Archive for the ‘Useful utilities’ Category

In IT Stop anticipate the Future and Become More Responsive Instead

Tuesday, November 25th, 2014

Those working in corporate IT used to be able to depend on upon the fact that they were the only game in town. If employees needed technology or technology advice, it was only available from the IT function.

Now, as employees are more comfortable with using technology than ever before and with the advent of cloud-based services, employees will often happily buy the technology direct from vendors without having to go through IT.

And the rise of disruptive corporate tech aimed at helping employees in particular roles or improve particular processes – such futuristic things as mobile supply chain apps, SaaS ERP solutions, and end-user biometrics, to name a few – means IT professionals are less likely than they once were to know what’s most appropriate for the end user.

information technology

From ‘Anticipate’ to ‘Respond’

All of this means that it is now an essential leadership competency for all managers to be able to get the most from the technology and information at their disposal. And this shift has forced forward-thinking IT functions to spend less time trying to anticipate corporate technology trends and more time responding to those changes.

IT’s fundamental role hasn’t changed: it was, and will continue to be, to help its firm get as much value as possible from technology. But, instead of predicting the future and explaining it to line managers, IT teams should now set themselves up to help the line use the technology it deems most appropriate and ensure this use doesn’t result in wasted spending, excessive complexity, and the taking on of ill-considered risk.

Traditionally, IT governance has relied on long-term planning to make technology as efficient and reliable as possible. But with the rise of digitization and ever more niche corporate tech innovation, long-term planning often ends up missing the mark.

Three Ways to Become More Responsive

  1. Avoid multi-year commitments: Results from the benchmarking survey show that IT organizations are adapting to more unstable planning horizons. While previous versions of the emerging technology roadmap showed relatively consistent results for implementation timelines across organizations, the most recent results show timelines that vary widely, based on the companies’ perception of a technology’s relative risk and value.

Most notably, implementation timelines are shortening across the board as progressive CIOs avoid multi-year commitments— a reflection of their reluctance to “lock in” spending in areas where marketplace maturity remains unclear (e.g., for software-defined infrastructure).

  1. Shorten planning cycles: The velocity of change in both business partners’ demand and in-market offerings requires that IT organizations develop capabilities to adapt their roadmaps to shorter, more iterative cycles.

IT organizations have decreased their general technology planning cycles from three years to 18 months, according to survey results.

  1. Harness the opportunities of the cloud: Despite risk concerns, data show that cloud computing is already mainstream in corporate hosting, storage, and employee computing for 2014–2015. CEB’s data also indicate that more than a third of organizations are evaluating more extensive uses of cloud services, such as public cloud-based disaster recovery and desktop-as-a-service.

Furthermore, the fact that organizations are already moving toward a more sophisticated suite of employee computing capabilities, including access to cloud-based email and productivity tools, support for more diverse front-end interfaces, mobile access to video, etc., indicates that moving from “anticipate to respond” is becoming the norm in the employee computing capabilities area.

For More Information related to IT blog then visit at itetc

 

 

Copy open files from command line – Robocopy alternative

Tuesday, February 5th, 2013

Not too long ago we needed to keep two servers in sync (one way sync). We looked around for a command line tool that can copy files that only got modified on a set interval. However we needed that tool to copy open files as well.

Well, GSCopyPro was the tool that we found to meet all of our needs. Not only can it keep folders in sync, but it can actually copy open files as well. It took a lot of research and we evaluated a lot of good tools out there in the market. GSCopyPro was certainly the one the ranked high in our charts from performance standpoint and in terms of the features it offers.   (more…)

Xnet utility – excellent tool to remove, rename, uninstall services remotely as well

Thursday, April 23rd, 2009

If you are looking for a utility to uninstall, start, stop, terminate or even rename a service remotely, the Xnet utility is the best utility to do so.

you can see what it does and how it does it by the instructions below. also you can download this free utility that was made by the genius developer Ruud van Velsen of Microsoft Benelux, keep in mind that Microsoft in no way supports this tool.  I love it and live by it.

 Download Xnet Command Line utility for services

XNET
=============================================================================
Win32 character-based/commandline utility enabling you to manage local and
remote Windows NT services.
USAGE
=============================================================================

1 general usage.
—————————————————————————–
Usage : XNET <Start  | Stop   | Pause  | Continue | List | Install |
              Remove | Modify | Reboot | Shutdown | Help>

Run XNET HELP <command> for information on the individual commands.

