Using VBScript, WMI, and ADSI to Automate Windows Administration

Microsoft introduced Visual Basic, Scripting Edition—commonly known as VBScript—inthe mid-1990s, positioning it as a native replacement for Windows’ aging command-line batch language, which was based on Microsoft’s earliest operating system, MS-DOS. VBScript was intended to be easy to learn, powerful, and flexible. The language was included as an add-on to Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0, was an optional installation component included in Windows 98, and was included in all editions of Windows Me, Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003.

Software developers immediately seized upon VBScript for web programming, particularly in Active Server Pages, Microsoft’s rapid-development programming framework for the web. However, Windows administrators—one of VBScript’s initial target audiences—were left cold. VBScript seemed to be much more complicated than administrators’ beloved MS-DOS-based batch language, and many didn’t see the need to learn an entirely new batch language.

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