New Technology Reviews!.: Script

5 Ways To Clean Up Your Computer With An Automated Script [Windows]

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<img alt="automate computer cleanup" class="aligncenter" data-mce-src="http://www.new-technology-news.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/ace81bb0c1omated.png.png" src="http://www.new-technology-news.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/ace81bb0c1omated.png.png" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" />Computer maintenance isn’t exactly something that most people remember to do. For the general user that isn’t exactly tech savvy, when a computer doesn’t work, they either call for help or simply buy a new computer. 
If you have family members or friends that are always calling you for help with a slow computer, I’m going to offer you a solution that you can use to stop those phone calls right now. This solution incorporates six tools into a Windows script. That script is going to perform all of the PC cleanup work that you would do if you were sitting right in front of the computer yourself. 
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What This Script Will Accomplish</h2>
This Windows script is going to run the required tools in command line mode. Many of these tools that you’ve been using for years, you may not have even realized that there is a command-line mode available. 
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Clean Up Registry & Temp Folders</h3>
The first step is probably the most important. We’re going to launch CCleaner in command line mode to clean up temp files and the registry. 
One catch. In order to make this script work without constant notifications about the apps making computer changes, you’ll have to disable the User Account Control windows feature in Windows 7. 
<img alt="" data-mce-src="http://www.new-technology-news.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/02575440bbclean1.png.png" height="406" src="http://www.new-technology-news.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/02575440bbclean1.png.png" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px;" width="571" /> 
Now you’re ready to roll. Create a file called CleanComputer.wsf and start it off with the following script. 
<code></code> <code></code> 
<code>Option Explicit</code> <code>On Error Resume Next</code> 
<code>Dim WshShell</code> <code>Dim retVal</code> 
<code>set WshShell=CreateObject("WScript.Shell")</code> <code>WshShell.run "CCleaner.exe /AUTO"</code> 
Danny covered CCleaner recently, so you can see just what it is capable of and how much it can optimize your system. When you launch it in the script as shown above with the /AUTO flag, it’ll run invisible and it’ll use the settings you used when you last ran the application. You’ll see CCleaner.exe running in the Task Manager. 
<img alt="automate computer cleanup" data-mce-src="http://www.new-technology-news.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/e90acde374clean2.png.png" height="417" src="http://www.new-technology-news.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/e90acde374clean2.png.png" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px;" width="520" /> 
If you configure CCleaner beforehand, in auto mode it’ll automatically clean up temporary files, log files and your registry as well. 
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Clean Up Spyware</h3>
Next up is to take care of any spyware that might be running on the PC. My favorite tool for that is Spybot, and luckily Spybot also offers a command line feature. The one problem here is that the path to Spybot is full of spaces, which is hard to handle in a Windows Script shell command. 
So, create a .bat file with the following: 
<code>C:Program Files (x86)Spybot - Search & DestroySpybotSD.exe" /taskbarhide /autocheck /autofix /autoclose</code> <code>Exit</code> 
Save it as SpyBot.bat in the same directory as your Windows script. Then in the next line of your WSF file, add the following: 
<code>WshShell.run "spybot.bat"</code> 
Your Windows Script will launch your batch job that will launch Spybot in command-line mode. You will know it’s running when the Exe appears in the task manager. 
<img alt="script to clean temp files" data-mce-src="http://www.new-technology-news.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/8476248428clean3.png.png" height="410" src="http://www.new-technology-news.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/8476248428clean3.png.png" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px;" width="549" /> 
Those four parameters after the spybotsd.exe file  will run Spybot in silent mode, automatically remove any spyware found, and then automatically close. 
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Remove Malicious Software</h3>
