Windows Scripting Host Sucks on 64-bit Windows

Here's an example of something I've known about for years, but somehow forgot, and at the most inconvenient time: Windows Scripting Host SUCKS on 64-bit Windows.  I'm almost ready to dump VBScript for good and move on with PowerShell after this.  There is a workaround for this, but it's stupid.  It's beyond stupid.  It's pathetic.

The code below looks for the Uninstall key value named "DisplayName" for 7-zip 9.20 on a Windows 7 64-bit computer.  The first key path returns "null".  The second key path returns the appropriate version "9.20.00.0"

[CODE]

Set objShell = CreateObject("Wscript.Shell")

Const HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE = &H80000002
Const appGUID = "{23170F69-40C1-2701-0920-000001000000}"

Const vName = "DisplayName"

kPath1 = "SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall"
kPath2 = "SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall"

wscript.echo RegValue(kPath1 & "\" & appGUID, vName)

wscript.echo RegValue(kPath2 & "\" & appGUID, vName)
 
Function RegValue(key, v)
  Dim objRegistry, strValue
  Set objRegistry = GetObject("winmgmts:{impersonationLevel=impersonate}" & _

    "!\\.\root\default:StdRegProv")

  objRegistry.GetStringValue HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, key, v, strValue
  RegValue = strValue
End Function

[/CODE]

The screen capture below shows the Registry key and its values.  Note the path shown in the Status Bar along the bottom.  This is the default location under HKLM\Software\Microsoft.

When you install most 64-bit applications, this is where they will record their Uninstall information.  If you install a 32-bit application however, it puts the information under HKLM\Software\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\...

Note that the Uninstall GUID for 7-Zip 9.20 doesn't exist under the Wow6432Node tree.  It only resides under the default tree.  This can get really messy when you start installing 32-bit applications on 64-bit Windows 7.  And before you think that's easy to avoid, think again.

The problem is that CScript under the C:\Windows\SysWOW64 path only looks under the Wow6432Node tree for anything.  Even when you use the ExpandEnvironmentStrings method of the Shell object, it will expand the variable using what it finds here.

For example, if you execute the following VBScript code on a 64-bit machine...

[CODE]

Set objShell = CreateObject("Wscript.Shell")
wscript.echo objShell.ExpandEnvironmentStrings("%programfiles%")
wscript.echo objShell.ExpandEnvironmentStrings("%programfiles(x86)%")

wscript.echo objShell.RegRead("HKLM\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\" & _

  "Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\CommonFilesDir")
wscript.echo objShell.RegRead("HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\" & _

  "Windows\CurrentVersion\CommonFilesDir")

[/CODE]

Notice the path of CScript.exe I invoke in the output capture below.  Note the impact each has on the output also...

Compare the two Value collections under each Registry key path.  The path is shown in the Status Bar along the bottom of each window...








One more example, and this is where it shows it's 2:00 AM beer goggles ugliness...



Consider the following two Registry keys:



HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Dave

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Dave



Both keys have a Value named "DisplayName", but key1 is assigned "Dave123", while the same Value under key2 is assigned "Dave456" (both are type REG_SZ).



[CODE]

Set objShell = CreateObject("Wscript.Shell")
key1 = "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Dave"
key2 = "HKLM\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Dave"
wscript.echo objShell.RegRead(key1 & "\DisplayName")
wscript.echo objShell.RegRead(key2 & "\DisplayName")

[/CODE]
If you execute the above code using CScript.exe from both locations on a typical Windows 7 64-bit computer, this is what you'd see...
Conclusion
I promised you a "workaround" at the beginning of this article, and here it is:  On 64-bit Windows 7 systems, to ensure you get accurate results, you absolutely HAVE to invoke the CScript.exe from C:\Windows\System32.  However, if you are are looking for installed Applications you need to invoke BOTH of them.  That's right, both of them.  Why? Because you can't get a complete picture without poking into both "sides" of the Registry of a 64-bit Windows 7 computer.
And I haven't even mentioned crawling through HKCU to find installed apps.  Some of you may be making a funny face right now, thinking "there's no application uninstall keys under HKCU" and then you check and realize that there are.  Most ClickOnce application installations, and pretty much any "per-user" installations for that matter, will hide their Registry stuff under HKCU.  So to really see what's "installed" on a 64-bit client, you need to look under the following places...

HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall
HKLM\Software\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall
HKEY_USERS (crawl every SID tree beneath it)
probably other locations that I'm just too lazy to dig up right now
Is this retarded?  Yep.  Could Microsoft remedy this 64-bit issue with a patch for WSH and Wscript.exe/CScript.exe?  Yep.  Will they?  Don't bet on it.  
Note:  Wrapped code lines in the above examples are for formatting only.  The actual script code used for the examples does not have the lines wrapped.

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Why Comparing Visual LISP to VBA is a Waste of Time

Warning: This post is going to go so nerdishly geeky - that even I might have to put new tape on my glasses.

Jimmy Bergmark posted a really cool (and useful) tabular comparison of functions/methods between Visual LISP and VBA as of AutoCAD 2013.  It stirred up some thoughts, and emotions, in me about the path each language has taken (or not taken).

As I scanned my eyeballs down each row, the three functions that caught my eye were: (apply), (lambda) and (mapcar).  I will get to (defun) later.  And (cond) makes (select/case) look like a kid's toy.  I won't even dive into (eval), (quote) or (read).

If you're not familiar with LISP (of any flavor) these probably mean nothing.  I spent many years working with that language, even when idiots snickered and made their usual stupid acronym jokes about it (nerds can be so insensitive).  However, if you were an art collector, this would be similar to dropping names like Renoir, DaVinci, and Picasso.  Or if you were a musician, like dropping names Tchaikovsky, Beethoven or Zappa.  Or if you were a writer, like dropping names Shakespeare, Heinlein or, well, you get the idea.

These three functions are EXTREMELY powerful.  They can do things that NOTHING in VB or VBA or even VB.NET can do natively.  NOTHING.  Sure, you can mimic them with a LOT of code, but in the end, at the very bottom of the process stack (or heap), they will never be the same.

LISP is by nature flexible.  But it's also dynamic.  There is a difference, even though the implications of these two adjectives overlap quite often.

If you want to pause right here to do some poking around about these functions, I'll even offer some help:

• Kenny Ramage posted a nice tutorial on (mapcar) and (lambda) here
• Common LISP web site has a nice breakdown of (apply) here
• Autodesk AutoCAD 2013 documentation section on (defun) here

Now, before you start into how (vlax-make-safearray) copies from Array(), I'll just go ahead and say that Array() is about as sophisticated against (cons) and (list) as a pile of toothpicks next to a fully-constructed log cabin.  In fact, if you want to be honest (and don't we all?), then (vlax-make-safearray) was nothing more than LISP having to be dumbed down to communicate with COM properly. Ok.  There.  I said it. (drops the microphone, hands in the air, walks off stage slowly...)

Function and End Function are about as similar to (defun) as the "fun" part, and that's about it.  The Function() declaration is static at runtime.  (defun) on the otherhand is completely dynamic and adaptable.  (defun) can be redefined at runtime, at-will.  Imagine trying to do this in VBA...

(defun MyFunction (a b c)
   (if (> a b)
      (defun MyFunction (a b c) (* a c))
      (defun MyFunction (a b c) (* b c))
   )
)

Is that a "great" example?  No.  It's just a 101 basic example.  But it exemplifies just how different these languages are.

IMPORTANT STUFF HERE...

Am I trying to say LISP is "better" than VB or VBA?

NO.

Programming languages are TOOLS.  They were always conceived and built to solve a particular set of challenges.  In most cases, when used for those very same challenges, they are ideally suited for the task.  Case in point:  Performing massively nested string manipulation in Perl or C++.  I'd take Perl any day of the week and twice on Sunday.

The original AutoCAD team (John Walker and the boys) selected LISP for a variety of reasons, but mostly because it was the most flexible language at the time. In many respects, it still is.  Particularly as it pertains (say that ten times!) to working with CAD drawings, graphic entities, precision, and object association.  But it lost it's sex appeal in the marketplace, which is unfortunate, but it was not a surprise either.

Before I start sounding like one of those guys that moans about how VHS beat out Betamax, let me say that I can see why that happened: It boils down to marketing, or the lack thereof.  Let's face it: the LISP community wasn't as interested in getting their platform onto every consumer device as earnestly as the Java folks were during the IT boom of the 90's.  Java had Sun doing its cheer-leading.  LISP had a bunch of unorganized nerds who could care less about what the "industry" wanted to do with it, so long as they could finish up their thesis lab work at 2:00 am.

Is LISP (or AutoLISP or Visual LISP) without imperfections?  No.  It could use quite a bit of TLC and modernization (especially within the narrow context of AutoCAD implementation), but it's much too constrained to be a smart business move.  Why spend more dollars on a language with fewer developers involved, when you can adopt and adapt a much more widely-used language like C#?  It just makes better business sense.

