Gents, The wonderful HFNETCHK program is unsupported by Shavlik. They have a new and "improved" version, but it relies on some obscure windows components that HFCLEANUP removes. Does anyone have a suitable replacement that is commandline driven and doesn't require a browser?

When you run the program it downloads mssecure.cab and extracts mssecure.xml from the cab. If we can get older copies of that XML file then perhaps we can develop a workaround for this.

So we need someone to save that file BEFORE they run the program now so that we get the valid data and format.

My first thoughts on a workaround: have people manually download the new .xml or host one on a server and have people redirect to the right IP via their hosts file.

Here is Shavlik's EOL post: http://forum.shavlik.com/viewtopic.php?t=4155

I'm not familiar with Shavlik's licensing so I have no idea how thick the ice is here...

[edited to remove alert]

Ok, I tried something else and all is ok, but you need to do something different. It's not as automated anymore.
Download the "new" mssecure_xxxx.cab from http://support.microsoft.com/kb/842432
Extract the xml file out of the cab file into the hfnetchk folder.
run commandline
hfnetchk -x name_of_xml_file.xml -vv

I'm not sure what to tell people that don't use english versions.

You can always taste placing info in hfslip.log


I always put in \HFEXPERT\WIN\hfnetchk.exe so;
extract the xml file out of the cab file into this folder and after the installation run: hfnetchk.exe -x mssecure.xml -vv

Here's something. Don't know if it's workable or not.

(updated script to support automatic downloading)

1) Download HFNETCHK.zip and extract it into a folder of your choice
2) Download wgetwin-1_5_3_1-binary.zip from this site and extract wget.exe into the same folder as above. I realize this is an older version, but this one is smaller, doesn't require additional files and does the job. Use a newer version if you know what you're doing.
3) Run hfnetchk.cmd

When run, hfnetchk.cmd first checks if wget.exe is present. If it is, it will determine the OS language and present WGET with the relevant download URL for the CAB file (any language not on the KB842432 article page gets the English version). If the CAB file is already present, WGET will first check if the online version is newer. The download won't take place unless the local version is older.
The script will then check for the existence of the CAB file. If it can't find one, an error message is displayed; otherwise, the XML file is extracted from the CAB file, overwriting an existing XML file.
Then, HfNetChk is run using the XML file as the data source. The output file is opened automatically.

This script also numbers the output files so you can run it multiple times without overwriting the older ones.

That works quite well, Tomcat!

I, however, (and this is not on a recently-HFSLIPed installation) get a message that I am missing KB922760 (cdfview.dll has a less than expected version). However, I have IE7 installed. Wouldn't I not need the IE cumulative update?

You can include the IE6 cumulative if you want since IE7 is only installed afterwards.

Do you get that below a header "INTERNET EXPLORER 7 GOLD"?

Script updated to support automatic downloading

Thanks a lot.


Just wondering : does HFNetChk needs Workstation service ?
...
oops

Camarade_Tux - Yes.
TC - You read my mind on creating a nice hfnetchk utility. Thanks!

maybe we need to have this reflected in HFSLIP.org

@Kiki: I'm sure he'll do it after he finalizes it and gets more feedback.

@Tomcat: I really like the new features. Just one suggestion - automatically delete MSSecure_****.cab so there's one fewer file! Thanks.

Edit: Also, maybe a single file to download the HFNETCHK + wget + CMD package?

Right.

The purpose of keeping it there is so WGET can check if the online version is newer before downloading it again.

Ah, OK, thanks.

oh yes ... this i'm certain ... TC always does

The problem is I usually don't get a lot of feedback... LOL

i always do wheneven i can as i know you're too preoccupied he! he!

No news is good news.

hi! may i just clarify ... are these still required: or do i take the latter: ... my apologies if i got this mixed up, but please correct me if i misunderstood ... do i still need to do some downloads as instructed in the what i quoted 1st? could hfnetchk_3.86.0.1.exe be placed in 1 of the directories (i.e., HFTOOLS) for integration? thanks!

Those are the current instructions. The post was updated at a later time.

Any update on this script? I think it works very well in its current state, and with any minor updates you might want to make, we should be able to include it in the next final.

I'm also wondering whether we can include all the necessary files in one package (as in putting wget in the HFNETCHK.zip file).

It doesn't really work too well. A registry key is checked to determine the OS language and it exists on the two computers I tested the script on, but it doesn't exist in a VM. The script then defaults to the English XML file.