In addition to anything Spybot catches, I also like to run the Microsoft Malicious Software removal tool. Download the executable from the “Microsoft Download Center” section, save it in your script directory as “malremove.exe” and then add the following line to your growing Windows Script. 
<code>WshShell.run "malremove.exe /Q /F:Y"</code> 
The /Q command tells the malware removal tool to run in quiet mode (no interface) and /F:Y tells it to forcibly remove any malware that it finds without any intervention required. The first time you run it during your initial testing, you’ll have to select the option for no warning the next time it runs. 
<img alt="script to clean temp files" data-mce-src="http://www.new-technology-news.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/38c6748fbaclean4.png.png" height="305" src="http://www.new-technology-news.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/38c6748fbaclean4.png.png" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px;" width="404" /> 
Here it is running in the background. 
<img alt="script to clean temp files" data-mce-src="http://www.new-technology-news.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/396b946e39lean31.png.png" height="410" src="http://www.new-technology-news.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/396b946e39lean31.png.png" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px;" width="549" /> 
So, we’ve covered most of what you’d probably do if you were there in person – run CCleaner to get rid of temporary Internet files and other temp files, remove spyware and malware, so what’s left? 
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Automate Disk Cleanup</h3>
Another common tool that can help computer performance is the Windows Disk Cleanup tool.  First you have to set it up. Go to Start -> Run and type: “cleanmgr /sageset:1“. The following window will appear. 
<img alt="computer clean up script" data-mce-src="http://www.new-technology-news.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/08501cc170clean6.png.png" height="472" src="http://www.new-technology-news.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/08501cc170clean6.png.png" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px;" width="385" /> 
Set up the items that you’d like your command line to automatically clean, and then click OK. This tells it that whenever you choose /sageset:1, to utilize the settings you’ve just created. Now, in your Windows Script, add the following line. 
<code>WshShell.run "Cleanmgr /sagerun:1"</code> 
This will run the Windows disk cleanup silently, using the settings you’ve just created. You can also install the latest Windows updates by first installing WuInstall.exe and adding this line. 
<code>WshShell.run "wuinstall.exe /install /reboot_if_needed"</code> 
And don’t forget to do a quick defrag of the hard drive by adding the following lines to the script. 
WshShell.run “Defrag volume c:” 
<code>WshShell.run "Defrag volume d:"</code> 
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Automate Virus Scan After Cleanup</h3>
Last, but definitely not least, you’ll also want to end your script by firing off a full virus scan. For example, I use Kaspersky, which offers its own set of command line parameters. 
In my case, I just add the following final line to my script. 
<code>WshShell.run "AVP.exe SCAN /ALL /i4"</code> 
And that kicks off the command window and runs through a full scan (which can take several hours). 
<img alt="automate computer cleanup" data-mce-src="http://www.new-technology-news.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/471039b09dirus51.png.png" height="293" src="http://www.new-technology-news.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/471039b09dirus51.png.png" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px;" width="580" /> 
Most other anti-virus providers out there offer similar command-line options. 
So, once you’ve added all of these lines, close out your Windows Script. 
<code>WScript.Quit</code> <code></code> <code></code> 
Once you’ve finished the procedure above and saved your file on the PC, just schedule the job to run on a regular basis (/Accessories/System Tools/Task Scheduler). Give the procedure above a try and see how well it works for you. 
Did it work well, and can you think of any other useful command line tasks that could also be added? Share your thoughts in the comments section below. 
Image Credit: Shutterstock 
<img alt="" data-mce-src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Makeuseof/~4/WyK5kjJoTyg" height="1" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Makeuseof/~4/WyK5kjJoTyg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px;" width="1" /> 
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5 Ways To Clean Up Your Computer With An Automated Script [Windows]

