# Useful stuff to remember ... (MS Windows related)

Published: 2005-03-03

<p>Just to remind myself :)</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.labyrinth.net.au/~dbareis/makemsi.htm">MakeMSI - Make MSI based installation files</a> - If you have a nice <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/technologies/directory/activedirectory/default.mspx">Active Directory</a> to take care of, and a few thousand clients begging (not really) for new software, this might come in handy. I use it to prepare standard .exe setup files for <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/WindowsServ/2003/standard/proddocs/en-us/Default.asp?url=/resources/documentation/windowsserv/2003/standard/proddocs/en-us/ade.asp">Software Installation via GPO</a>. Word of advice, really test your scripts, use VM's (they help a lot ;) ), try the install and uninstall parts and ....well, deploy it, works like a charm :) . In my case, I have 18 sites throughout the country, one DC in each site, so I've assigned policies to each site and replicated the installation directories to the servers (mental note: write that damn sync script :) ) and apparently things are working fine and dandy, most people don't even notice the instalattion.</li>
<li>Speaking of syncronyzing/copying files in Windows, <a href="http://www.ss64.com/nt/robocopy.html">Robocopy</a> is a pretty nice tool (part of the <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=9d467a69-57ff-4ae7-96ee-b18c4790cffd&displaylang=en">Resource Kit</a>, you can Mirror directories, copy ACL's, everything, nice to keep around.</li>
<li>One reference site for looking up commands is mr. <a href="http://www.ss64.com/docs/about.html">Simon Sheppard</a>'s <a href="http://www.ss64.com/index.html">website</a>, very nice :)</li>
<li>And because Windows actually has command line stuff, this is/might be very very useful - <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/windows2000serv/maintain/featusability/wmic.mspx">Windows Management Instrumentation Command-line</a></li>
</ul>