TSRunLogoff Another Freeware Utility from Ctrl-Alt-Del

Hi All

Between our many clients and the thin community, I’ve been given a lot of challenges so far this year. Following hot on the heals of TSKaaSplat, TSKaapop, and TSKaapow, the house of Ctrl-Alt-Del IT Consultancy is proud to offer another freeware utility that should be of use to everyone.

TSRunLogoff is the latest edition to the CAD Util Pack and it allows you to run an application and then a logoff script through one command.

As always download it from here: http://www.ctrl-alt-del.com.au/CAD_TSUtils.htm

TSRunLogoff is a command-line utility to run a single application from one command with the additional function to run a logoff script upon exiting the initial application.

This utility was written to allow a single call to launch an application in its own process, and on closing that application, a logoff script is executed to perform additional clean up tasks or post application processes. TSRunLogoff with its parameters can exist as a shortcut on the desktop, can be run in a script, or published as a single application. TSRunLogoff will work as a
Seamless Published application in a Citrix environment. If single applications are launched via TSRunLogoff in a Seamless environment, the session will close after it has completed the processing of the logoff script as defined in the command line.

TSRunLogoff does not require a special logoff command in the provided script. On closing of the initial application, the provided script will run in a hidden state and the user is presented with a small status window, identifying that the logoff process is underway. On completion of the script, the session will be logged off.

Usage:
TSRunLogoff [[PATH][Application] [[PATH][Scriptname].] [/?]

PATH - Path to the Application
Application - Application Executable
PATH - Path to the script
Scriptname - Script executable - can be .bat,.cmd, or any executable process.
/? - Show this help file

TSRunLogoff without parameters will display this help file.

NOTE: If a PATH or Application does not exist, TSRunLogoff will
terminate at that point. The first parameter must be the initial
application to run.

E.G. TSRunLogoff "c:\Program Files\Office11\EXCEL.EXE" myscript.cmd

This command will launch MS Excel. When MS Excel is closedby the user, the system will then run myscript.cmd until complete and finally logoff the session.

This utility is FREEWARE and was written by Warren Simondson of Ctrl-Alt-Del IT Consultancy, Australia. www.ctrl-alt-del.com.au

Although written for Terminal Server and Citrix environments, this application will function on non-TS/Citrix workstations and servers. This application has been tested on the following platforms:

Windows 2008 Server
Windows 2003 Server SP1 w/ Citrix PS 4.0/ XA 5.0
Windows 2003 Server SP1 (Terminal Server Application Mode)
Windows 2000 Server SP4 w/ Citrix MF XP
Windows 2000 Server SP4 (Terminal Server Application Mode)
Windows 2000 Server SP4 w/ Citrix MF 1.8

The freeware version is offered AS IS. Ctrl-Alt-Del IT Consultancy has made
every effort possible to ensure that TSRunLogoff is free of any bugs or errors,
however in no way is TSRunLogoff to be considered error or bug free.
You assume all responsibility for any damages or lost data that may result
from any errors or bugs in TSRunLogoff.

IN NO EVENT WILL CTRL-ALT-DEL IT CONSULTANCY BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY GENERAL,
SPECIAL, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, INCIDENTAL OR OTHER DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF
THIS PRODUCT.


--
Warren Simondson

Ctrl-Alt-Del IT Consultancy Pty Ltd
Website: http://www.ctrl-alt-del.com.au

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Download Pick: TSKaasplat - Close and clean processes after exiting Citrix or Terminal Server Session

Warren Simondson at Ctrl-Alt-Del has come up with another brilliant utility to solve an issue that one user was having on the Thin List.

TSKaasplat is a command-line utility to run a single application from onecommand with the further ability to close other given processes on exitingthe initial application.

It can be download from http://www.ctrl-alt-del.com.au

This utility was written to allow a single call to launch an applicationin its own process, and on closing that application, other processes within the same sessions, as specified in the command line, can be terminated simutaneously.

TSKaasplat with its parameters can exist as a shortcut on the desktop, can be run in a script, or published as a single application.

TSKaasplat will work as a Seamless Published application in a Citrix environment. If single applications are launched via TSKaasplat in a Seamless environment, the session will close after it has terminated the given processes as listed in the command line.If for example, notepad.exe is launched via TSKaasplat as the first parameter, and calc.exe and excel.exe are listed as processes to be terminated upon notepad.exe closing, then when the user closes notepad in the normal fashion, calc and excel will be terminated. If this command was presented
as a published application in Citrix or directly called from a TerminalServices Client, then the session will also close.

Usage: TSKaasplat [[PATH][Application] [Processname *] ...] [/?]