For what it's worth:  If I were handed a truckload of cash, and given the authority to direct some improvements to Visual LISP, well, I could hammer out a pretty good wishlist.  But nobody is listening anyway, so why bother?

Ok, since you asked:  Clean up the (car) (cdr) (cddr) (cdar) (cddr) (cdddr) (cddddddddr) mess.  Rename and consolidate functions to shorten the names (vlax-blah-blah-blah...).  Replace the IDE with something more recently styled.  Recode and rename the (vl-catch-all-apply) and (vl-catch-all-error-p) mess to bring it all more inline with Try/Catch/Fail, etc.  Make reactors easier to manage (like VB/VBA events).  Oh, my head hurts already.  Enough!  I can't go on.

I'm venting a bit, obviously.  And if I've upset or offended anyone who clings to their chosen programming language, I apologize.  Ok, not really, but I certainly don't want to make anyone angry.  Ok, maybe too late for that too.  Oh well.

Have a beer and enjoy the rest of your evening?

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It's About People

With all the talk about Romney saying that a "corporation is a person" or whatever, I got to thinking that there's a twist to that which is actually very true: A business is really about the people within it.  I'm not bringing this up to be political in any way whatsoever.  Seriously.

It sounds simple, right?  It seems obvious enough.

But how many times do you hear people around you say something about a business, or an organization of some kind, either negative or positive, and they apply their judgement against the name of the business?  I hear it all the time. A great example is cell phone companies.  Get a conversation started about which company is "best" (whatever that really means), and watch the fur fly.  I've heard things like "Verizon sucks!" and "ATT is crap!" or "Don't even waste your time with Spring or Intelos", and so on.

I like to ask: "Why?" - then when they try to offer up some generic bullshit story, I cut them off with "who was that?", with the intent of drilling into the fact that it's usually isolated experiences with specific people that build the perceptions we hold about companies.  The same is true for any organization, even governmental agencies.  Everyone is negative and lays their judgement on the doorstep of the entire organization, when in fact they can't really back up more than one, two or three individuals in that organization that affected their views.

When you think back to any job you had in the past, you probably conjour up a mood or "feeling" about it, based on memories.  Good or bad.  But when you focus in on those feelings, you can almost always nail down who the people were that shaped your fondness or dislike of that job.  Maybe it was just one person.  Maybe it was a group, but often that group is shaped in cultural terms by one person, maybe the leader, whatever.  It's still people.  It's always about the people.

This week I was told that one of the guys who sits near me at work had given notice and was leaving.  He has been at this place for more than six years, and is very well liked.  One of the nicest people I've ever known.  It bummed me out the entire day, knowing he'd soon be gone.  Not "gone" in the ultimate sense, after all, with social networks being what they are today, it's hard to disappear from the lives of your colleagues like was the case five or ten years ago.

Still, as I approach fifty years of life on this ball of dirt and water, I've learned how important people are around you.  How vital they are to shaping our daily lives.  From the littlest of things to the major things, the people you work with every day set the mood for how you wake up, and whether you look forward to going in to the office, or not.  And as I've seen many good people leave places I've worked at, I become more attuned to the value of nice people, talented people, helpful people, and how important they are to everyone around them.

This isn't really about this one guy, it's really about all the great people I've worked with in the past few decades.  I'd like to think I was one of those "good" people that was missed when I had left one place for another, but that's not for me to decide.  I'd have to ask them, but a good part of me feels that the smartass side of my personality probably didn't leave too many sad people behind as I moved on to a new job.  Who knows.

What I do know is this: If you work with people that frustrate and anger you, or just annoy the shit out of you a lot, avoid them.  It's more important to focus your time on the people that make you smile, who inspire you, who make you feel good about going to work instead of dreading it.  Because it's really all about people.

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Table of Contents (Preliminary)

Here's the preliminary Table of Contents for my new book "The AutoCAD Network Administrator's Bible - 2013 Edition".  I'm very close to wrapping it up, and as soon as it is reviewed and checked, I can incorporate the corrections and publish it on Amazon.

Contents

Introduction

What’s New in This Book

About the Author (me)

Overview

Who This Book is For

Terms Used in This Book

Why Bother With Network Deployments?

