SAPIEN Solutions

If you've sat in on any of my WMI related classes or conference sessions, I know you've heard me talk about using WBEMTest to test WMI connectivity and your WMI queries. WBEMTest has been around as part of Microsoft operating systems for a long time but many administrators have never heard of it. If you are troubleshooting a WMI related script this is the first place you should go, especially when troubleshooting remote server connections and alternate credentials. If you can't authenticate to the server using WBEMTest, your script is likely to fail as well. Usually if there is a connection error, the error message should lead you in the right direction. You should also use WBEMTest to test and refine your query. Once you know it works, then copy and paste it into your script (VBScript or PowerShell or anything else for that matter). If you script still has a problem, it is likely not your WMI query because you've already verified it works. I put together a short video demo on how to use WBEMTest. To start it, click Start - Run and type WBEMTEST. The video shows you the rest.   More »

I've posted a few zip files with my slides and demos from Techmentor NYC. You'll find the files in the Essentials section of ScriptingAnswers.com. Click…   More »

Sorry you didn't make it to the Big Apple for the last Techmentor conference. It was a small and intimate show which I always like because it is easier to talk with attendees and answer questions. Plus your odds are increased for all the freebies, include free books! Here's a taste of what you missed.   More »

I've been getting things ready for my next Techmentor appearance. This one is practically in my back yard. I'll be in NYC on Monday and Tuesday next week.   More »

The other day I posted a VBS function for getting drive utilization. It seems only fair to give PowerShell a chance to play.   More »

Here's another recent topic from the ScriptingAnswers.com forums which I thought I'd share. The forum members wanted to delete files if the drive utilization exceeded a certain threshold. Using Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) with VBScript I came up with something like this...   More »

You would think that by now Windows and Windows applications would be much better about cleaning up temporary files. But no. It is amazing how many files I still see in my %TEMP% directory. I've always operated under the assumption that any file in %TEMP% that was created or earlier than the time I last booted up is fair game for deletion. I finally got around to using PowerShell for this management task.   More »

I don't know how I missed this, but I hope I can find some time to squeeze it in tomorrow. I'm excited about setting up…   More »