Ultimate Power Tool
In “The Power of For” (September
2007, InstantDoc ID 96539), Mark
Minasi covered some basics of using
the For command. I’ve been using
For in my scripting for years. It’s particularly
powerful when you have a
simple yet repetitive task to deal with
or when you have a complex task to
handle. At one company I worked
for, I was able to use the For command
with PsExec to deploy applications
to hundreds of desktops in a
few hours. The beautiful thing is that
For is free, and it can be a godsend
for cash-strapped IT teams.
-Brent McCraney
If you found Mark’s September column on For useful, be sure to read “Counting on For” (October 2007, InstantDoc ID 96704) and “The Final For” (November 2007, InstantDoc ID 96903), in which he explores more uses of the For command.
-Jason Bovberg
Microsoft’s Competitive
Strategy
I read Karen Forster’s IT Pro Perspective
editorial, “Exchange 2007
SP1 and Performance Point,” (October
2007, InstantDoc ID 96977) and
want to respond to her questions.
I wish I didn’t have to add servers to keep the functionality I already have. For example, my company uses InfoPath forms that are automatically submitted via email to public folders and individuals in Exchange. Although some processes could probably benefit from Share- Point or PerformancePoint, I expect that often it won’t really matter in most cases. But because Exchange public folders are going away, I’ll now have to have SharePoint to accomplish the same tasks as before.
I also don’t like having a new client that I have to install, update, upgrade, and troubleshoot for each new Microsoft server. SharePoint is an excellent platform for building the client interface to all Microsoft server systems. Unless an application is standalone, like Word, the emphasis should be on using SharePoint for the client in all cases. Microsoft should offer a module to replace Outlook, Communicator, Project, and so on. If Microsoft is going to make SharePoint the console, then do it 100 percent.
So, I’d say the following to Microsoft:
1. Don’t remove functionality
from existing server systems unless
the user community isn’t using it.
2. It’s OK to add servers if it will
give companies additional functionality.
3. Build SharePoint into a centralized
console before you try forcing
customers into it. In fact, make Share-
Point so good that you won’t have to
convince your customers to adopt it.
If Microsoft took this advice, it wouldn’t have to worry about Google or anyone else.
-Nate McAlmond
You can read Nate’s complete letter and my comments on my Hey Microsoft! blog at www.windowsitpro.com/ Article/ArticleID/ 97390/Too_Many_ New_Microsoft_ Clients_and_ Servers.html
-Karen Forster
Security
Risks
Revisited
Security is the reason
Jeremy Schubert gave
in “IT Pro Hero: User
Logon Tracking Redux” (September
2007, InstantDoc ID 96633) for modifying
the user logon tracking from
the June 2007 article “It’s 10:00 p.m.,
Do You Know Who’s Logged On?”
(InstantDoc ID 95922). Jeremy stated
that it was a potential security risk to
have the logs open on a share.
It’s just as much of a risk to have the EventSave freeware utility available for user execution. EventSave’s default behavior is to clear the local computer event logs to text files stored in the same directory as the .exe file. If an end user were to find the .exe file, he or she could run it, clearing out their local event viewer. In my opinion, this security risk is just as great as allowing user access to write/append the batch script–generated logs that the June article mentions.
-Ashley Ames
Totally Free
Utilities-NOT
In “8 More Absolutely Cool, Totally
Free Utilities” (September 2007,
InstantDoc ID 96628), Douglas
Toombs lists System Information for
Windows (SIW) as one of his favorite
utilities. When I went to download
the utility, however, I found that it
isn’t totally free. Here’s the relevant
portion of the End User License
Agreement (EULA): “This Software
is being distributed as Freeware for
personal, non-commercial use. It
may be freely used, copied and distributed
as long as it is used only for
personal purposes. Use
on multiple PCs in a
corporate, educational,
non-profit, military or
government installation
is prohibited.”
SIW might be a great
utility, but I can’t use
it for my employer
without purchasing a
paid version.
-Stan Anderson
I apologize for the oversight. I had read the quote, “SIW is a standalone utility that does not require installation (Portable Freeware)” on Gabriel Topala’s Web site, gtopala.com, and took it at face value. As it turns out, Stan is right. “Free,” in this case, applies only to personal use, not commercial. I’ll read the EULAs more thoroughly for the next article.
-Douglas Toombs