Example : XNET HELP MODIFY
2 starting, pausing, continuing or listing a service.
—————————————————————————–
Usage : XNET <Start | Pause | Continue | List>
             [[\\Server\]ServiceName] [/w:Wait]

Start       – Starts specified service, or lists all running services if no
              service specified.
Pause       – Pauses specified service.
Continue    – Resumes specified service.
List        – Lists all services, or details on specific service.
ServiceName – name of service, optionally preceded by name of remote
              machine (eg : \\REMOTE\MSSQLServer).
Wait        – number of seconds to wait for request to complete (default : 30
              seconds)

Example : XNET START \\HOUND\Spooler
          XNET PAUSE MSSqlserver /w:90
          XNET LIST \\HYENA
          XNET LIST
          XNET LIST NetLogon
3 stopping a service.
—————————————————————————–
Usage : XNET STOP [[\\Server\]ServiceName] [/w:Wait] [/y]

ServiceName – name of service, optionally preceded by name of remote
              machine (eg : \\REMOTE\MSSQLServer).
Wait        – number of seconds to wait for request to complete (default : 30
              seconds)
/y          – Don’t ask for confirmation to stop dependent services.

Example : XNET STOP \\HOUND\Spooler
          XNET STOP MSSqlserver /w:90
          XNET STOP Netlogon /y
4 installing a service.
—————————————————————————–
XNET INSTALL [[\\Server\]ServiceName] [/b:Binary] [/d:Dependencies]
             [/l:LoadOrderGroup] [/n:DisplayName] [/u:User] [/p:Password]
             [/i:Interactive] [/s:StartType]

ServiceName    – name of service, optionally preceded by name of remote
                 machine (eg : \\REMOTE\MSSQLServer).
Binary         – Name of executable.
Dependencies   – Dependencies of service.
LoadOrderGroup – LoadOrderGroup of service.
DisplayName    – ‘Long’ name of service (aka DisplayName).
User           – name of (domain) user account to assign to service. Specify
                 ‘LocalSystem’ to assign system account.
Password       – Password for service.
Interactive    – specify Yes or No to allow service to interact with desktop.
StartType      – indicates when a service will be started. Possible values
                 are ‘AUTO’ (started at system startup), ‘DEMAND’ (started
                 at user request) and ‘DISABLED’.

Example : XNET INSTALL \\HOUND\MyService /b:C:\WIN32\MS.EXE /u:LocalSystem
          XNET INSTALL MyService /b:C:\WIN32\MS.EXE /u:RuudV /p:password
          XNET INSTALL MyService /b:C:\WIN32\MS.EXE /u:HiYa\There /p:right
5 modifying a service.
—————————————————————————–
XNET MODIFY [[\\Server\]ServiceName] [/u:User] [/p:Password] [/b:Binary]
             [/d:Dependencies] [/l:LoadOrderGroup] [/n:DisplayName]

ServiceName    – name of service, optionally preceded by name of remote
                 machine (eg : \\REMOTE\MSSQLServer).
User           – name of (domain) user account to assign to service. Specify
                 ‘LocalSystem’ to assign system account.
Password       – Password for service.
Binary         – Name of executable.
Dependencies   – Dependencies of service.
LoadOrderGroup – LoadOrderGroup of service.
DisplayName    – ‘Long’ name of service (aka DisplayName).
Interactive    – specify Yes or No to allow service to interact with desktop.
StartType      – indicates when a service will be started. Possible values
                 are ‘AUTO’ (started at system startup), ‘DEMAND’ (started
                 at user request) and ‘DISABLED’.

Example : XNET MODIFY \\HOUND\MyService /u:SE\User1 /p:NewPass
          XNET MODIFY \\HOUND\MyService /u:LocalSystem
          XNET MODIFY MyService /n:FancyName
6 removing a service.
—————————————————————————–
Usage : XNET REMOVE [[\\Server\]ServiceName]

ServiceName – name of service, optionally preceded by name of remote
              machine (eg : \\REMOTE\MSSQLServer).
/y          – Don’t ask for confirmation of remove.

