Hi, Yes, that's the main reason why this idea entered my mind - from that point it has been a "Quest for the Holy Desktop WMI Filter", sorry to involve you knights of GPTalk ;-) When looking at it generally, the purpose of this filter is to say: I want these user settings to apply, when the user logs on to these machines (and only then) - I mean, that's what the WMI filter does on a User policy, right. It annoys me, that I can pretty much do this for laptops, as they have batteries - desktops don't, but that's not good enough for Mr. WQL! Think of this as a WMI filter contest - I just just haven't figured what the price is gonna be yet, what about "The GPTalk WMI Filter Award 2008"? J Best regards /Jakob H. Heidelberg From: gptalk-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:gptalk-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Nelson, Jamie R Sent: 11. februar 2008 23:54 To: gptalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [gptalk] Re: I Need The Perfect Desktop WMI Filter Actually, it did come through. However, you're right in that security filtering won't do any good on user policies. Let me guess.does this problem have something to do with offline lines? Jamie Nelson | Systems Engineer | Systems Support, Information Technology | I N T E G R I S Health | Phone 405.552.0903 | Fax 405.553.5687 | <http://www.integrisok.com/> http://www.integrisok.com From: gptalk-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:gptalk-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Jakob H. Heidelberg Sent: Monday, February 11, 2008 4:39 PM To: gptalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [gptalk] Re: I Need The Perfect Desktop WMI Filter For some reason my reply from earlier never got through: [START] I agree - there's lots of workarounds to this problem - I'm just "in love" with the idea of "The Perfect Desktop WMI Filter" - sorry to introduce you to my love life just like that J I also agree it could be nice to say "if FALSE then apply" - and no, WMI filtering logic hasn't changed in WS2008. At this point I think I might have to give up - maybe because "desktops" are not just desktops, and hardware is not just hardware, and even though the hardware is there, the WMI class is not necessarily present. Just "love" the logic of Win32_Battery to spot a laptop - it would be nice to just be able to turn that around. [END] And, BTW - security filtering is not a valid replacement for a WMI filter in this case - I need to place the WMI filter on User policies. Eg. When User A logs on to a Computer B, User Policy C will apply, but the policy will not apply if User A logs on to Computer D. That's basically why I need this. Thanx! /Jakob From: gptalk-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:gptalk-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Nelson, Jamie R Sent: 11. februar 2008 23:23 To: gptalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [gptalk] Re: I Need The Perfect Desktop WMI Filter Hmmm, a security group based solution is probably the only way to do something like this. The problem with that is it would require a minimum of 2 reboots before systems get scoped in by a GPO. However, it would give you a lot more flexibility. Jamie Nelson | Systems Engineer | Systems Support, Information Technology | I N T E G R I S Health | Phone 405.552.0903 | Fax 405.553.5687 | <http://www.integrisok.com/> http://www.integrisok.com From: gptalk-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:gptalk-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Darren Mar-Elia Sent: Monday, February 11, 2008 3:20 PM To: gptalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [gptalk] Re: I Need The Perfect Desktop WMI Filter You can certainly use a NOT operator in a query but that doesn't help when what you're trying to find a lack of instances. The key would be to see if there is a way to form a query that results in true if no instances of a class (e.g. Win32_Battery) are found. I haven't found a way to do that yet, but I'm guessing it is possible with the right syntax. No changes to this in 2008, btw. Darren From: gptalk-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:gptalk-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Nelson, Jamie R Sent: Monday, February 11, 2008 1:13 PM To: gptalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [gptalk] Re: I Need The Perfect Desktop WMI Filter Yeah, I use ChassisType all the time in scripting logic.guess I have never tried to use it in a WMI filter before. You're right in that it doesn't work with arrays. It's too bad you can't configure the reverse of a filter (so the filter applies if a statement is FALSE). If that were possible you could just use the reverse of Win32_Battery and you'd be done. Are WMI filters going to be more flexible in Server 2008? One thing you might think about