Office 2007 introduced the new X format: xlsx, docx, pptx, etc. The files are generally much smaller than the previous format. Why? The old formats were binary, and the new formats are archived XML files. (Yes, this is the X in DocX). You can take a peek at the file structure by renaming a 2007/2010 Office…
Author: Alan
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Install Critical Patches Now
A very nice fellow from across the pond wrote me to ask whether my Remote Windows Update HTA could be modified to run on a list of machines. I told him that it was on my list of things to do, but until that project gets completed that I could come up with something that…
A (Mostly) Random Password Generator for Help Desk
When the help desk resets a user’s password, password randomness often suffers. The RandomPW.vbs script generates a temporary password and puts dumps it into notepad. Update: This is not a random password in the technical programming or FIPS sense of the word. The script does not permit Zero or caplital letter O and makes some other readablity changes. The…
Chrome is the most secure browser (today)
“Safari fell in the blink of an eye, while Chrome emerged unscathed from its third consecutive Pwn2Own hacking contest. At face value, it seems that we should simply avoid using Apple’s Web browser, and everyone should use Google Chrome. But, it’s not quite that simple, and there are some other lessons to be learned from…
Remote Ping using WMI
One of the interesting things you can do with WMI is to capture ping information between two computers from a third computer without opening a remote command shell (using something like PSExec). I wrote RemotePing.vbs in 2005 and recently validated from a Windows 7 computer querying a remote XP computer. It can be run interactively, or by using…
Programatically Uninstall Outlook Patch KB2412171
The January 10, 2011 patch described at KB2412171 often causes Outlook to crash. The uninstall is problematic because the name of the patch in the registry is dependent on the version of Outlook. Microsoft tier 3 support gave us the following advice for a command line: %windir%\System32\msiexec.exe /package <Office 2007 product code> /uninstall <patch code…
Email a Shortcut
I often will drag a internet shortcut to my desktop to look at later. To send it to other people I create a shortcut to URLMail.vbs, then drag and drop the shortcut onto it. It works with Windows XP through Windows 7, and supports both IE and FireFox shortcut. I originally used this when IE…
Website Security Check – Unmask Parasites
www.unmaskparasites.com has a Website Security Check to “unmask parasites”. Free and recommended.
Aldi data breach shows payment terminal holes
Aldi data breach shows payment terminal holes – Computerworld This affected my local Aldi’s store. Replace your cash card if you might be affected. The payment terminal was replaced by one that collected user data. This is similar to ATM skimming. Tags: skimming
Vbscript to Get Program Associated with File Extension
Sometimes I want to the the program associated with a file extension. This turns out to be a little trickier than I expected in Vbscript. I take a shortcut in OpensWith.vbs by shelling out and running the ASSOC command to get a starting point for my registry query. The script runs interactively or you can drag…