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Email Tool
Blat is a public-domain tool that you can use to send a file as SMTP email from the command line through TCP/IP (e.g., to Microsoft Exchange Server). The utility is useful for creating scripts to automatically send email to users to notify the users about successful or unsuccessful execution (e.g., backups). For more information about Blat and to download a copy for Intel- or Alpha-based Windows NT computers, go to http://www.interlog.com/~tcharron/blat.html. The tool is simple to use and comes with good documentation, including examples. Blat's syntax is
blat -t
The README file includes optional switches.
—Thomas Schuy
thomas.schuy@zeda.de
SU Utility
Windows NT administrators usually need to log on from their machines under another account to check accounts' rights and permissions if users are having problems accessing resources. In addition, some administrators must log on with limited administrative permissions to send email messages and create documents but log on with full administrative permissions to create users and set permissions. I discovered a useful Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0 Resource Kit tool called su.exe that lets an administrator start a new process from an NT workstation under a different account without logging off and logging on again with new account credentials.
To use su.exe, you must first install the SU service. On the workstation, enter the command
suss.exe -install
You can then run su.exe to start a new process under another account context. For example, I use this utility while I'm logged on under my name to start Microsoft Exchange Administrator or User Manager for Domains under an administrator context to perform administration tasks without closing my applications and logging off.
If you run the command without a parameter, you'll see a GUI for all the required parameters (i.e., username, command, and domain name). To start an application under an administrator context, enter
su.exe Administrator
I've modified the Exchange Administrator, User Manager, and Server Manager shortcuts on my desktop to include this command, replacing the command parameter with the application's executable file. When I click one of those shortcuts, I receive a prompt for my administrator password. Then, the application starts under an administrator context.
—Ashraf Ismail
aismail@national.bdo.ca
Apopup
In answer to Kevin Zhou's question in the May 1999 Letters to the Editor about sending messages to Windows NT and Windows 95 users, an inexpensive shareware program called Awesome Popup (Apopup) lets you accomplish this task. Because the program doesn't run in an open window, users can't see the program except when they receive messages. Thus, users won't close the program as they do Winpopup. You can download Apopup at http://www.andtechnologies.com/apopupFeatures.html.
—Michael Michelsen
mcm@danadata.com