This tip originally appeared on SearchWinSystems.com, a sister site of SearchSMB.com.
Please let us know how useful you find this tip by rating it below. Do you have a useful Windows tip, timesaver or workaround to share? Submit it to our tip contest and you could win a prize!
Here is a simple SMS package, which lets your users or techies clean their desktops of spyware, and that you can easily set as a mandatory or nonmandatory job. While there are many different cleaners out there, I found Spybot-S&D to be the easiest to configure to run as an SMS job with the best results.
First, download Spybot-S&D from the home location at http://www.safer-networking.org/en/home/index.html. Select the machine you want to install the application on so you can get the directory structure laid out to copy to a source location for SMS. I tested this a few ways before I came up with this solution, but the IPF provided below will be detailed out enough for you to get the gist of things.
Download SMS Installer Script:
http://myitforum.techtarget.com/inc/arts/9829smsspybot.ipf
After you have the application installed, copy the whole Spybot-S&D and its subdirectories to your SMS source location. The compiled IPF completes the following tasks:
- Creates local directories needed for Spybot to run from a deployment point or share.
- Creates registry entries needed for Spybot to run from a deployment point or share.
- Allows the job to run from the share or a local install. You will see options in the IPF for local/share options.
- Run pybotsd.exe with the following parameters:
/taskbarhide /minimized /autoupdate /autocheck /autofix /autoclose.
See the http://www.safer-networking.org/en/faq/30.html>FAQ for details on these commands. The options used above provide auto-updating and very minimal options for the user.
- Cleans out old log files and then displays current info and fixes in an Explorer window. This can also be stopped or commented out from the IPF.
By following the method of installing on a test machine first, you won't have to install Spybot on each machine in SMS to get the job to run. However, this option is still available in the IPF; it's just commented out by default.
The IPF and its compiled .exe will need to be placed in the source directory and replicated out to your deployment points. We have been using the SMS package as a non-mandatory job so it can be run by techies on desk-side visits or via remote control. You could easily set this up as a reoccurring job by commenting out the last line and recompiling.
This article first appeared in myITforum.com, the premier online destination for IT professionals responsible for managing their corporations' Microsoft Windows systems. The centerpiece of myITforum.com is a collection of member forums where IT professionals actively exchange technical tips, share their expertise and download utilities that help them better manage their Windows environments, specifically Microsoft Systems Management Server (SMS). It is part of the TechTarget network of industry specific IT Web sites. To register for the site and sign up for the myITforum.com daily newsletter, click here.
Michael Mott is an SMS administrator for Pfizer Inc. He can be reached at Michael.mott@pfizer.com.
Do you have comments on this tip? Let us know.
