On Windows Server 2000 and 2003, sometimes you might get a ton of Reds in the eventlog having to do with NTFRS as a Source. This is a nifty BuildingBlock for Wisdom which will repair the NTFRS (NT File Replication Service), according to Q290762 in the MS Knowledgebase. The buildingblock will allow you to perform both a Non-Authorative restore and an Authoriative restore.
Click the rarfile here to download it: 
Okay, so it’s not exactly Easter yet… Anyway, once in a while you come across an EasterEgg in software which is really fun to use. This is the case with RES Wisdom. Hidden in the console of RES Wisdom, you have two clandestine tasks at your disposal, respectively for playing audio on the target machine and opening/closing the CD tray. While there may be a 101 good uses for these tasks, there is obviously a wide margin for mischief ;-)
Btw, these tasks are most likely not supported by RES. Click here to read the article.
An article on all the neat stuff you can do behind the scenes with RES Wisdom has been long overdue This collection of tips and tricks for RES Wisdom have been gathered from the product help files, administrative guide, release notes and other publicly available sources. There are several topics covered in this article, specifically:
- How to enable debugging mode in RES Wisdom
- How to set the maximum connections on the Dispatcher
- Using the $workspace tag in Wisdom
- Scheduling Wisdom jobs from the commandline
- Wisdom Agent installation parameters
- Configuring environment variables to remain untranslated
- DB creation during an unattended installation of RES Wisdom
- The Wisdom @REPLACE function
- New input options for parameters
- Prepared4Embedded: New method for using Agents in an image
- Dealing with console lockout
Notice: This article has been updated with valuable information on Feb. 10th 2009.
Click here to read the full article.
Like the cover of the yellow books say: A reference for the rest of us! With the release of Wisdom 2009, RES made some changes to the way the products are licensed. This post is an attempt to clarify matters a bit, as it recently has become a red hot topic. The document describes both the agent and the connector licencing scheme, and there is a nifty calculator in the article to help you figure out your license needs and associated costs.
Click on the preview picture of the calculator below to read the complete article:
Ever since RES changed the tagline for Wisdom to RunBook automation for Windows, many of us did not have a clue what RunBook automation really was. If you still feel somewhat in the dark on this important matter, then you will be pleased to know that RES has sponsored RealTime Publishers to write 3 brand new articles. Have a look at below. Click on the image, for some very good information on the subject.
Note this is pretty high-level stuff. If you want the nuts and bolts, stick around… :) There might very well be coming more fun to do with Wisdom in a short while.
You can also download the PDF here: 
/TRG
Here’s the first posting in the Wisdom Buildingblock archive. This one contains some best practices for Servers and for Workstations. This is essentially just a bunch of stuff which made sense at the time, but hopefully you may have some use for it.
This file contains two buildingblocks which contains some nice registry fixes picked up along the way, which can make things somewhat easier for you. The Reghacks in these buildingblocks is just collections of relevant stuff that’s been googled over time. Slice and dice the modules as you like. The Workstation building block contains the following Reghacks
- Delete cached copies of roaming profiles. We all know what this one does, right?
- Disable the XP tour. Eliminates that pesky bubble which will bother new users the first 3 times they logon
- Remove VMware HGFS.dat (shared folder support) This thing has a nasty habbit of locking up profiles. Note: The HGFS reghack is disabled per default as you probably will need to change the Network Provider order so it matches your target environment
- Remove USB device checking. This removes the This Device Can Perform Faster message. This is a legacy setting back from VMware 5x as it didn’t support USB 2.0. You may however still find use for it
- Kill the indexing service on Vista. If you know where your s*** is, all this thing is gonna do is slow you down.
- Clean up StubPaths. This will remove the first-time config of IE, Outlook Express etc at first login. You’re probably going to use PowerFuse for this anyway, right?
- Reduce animation on .default profile. This can reduce the zoom effect when the PowerFuse loader screen pops up (not tested completely) but give it a whirl
The Server Best Practices module contains:
- Disable the Shutdown Event Tracker. Yeah yeah, lot’s of good reasons to keep it, but if you hate to answer why you want to reboot your server, this is for you.
- Disable print spooler logging stuff to the eventlog
- Disable the Manage Your Server thing from popping up the first time you log in
- Delete the HKLM shadow keys (see the module for more info)
- Clean out specific citrix stuff from the HKLM Run key, such as Java update and the Icabar.
- Clean up the stub paths, same as the workstation module.
On a side note, RESguru.com now has two new co-authors!
/TRG
Automation Manager, BuildingBlocks | RESguru | 
February 13, 2009 00:57 | 
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