Example : XNET REMOVE SampleService
7 rebooting/shutting down Windows NT.
—————————————————————————–
XNET <Reboot | Shutdown> [\\server] [/w:Wait] [/m:Message] [/f] [/y]

Reboot      – Reboots specified server, or local machine if no server
              specified.
Shutdown    – Shuts down specified server, or local machine if no server
              specified.
Message     – Warning/message to display on specified server during countdown.
Wait        – Wait xx seconds for request to complete (default : 30 seconds)
/f          – Force applications closed (don’t allow ‘FileSave’ dialogs).
/y          – Don’t ask for confirmation of request.

Example : XNET REBOOT \\HOUND /y
          XNET SHUTDOWN /w=120
          XNET SHUTDOWN /f
NOTES
=============================================================================
1 Current version = 1.04

2 XNet was developed by Ruud van Velsen of Microsoft Benelux. The program
  is not officially supported by Microsoft, but any feedback is welcome.

install Windows Server 2003 management tools on a Windows Vista-based computer – Error MMC could not create the snap-in.

Friday, October 3rd, 2008

CAUSE

Microsoft Management Console (MMC) could not create the snap-in

This issue occurs because the Administration Tools Pack is not installed by a user who has administrative user rights. New security enhancements in Windows Vista require elevated user rights when a .dll file is registered. Therefore, Windows Vista security enhancements require that certain snap-ins are installed only by a user who has local administrative user rights.

MMC could not create the snap-in

To resolve this issue, register the Windows Server 2003 management tools on a domain user account. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Log on to Windows Vista as a user who has local administrator permissions.
2. Create the RegisterAdminPak.cmd script. To do this, follow these steps:

a. Start Notepad, and then open a blank document.
b. Paste the following code to the document in Notepad:

@echo off  REM RegisterAdminPak.cmd REM (c) 2006 Microsoft Corporation.  All rights reserved.
set filelist=adprop.dll azroles.dll azroleui.dll ccfg95.dll
set filelist=%filelist% certadm.dll certmmc.dll certpdef.dll certtmpl.dll
set filelist=%filelist% certxds.dll cladmwiz.dll clcfgsrv.dll clnetrex.dll
set filelist=%filelist% cluadmex.dll cluadmmc.dll cmproxy.dll cmroute.dll
set filelist=%filelist% cmutoa.dll cnet16.dll debugex.dll dfscore.dll
set filelist=%filelist% dfsgui.dll dhcpsnap.dll dnsmgr.dll domadmin.dll
set filelist=%filelist% dsadmin.dll dsuiwiz.dll imadmui.dll lrwizdll.dll
set filelist=%filelist% mprsnap.dll msclus.dll mstsmhst.dll mstsmmc.dll
set filelist=%filelist% nntpadm.dll nntpapi.dll nntpsnap.dll ntdsbsrv.dll
set filelist=%filelist% ntfrsapi.dll rasuser.dll rigpsnap.dll rsadmin.dll
set filelist=%filelist% rscommon.dll rsconn.dll rsengps.dll rsjob.dll
set filelist=%filelist% rsservps.dll rsshell.dll rssubps.dll rtrfiltr.dll
set filelist=%filelist% schmmgmt.dll tapisnap.dll tsuserex.dll vsstskex.dll
set filelist=%filelist% w95inf16.dll w95inf32.dll winsevnt.dll winsmon.dll
set filelist=%filelist% winsrpc.dll winssnap.dll ws03res.dll
for %%i in (%filelist%) do ( 	echo Registering %%i ... 	regsvr32 /s %%i  )
echo. Echo Command Completed

c. On the File menu, click Save.
d. In the Save as type box, click All Files, type C:\Users\UserAccountName\RegisterAdminPak.cmd in the File name box, and then click Save.Notes
UserAccountName represents the folder name of the user who is currently logged in.You must run this script in Windows Vista only.
3. Run RegisterAdminPak.cmd from an elevated command prompt. To do this, follow these steps:

a. Click Startthe Start button, click All Programs, click Accessories, right-click Command Prompt, and then click Run as administrator.User Account Control permission If you are prompted for an administrator password or for confirmation, type your password, or click Continue.
b. At the command prompt, type the following command, and then press ENTER.Note If you are running a 64-bit version of Windows Vista, type cd %systemroot%\syswow64 before you run the following command.

