HFNETCHK no longer supported

[tommyp]

Gents, The wonderful HFNETCHK program is unsupported by Shavlik. They have a new and "improved" version, but it relies on some obscure windows components that HFCLEANUP removes. Does anyone have a suitable replacement that is commandline driven and doesn't require a browser?

[tain]

When you run the program it downloads mssecure.cab and extracts mssecure.xml from the cab. If we can get older copies of that XML file then perhaps we can develop a workaround for this.

So we need someone to save that file BEFORE they run the program now so that we get the valid data and format.

My first thoughts on a workaround: have people manually download the new .xml or host one on a server and have people redirect to the right IP via their hosts file.

Here is Shavlik's EOL post: http://forum.shavlik.com/viewtopic.php?t=4155

I'm not familiar with Shavlik's licensing so I have no idea how thick the ice is here...

[edited to remove alert]

Edited December 10, 2006 by TAiN

[tommyp]

Ok, I tried something else and all is ok, but you need to do something different. It's not as automated anymore.

Download the "new" mssecure_xxxx.cab from http://support.microsoft.com/kb/842432

Extract the xml file out of the cab file into the hfnetchk folder.

run commandline

hfnetchk -x name_of_xml_file.xml -vv

I'm not sure what to tell people that don't use english versions.

Edited December 10, 2006 by tommyp

[dziubek]

Ok, I tried something else and all is ok, but you need to do something different. It's not as automated anymore.

Download the "new" mssecure_xxxx.cab from http://support.microsoft.com/kb/842432

Extract the xml file out of the cab file into the hfnetchk folder.

run commandline

hfnetchk -x name_of_xml_file.xml -vv

I'm not sure what to tell people that don't use english versions.

You can always taste placing info in hfslip.log

I always put in \HFEXPERT\WIN\hfnetchk.exe so;

extract the xml file out of the cab file into this folder and after the installation run: hfnetchk.exe -x mssecure.xml -vv

Edited December 10, 2006 by dziubek

[Tomcat76]

Here's something. Don't know if it's workable or not.

(updated script to support automatic downloading)

1) Download HFNETCHK.zip and extract it into a folder of your choice

2) Download wgetwin-1_5_3_1-binary.zip from this site and extract wget.exe into the same folder as above. I realize this is an older version, but this one is smaller, doesn't require additional files and does the job. Use a newer version if you know what you're doing.

3) Run hfnetchk.cmd

When run, hfnetchk.cmd first checks if wget.exe is present. If it is, it will determine the OS language and present WGET with the relevant download URL for the CAB file (any language not on the KB842432 article page gets the English version). If the CAB file is already present, WGET will first check if the online version is newer. The download won't take place unless the local version is older.

The script will then check for the existence of the CAB file. If it can't find one, an error message is displayed; otherwise, the XML file is extracted from the CAB file, overwriting an existing XML file.

Then, HfNetChk is run using the XML file as the data source. The output file is opened automatically.

This script also numbers the output files so you can run it multiple times without overwriting the older ones.

Edited December 10, 2006 by Tomcat76

[Super-Magician]

That works quite well, Tomcat!

I, however, (and this is not on a recently-HFSLIPed installation) get a message that I am missing KB922760 (cdfview.dll has a less than expected version). However, I have IE7 installed. Wouldn't I not need the IE cumulative update?

[Tomcat76]

You can include the IE6 cumulative if you want since IE7 is only installed afterwards.

Do you get that below a header "INTERNET EXPLORER 7 GOLD"?

[Tomcat76]

Script updated to support automatic downloading

[Camarade_Tux]

Thanks a lot.

Just wondering : does HFNetChk needs Workstation service ?

...

oops

[tommyp]

Camarade_Tux - Yes.

TC - You read my mind on creating a nice hfnetchk utility. Thanks!

[Kiki Burgh]

maybe we need to have this reflected in HFSLIP.org

[Super-Magician]

@Kiki: I'm sure he'll do it after he finalizes it and gets more feedback.

@Tomcat: I really like the new features. Just one suggestion - automatically delete MSSecure_****.cab so there's one fewer file! Thanks.

Edit: Also, maybe a single file to download the HFNETCHK + wget + CMD package?

Edited December 11, 2006 by Super-Magician

[Tomcat76]

@Kiki: I'm sure he'll do it after he finalizes it and gets more feedback.

Right.

Just one suggestion - automatically delete MSSecure_****.cab so there's one fewer file!

The purpose of keeping it there is so WGET can check if the online version is newer before downloading it again.

[Super-Magician]

The purpose of keeping it there is so WGET can check if the online version is newer before downloading it again.

Ah, OK, thanks.

[Kiki Burgh]

@Kiki: I'm sure he'll do it after he finalizes it and gets more feedback.

oh yes ... this i'm certain ... TC always does