Assumptions

Planning & Design

Testing

Roll-Out

Technical Support

Environmental Changes

Organizational Environment Types

The Small Office Home Office (SOHO)

Small Business

Small-to-Medium Business (SMB)

Enterprise WAN

International Enterprise WAN

Deployment Planning

Resources

Constraints

Designing a Deployment Solution

Autodesk Product Deployments

Target Client Devices

32-bit AutoCAD 2013 installations (minimum)

64-bit AutoCAD 2013 installations (minimum)

AutoCAD Mac installations (minimum)

More Client Device Types

Deployment Servers

License Servers

Storage

Naming Conventions

Software and Licensing

Designing a License Management Architecture

Distributed License Server Responsiveness

Distributed Licensing and Client Settings

Network License Manager Folders

Virtual Environments

Making Your Business Case Work

Deployment Methods

Interactive (Manual)

Scripting

Group Policy (GPO)

System Center Configuration Manager

Client Imaging

Creating an AutoCAD 2013 Deployment

Walking Through the Process

Including Service Packs and Updates

Exploring the Deployment Folder

Copying and Moving Deployments

Deployment Folder Security

Windows File System Security Basics

The “Domain Computers” Group

Removals and Upgrades

Deploying License Servers

Single Server Configuration

Verifying the FlexLM / NLM Version

Sharing Licenses with Other Vendors and Products

Upgrading FlexLM and LMTOOLS

FlexLM and Firewall Considerations

Additional FlexLM Features

Verifying FlexLM License Services on Windows

Additional Information:

Using Configuration Manager 2007

Deployment Scenarios

Configuration Manager Basics

Configuration Manager 2007 Terminology

A High-Level Overview

Configuration Manager Deployment Overview

Selective Targeting

Configuration Manager Deployment Strategy Tips

AutoCAD Deployments vs. Distribution Points

Creating a Configuration Manager Package

Creating a Program

Creating the Advertisement

Testing your Deployments with Configuration Manager

Tracking Configuration Manager Deployments

Updating Collections

Advertisements and Web Report History

AutoCAD 2013 Installation Documentation

Using Configuration Manager 2012

Applications vs. Packages

Preparation

Creating an Application

Creating a Deployment Type

Targeting Users and Devices

Deploying AutoCAD 2013 with Group Policy

Assign an installation to a Computer

Adding a Language Pack to the Group Policy Deployment

Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2012

Configuration Manager vs. MDT

Overview of MDT 2012 Features

MDT 2012 Update 1

Basics of Provisioning

MDT Deployment Options

Manual Interaction

Boot Media

Windows Deployment Services

Configuration Manager OSD

Deploying DWG TrueView with MDT 2012

Basic Setup

Preparation

Creating an Application

Creating a Task Sequence Item

Updating the Deployment Share

Updating Deployment Media Content

Deploying AutoCAD 2013 with MDT 2012

Option 1, Leave the AutoCAD Deployment As-Is

Option 2, Copy into MDT and modify Deployment .INI file

Preparation Work

Screen Shots of the Deployment in Action

Conclusion

Deploying Prerequisites

Deploying Microsoft .NET Framework 4.0

Deploying .NET Framework 4.0 with Configuration Manager 2007

Deploying .NET Framework 4.0 with Configuration Manager 2012

Design Review 2013

Deploying Autodesk Design Review 2013 with Configuration Manager 2007

DWG TrueView 2013 via Configuration Manager 2007

DWG TrueView 2013 via Configuration Manager 2012

Prerequisites

Create the Application

Create the Installation Deployment Type

Making an Uninstall Deployment Type

Setting up the Detection Method

Setup.EXE and Spawned Processes

Performance Optimization

Autodesk 360

Troubleshooting Tips

Investigating Deployment Issues

Forcing Windows Installer Logging

Troubleshooting Custom Deployments

Dave’s Troubleshooting Procedures

Communication Center / Information Center Issues

Restoring a Bad AutoCAD Profile

Forcing a Mandatory AutoCAD Profile

Restricted Users

Plotting Issues

Corrupted DWG Files

The PURGE Command

ObjectARX and Proxy Objects

Disappearing Dialogs

Converting DWG Formats

DWG vs. DWGx Files

Interoperability

Calling in the Big Guns

Environmental Changes

Server Changes

Printer and Plotter Changes

Product Service Packs, Updates, and Hot-fixes

Third-Party Add-Ons

Hardware Failures

Standalone License Activation

Network License Server and Client Changes

Facility Outages

Employee Changes

Packaging and Custom Automation Tools

CACLS and XCACLS

Comparing CACLS and XCACLS

REGINI

REG.exe

Microsoft Installer Clean-Up Utility

Sysinternals Utilities

PowerShell

Scripting Examples

CMD Script - Install AutoCAD 2013

Notes:

PowerShell Script - Install a Windows Installer Package

PowerShell Script - Install Multiple Windows Installer Packages

PowerShell Script - Install DWG TrueView 2013

What is a "Short" File or Folder Name?

