To all my brothers and sisters out in Internet land!  I had an unusual time finding this download, I finally found it on some obscure Micro$oft website but have since lost the actual link.  I tried to find the link for a colleague and I gave up shortly thereafter realizing I already had the file and that I could just send it to him.  If you’re looking for the RoboCopy Gui (which also includes robocopy.exe) get it here!

–> RoboCopy Gui

Robocopy is a great utility, it’s a bit more robust than xcopy, it has some great options like backup mode which from what I gather uses the system account to leverage shadow copy for backing up files with different permissions than the user you’re running your script with.  It’s good stuff all around.

Here’s an example robocopy script I happen to use, it backups up end user files once a week.  I run it 4 times per month and store the data in 4 different locations, week1, week2, etc, etc.  It backs user data up, then my next line says to move the log to a different location and finally it calls my email notifier letting me know the job was complete.

• robocopy “\\myserver\users” “E:\myusers_Users_Backup\Week1″ /E /SEC /COPYALL /V /XO /LOG:”Week1_backup.log” /FFT /Z /B /ZB /R:10 /W:30
• move /Y “C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator.MYDOMAIN\Application Data\Microsoft Robocopy GUI\Scripts\Week_1_backup.log” “E:\Users_Backup”
• call “\\myserver\myshare\somesubfolder1\User Documents\Week_1_Email_Notification.vbs”

Get it while it’s HOT!  For years ClamAV has probably been protecting you to some degree without you even knowing it.  It has historically been used for appliances like email servers, web servers, file servers, etc and usually only on a Linux OS.  Why?  Because that’s where it all started :).

At one point they had a Windows version of ClamAV called ClamWin but it must have been a few years ago it vanished (or at least seemingly vanished) because they decided to develop it further.  I have been keeping my eye open and occasionally checking for a Windows version and it’s now finally out! Updated 12-27-2010:  ClamWin is what I’d recommend getting here –>  Link

If it’s good enough to scan your email it’s good enough to protect the desktop.  I suppose there are several schools of thought on this.  One saying you’ll want one AV scanner to scan inbound files on the server, a different one on the firewall (if it has that feature) and yet another on the desktop.  Sure – but for home losers like us anything that’s both good and free works for me!

The good thing about ClamAV for windows:

• Real-Time Scanning (with additional plugin)
• Simple feature set
• Folder exclusion
• Open Source

The bad thing about ClamAV:

• Doesn’t seem to do a “full system scan” from the gui, I have a batch file to help you though (for WindowsXP, ClamAV version 1.0.26, feel free to edit for your OS’s directory path –> Here)  Update:  I’ve left that old link for historical purposes, I recommend download this version instead as it’s MUCH BETTER –> Link
• Currently have to be “online” for it to scan (they plan on offline in the future)
• Note that the version I had pointed to was one from Clamav.net NOT the one from ClamWin.  ClamWin is where it’s at!  :)

* Update – MSIzap has been “discontinued” by M$.  You can use their new Program Install and Uninstall Troubleshooter <– here.  I’d recommend it, running MSIzap on Vista or 7 WILL in fact mess things up worse!  It’ snot advised.

After looking on the web and getting NO answers I finally bumped into an M$ article on the subject –> Here.  It was helpful so check it out if you have questions or ask me!  I’m finding searching the Internet for solutions these days a daunting task so hopefully some search engine will find this worthy and move it to the top of their list.

MSIZAP – first, get it from the link below…this is version2 of MSIZAP and includes both the 32 bit and 64 bit versions, just read the “readme.txt” file in the archive for more details.  The MSIZAP.EXE is the 32 bit one, I renamed the MSIZAPU.EXE to just MSIZAP.EXE.  For your computing pleasure the GUI is also included ;-)

Download MSIZAP.EXE –> Here

I experimented with 7 zip’s MSI –> Here, extracted to “C:\Temp”.  Install it, open Add/Remove Programs in your Control Panel, make sure it’s installed.  After you confirm it’s installed you can then run this command to see what it does.  Open a command prompt, start > run > cmd > enter > cd \ > cd temp > type in the following and press enter:

msizap TPSWMG! “C:\temp\7z465.msi” > c:\temp\7zip.log

or what you’ll need to do is find the MSI package in your installer cache “C:\Windows\Installer\whatevermsi.msi”

msizap TPS! “C:\windows\installer\e85e2799.msi” > c:\temp\7zip.log

* Be sure to have all the exe’s in the same folder, I used “c:\temp”, my command prompt would be “c:\temp\msizp TPS!…etc”, I’m also not sure if 7zip’s installer cache ends up being e85e2799.msi for all installs but if it’s the same for you then it is, let me know!