doing is this.have a startup script that adds systems to a domain security group (if you detect them to be a laptop) and apply your filtering that way. It would be kind of similar to how the WMI Filtering for Windows 2000 solution <http://www.mml.ru/WMIF2K/> works, except I would not mess with the whole server-side component. Just give "Domain Computers" managed-by rights to the group. Jamie Nelson | Systems Engineer | Systems Support, Information Technology | I N T E G R I S Health | Phone 405.552.0903 | Fax 405.553.5687 | <http://www.integrisok.com/> http://www.integrisok.com From: gptalk-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:gptalk-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Jakob H. Heidelberg Sent: Monday, February 11, 2008 3:02 PM To: gptalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [gptalk] Re: I Need The Perfect Desktop WMI Filter That's not gonna work at all - because that's an Array. WMI filters/WQL cannot handle arrays unfortunately. I know many forums claim that class is a solution - but for WMI queries it's not, with scripting logic it's no problem. The Win32_Fan class could also work - but in my case both laptops and desktops "reject" that class (return false as they are empty). This is really strange. Sometimes, stuff that seems so simple, really isn't - please prove me wrong J Regards /Jakob From: gptalk-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:gptalk-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Nelson, Jamie R Sent: 11. februar 2008 21:53 To: gptalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [gptalk] Re: I Need The Perfect Desktop WMI Filter So you haven't had any luck with ChassisTypes in Win32_SystemEnclosure? Jamie Nelson | Systems Engineer | Systems Support, Information Technology | I N T E G R I S Health | Phone 405.552.0903 | Fax 405.553.5687 | <http://www.integrisok.com/> http://www.integrisok.com From: gptalk-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:gptalk-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Darren Mar-Elia Sent: Monday, February 11, 2008 2:37 PM To: gptalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [gptalk] Re: I Need The Perfect Desktop WMI Filter Its certainly a tough problem. Of course, GP Preferences has a laptop vs. desktop filter built into it for its settings but it doesn't do any good for the regular GP settings. One other class you might try. I did a quick check of my desktop vs. laptop. What came back is that my desktop has instances of the Win32_Fan class, but my laptop does not. Maybe??? Darren From: gptalk-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:gptalk-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Jakob H. Heidelberg Sent: Monday, February 11, 2008 12:05 AM To: gptalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [gptalk] Re: I Need The Perfect Desktop WMI Filter I can't seem to make that work - in my case my laptop has 2 SystemSlots (CardBus + Mini-PCI) and my desktop returns 2 (AGP and PCI). I'm using Scriptomatic for this. Also, using WQL I wouldn't know how to make a "count" - as that would be needed I guess? I could maybe try to go for "PCI%", as I expect most desktops to have PCI slots (and laptops to have Mini-PCI, but that would depend on the form factor) - or maybe AGP (does onboard VGA count as AGP? Any PCI VGA left out there?) - something like: A) Select * From Win32_SystemSlot Where SlotDesignation = "PCI%" Or B) Select * From Win32_SystemSlot Where SlotDesignation = "AGP" Would that run through ALL slots on the machine, exactly like: A) strComputer = "." bolFound = False Set objWMIService = GetObject("winmgmts:\\" & strComputer & "\root\CIMV2") Set colItems = objWMIService.ExecQuery("SELECT * FROM Win32_SystemSlot") For Each objItem In colItems If Left(Ucase(objItem.SlotDesignation),3) = "PCI" Then bolFound = True Next Msgbox bolFound B) strComputer = "." bolFound = False Set objWMIService = GetObject("winmgmts:\\" & strComputer & "\root\CIMV2") Set colItems = objWMIService.ExecQuery("SELECT * FROM Win32_SystemSlot") For Each objItem In colItems If Ucase(objItem.SlotDesignation) = "AGP" Then bolFound = True Next Msgbox bolFound If this is "true", the it might just do it - as Virtual Machines does not have these slots I cannot test the WMI filter right now. Still not convinced, but I think we are closer to the goal now J Thanx! /Jakob From: gptalk-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:gptalk-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Darren Mar-Elia Sent: 11. februar 2008 01:21 To: gptalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [gptalk] Re: I Need The Perfect Desktop WMI Filter Yes, I can understand the problem. You want desktops to return True all the time instead of having them return false. One idea that might be worth exploring is querying Win32_SystemSlot. My