PATH - Path to the Application
Application - Application Executable
Processname - Process name to kill on exiting the application.
* - Kill all session processes on exiting the application and logoff.
/? - Show this help fileTSKaasplat without parameters will display this help file.

NOTE: If a PATH or Application does not exist, TSKaasplat willt erminate at that point.

The first parameter must be the initial application to run.E.G.

TSKaasplat "c:\Program Files\Office11\EXCEL.EXE" notepad.exe calc.exe

This command will launch MS Excel. When MS Excel is closedby the user, the system will then look for any processes of notepad.exe and calc.exe running in the same session and terminate them if they exist.
E.G. TSKaasplat "c:\Program Files\Office11\EXCEL.EXE" *

This command will launch MS Excel. When MS Excel is closed by the user, the system will then look for any other processesrunning in that session, terminate them and logoff the session

This utility is FREEWARE and was written by Warren Simondson ofCtrl-Alt-Del IT Consultancy, Australia. www.ctrl-alt-del.com.au

Although written for Terminal Server and Citrix environments, this application will function on non-TS/Citrix workstations and servers.This application has been tested on the following platforms:
Windows 2008 Server
Windows 2003 Server SP1 w/ Citrix PS 4.0/ XA 5.0
Windows 2003 Server SP1 (Terminal Server Application Mode)
Windows 2000 Server SP4 w/ Citrix MF XP
Windows 2000 Server SP4 (Terminal Server Application Mode)
Windows 2000 Server SP4 w/ Citrix MF 1.8

The freeware version is offered AS IS. Ctrl-Alt-Del IT Consultancy has madeevery effort possible to ensure that TSKaasplat is free of any bugs or errors,however in no way is TSKaasplat to be considered error or bug free.

You assume all responsibility for any damages or lost data that may resultfrom any errors or bugs in TSKaasplat.

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Download Pick: Project Virtual Reality Check

Hi All
Just received the following from Ruben Spruijt

Today we (Jeroen and I) are very proud to finally announce the official launch of “Project: Virtual Reality Check” (VRC).

This is a independent research joint venture between our companies Login Consultants and PQR. The primary purpose of VRC is to release multiple whitepapers to provide information about the scalability and best practices of virtualized Terminal Server and Desktop workloads. The first phase of Project VRC on virtualizing Windows XP and 32-bit Windows 2003 Terminal Services on ESX, XenServer and Hyper-V.

The whitepapers can be downloaded freely from www.virtualrealitycheck.net.;

The goal of Project VRC is to investigate, validate and give answers to the following questions:
How does various Microsoft Windows Client OS’s scale as a virtual desktop?
How does a VDI infrastructure scale in comparison (virtualized) Terminal Server?
Which performance optimization on the host and guest virtualization level can be configured, and what is the impact of these settings on user density?
With the introduction of the latest hypervisor technologies, can we now recommend running large scale TS/CTX workloads on a virtualization platform?
How do the two usage scenarios compare, that is Microsoft Terminal Server [TS] only, versus TS plus XenApp?
How do x86 and x64 TS platforms compare in scalability on bare metal and virtualized environments?
What is the best way to partition (memory and vCPU) the Virtual Machines the hypervisor host, to achieve the highest possible user density?

All together over 150 test have been carried out. However, project VRC is not finished, and probably never will be. Additional publications are planned about virtualizing x64 workloads and the other (Vista and Windows 7) client OS’s. Also, we look forward to evaluate new innovations in the hypervisor, broker and hardware arena.

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Download Pick: WMI Script to execute Delprof on your Citrix server remotely from your desktop

Ever have to remotely reboot a hung Citrix server that had users on it and then have to connect back to it to delete the stuck profiles on it once it came back up?

Here is a blog posting I found that has a WMI script to remotely run Delprof on your server from your desktop. Save the script to your desktop and click on the icon to run it. Just put the server name into the popup and it will perform the action. No // required.

The Blog posting describing the script is here:
http://sogeeky.blogspot.com/2007/03/vbscript-execute-process-remotely-with.html

And he has the link to the entire script which you may not pick up right away in the article to download which is here

http://rajeshkmr.googlepages.com/DelProf.v2.vbs


I tested it from my Vista Machine and it works great! Nicely done!

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Download Pick: TSSelfServReset Allow Citrix / Terminal Services users to reset their own sessions

Received the following from Warren Simondson at ctrl-alt.del.com.au about his latest utility.
Hi All

This is the last of the new free applications I have been working on over the New Years break.I was able to spend a few minutes here and there finishing them off whilst our customers took aholiday – but now their back!The latest offering from the house of Ctrl-Alt-Del IT Consultancy is TSSelfServReset.