C:\Users\UserAccountName\RegisterAdminPak.cmd

FREE eBay Auction Sniper Service

Thursday, January 3rd, 2008

Have you ever wondered why when you are trying to bid on an otem on ebay and you are the highest bidder then all of a sudden you right before the auction ends, someone comes in and snatches it from you whether it is in the middle of the day or middle of the night, it just happens. The chances are, the person overbidding you is not really sitting in front of the computer, all what this person did is use a sniping program or a website service like Gixen where you enter the ebay item number and the highest amount you are trying to bid and what the website service do is go out a few seconds before the auction ends and place the bid for you. This way you avoid getting into bidding war, you do not have to stick around the computer to find out make sure no one overbids you, and lastly, you bid like a pro.

We have evaluated different programs and website services that offer snipping services, truth told, the real nice one we liked was Gixen. It is a website service that is offered to the public for free and you can bid on as many items as you want. it uses SSL for encypting and securing the data transmission.

Other competitor websites and programs would charge you a fixed percentage of won items or insertion fees.

 I have been using Gixen for a few months and have been very pleased with the service therefore, have decided to share the wealth about this free ebay sniping website service.

Goodlink stops syncing contacts on Treo Palm or other PDA devices

Saturday, August 25th, 2007

If you have a device running Good Messaging (formerly known as GoodLink) and it stops syncing, the first thing to do is make sure you have a data connection by attempting to go out to an internet site (such as www.google.com) from your device. If that doesn’t work, then contact your wireless provider, because your data connection is not available or you have no data coverage where you are. If you can get out to website, you probably just need to reset the Goodlink software.

 Here are instructions for to reset your goodlink software on a treo or a PDA device:

  1. On your wireless device, go into Good Preferences | About Good Mobile Messaging
  2. Type in “debug” without quotes. You will not see the text on the screen as you type, but it will open a hidden command prompt.
  3. When a command prompt window opens, type in “reprov” without quotes and press the enter key.
  4. You will be prompted that this will erase all data from the handheld. This only refers to data synced with the Good software. Type in “yes” without quotes and press the enter key.
  5. Your device will restart and the Good software will resync all of your emails/calendar/contacts/etc.

This usually does the trick and all should work like a charm.

I hope this tip helped you out.

RSS Readers Sharp Reader

Monday, August 13th, 2007

I remember back in the days when I had two or three favorite sites, but nowadays, with so many different topics, gadget news, website deals, and more, it is hard to keep visit all of them more often, this is where RSS comes to the rescue and offer you the ease of keeping up with all the sites in one simple application with highlights of each website… Not all website have RSS capability, but it is becoming more and more common.

There are two main ways to get the RSS feeds, the first way is through a web application (kind of like different Google Reader where you have to have your web browser open and logged in to your Google account, Yahoo, and MSN offer it too) or a desktop application where you can open it up like Microsoft Outlook… I have been through a few RSS readers and found Sharp Reader to be the best one out there due to its simplicity, new RSS notifications, and most of all, stability (the coolest thing, it is FREE).

Download Sharp Reader Software RSS Reader

PST Password Recovery for Microsoft Outlook Free

Monday, August 13th, 2007

So many passwords, only a few can be remembered, the ones that are hard to remember usually are the ones that are seldom used. This is the case with my friend Jane who setup a password on her PST file a few months ago and now needed to get some emails out of it, the only problem is she could not open it as she did not know the password.

Thankfully, when she called me, I had the PST Recover Password utility available and was able to crack it open. It is a free utility, almost impossible to find one like it for free.

Download Recover PST Password for Microsoft Outlook

Free utility to import N2K file

Friday, August 10th, 2007

Microsoft Outlook 2003 and Microsoft Outlook 2007 do not store email addresses you correspond to via email in your address book, what it does, it stores all these email addresses in what is called the cached file called N2K file. The N2K  file cannot be read via a regular text editor nor can it be directly imported into outlook contacts.

Many users get bumped when they find this out, (especially noticeable when they receive a new computer).

The utility we have can open up the N2K file and export all the addresses into a CSV file. Best of all, it is free. 🙂

the N2K file can be located at the following path C:\Documents and Settings\(Your USERNAME)\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook\Outlook.NK2

Download the N2K tool.

If you have similar tools or cool tools please share it with us…. we will credit you for it
Enjoy

Attached is a utility that would extract the nk2 files into csv (so they can be imported into address book) 

Once in a CSV, you can easily delete invalid exchange addresses and maintain the smtp addresses.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

it is a beta version but has always worked for me.  😉