Bohack

Recently I needed to install a number of fonts from a folder into a Windows 7 installation. One notable change with fonts since Windows XP is that you can’t just copy the fonts to the fonts folder. Windows Vista and 7 needs to register the font in the registry.

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Toying around I needed to query XML from VBScript and parse it out for only the elements I needed. So I wrote a VBScript and figured I would share it. Many posts out there just load a file rather than a URL, this script will do both and I simplified it a bit.

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I was currently working on a VBScript to pull some information from a web page. So decided to build a function for it, so that it can be reused over and over again in other scripts. It uses the XMLHTTP library to query a URL and return the elements, I just ask for the responsetext and return it.

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Mass software installation is generally done with imaging of machines. The process is simple: a reference image is created and then software is installed onto it. Along the way we test the software, QC check the software installation against our environment, then regression test the software against accounts that will be used by our users. Finally ‘sysprep the image’ and then push out a gigantic image to the all the PC’s in the field and cross our fingers.

Some software just does not want to be imaged, so we find ourselves reverse engineering the software to make it work; licensing is usually to blame. This can sometime take weeks because it breaks other functionality. Many times we simply don’t have the time to image a PC and go through the entire process or it may be something that’s just not worth the time. Bohack’s rule of thumb is: less than 40 PC’s in the same location just sit down and manually install!

However that doesn’t mean we need to give up on automation. So I wrote what I call the ‘Automated Installation Framework’. It’s a simple VBScript with common subroutines and often just saves time behind the keyboard. It uses a VB command called sendkeys and saves us from clicking next, next, next…

To use it I recommend using a ‘Vanilla’ install of your current environment; so use the image in place you will be installing to. Virtualization undo disks help speed this process up, because you will find that you will be installing over and over again for the perfect rollout. Next start practice installing the program, as you write the keystrokes down required moving the install through its steps. Keep track of the time it takes and estimate the time for the slowest computer you have. Next create a domain account that is a local administrator or domain admin for the machines you need to install to. Create a simple profile for the user and drop the finished VBScript into the profile’s startup section (base of the profile\Start Menu\Programs\Startup). Now all you need to do is login as that user and as the profile loads and the startup section runs, your install will begin. Cross your fingers and watch the install!

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