Remotely Uninstall Software

At my company I set up and started using System Center Essentials 2007 a few months ago.

During that initial test (and what I believed was going to be our final configuration - this is before we did our domain rename and hosed it all up) I added desktops and servers to be monitored.

We renamed our domain and all of those servers and desktops had to have their SCE agent uninstalled and reinstalled.

Here's how I uninstalled the original agents so that they can be monitored again using the correct FQDNs:

• I did a Google search for how to uninstall software remotely.  I came across the command "msiexec" which people use to install or uninstall programs on the local computer with a reference to the programs GUID.  I also found "psexec" (a sysinternal tool) that lets me execute commands on a remote computer.
  
• I did another search for a VBS script to get the software install on the remote computer.  I needed one that gave me the GUID of the packages that were installed so I could pass it to msiexec.
  
• I found one on Microsoft's site and created my VBS file.
  
• I created a batch file that would be executed on the remote computers that used msiexec.
  

Here's what my batch file looked like ("uninstall SCE stuff.bat" to be precise :)):

msiexec.exe /norestart /qn /x {11447AB1-2B37-49D3-9963-2ACDFA06E04B} remove=all

msiexec.exe /norestart /qn /x {E7600A9C-6782-4221-984E-AB89C780DC2D} remove=all

If you look up the command line options for msiexec.exe you'll know what each of those options means.  Quickly though, the /norestart obviously causes a "no restart" (not that these packages require it...but just to be safe), the /qn does the uninstall quitely with no user interaction or windows, and the /x does the uninstall.  Also note the GUID after the /x (one for the "System Center Essentials Agent" and one for the "Configuration Helper").

On my desktop I issued the following command:

psexec \\remotecomputer -c "uninstall SCE stuff.bat"

After a few seconds the 2 packages were uninstalled.  I typed "\\remotecomputer\c$\Program Files" to get to the remote computer's "Program Files" and then deleted the "System Center Essentials 2007" folder.

I went back into the SCE console and attempted to reinstall the agents.  Boo yah!  Worked like a charm!

It's really nice being able to administer those kinds of things remotely so I don't have to bother my users!

3 quick reasons why I love Vista

Here we go:

1. Pre-calculated file copies: If you're copying files to a CD, DVD, flash drive, etc. Vista calculates the size of your copy and makes sure there is enough space before it begins to copy (remembered this after upgrading the last of my XP computers at work).
2. Subdirectory searching for drivers: Download some drivers for something and don't feel like figuring out the exact directory (or can't)?  When you tell Vista to search for drivers locally it can search subdirectories saving lots of time and hassle.
3. Clickable Folder Path: In Windows Explorer the directory path is clickable allowing you to go down a folder or back a few very quickly (see "Solution 1" here).  I'm pretty sure this is a feature of many Linux file explorers but I won't go into that now. :)

DVD Drive could not be started

Man I love the Internet (and Vista)!

Whenever you have a problem with something, a good Googling will get you the answer.

The DVD burner in my work computer basically out of the blue stopped working and I wasn't sure why.  I found this link that had me modify my registry to remove the lower and upper filters for the drive.  After doing that I uninstalled the drive in Device Manager and scanned for hardware changes and Vista reinstalled it for me.

Nasty virus going around

I have had a few people ask me about a virus/malware thing going around called "XP 2008" or something that changes your desktop wallpaper to be a warning about "viruses" it "found".  It also edits your registry to make it so you can't change your desktop background off of their warning message.

I did a search for "desktop missing 'Display Properties" xp' and it came back with this.

I ran msconfig to find what was starting up when the computer booted and went to delete those files while in safe mode (named something like "rhc3cwj0er1e.exe" and "lphc7cwj0er1e.exe").

So, if you're experiencing this (the computers are basically unusable unless in safe mode) I hope these steps help.

System Center Essentials and Computer Inventory

It works! Thank the Lord! Eric Zhang from Microsoft answered my post and now I have computer inventory!!!

