UCS Toolkit - Utilities

MSSG | UCS Toolkit |

WINDOWS TOOLS AND UTILITIES

PLEASE NOTE: The listing of any software on this page does not imply any type of formal support. This is just a collection of software that other Rutgers IT professionals have found helpful.

Desktop Tracking / Management

FAS Inventory system
Track your department's hardware for free with this somewhat basic but useful inventory system. (Client currently available for the Windows platform only.) Contact ucs_toolkit@email.rutgers.edu for more information
Novell ZENworks
Track hardware and software, deploy software, remotely control workstations, etc.
Microsoft Systems Management Server (SMS)
Track hardware and software, deploy software, remote control workstations, etc. See the University Software Portal site for licensing information.

Automation Resources

Windows Script Information
Try MSDN, the Windows 2000 Script Guide, or Clarence Washington's Win32Scripting site for starters.
Microsoft Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI)
Use this set of Windows interfaces to query and configure a variety of aspects of a local or remote machine. A particularly useful feature is the ability to launch a process on a remote computer. This feature can be used, for instance, to initiate an automated installer package on a remote computer. (See RemoteStartMultiple.vbs on the Sample Scripts page for an example script. It can be used in conjunction with a script like wmi_schedupd.cmd, in the Remote command / script execution (poor man's SMS) package, to deploy a package to several machines.) WMI can also be accessed via the wbemtest.exe and wmic.exe command line tools. WMI is an advanced topic for sure but worth learning. The "Scriptomatic" tool will help you build scripts and learn the syntax.

A couple of good resources are the MSDN documentation on WMI and the Scriptomatic tools on Microsoft's technet site.

Microsoft Active Directory Services Interface (ADSI)
Use this set of Windows interfaces to query and configure a variety of aspects of a local or remote machine. Though not quite as powerful as WMI, ADSI is simpler to use and will allow you to manipulate services, groups, accounts, etc. The "ADSI Scriptomatic" tool will help you build scripts with this interface and learn the syntax. A graphical program called adsvw.exe (Active Directory Services Browser) is also available with the ADSI SDK.

Some useful links: ADSI Overview, ADSI explained
Inno Setup
Inno Setup is a free installer for Windows. With it you can build customized "setup" programs -- e.g., automate registry and file changes, create shortcuts, etc.
WinINSTALL LE 2003
WinINSTALL is a free msi package editor. Use it to tweak OEM software packages or create your own.
IExpress
Available as part of the Internet Explorer Administration Kit (IEAK), this product will let you create self-extracting archives, complete with the ability to launch a script or executable after extraction. It's useful for automating a variety of things.

System Recovery

BartPE - Bart's Preinstallation Environment
PE Builder is a free tool that can help you create a bootable cd based on Windows XP source files. BartPE, similar to Windows PE, is a scaled down Win32 environment with network support and complete read/write access to NTFS volumes -- very useful for system recovery. (For an already-tweaked cd image contact Dave Motovidlak.)
SysInternals
Sysinternals, once an independent company, now part of Microsoft, produces a lot of different utilities useful for dealing with healthy and unhealthy PC's. Some are freeware, some not. Often there is a free "read only" version of a professional tool -- e.g., NTFS for DOS, Remote Recover. This site is a good all around resource for a variety of purposes.