Appendix A - Recommended Web Sites

Appendix B - Recommended Books

Appendix C - Helpful Blogs and Twitter Folks

Acknowledgements

Where You Can Find Me

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Book Update

I posted some gibberish a few weeks ago about another book project.  Well, I'm getting close to wrapping it up, so I thought I'd go ahead and blabber about it in case anyone has anything they'd like to comment on or any topics they'd like to see included in it.

The book is titled: The AutoCAD Network Administrator's Bible - 2013 Edition

I know: Not very creative or clever.  However, this is not a typical dust-off and rehash book.  I've been painstakingly re-writing it from start to end.  Some of the major changes included in this book:

• AutoCAD 2013 network deployments
• Design Review 2013 deployments
• DWG TrueView 2013 deployments

In addition, I've updated the deployment vector scenarios and included much more detail for each...

• Deployments with System Center Configuration Manager 2007
• Deployments with System Center Configuration Manager 2012
• Deployments with Active Directory Group Policy
• Deployments with Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) 2012
• Deployments with VBScript, CMD / Batch script, and PowerShell

There's still the familiar topics, which have been updated for the current product versions as well...

• Troubleshooting Tips
• FlexLM License Server architecture and implementation considerations
• Software Deployment strategies
• Tools:  Sysinternals, XCACLS, REGINI, MSICUU, REG, etc.
• Client Performance Optimization

As I've said before, if you have any particular ideas or topics you'd like to see included, post a comment and let me know.  I'm getting close to finishing it, but I'd still hold off for a good suggestion.  I'm looking forward to wrapping this project up so I can focus on my family and day job more as Fall sneaks into Virginia.

Cheers!

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Windows 8 on TechNet: Not so Great for TechEd folks

If you attended Microsft Tech-Ed North America 2012, in Orlando, Florida, you got a nice gift: A free, one-year subscription of TechNet Professional.  However, what you might not have realized is that there are quite a few "flavors" of TechNet Professional.  The one given out at Tech-Ed NA is "TechNet Professional (NFR)", or "not for resale".  This version, or "flavor" (my own term), doesn't allow access to the same downloads as many other "TechNet Professional" flavors.  For example...

Windows 8 and Windows 8 Enterprise is available for download to the following subscription levels:

TechNet for Action Pack
TechNet for Microsoft Competency Partners
TechNet for Microsoft Competency Partners (VL)
TechNet Plus Consumer Service Professional Pilot
TechNet Professional (Certified Partner)
TechNet Professional (NFR Bundle)
TechNet Professional (NFR FTE)
TechNet Professional (NFR MCT)
TechNet Professional (NFR MVP)
TechNet Professional (NFR)
TechNet Professional (Retail)
TechNet Professional (SA)
TechNet Professional (VL)
TechNet Professional with Media (Retail)
TechNet Professional with Media (VL)
TechNet Standard (Retail)
TechNet Standard (VL)

Windows 8 Pro is only available for download to the following subscription levels:

TechNet Professional (SA)
TechNet Professional (VL)
TechNet Professional with Media (VL)
TechNet Standard (VL)

The net result is that if you happen to be running Windows 7 Ultimate, and you'd like to try out the much-touted and improved "upgrade" for Windows 8, well, you can't.  Windows 7 Ultimate can only be "upgraded" to Windows 8 Professional, which is not available on your "NFR" subscription level.  So, your only options are:

• Do a full install of Windows 8 or Windows 8 Enterprise, and reinstall everything again
• Wait and buy the "Pro" version upgrade when it's available
• Upgrade your TechNet subscription level (for a nominal fee, of course)
• Stick with Windows 7 Ultimate

Bummer.

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Another Book

So, I had posted something about trying out a "different" kind of book several months ago.  I ended up scrapping that idea because I'm not up for that challenge (nor do I really have the time).

I have decided however, that I will do a follow-up to the AutoCAD Network Administrator's Bible, based on AutoCAD 2013 but this time mix in System Center Configuration Manager 2012.  I'm still dipping my toes into ConfigMgr 2012, so it will be interesting to see where it leads.

I any case, I am open to suggestions for topics or examples to cover in this book.  If you have something you'd like me to include that relates to the planning, deployment and administration of Autodesk products in a network environment, drop me a line at ds0934 (at) gmail (dot) com, and be sure to use the subject line "Book Suggestion" so my spam filters don't kill it immediately.

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