Check it out here.

System Center Data Protection Manager 2007 Feature Pack (x64)

System Center Data Protection Manager 2007 Feature Pack (x64): http://tinyurl.com/5qezmy

SQL 2008 Express RTM

A boo yah: http://tinyurl.com/6dv3vz

Runtime error 21 at {hex value} caused by ncsjapi32.exe

I have a user who kept getting a pop-up in Windows that said "Runtime error 21 at {hex value}".

Every time the box would pop up ncsjapi32.exe would show up in the task manager. I found an article that says to boot into safe mode and delete the .exe from c:\windows\system32\splm\.

This .exe is "installed" when a user is browsing Facebook, clicks on a link in someone's wall, and then is taken to some sort of animation page.

When I first started using Facebook "back in the day" before new profiles and those stupid boxes I was never worried about spyware or viruses. I think it's sad that that kind of thing has to show up on such a popular site (and is the reason I stopped using MySpace).

I hope this helps someone else out!

Installing Live Communication Server 2007 after a domain rename

I found this excellent post on how to remove LCS 2005 AD objects so I could install LCS 2007 after our domain rename this past weekend.

I also found this excellent post on how to configure the internal address for the address book (after at least 5 solid hours of Googling and trying things).

CRM 4.0 Issues

We upgraded to CRM 4.0 a couple of weeks ago and are still having some difficulties getting it working 100%.

Here's a link that references one of our issues with users and their Outlook hanging when loading Outlook because of the CRM for Outlook addin.

System Center Essentials Client Setup

I couldn't get my client set up on my desktop (so I could remotely manage the SCE stuff).

Found this post (had me copy the certificates over to my desktop from the server).

Send As vs. Send on Behalf

I have a user who sends marketing e-mails out during the week.

Here is a great article on how to configure "Send As" and "Send on Behalf of" for users.

IIS 7 and Server 2008

We set up a Barracuda Load Balancer tonight and Windows Web Server 2008 with IIS7.

We had an issue where we were unable to get Reporting Services to work in IIS7. We found the following here.

More to come later...

Formatting Characters in Outlook 2007

I had a user today who asked me about the formatting shapes (the paragraph, tab, etc.) that showed up "mysteriously" in his Outlook.

I think he must've pressed some funky key combination...but here's what I found:

1. Click the Office button in the top right corner



2. Go to "Editor Options"


3. Go to "Display" and then uncheck everything.

Dynamics CRM Upgrade to SQL 2005

We are upgrading our CRM 3.0 from SQL 2000 to SQL 2005. I found a great article here that will probably help, but I'll have to update later on how it goes.

It seems straightforward enough that you'd be able to back up the databases and then restore them on SQL 2005, but we'll have to see.

Back later with more...

Vista SP1 and Server 2008 RTM

I have already installed Windows Server 2008 on an x64 desktop just to mess with it and already love it.

I also attended a Microsoft Event yesterday which talked about Bitlocker and Network Access Protection.

Pretty cool stuff!

Update Rollup 2 for CRM 3.0

Woohoo! Tons of hotfixes and updates in the "Update Rollup 2 for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0".

Click here to download the client and server updates.

Vista Deployment Using System Image Manager

Today I began setting up a Vista image with an Autounattend.xml file.

I was having some difficulties getting the disk in my "technician desktop" to be recognized but I've fixed that issue using this blog entry.

More updates later...

More updates...
I found this amazing link on a quick walk through of how to use the SIM.

Microsoft CRM Client for Outlook Install Issue

I finally found a great link (with screenshots) on how to resolve a CRM installation issue I was getting when installing the CRM Client for Outlook Offline-Enabled version.

Here it is...

After a few minutes of trying to get that setup to work, I re-googled and found that you can try running the install from the CD instead of the ISO image through a virtual CD drive. I had previously burned the ISO to a disk so I went to get that, put it in the drive, and ran setup.

It worked perfectly!