         I/O Redirection and Pipes 443         Copy and Paste in Command Prompt Windows 447         Command Editing and the History List 448         Name Completion 450         Enabling Directory Name Completion 451         Multiple Commands on One Line 452         Grouping Commands with Parentheses 453         Arguments, Commas, and Quotes 454         Escaping Special Characters 454     Configuring the CMD Program 455         AutoRun 455         Environment Variable Substitution 456         The Search Path 456         Predefined and Virtual Environment Variables 459         Setting Default Environment Variables 461     Built-in Commands 462         Extended Commands 475         Listing Files with the Dir Command 476         Setting Variables with the Set Command 480         Conditional Processing with the if Command 482         Scanning for Files with the for Command 483     Getting More Information 488     11 Batch Files for Fun and Profit 491     Why Batch Files? 491     Creating and Using Batch Files 492     Batch File Programming 494     Displaying Information in Batch Files 495     Argument Substitution 496     Argument Editing 498     Conditional Processing with If 499         The Basic If Command 499         Checking for Files and Folders 500         Checking the Success of a Program 500         Performing Several Commands After If 501         Extended Testing 503     Processing Multiple Arguments 503     Working with Environment Variables 506         Environment Variable Editing 507     Processing Multiple Items with the for Command 508         Using Multiple Commands in a for Loop 510         Delayed Expansion 511     Using Batch File Subroutines 513     Prompting for Input 514     Useful Batch File Techniques 515         Processing Command-Line Options 515         Managing Network Mappings 518         Checking for Correct Arguments 519         Keeping Log Files 519 12 The MS-DOS Environment Under Windows 521     MS-DOS Programs on Windows 521         The Virtual DOS Machine 522         MS-DOS and COMMAND.COM 524     Configuring the MS-DOS Environment 525         Window and Memory Options 526         CONFIG.NT 532         AUTOEXEC.NT 535         MS-DOS Environment Variables 536     MS-DOS and Networking 536     Printing from MS-DOS 537         Print Redirection 538         Print Screen 538     Configuring Serial Communications with MS-DOS 539     Using Special-Purpose Devices for MS-DOS 539     Managing MS-DOS Programs 540         When Things Go Awry 540 13 Command-Line Utilities 543     Windows Command-Line Programs 543     The Essential Command Line 544     GUI Shortcuts 545     General-Purpose Shell Programs 547         findstr 547         more 552         tree 553         xcopy 554     File-Management Tools 557         attrib 557         cacls 559     Management Power Tools 563         driverquery 564         runas 565         tasklist 565         taskkill 568         sc 569     Networking Utilities 571         ipconfig 571         net 574         netstat 584         nslookup 586         ping 589         tracert 591     Getting More Utilities 592 III Introduction to Windows PowerShell 14 Windows PowerShell 593     Introduction to Windows PowerShell 593         An Object-Oriented Command Shell 593         Based on the .NET Framework 596         An Extensible Environment 597     Obtaining Windows PowerShell 598     The PowerShell Environment 600     The PowerShell Command Prompt 601         Command-Line Editing 602         Copying and Pasting 603         Pausing Output and Stopping a Runaway Program 604         Command-Line Syntax 604     Cmdlets and Objects and Scripts, Oh My! 607     Getting Help 610     Prompting to Complete Commands 612     Aliases 612         How to Get a Listing of Aliases 612         How to Define a New Alias 613     Navigating Directories and Other Locations 613     PowerShell Security 615         PowerShell Scripts and User Account Control 615         Script Execution Policy 616     PowerShell Profiles 617 15 PowerShell Programming 621     The Windows PowerShell Programming Language 621     Windows PowerShell Syntax 622     Comments 622     Variables and Types 623         Literal Values 625         Object Methods and Properties 626         Object Constructors 627         String Interpolation 628         Special Characters 629         Here-Strings 629         Releasing Variables 630         Predefined Variables 630         Arrays 632         Constants 637     Expressions 638         Comparisons with Arrays 640         String Operators 643         The & (Execute) Operator 646         Operator Precedence 646         Assignment Operators 647         Statement Values 648         Casts 649         Passing by Reference 650         Hash Tables 650     Flow of Control 653         if 653         while 654         do…while and do…until 654         for 655         foreach 656         switch 657         break 660         continue 661         Program Blocks 661     Exception Handling 662         trap 662         try/catch/finally 663         throw 664     Defining Functions 664         Function Parameters 665         Function Scope 668         The Dot-Source Operator 668         Variable Scope 669         Pipeline Functions and Filters 671         Splatting 672     Using the .NET API 673         Calling Static Member Functions 673         Working with Strings 674         Working with Dates and Times 676         Converting Values 680         Mathematical Functions 680 16 Using PowerShell 683     Real-World PowerShell 683     Command-Line Techniques 685         Generating Objects 685         Filtering 686         Taking Actions 689     Formatting Cmdlet Output 690         The -f Operator 690     Working with Files and Folders 691         Seeing Whether a File Exists 697         Reading Text from Files 697         Writing Text to Files 698         Identifying Files by Size 698     Creating Useful Scripts 699         Comment Your Work! 700         Command-Line Processing 700         Writing Modules 701         Exception Handling as an Exit Strategy 702     Using Hash Tables 703     The PowerShell Integrated Scripting Environment 704         Starting the PowerShell ISE 705         Configuring the ISE 706         Creating and Editing Scripts 707         Running Scripts in the ISE 708         Setting Breakpoints and Single-Stepping 709         Interactively Examining and Changing Variables 710         Conditional Breakpoints 711     Remote and Background PowerShell 712     Where to Go from Here 712 IV Appendices A VBScript Reference 713 B CMD and Batch File Language Reference 725 C Command Line Program Reference 735 D Index of Patterns and Sample Scripts 747 E Automation Object Reference 1 (Online) F WSF and WSC File Format Reference 1 (Online) G Creating Your Own Scriptable Objects 1 (Online)