Posted by Shane Corellian on Wed, Aug 25, 2010
We have added some sick features to Admin Arsenal in version 1.5.
My favorite is the ability to extend the Admin Arsenal Tools menu by adding your own Custom Tools. A Custom Tool is a command that exists on the Admin Arsenal console machine. When the Custom tool is selected (either from the Tools menu or a keyboard shortcut that you assign) the command is executed along with any respective command line arguments.
Want to be able to automatically go to the C$ of a target computer? Go to your Admin Arsenal Preferences and, in the Custom Tools pane, add the following line:
Open C$ Share=explorer.exe "\\%TARGET%\C$"
The syntax for a custom tool line is
Name [;keyboard shortcut]=command [ARGS]
Admin Arsenal will contain the computer name in the %TARGET% variable.
If you use DameWare Mini Remote Control, you can have initiate a Remote Control session from within Admin Arsenal by adding a custom tool entry like this:
DameWare Remote Control;CTRL+ALT+Z="C:\Program Files (x86)\DameWare Development\DameWare Mini Remote Control\dwrcc.exe" -m:%TARGET% -a:1
See additonal arguments that can be passed to DameWare Mini Remote Control.
Would you like to automatically connect to a network registry? Feel free to download one of our free utilities called StartReg.exe. Place this file on your Admin Arsenal console machine and add the following line to your custom tools:
Connect Remote Registry;CTRL+SHIFT+E="StartReg.exe" %TARGET%
In the above example I didn't pass the Path for StartReg.exe because I put it in my System32 directory which is, obviously, included in my PATH variable.
See a Video example on Admin Arsenal's YouTube Channel
Note: Any download from our Free Utilities is not supported and is provided without warranty of any kind.
Posted by Shawn Anderson on Tue, Aug 03, 2010
We are pleased to announce the newest addition to our product line for Windows System Administrators – PDQ Deploy.
PDQ Deploy provides a fast, and easy way to meet basic software deployment needs. And it’s FREE! With PDQ Deploy you can:
- Deploy MSI, MSP, MSU, EXE and Batch installers
- Use with or without Active Directory
- Remotely deploy to multiple computers at the same time
- Use different authentication for different deployments
- Save installations for future use
- Troubleshoot failed deployments
You can watch an introductory video of PDQ Deploy here.
Our goal is to get PDQ Deploy into as many Sys Admins’ hands, as possible. So download a copy today and start to see all the things you can do with software deployment. And did we mention that it’s FREE?!?
Please let us know what you think! We are always open to your ideas for improving our products.
Follow me on Twitter @ShawnAnderson
Posted by Adam Ruth on Wed, Jun 09, 2010
Photo by Lara604
I've just finished writing a new White Paper dealing with Source Control. As a software developer I've come to live and die by the quality of my source code control software and practices. I find, though, that system administrators don't use source control nearly as much, even though they deal with scads of text files that can be very effectively managed.
Source control is a very large topic, and it can get especially complex when dealing with various branching versions of a code base and many developers. However, this complexity just isn't necessary for system administrators. Most source control systems can be brought to bear in a single user, single brach scenario allowing typical system administrators to reap a large number of benefits quite easily. Hopefully this white paper will help people to disentangle the unnecessary complexity from the valuable bits so that they can get some value from their own source control set up.
If it's something of interest, please give it a read and please let me know if you think there's something that could be added or changed. I'd love to make it as relevant to the sysadmin community as possible.
Follow me on Twitter @AdamRuth
Posted by Shawn Anderson on Mon, Jun 07, 2010
We are pleased to announce the beta test for our newest product, PDQ Deploy. An advanced companion product, PDQ Deploy Pro, is tentatively scheduled to start beta in July 2010.
As we've learned over the past three years, most of our customers use Admin Arsenal to remotely install software to all of their computers. By far and away the most common enhancement requests center around software deployment. We've listened and we are excited about the results.
PDQ Deploy
PDQ Deploy provides a fast, easy way to meet your basic software deployment needs. And it's FREE! With PDQ Deploy you can:
Deploy MSI, MSP, MSU, EXE and Batch installers
- Use with or without Active Directory
Deploy to multiple computers at the same time
Use different authentication for different deployments
Save installations for future use
- Troubleshoot failed deployments
PDQ Deploy Pro
A more advanced and complete software deployment tool, PDQ Deploy Pro includes everything above, plus it allows you to:
Let's wrap up with a little more info.
Q: What's going to happen with Admin Arsenal, the product?
A: It's still here. It's supported and is a great way to enhance your IT toolset. For those who need software and hardware reporting, monitoring, and remote commands, Admin Arsenal is still here for you.
Q: What's different about software deployment in Admin Arsenal vs. PDQ Deploy?
A: A lot, actually. PDQ Deploy does not require Active Directory, and it's soley a tool for deploying software remotely. Since it only does deployment you will see future releases coming in shorter intervals.
Q: Why will PDQ Deploy be free?
A: A no-cost product allows us to get it into the hands of more people, faster.
Q: Why use PDQ Deploy Pro?
A: Some adminsitrators will be happy with the basic free version (PDQ Deploy), while others will see the benefit of scheduled deployments, multi-user ability, and more control over the configuration that PDQ Deploy Pro provides.
Q: When will these products be available?
A: We plan on starting beta testing of PDQ Deploy in June, 2010, and PDQ Deploy Pro in July.
Q: How can I participate in the beta?
A: You may request to become a PDQ Deploy beta tester here.
Follow me on Twitter
@ShawnAndersonJoin our
LinkedIn Software Deployment Group.
Posted by Adam Ruth on Mon, Apr 05, 2010
Photo by mkis
Microsoft recently announced
Service Pack 1 for Windows 7 and Server 2008 R2. They didn't provide any dates, but they did say it was coming soon. There won't be many new features, mostly bug fixes, but that's what I've come to expect from service packs.
What I can see this meaning for most organizations is the removal of the last big objection to migrating to Windows 7. It is a prudent stance to wait for the first service pack before migrating to give time for any problems to be ironed out, but SP1 is usually the event that signals the end of that waiting period. With Windows 7 SP 1 available there really won't be many reasons left to not take that final step away from Windows XP.
One thing that I'm looking forward to trying is the new
RemoteFX remote desktop functionality in SP1 (pretty much the only new feature.) I don't think I'll have a lot of use for it myself since I mostly use remote desktop for administrative purposes, but I can see possibly using it for development work since the current remote desktop is a bit too sluggish for me to run Visual Studio on a regular basis. This may finally bring the potential of centralized computing to the masses.
Posted by The Admin Arsenal Team on Fri, Jan 22, 2010
Author: Shane Corellian
What 3 words define the home theatre system of the 1980's?
Listening to the TWiT episode 231 (titled Be Kind, Rewind) I heard that Microsoft is now offering "rented" copies of Windows and Office.
Extracted from Mary-Jo Foley's ZDNet article.
"The new rental option “could give a boost to Internet cafes, companies renting rather than buying computers, etc.,” DeGroot said. “It also could be good for seasonal businesses who could rent additional PCs for a short time, then send them back.
To attract interest in the new rental program, Microsoft is offering a promotion (through the end of June 2010), via which a rental version of Office Professional is available for $58 (regularly $83 via volume discount pricing). Office Standard (rental) is available for $45 per copy (as opposed to $64 per copy regularly.) Windows is available for $23 per copy (as opposed to $32 per copy), DeGroot noted."
At least these rentals won't have the problem that plagued rented VHS copies of Basic Instinct where one particular scene had been paused so much and so often it was, well, unwatchable. (or so I, ahem, hear).