Subscribe via e-mail: In my last article, I gave a general introduction to AutoAdministrator, a nifty tool that lets you automate all kinds of Windows administrator tasks. Now let’s have a closer look at AutoAdministrator’s functions.
Online Status
Before you perform a particular action, it is advisable to check whether the relevant computers are available. With AutoAdministrator, you can ping any number of computers with just two mouse clicks. You can configure the packet count, the packet size, the required success rate, and the maximum roundtrip time. The latter two options determine whether a machine is flagged as available or whether you receive an error message.
Services
This function is certainly one of AutoAdministrator’s highlights. Managing system services on multiple machines is a feature that many expensive system management solutions lack. AutoAdministrator enables you to query, start, stop, continue, pause, and restart services. Furthermore, you can configure the startup type remotely. You can, for example, use this feature to set the startup type of the Remote Registry service on all your machines to automatic, to ensure that you can use all of the features of AutoAdministrator. It is also possible to remove services, or to configure their logon account.
AutoAdministrator displays only services that are available on the computer where AutoAdministrator has been installed. However, if you want to remotely configure the services of third party applications that are not installed on your PC, you can just enter the service name. You can find the service name in the service properties. Don’t mix it up with the display name.
Registry
Another useful feature of AutoAdministrator is its remote registry editing function. You can add or change the value of the registry key types REG_DWORD, REG_SZ, and REG_EXPAND_SZ on multiple machines, regardless of the Windows version they employ. You can also read, delete, or copy REG_DWORD keys or values. AutoAdministrator doesn’t, however, allow you to browse the registry. That is, you have to know the exact key name you want to edit. I recommend using the copy key name function of Windows’ registry editor. This way, you can just copy and paste those long key paths. Make sure that you delete the main key (e.g. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE), which is provided by AutoAdministrator.
File Management
AutoAdministrator’s File Management feature enables you to send files to multiple remote computers. Similar tasks are usually accomplished by using login scripts. The advantage of using AutoAdministrator instead is that you can copy files with admin rights to any location without much hassle. Moreover, you can be sure that the files reach their destination without delay. AutoAdministrator is able to create a directory structure automatically if it is not yet available on the remote machines. You can also configure it to overwrite existing files.
File Information
The File Information function allows you to query file meta-data on multiple remote machines. You can retrieve the size, attributes, modification time, version, company, and description of any specific file. AutoAdministrator also enables you to calculate several checksums (CRC-32, MD5, SHA-1, SHA-256). There are a number of situations in which this feature can prove to be very useful. For instance, if there is a virus outbreak for which your anti-virus software doesn’t yet have the appropriate signatures, you can identify the machines that have been infected by using AutoAdministrator, and then use its file management feature to overwrite the infected files.
Logons
With this feature, you can retrieve information about users who are logged on to remote hosts. As usual, AutoAdministrator will display the retrieved information beside each computer name in its user interface. It is also possible to just count the users who are logged on, which could be useful in a Terminal Server environment.
Shutdown/Reboot
This function lets you shut down or reboot multiple computers in your network. You can configure a timeout period, after which the computers will shut down. AutoAdministrator will notify users with a message which you can configure. It is possible to force open applications to close and you can also cancel shutdowns remotely.
ODBC
Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) is a standard for moving data from one type of database to another. You can use AutoAdministrator to query, copy, and delete a System DSN (Data Source Name) The System DSN you want to manage has to be installed on the PC where you run AutoAdministrator. It is also possible to copy the corresponding drivers to remote computers, overwrite existing settings, and replace locked files during the next reboot. Be careful with this feature. AutoAdministrator has no “undo” function.
AutoAdministrator’s functions are quite varied. You can solve many different Windows administration problems with it. It is like a spanner set. You might not know what you will need it for next time, but you do know that it is an essential part of every toolbox. Considering that AutoAdministrator costs only $69, I think it belongs in any Windows admin’s toolbox.
If you would like to have the chance to win of one of the ten licenses, please send an email with the subject “AutoAdministrator” to
Don’t hesitate to send me an email if you already took part in the last contest. By the way, chances are higher than you might think that you are the one who will get a free copy of AutoAdministrator. This is not a TV show. The deadline is May 22, 2009.
