VBscript not UAC and IE7 friendly

Hello Vista heads :) ,

I wanted to post here on vistax64 forums about my findings, related to
VB scripting, with Windows Vista in mind.
Firstly, I consider mysef a self-made power user of Windows products
mostly for multimedia tasks, so I am not sure my voice will be heard,
amongst IT experts and developers.

Also, I need to make something clear : There are still many websites
where one can download VB scripts and the likes. I don't mind that much
that the scripts were not tested with Windows Vista, but if you maintain
such web sites, please make a note stating that the methods of invoking
objects have considerably evolved.

Here is the test I conducted : I ran a simple VB script, with a
createobject internetexplorer.application instruction on a freshly
installed Vista machine. The script ran fine, until I disabled UAC.
Well, I didn't start this thread to fuel the debate whether UAC should
be turned off or not. Turning it on again didn't solve the problem.

I want to point out that Microsoft should warn people about *severe*
issues with code based on Visual Basic 6. I've read it was difficult for
them to publish Powershell, because of Vista security features. My guess
is that if the VB6 runtime was relying on ONE dll (like VB5 does), may
be things wouldn't be so bad.

Here is my point : If you are still an active script developer you
should turn to Powershell now, but also give a hand to people who have a
hard time running the scripts under Vista (the infamous cannot create
object error). The worst part of the story is that SOME VB scripts under
CERTAIN circumstances, on SOME machine may work fine, even on Vista PCs.
By the way, installing the Service Pack 1 improved things a bit, but not
by much.

For example, I had no problem with scripts made for Media Player. As I
said earlier, my abilities concerning editing scripts are rather
limited, I simply ran a few scripts and took notice of the bugs and
crashes. I have an Intel based computer, so this is not hardware
related.

These scripts had in common the use of createobject methods. I can
safely say that such methods interfere *very badly* with Vista security
features (Secure Desktop, UAC, virtualization of files & registry...).
At all cost, turn to Powershell if you want to use COM objects in
scripts. Windows Script Host was halted in the early stages of Vista
development.

Again, Powershell 2 is here for your scripting needs, I am not saying
it's perfect but it was made to provide automation features within a
production environment. Quite frankly, its debugging features are miles
away from those used internally, in the good old days of batch files.
Also, you certainly have noticed the job can be done using less
declarations and statements.

It would be a great relief if developers joined hands with IT Pros to
cool down things a bit. More and more people will turn to Vista SP1,
including some of those XP nostalgia driven we all know of. (you don't
want to wait for Vista 11, as it will probably be delayed too) We all
have an opportunity to deal with the issues brought by the extensive use
of deprecated code & components in the past...

I hope no one felt offended, and that I didn't sound too bold. Of
course, misconceptions always come in the way when you're trying to
convince specialists in their respective field. Note that if the scripts
I am talking about weren't useful at all, I wouldn't mind them to slowly
fade away.


--
Deleauvive

As a power user, you should know that createobject internetexplorer.application
in a VB Script uses ActiveX

;-)

--

Steve Easton


"Deleauvive" <Deleauvive.36x5u3@no-mx.forums.net> wrote in message news:Deleauvive.36x5u3@no-mx.forums.net...
>
> Hello Vista heads :) ,
>
> I wanted to post here on vistax64 forums about my findings, related to
> VB scripting, with Windows Vista in mind.
> Firstly, I consider mysef a self-made power user of Windows products
> mostly for multimedia tasks, so I am not sure my voice will be heard,
> amongst IT experts and developers.
>
> Also, I need to make something clear : There are still many websites
> where one can download VB scripts and the likes. I don't mind that much
> that the scripts were not tested with Windows Vista, but if you maintain
> such web sites, please make a note stating that the methods of invoking
> objects have considerably evolved.
>
> Here is the test I conducted : I ran a simple VB script, with a
> createobject internetexplorer.application instruction on a freshly
> installed Vista machine. The script ran fine, until I disabled UAC.
> Well, I didn't start this thread to fuel the debate whether UAC should
> be turned off or not. Turning it on again didn't solve the problem.
>
> I want to point out that Microsoft should warn people about *severe*
> issues with code based on Visual Basic 6. I've read it was difficult for
> them to publish Powershell, because of Vista security features. My guess
> is that if the VB6 runtime was relying on ONE dll (like VB5 does), may
> be things wouldn't be so bad.
>
> Here is my point : If you are still an active script developer you
> should turn to Powershell now, but also give a hand to people who have a
> hard time running the scripts under Vista (the infamous cannot create
> object error). The worst part of the story is that SOME VB scripts under
> CERTAIN circumstances, on SOME machine may work fine, even on Vista PCs.
> By the way, installing the Service Pack 1 improved things a bit, but not
> by much.
>
> For example, I had no problem with scripts made for Media Player. As I
> said earlier, my abilities concerning editing scripts are rather
> limited, I simply ran a few scripts and took notice of the bugs and
> crashes. I have an Intel based computer, so this is not hardware
> related.
>
> These scripts had in common the use of createobject methods. I can
> safely say that such methods interfere *very badly* with Vista security
> features (Secure Desktop, UAC, virtualization of files & registry...).
> At all cost, turn to Powershell if you want to use COM objects in
> scripts. Windows Script Host was halted in the early stages of Vista
> development.
>
> Again, Powershell 2 is here for your scripting needs, I am not saying
> it's perfect but it was made to provide automation features within a
> production environment. Quite frankly, its debugging features are miles
> away from those used internally, in the good old days of batch files.
> Also, you certainly have noticed the job can be done using less
> declarations and statements.
>
> It would be a great relief if developers joined hands with IT Pros to
> cool down things a bit. More and more people will turn to Vista SP1,
> including some of those XP nostalgia driven we all know of. (you don't
> want to wait for Vista 11, as it will probably be delayed too) We all
> have an opportunity to deal with the issues brought by the extensive use
> of deprecated code & components in the past...
>
> I hope no one felt offended, and that I didn't sound too bold. Of
> course, misconceptions always come in the way when you're trying to
> convince specialists in their respective field. Note that if the scripts
> I am talking about weren't useful at all, I wouldn't mind them to slowly
> fade away.
>
>
> --
> Deleauvive