Review your log, my logs did say it failed to clear all items but I think it’s good enough for government work!  Is a Windows system or any system for that matter really ever 100 percent clean?  I think anyone with an ounce of experience will tell you truthfully it’s no!  The end result will be the package being blown away (i.e. zapped!), it shouldn’t show up in the registry or the Control Panel’s Add/Remove Programs.  I’m still experimenting with the process but I thought it valuable to have some clarity with the command syntax and thanks to M$’s command help page I found we can all benefit.

Do you need to install Java with an MSI installer?  This is how you do it with the latest JRE 8 / Java 8.

Apparently Java in their infinite wisdom have changed where and how you can get your Java MSI. Download the offline installer (I assume you know how to do that) but on the download java page there’s a section under the big red button to download that reads: “Not the right operating system? See all Java downloads.”

What you have to do is download the offline installer > right click > runas administrator > then without touching anything on the installer it extracts the MSI to this folder:  C:\Users\administrator\AppData\LocalLow\Oracle\Java\java_version_here

Example:  C:\Users\administrator\AppData\LocalLow\Oracle\Java\jre1.8.0_121

Copy that msi file and deploy it on your network!

A note about java site exceptions; you know…when you get a site that has Java and Java continually prompts you to accept it then denies you because it’s not in your security exceptions.  So you have to navigate into your control panel > click on “java” > security tab > exceptions > add…blah blah blah blah blah.

You can make a batch file that runs in a group policy with this content:

copy /Y “\\your_domain_here\your_share_here\exception.sites” “%homedrive%\%homepath%\AppData\LocalLow\Sun\Java\Deployment\security\”

The file contents of the “exception.sites” file is like this:

https://www.site.com
http://site.com

This should overwrite the security exceptions and when Java fires up it will use any number of sites in that list so your users don’t get the prompts.  I believe this site list gets wiped out on upgrades.  This way you can centrally control your exceptions list to any number of PC’s.

Archived tutorial / notes:

* Based on instructions from Sun with tweaks because their instructions are a bit off

Download the latest Java from here but pick the “Offline” link –> Java

Install it without the Yahoo Toolbar – (who really wants that anyway?).  Once installed go to this folder on your Windows XP system or WIndows 7 systems.

Windows XP location:  “C:\Documents and Settings\%username%\Application Data\Sun\Java”, there you’ll see folders for whatever versions you’ve installed.  Open the newest folder and find your MSI.

Windows 7 Location:  “C:\Users\%username%\AppData\LocalLow\Sun\Java\jre1.6.0_22” <–or your version, they change like every other day!  :)

* C:\Documents and Settings\%username%\Application Data\Sun\Java\whateverversionyoujustinstalled\yourjavaversion.msi

You can push it out via several methods.

1. Make an Active Directory Group Policy (best method!)
2. Batch file:  msiexec /i jre1.6.0_17.msi

Test your Java Version here –> Test Java Version

One last thing I thought I’d post (first post in January of 2010 and I’m updating 8 months later) you can download OLD Java versions here:  –> Link

Any questions let me know and I’ll post them with a solution!

Pidgin Universal Chat Client MSI available for download here:  Version 2.7.3

I see some people on the net looking for a Pidgin MSI (as have I but I was left wanting).  Pidgin is a “Universal Chat Client” allowing a user to use one program to communicate with many types of chat gateways like MSN Messenger (Now called “Windows Live Messenger”, Yahoo Messenger, AIM, GChat, etc.  What’s also nice about Pidgin is that your typical chat client like MSN Messenger will have advertisements embedded into them but Pidgin doesn’t have them!

