Over the years I’ve used all sorts of various scripts to automate mundane processes and backup procedures. Today I’m sharing a simple .bat file that xcopy’s 2 folders to a backup location. This script can easily be added to the windows scheduler to run at desired intervals. @echo off cls set staffbackup=e:\NAS-BACKUP\staff set groupbackup=e:\NAS-BACKUP\groups set… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Windows
Windows Tip: Block SP upgrades for a year!
If you want to wait until you’re sure that all the bugs are out of the latest Windows service pack for your OS, you can use a registry entry to block the automatic installation. 1. Open up Notepad and copy the following: Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate] “DoNotAllowSP”=dword:00000001 2. Save the text file and rename it to “Block Windows SP.reg?“. Then merge it into the registry by double clicking it. Note: This registry entry will only… Read more »
Win Tip: Block SP upgrades in XP or Vista for 1 year
If you want to wait until you’re sure that all the bugs are out of the latest Windows service pack for your OS, you can use a registry entry to block the automatic installation. 1. Open up Notepad and copy the following: Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate] “DoNotAllowSP”=dword:00000001 2. Save the text file and rename it to “Block Windows SP.reg?“. Then merge it into the registry by double clicking it. Note: This registry entry will only… Read more »
Vista Tip: Enable Ping Replies
In Windows Vista, how do I configure the firewall to allow pings? Windows Vista includes Windows Firewall and enables that firewall by default. The graphical interface to the firewall settings does not include an option to respond to pings. To allow Vista to respond to pings without disabling the entire firewall, follow these steps: Open an elevated command prompt. To do this, from the Start menu, right-click Command Prompt, and select Run as administrator. Enter: netsh firewall… Read more »
Office Tip: Clear recently used docs in Office Apps
Clearing the lists of recently used documents in Windows and in Microsoft Office Applications Windows will show recently saved documents on the Start menu under either My Recent Documents (in Windows XP with the default XP Start menu), or Documents (in all other versions of Windows). Office will also show those documents near the bottom of the File menu of each program, above the Exit command. Follow the appropriate steps to remove these lists… Read more »
Vista Tip: Disabling UAC
This is the cure for toshiba laptops going black after bootup. (Originally posted at http://www.petri.co.il/disable_uac_in_windows_vista.htm ) Option #4 is probably the easiest to try to explain over the phone. This is the cause of black screens after login on Toshiba laptops running Windows Vista!! Although UAC clearly improves the security on Windows Vista, under some scenarios you might want to disable it, for example when giving demos in front of an audience… Read more »
Vista Tip: Change Lid and Shutdown default actions
Change the Windows Vista Power Buttons to Shut Down The default action for the Power button on the start menu in Windows Vista is Sleep, which isn’t necessarily useful for everybody. You can configure this setting easily by using the advanced power settings panel, which is a little tricky to get to normally, but we’ll take the shortcut. Open a command prompt (type cmd into the start menu search bar), and then type in the following… Read more »
Windows Tip: Sync your clock to NTP servers via cmd
To quickly sync your clock, open a command prompt as an administrator and type the following command: w32tm /resync Quick and simple, works in Vista and XP, and definitley helpful when a dying battery clock starts leaving you a few minutes behind every day, especially if added to your startup folder.
XP Tip: Save Mapped Drive Password
How to save a mapped drive password in XP The manage network passwords utility in XP doesn’t have an add password function so you have to goto the command prompt and use the following: NET USE U: \\NETHOME\USERID /PERSISTENT:YES /SAVECRED This will prompt you for the Username and Password and store them.