Tag: windows

Permanently remove IE from the taskbar

February 3, 2019 / joe

To permanently remove Internet Explorer from the taskbar in Windows 10, edit the file

%LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\LayoutModification.xml

Remove the following line from the file.

<taskbar:DesktopApp DesktopApplicationLinkPath="%APPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Accessories\Internet Explorer.lnk" />

Compare Files

January 15, 2019 / joe

This example illustrates how to compare two files.

Imports System.IO
Imports System.Security.Cryptography

Public Class Form1

Private Sub Form1_Load(sender As System.Object, e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load

If CompareFiles("C:\Temp\2filecopy.bat", "C:\Temp\4filecopy.bat") = True Then
  MsgBox("The same")
Else
  MsgBox("Different")
End If

  End
End Sub

Public Function CompareFiles(ByVal FileFullPath1 As String, ByVal FileFullPath2 As String) As Boolean
'returns true if two files passed to is are identical, false otherwise
'does byte comparison; works for both text and binary files

'Throws exception on errors; you can change to just return 
'false if you prefer

Dim objMD5 As New MD5CryptoServiceProvider()
Dim objEncoding As New System.Text.ASCIIEncoding()
Dim aFile1() As Byte, aFile2() As Byte
Dim strContents1, strContents2 As String
Dim objReader As StreamReader
Dim objFS As FileStream
Dim bAns As Boolean

'If Not File.Exists(FileFullPath1) Then _
' Throw New Exception(FileFullPath1 & " doesn't exist")
'If Not File.Exists(FileFullPath2) Then _
' Throw New Exception(FileFullPath2 & " doesn't exist")

If Not File.Exists(FileFullPath1) Or Not File.Exists(FileFullPath2) Then
  Return False
  Exit Function
End If

Try
  objFS = New FileStream(FileFullPath1, FileMode.Open)
  objReader = New StreamReader(objFS)
  aFile1 = objEncoding.GetBytes(objReader.ReadToEnd)
  strContents1 = _
  objEncoding.GetString(objMD5.ComputeHash(aFile1))
  objReader.Close()
  objFS.Close()

  objFS = New FileStream(FileFullPath2, FileMode.Open)
  objReader = New StreamReader(objFS)
  aFile2 = objEncoding.GetBytes(objReader.ReadToEnd)
  strContents2 = _
  objEncoding.GetString(objMD5.ComputeHash(aFile2))

  bAns = strContents1 = strContents2
  objReader.Close()
  objFS.Close()
  aFile1 = Nothing
  aFile2 = Nothing

Catch ex As Exception
  Throw ex
End Try

Return bAns
End Function
End Class

Start/Stop/Query Service in VB.NET

February 16, 2018 / joe

Imports System.ServiceProcess

Public Class Form1

Private Sub btnQueryBES_Click(sender As System.Object, e As System.EventArgs) Handles btnQueryBES.Click
 Dim txt As String = "besclient" & SC(txtIPAddress.Text, "besclient", "query")
End Sub

Private Sub btnStartBES_Click(sender As System.Object, e As System.EventArgs) Handles btnStartBES.Click
 Dim txt As String = "besclient" & SC(txtIPAddress.Text, "besclient", "start")
End Sub

Private Sub btnStopBES_Click(sender As System.Object, e As System.EventArgs) Handles btnStopBES.Click
 Dim txt As String = "besclient" & SC(txtIPAddress.Text, "besclient", "stop")
End Sub

Function SC(MachineName As String, ServiceName As String, cmd As String) As String
 Dim txt As String = ""
 Dim TermService As New System.ServiceProcess.ServiceController(ServiceName, MachineName)

Select Case LCase(cmd)
 Case "start"
 TermService.Start()
 Case "stop"
 TermService.Stop()
 Case Else
 End Select

Select Case LCase(TermService.Status)
 Case "1"
 txt = " stopped"
 Case "2"
 txt = " starting"
 Case "3"
 txt = " stop pending"
 Case "4"
 txt = " running"
 Case Else
 txt = " undetermined"
 End Select

Return txt
 End Function

End Class

VB.NET Module for SQL Database

February 13, 2018 / joe

Imports System.Data.SqlClient

Module modDatabase

Public conn As New SqlClient.SqlConnection
Public myReader As SqlDataReader

Public dsRecords As New DataSet
Public daRecords As New SqlDataAdapter
Public MaxRecords As Integer

Public Sub OpenDatabase()
CloseSQLReader()
CloseDatabase()

conn.ConnectionString = “Server=.\sqlexpress;Database=DATABASE;Trusted_Connection=True;”
conn.Open()
End Sub

Public Sub CloseDatabase()
Try
conn.Close()
conn.Dispose()
Catch ex As Exception
Application.DoEvents()
End Try
End Sub

Public Sub launchBrowser(ByVal browser As String, ByVal url As String)
Try
Process.Start(browser, url)
Catch ex As Exception
Application.DoEvents()
‘MessageBox.Show(ex.Message)
End Try
End Sub

Public Sub CloseSQLReader()
Try
myReader.Close()
Catch ex As Exception
Application.DoEvents()
End Try
End Sub

Public Sub ReadSqlData(ByVal sqlSelect As String)
Dim myCommand As New SqlCommand(sqlSelect, conn)
myReader = myCommand.ExecuteReader()
End Sub

Public Function ExecuteSqlCommand(ByVal sqlSelect As String) As Boolean
Dim flg As Boolean = False
Dim myCommand As New SqlCommand(sqlSelect, conn)

Try
flg = myCommand.ExecuteNonQuery
Catch
flg = False
End Try

Return flg
End Function

Public Sub HoldYourPants(ByVal Seconds As Integer)
System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(Seconds * 1000)
Application.DoEvents()
End Sub

End Module

Identify all user keys in HKEY_USERS

January 5, 2018 / joe

This example shows how to enumerate the user keys in HKEY_USERS

Public Sub OutputRegKey(Key As RegistryKey)
Imports Microsoft.Win32

Public Class Form1
  Public arrUsers(100) As String, arrUsersMax As Integer = 0

  Private Sub Form1_Load(sender As System.Object, e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
    Dim i As Integer
    Dim txt As String = ""

    '-------------------------------------------------------------------
    ' identify the HKEY_Users
    '-------------------------------------------------------------------
    arrUsers(0) = ".DEFAULT"

    Dim regkey As RegistryKey = Registry.Users.OpenSubKey("")
    EnumerateHkeyUsers(regkey)
    regkey.Close()

    For i = 0 To arrUsersMax
      txt += arrUsers(i) & vbCrLf
    Next

    MsgBox(txt)
    End
  End Sub

  Sub EnumerateHkeyUsers(ByVal rkey As RegistryKey)
    Dim names As String() = rkey.GetSubKeyNames()
    Dim txt As String = ""

    For Each subkey In names
      txt = subkey.ToString

      If Len(txt) > 10 And InStr(LCase(txt), "_classes") = 0 Then
        arrUsersMax = arrUsersMax + 1
        arrUsers(arrUsersMax) = txt
      End If
    Next
  End Sub

End Class