Changing EXE's path on 100's PC's...efficiently?!

[sciclunam]

Hi all,

Hope someone can help me with this.

We have some applications which we have designed using VB6. The EXE's are found on the network:
For example //att/apps/app.exe


Now need to change the path to all exe's and make them for example //att_new/applications/app.exe

The problem is with the shortcuts to these exe users have. We have 500 computers all with this kind of shortcuts and even on remote sites. How can we change/edit/replace these shortcuts with the new ones efficiently?

Do we have to go in person and change them?

I thought of sending them the shortcuts by email and they detach them to overwrite the old ones but I`m worried with WINDOWS XP as if user replaces his shortcut, it won't be visible to other users who might log in the same pc!

I tghought of sending a bat file which uses an Administrator profile to do this job BUT I have concerns about sending the Administrator password in a batch file which is easily opened using notepad!

Can you suggest me how I shall go about this? I mean there must be a way. I wonder what bigger companies do with such a problem having 1000's of pc!

Thanks


Mario

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[benlinkknilneb]

Our company sent out a message, something like this:

We are changing _____. Your shortcuts will no longer work. Here is how you make the necessary changes:

1: blah blah blah

2: blah blah blah

...

You get the picture, I'm sure. Step by step. Where to click (for the users who just don't get it). Everything.

It seems to have worked pretty well for us... most people who use a computer at work can follow the instructions.

Ben

There's no place like 127.0.0.1.

 

[cyoung]

Why can't you use the login script that each PC runs when a user logs into the network to set the path to the app? (I assume that each user logs into a domain). By doing this, you will not need to send anything to a user via email.

Hope this helps

 

[sciclunam]

Yes cyoung, I also thought of that and will actually speak with the network people of our dept. But what about the XP profiles.

I mean when a user changes the shortcut on his desktop, and then another user logs in he won`t find it changed.

Does this mean that every user has to change the shortcut on every pc he might use?

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[DrJavaJoe]

Well, the login script should check to see if the shortcut has been changed and if not change it, so when a new user logs in his/her shortcut will not have been changed so it will change it.

"Two strings walk into a bar. The first string says to the bartender: 'Bartender, I'll have a beer. u.5n$x5t?*&4ru!2[sACC~ErJ'. The second string says: 'Pardon my friend, he isn't NULL terminated'."

 

[sciclunam]

DrJavaJoe, thanks. Should it be a VB application which fires within the login script?



Getting married in Malta?
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[DrJavaJoe]

Nope just a script file. I'm sure if you the search the VBScript forum, forum329, you'll find exactly what you are looking for. If not let us know. Though if you do find it post it here, it'll be a good conclusion to this thread and should be beneficial to others.

"Two strings walk into a bar. The first string says to the bartender: 'Bartender, I'll have a beer. u.5n$x5t?*&4ru!2[sACC~ErJ'. The second string says: 'Pardon my friend, he isn't NULL terminated'."

 

[JeffTullin]

Silly idea, but just in case this makes a mad kind of sense:

If the old server still exists, you could leave a stub program with the same name, at the old location that simply launches the real app from the right location and then kills itself.

(Rather like Windows 95 did for Write.EXE - I am pretty sure that they had a little program called Write.EXE that actually launched Wordpad.exe)