Page 1 of 1

User name folder with & character in it

PostPosted: 24.07.2012, 01:10
by IslandBoy77
Hi
I am working on a PC whose XP user folder name is bob & jane. WSUS doesn't like this and spits out "is not recognized as an internal or external command..." error, which results in a "Determination of OS properties failed" message. There's no way to change the folder name without creating a new user and transferring all user data from one to the other - too big a job to make it worthwhile. Is there any way to force WSUS to accept the & character and just carry on?
Thanks
Peter

Re: User name folder with & character in it

PostPosted: 25.07.2012, 08:20
by Gerby
Hello Peter!

Although the ampersand is not forbidden in file names, it is problematic (as seen), because in command lines it is interpreted as separator between two commands.

As I understand you, you have the wsusoffline folder with the repository lying in the "bob & jane" tree. Wouldn't it be the easiest to move the wsusoffline folder somewhere else, out of that problematic tree?

Greetings
Gerby

Re: User name folder with & character in it

PostPosted: 25.07.2012, 08:30
by aker
There is another Problem.
%temp%
It includes the username, so the Problem will occure there too.
Maybe it will help to put all occurences of temp into quotation Marks. This will fix the Bug.

For example
Replace
%temp%\setsystemenvvars.cmd
Through
"%temp%\setsystemenvvars.cmd"
Then the Cmd will ignore the & character

Re: User name folder with & character in it

PostPosted: 25.07.2012, 10:41
by IslandBoy77
No, the Wsus offline repository sits on my Vista SP2 PC's hard drive, with a shared folder. It works fine running it across the network. I've only ever struck this twice, and both times it was when someone had created a user name / folder that had the & sign in it. You'd think MS would stop the use of a "special" character like that in critical folders like the user folder, wouldn't you?

Any work around for this?

Re: User name folder with & character in it

PostPosted: 25.07.2012, 12:39
by aker
Wsusou fails to create a file in your temp directory.
You can try the following
Open the Cmd using Start -> Run, then Type "Cmd" and press Enter

There go to your Network Drive using
Code: Select all
cd /d "N:\wsusoffline\client\cmd"

Replace n: and wsusoffline through your Network Drive and path
Then Type
Code: Select all
md C:\temp
set TEMP=C:\temp

This will create a folder temp in the Root of c: and Tell the System that this is the temp path it should use
Then call wsusou using
Code: Select all
DoUpdate.cmd

If you want to you could add some Parameters like I posted here Iwan just copied it to this forum

Re: User name folder with & character in it

PostPosted: 25.07.2012, 13:02
by boco
You'd think MS would stop the use of a "special" character like that in critical folders like the user folder, wouldn't you?
Wishful thinking... ;)

Re: User name folder with & character in it

PostPosted: 25.07.2012, 13:14
by aker
@Moderatoren

Könnte jemand das als Antwort auf iwan's Post schreiben, da ich nicht dazu berechtigt bin

English Version:
/nobackup (does not create a backup, only works for  Windows XP)
/verify (Checks the intengrity of Files)
/instie7 (Installs Internet Explorer 7, only works for Windows XP)
/instie8 (Installs Internet Explorer 8, only works for Windows XP & Vista)
/instie9 (Installs Internet Explorer 9, only works for Windows Vista & 7)
/updatetcerts (Updates the Root certificates, only Works for 32bit/x86 Systems)
/updatecpp (Updates Microsoft C++)
/updatedx (Updates Microsoft DirectX)
/updatewmp (Installs Windows Media Player 11, only works for Windows XP)
/updatetsc (Updates Remote Desktop, only works for Windows XP)
/instdotnet35 (Installs Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 SP1, only works for Windows XP & Vista)
/instdotnet4 (Installs Microsoft .NET Framework 4)
/instpsh (Installs Microsoft Powershell, only Works for Windows XP & Vista, requires .NET 3.5 SP1)
/instmsse (Installs Microsoft Security Essentials)
/instwd (Installs Windows Defender, only Works for Windows XP)
/instofc (Installs the Office File Converter, requires Office 2003, only works for Office 2003)
/instofv (Installs the Office File validation, requires Office 2003 or 2007, only Works for Office 2003 & 2007)
/autoreboot (Reboots the Computer and continues the Update process, if required)
/shutdown (Shuts Down the Computer After the end of the Update process)
/showlog (Shows log file After Update completes)
/all (Installs all Updates, including thosw, which are installed; only use, if you have trouble with windows Update)
/excludestatics (Does Not install static defined Updates, only for Vista)
/skipdynamic (skips the Dynamic Determination of Updates, I do not recomment using it)


Viele Grüsse

Re: User name folder with & character in it

PostPosted: 25.07.2012, 13:23
by boco
Könnte jemand das als Antwort auf iwan's Post schreiben, da ich nicht dazu berechtigt bin
Done. 8-)