Showing results for February 2006 - Scripting Blog [archived]

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I re-launch Internet Explorer if no other instances are running?-- MT Hey, MT. Thanks for the question. You know, nowadays everyone picks on poor little Internet Explorer (even though the vast majority of Windows users still use Internet Explorer). But now we have a question from someone who wants to make sure that In...

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I disable a service?-- DS Hey, DS. You know, the Scripting Guys seem to have stumbled upon a great idea. In our last column, we showed people how to disable the LMHosts file. Today, we’re going to show everyone how to disable a service. If we continue down this path, we’ll soon have shown you how to disable everything...

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I prevent a computer from using the LMHosts file?-- MJ Hey, MJ. You know, this was an interesting one, at least for the Scripting Guys. Not because the script was hard to write; that was actually pretty easy. What was hard - at least for us - was to find the LMHosts setting in the Windows GUI; that’s something we need...

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I format an Excel spreadsheet so that it retains leading zeroes?-- AS Hey, AS. You know, one of the Scripting Guys still has nightmares about the number zero. Several years ago he got a phone call from a friend of his wondering if he’d be interested in helping coach a youth league basketball team (10- and 11-year-olds...

Hey, Scripting Guy! How can I truncate names to a maximum of 16 characters?-- BN Hey, BN. Brace yourself: it’s time for another trip down memory lane. When one of the Scripting Guys was going to college, he took a temporary summer job with the Green Giant Corporation, working in the office that oversaw the asparagus harvest in eastern Washington...