There are many ways to automate (un)installation of MSIs, WMIC being one of them. Have you thought about a simpler approach, like a batch file that does:
rem Uninstall old program:
msiexec /qb /x {05EC21B8-4593-3037-A781-A6B5AFFCB19D}
rem Install new program:
msiexec /qb /i MyNewProgram.msi
(of course, replacing the GUID above with your program's GUID or Uninstall key name).
Or, you could use the Automation interface to the Windows Installer.
Or, you could use WMI via VBScript or PowerShell to accomplish the same thing as WMIC will do. But it looks like WMI might be a bit hosed.
I don't have a fix for what I'm seeing, but I do have a couple of things you can try. I recently spent a bit of time troubleshooting WMI issues, so maybe a couple of those same techniques will work here.
First, here is a VBScript that should output the same thing as product get name. Save it to a file getProductNames.vbs and execute it.
Option Explicit
Dim strComputer
Dim objWMIService, colProducts, objProduct
Dim arrstrProducts(), i
strComputer = "."
Set objWMIService = GetObject("winmgmts:\\" & strComputer & "\root\cimv2")
Set colProducts = objWMIService.ExecQuery("Select * From Win32_Product")
i = 0
For Each objProduct in colProducts
ReDim Preserve arrStrProducts(i)
arrStrProducts(i) = objProduct.Name
i = i + 1
Next
WScript.Echo Join(arrStrProducts, vbNewLine)
Now, if that works, then try the same thing with wbemtest.
- Launch the
wbemtest program.
- Click
Connect...
- Change
root\default to root\cimv2, then click Connect.
- Click
Query...
- Enter
Select * from Win32_Product, then click Apply.
This should return a list of products. If it does, then WMI is probably fine, and something is up with WMIC. If the script worked, but this did not, try the following at a Command Prompt:
regsvr32 wbemdisp.dll
then run the wbemtest query again.
If neither the script nor the wbemtest work, then probably WMI is super hosed, and you'll have to repair it.
You probably do not want to try to grovel thru logs like a unix admin to try to get up to date on printer states. Wouldn't it be nice if there was a way to get notified of a printer event instead. The good news is that in windows there is. I'd first read this article: Notify with WMI. then take a look at Windows PowerShell 2.0 CTP2 WMI Event Monitoring
I tested this simple powershell script:
$query = "Select * From __InstanceCreationEvent within .1 Where TargetInstance ISA 'Win32_printjob'"
$action = write-host "Printed Document status" (gwmi win32_printjob).status ", time" (gwmi win32_printjob).timesubmitted
register-wmievent -query $query -action $action -sourceidentifier "printerwatcher"
You shuold get an output line when you print something
Best Answer
Here's one way to filter hotfixes by date using VBScript. You could easily convert it to PowerShell if needed or just call your PowerShell code to remove each hotfix that matches the filter.
On Error Resume Next Dim strComputer Dim objWMIService Dim propValue Dim objItem Dim SWBemlocator Dim UserName Dim Password Dim colItems Dim dateFilter dateFilter = CDate("1/9/2013") strComputer = "." UserName = "" Password = "" Set SWBemlocator = CreateObject("WbemScripting.SWbemLocator") Set objWMIService = SWBemlocator.ConnectServer(strComputer,"root\CIMV2",UserName,Password) Set colItems = objWMIService.ExecQuery("Select * from Win32_QuickFixEngineering",,48) For Each objItem in colItems hotFixID = objItem.HotFixID installDate = objItem.InstallDate If IsNull(installDate) Or Trim(installDate) = "" Then installDate = objItem.InstalledOn End If If IsDate(installDate) Then If CDate(installDate) > dateFilter Then WScript.Echo hotFixID & vbTab & installDate ' Call your remove hotfix script or code and pass it the hotFixID and optionally, the machine name End If End If Next