Computer maintenance isn’t exactly something that most people remember to do. For the general user that isn’t exactly tech savvy, when a c...

3 Ways To Open Applications & Windows Maximized With VB Script [Windows]

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<img alt="script to maximize a window" class="aligncenter" data-mce-src="http://www.new-technology-news.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/dba967a32cindows.png.png" src="http://www.new-technology-news.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/dba967a32cindows.png.png" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" />If there is one thing I love to do, it’s write VB scripts. Whether it’s a Windows Script file or a VBA script inside an application, scripting provides the ability to add functionality to applications where most other people would find limitations and roadblocks. 
One of the most common functions that I’ve found I use in many of my scripts is maximizing a window. This may be the launching of an application from a Windows script, or maybe launching an Excel or Word document in full-screen mode for display in a conference room, or as an application of sorts. 
The beauty of scripting is that you don’t have to be a programmer to do this, and you don’t have to have any special software installed. If you’re using a Windows computer, or any application that has a VBA back-end, you can make use of these functions. In this article I’m going to provide three examples of how you can maximize windows using VB scripts, but you can take what I’m going to show you here and use it throughout any other script that you might be building. 
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Launch Applications In Maximized Mode</h2>
Before we get started, I’m going to quickly show you how you can launch any application in maximized mode by writing a quick script that launches that program using the Windows Shell. 
There is a parameter in the Shell “Run” command where you can tell the application what mode to run in, and it will run it maximized. This is what the script looks like. <code></code> 
<code> <code></code></code> 
<code>Option Explicit</code><code>On Error Resume Next</code> 
<code>Dim WshShell</code><code>Dim retVal</code><code>Dim myPath</code> 
<code>set WshShell=CreateObject("WScript.Shell") retVal = WshShell.Run("C:tempfirefox", 3)</code> 
<code>WScript.Quit</code> 
<code></code> <code></code> 
You can substitute any program in the string where I currently have Firefox, and if the app allows for it. It’ll launch maximized. Some apps don’t. For example, this technique works for Firefox, but Chrome seems to have a mind of its own. Regardless, this script will work with most applications. 
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Open Documents Maximized in Word</h2>
To maximize any Word document, using nothing more than a command button in Word, you’ll need to enable Developer mode. To do this, click the Windows button and select Word Options at the bottom of the dropdown. In the Options menu, select “Show Developer tab in the Ribbon“. 
<img alt="script to maximize a window" data-mce-src="http://www.new-technology-news.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/575778e226rdmax1.png.png" height="388" src="http://www.new-technology-news.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/575778e226rdmax1.png.png" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px;" width="541" /> 
Now you can select the Developer menu item and make use of “design mode” where you can code awesome functionality into your Word documents. To create a button that can maximize the document to full-screen, just enable Design Mode, click on the Forms dropdown button and click on the button object. 
<img alt="script maximize window" data-mce-src="http://www.new-technology-news.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/07e86ae552rdmax2.png.png" height="370" src="http://www.new-technology-news.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/07e86ae552rdmax2.png.png" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px;" width="477" /> 
Place the button anywhere at all that you want in your document.  Right-click on the button, selectCommandButton Object and then click View Code. Now, there are two things you can do to maximize the window. You can either force the Windows application itself to maximize like this. 
<code>Application.WindowState = wdWindowStateMaximize</code> 
Or, you can make the entire document go full-screen and remove the header toolbars completely. 
<code>ActiveWindow.View.FullScreen = True</code> 
This puts the entire document in full-screen with only a ruler enabled (if you click on the ruler button in the upper left). To get out of full-screen mode, just tap the Escape key. 
<img alt="script maximize window" data-mce-src="http://www.new-technology-news.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/286b2f2b7frdmax3.png.png" height="344" src="http://www.new-technology-news.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/286b2f2b7frdmax3.png.png" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px;" width="574" /> 
What can this be used for? Well if you don’t have Microsoft Powerpoint, you can basically use this feature to  make use of Word as a similar display tool. To flip to the next page, you just scroll down the document. 
If you don’t want to use a command button and would rather have the document automatically open in this mode, just use the code above in the Document_Open() function. You can get to that function in the code editor by selecting “Document” in the left dropdown at the top of the code window, and “Open” on the right dropdown. 
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Open Spreadsheets Maximized In Excel</h2>
What you can do with VBA in Word, you can usually also do in Excel, except things are going to be just a little bit different. You can enable the Developer toolbar the same way you did in Word above, but when you add a button you’ll see that Excel wants you to apply a Macro. All you have to do is name a new Macro and click on the “New” button. That will put you into the code editor. 
<img alt="script maximize window" data-mce-src="http://www.new-technology-news.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/19f3fe82bcelmax4.png.png" height="435" src="http://www.new-technology-news.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/19f3fe82bcelmax4.png.png" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px;" width="516" /> 
This is where you’ll type the code to maximize the spreadsheet and remove the scrollbars. 
<img alt="script maximize" data-mce-src="http://www.new-technology-news.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/e2d300cf08elmax5.png.png" height="407" src="http://www.new-technology-news.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/e2d300cf08elmax5.png.png" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px;" width="562" /> 
If you’re not accustomed to coding in VBA, you’ll notice that many of the objects you can reference in your code are listed to the left. You can perform a number of actions on specific sheets and workbooks, and lots of the objects inside those sheets as well. In this case you’re referencing the entire Excel application itself. 
<code>Application.DisplayFullScreen = True</code> <code>Application.CommandBars("Worksheet Menu Bar").Enabled = False</code> 
You can perform a number of actions on specific sheets and workbooks, and lots of the objects inside those sheets as well. In this case you’re referencing the entire Excel application itself. This code will convert the Excel window to full screen mode and then entirely remove the menu bar at the top of the screen. 
<img alt="script to maximize a window" data-mce-src="http://www.new-technology-news.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/21c11cd396elmax6.png.png" height="394" src="http://www.new-technology-news.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/21c11cd396elmax6.png.png" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px;" width="482" /> 
Just like in Word, you can get out of this mode with the Escape key, and you can also use the same code in the  screen. You can also use this code in the Workbook_Open() or Worksheet_Activate() functions to enable full-screen mode without the need for a button. However you want to perform your script magic is up to you! 
So start up Notepad or MS Office and give these scripts a try. Did you think of some creative use for launching maximized applications? Share your experiences in the comments section below. 
Image Credit: Shutterstock 
<img alt="" data-mce-src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Makeuseof/~4/s5cTR4FFSF0" height="1" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Makeuseof/~4/s5cTR4FFSF0" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px;" width="1" /> 
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