expectation is that laptops should have 0 system slots or at least no more than 1, though I don't have one to test now, and that desktops should have > 0. So that might be worth exploring. Darren From: gptalk-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:gptalk-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Jakob H. Heidelberg Sent: Sunday, February 10, 2008 12:02 PM To: gptalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [gptalk] Re: I Need The Perfect Desktop WMI Filter Hi Darren, I have to turn it around somehow - have been there (just selecting the class) - the thing is the query will return FALSE on a desktop (have tested with you WMI TEST tool too). So, a desktop will not load the GPO. Select * from Win32_Battery is OK for spotting a laptop though. But, I'm basically looking for something like: A) Select * from Win32_SomeClassOnlyDesktopsHave Or B )Select * from Win32_SomeClass.SomeValue = "SomeValueOnlyDesktopsHave" Or C) Some way of saying "if you don't know the class (eg. Battery), apply the GPO anyway" (Brainstorm: On Error, NULL return etc. - just not possible with WQL). The "quest" is to find the perfect, *universal*, way of spotting "Non-laptops" or Desktops - it can be done by looking for some special computer Manufacturer, computer Model, BIOS version or whatever - but that's different from environment to environment. Any ideas? Regards & thanks /Jakob From: gptalk-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:gptalk-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Darren Mar-Elia Sent: 10. februar 2008 20:34 To: gptalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [gptalk] Re: I Need The Perfect Desktop WMI Filter Jakob- I think you were close when you were using Win32_Battery. That is the one thing that you can reliably say that laptops have, but desktops don't. So, have you tried the following: Select * from Win32_Battery Just that. Nothing else. What that does is determine if there are any instances of that class. If not (i.e., on a desktop machine) it returns false. If so, on a laptop, it returns true. Waddya think? Darren From: gptalk-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:gptalk-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Jakob H. Heidelberg Sent: Sunday, February 10, 2008 8:36 AM To: gptalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [gptalk] I Need The Perfect Desktop WMI Filter Hi all, I'm in desperate need of *the perfect WMI filter for spotting DESKTOP computers only* - have been thinking about this for some days now. I've been around solutions looking for ChassisType before - which basically doesn't work because that's an Array. Have tried PowerSupplyState, DesktopMonitor, DisplayConfiguration and others - just haven't found the perfect "this is definitely a desktop WMI value". I've also been around using Battery/PortableBattery /PCMCIAController/POTSModem - which all work fine to spot LAPTOPS. However, desktops don't know the CLASS at all, so they return FALSE no matter what. I can't even say things like "Select * From Win32_Battery Where Availability != 2" or "Where Not X Like Y" or whatever - a desktop doesn't handle the Win32_Battery class at all, so it's gonna say "Heck, I don't know anything about that class *Panic* - I'm out!" - or just "False" J. The thing is, that normally it's the LAPTOPS that have special hardware - like Batteries and built-in Modems, PCMCIA slots etc. - so they are pretty easy to find. With desktop computers it's another story for my part - hope you can help me out here. Please - I know lot's of "workarounds", but what I need is a *WMI filter* and it has to return *TRUE* for *DESKTOPS* (or let's call the NON-LAPTOPS, it doesn't matter). Also, if the customer had used computer names like "DESKxxx" for desktops and "LAPTxxx" for laptops, I know I could have used WMI filters for computer name - but unfortunately that's not the case. You could say I'm looking for a global solution for spotting DESKTOPS using WMI filter - I know lots of cases where this could come in handy. Hope to hear from you soon! J Best regards Jakob H. Heidelberg _____ This e-mail may contain identifiable health information that is subject to protection under state and federal law. This information is intended to be for the use of the individual named above. If you are not the intended recipient, be aware that any disclosure, copying, distribution or use of the contents of this information is prohibited and may be punishable by law. If you have received this electronic transmission in error, please notify us immediately by electronic mail (reply). _____ This e-mail may contain identifiable health information that is subject to protection under state and federal law. This information is intended to be for the use of the individual named above. 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