As always download it from http://www.ctrl-alt-del.com.au/CAD_TSUtils.htm
(check out all the other great utilities while you are there)

TSSelfServReset is a standalone Windows GUI tool designed to allow users within a domain, the ability to manage their own Terminal Services/ Citrixs essions from a single location. This application is designed to enable a user to logoff or reset any TS/ Citrix Session that belongs to them in the specified domain. Additionally, processes within those sessions can beterminated should they be hung or simply not required.This utility was written for the purpose of allowing users to terminate their own frozen session/s or processes within a Terminal Services/ CitrixEnvironment.

This in turn should reduce the requirement of helpdesk staff to complete the same task, thus freeing up resources for other matters.The TSSelfServReset GUI lists all the current user's sessions and associated processes, noting the state of the connection and the server/s which it resides. The user's details and domain name are encoded into the application therefore only allowing the user to view and manage their own session details.It is recommended that this application should be run from either a workstation within a domain, a Terminal Server/ Citrix Server that is not used for general applications, or as a Published Application on a Citrix Server in isolation.

TSSelfServReset is intended that it should be run separately from the current user's session to ensure that existing sessions in a hung state can be reset. After correct user training of TSSelfServReset, helpdesk calls can be significantly reduced by allowing users to terminate unresponsive sessions and applications, without the concerns that the user canterminate other processes not running in their session.

Although written for Terminal Server and Citrix environments, this application will function on non-TS/Citrix workstations and servers.

This application has been tested on the following platforms:

Windows 2003 Server SP1Windows 2003 Server SP1 w/ Citrix PS 4.0
Windows 2003 Server SP1 (Terminal Server Application Mode)
Windows 2000 Server SP4Windows 2000 Server SP4 w/ Citrix MF XP
Windows 2000 Server SP4 (Terminal Server Application Mode)
Windows 2000 Server SP4 w/ Citrix MF 1.8Windows XP Professional (domain member)

This utility is FREEWARE and was written by Warren Simondson ofCtrl-Alt-Del IT Consultancy, Australia. www.ctrl-alt-del.com.au The freeware version is offered AS IS. Ctrl-Alt-Del IT Consultancy has made every effort possible to ensure that TSSelfServReset is free of any bugs or errors, however in no way is TSSelfServReset to be considered error or bug free. You assume all responsibility for any damages or lost data that may result from any errors or bugs in TSSelfServReset.

IN NO EVENT WILL CTRL-ALT-DEL IT CONSULTANCY BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY GENERAL,SPECIAL, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL,INCIDENTAL OR OTHER DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THIS PRODUCT.

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Server 2008 / Vista Hotfix for Unable to log you on because your profile could not be loaded, please contact your administrator

Image via CrunchBase

If you have been using Windows Server 2008 or Windows Vista on a network with roaming profiles for any period of time you most likely have gotten the error "Unable to log you on because your profile could not be loaded, please contact your administrator" when trying to log on to the PC at some point or another.

The error occurs because of a profile corruption. There is a workaround to this issue by deleting the .bak hive profile key in the registry for the user or you could install a pre Vista SP2 hotfix released by Microsoft to resolve the problem.

The kb for the issue is here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/960464/

You must request the hotfix from Microsoft but it is a simple thing. Click the link at the top of the article that reads View and request hotfix download that will take you to the following link:
http://support.microsoft.com/hotfix/KBHotfix.aspx?kbnum=960464&kbln=en-us

Agree to the terms and conditions, enter in your email address and Microsoft will send you an email with the download link to the hotfix at the bottom of the email along with a password. You can download the fix and you will need to enter the password from the email Microsoft sent you to extract the hotfix.

Until Vista Service Pack 2 is released this is one that is probably going to bite you so you probably want to get it.

One very good website to follow and keep up on Microsoft Knowledge base articles and hotfixes for ALL of their software and hardware products is http://kbupdate.info/

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• Vista SP2 release candidate gets public airing (theregister.co.uk)

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Don't Shout at your Hard Disks People!

I picked this up off of The Register. Apparently shouting at your hard disks really does upset them. According to Sun's Fishworks engineer Brendan Gregg, who explains just how to upset your drive on his blog and with the obligatory YouTube video:

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Year end Compilation Videos Go Viral

Well 2008 is at an end and none too soon! Several people have made video compilations to chronicle the year. Here are a few.

Uncle Jay is out with his Musical year end extravaganza.


And Jay Leno premiered the Jib Jab one that is very funny featuring baby new year which is hilarious and is a must see here.


And the web isn't without it's top 2008 lists but my favorite is the top 20 Mugshots of the year over at The Smoking Gun.
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2008/1217081mugyear1.html?rss

And here is a link on Boston.com that has a fabulous review of the year in pictures:
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/12/the_year_2008_in_photographs_p.html

Here is to a better 2009 for us all! Happy New Year

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