Side note:

Another INTERESTING tid bit is that the word “Pidgin” doesn’t have anything to do with the bird and it’s NOT misspelled.

“Pidgin…is a simplified language that develops as a means of communication between two or more groups that do not have a language in common, in situations such as trade, or where both groups speak languages different to the language of the country in which they reside (but there is no common language between the groups)”  Source: Pidgin Wikipedia

Although the Pidgin website doesn’t mention why they called their application Pidgin (and not Pigeon like the bird / fowl) is probably because of that very meaning, it has to be right?  It enables one program to communicate with all those networks!  It’s an even more brilliant name once you know what Pidgin means isn’t it?

Back to business:

I used a program called WinINSTALL LE, although it’s not a single file MSI it does the trick!  It’s likely not a single file MSI because I used the free LE version of their product, not the professional version.

* Warning * – although this MSI works for me, if it doesn’t work for you I might be able to help but I make no guarantees.

Now that my warning is out of the way, here’s what you’ve been googling for, get it here —>

• 2.7.3 MSI

Extract the files to a network share, make your Group Policy, point it at the MSI and happy chatting.  Let me know if it works for you too!  Friendly command line installation:

msiexec /i Pidgin-2.7.msi /qn

One last thing – to anyone asking, “Why would an organization push out a chat client to their end users, that’s crazy!!!” .  Note that I agree in most organizations it’s crazy BUT for some organizations like Colleges, Universities, geographically dispersed organizations, virtual office organizations, etc who foster collaborative efforts within their corporate culture chat clients serve a purpose and is needed.  Heck, I needed it and if you need it, it’s possible to kill several birds (sorry Pidgin) with one MSI.

!!!!!!!!!! Update !!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!! Update !!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!! Update !!!!!!!!!

If you’re using my MSI I’ve noticed an interesting issue.  The prior installation gets left behind and the new installation does not get “uninstalled” by the new version.   If you find yourself with multiple instances of my installer in your “Add / Remove Programs” you need to run these commands.  Although the new versions don’t get affected by previous installations being there it’s nice to keep things tidy!

1 – Make a batch file with the below content and name it “pidginuninst.bat” (the 2.6.6 zip has a bat file ready to go and it also includes MSIzap for you, make sure to edit the bat file so it fits into your environment).

2- Download my MSIzap from Microsoft and drop the contents in your Pidgin folder on your network share!

3 – Edit the commands below for your environment!

4- I’d possibly make an Active Directory Group Policy or a for loop to push this out and in the future include the command from the batch file to zap the previous installation after the new installation gets done!
* For loop example that schedules a task at 3:45am to uninstall old Pidgin versions:  “for /f %i in (c:\temp\pcs.txt) do at \\%i 03:45 “\\yourserver\yourshare\PidginDirectory\pidginuninst.bat”

5 – If you’re really slick you could use an email sending vbscript to notify you via email when each workstation is done or what might even be better, store your log in a central location for later review instead of storing them locally in a temp directory.  You’d also want to echo the computer name for the log file name like this:  >> “\\yourservershare\yourshare\%computername%.log” and you can use it again in the future.

* All this should give you a good idea of what to do, you can slice and dice this in many ways.  If you have questions just ask!

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:: Pidgin uninstall cleanup from prior versions that didn’t get cleaned up
:: by installing a new version with a custom MSI!

cd \
c:

echo %time% Uninstalling Pidgin 2.6.3 >> c:\temp\Pidginuninst.log
:: Comment – this should point to Pidgin MSI version 2.6.3
\\yourserver\yourshare\PidginDirectory\msizap T! “\\yourservers\yourshare\PidginDirectory\Pidgin.msi” >> c:\temp\Pidginuninst.log

echo %time% Uninstalling Pidgin 2.6.4 >> c:\temp\Pidginuninst.log
:: Comment – this should point to Pidgin MSI version 2.6.4
\\yourserver\yourshare\PidginDirectory\msizap T! “\\yourservers\yourshare\PidginDirectory\Pidgin.msi” >> c:\temp\Pidginuninst.log

echo %time% Uninstall of previous Pidgin versions complete please check the logs  >> c:\temp\Pidginuninst.log

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