Shell commands on Windows XP Home Edition

[Ken Ray]

On Thu, 09 Aug 2007 20:27:41 +0000, Mark E. Powell wrote:

> First, (systemVersion = "NT 5.1") tells me only XP.  Is there someway 
> I can further distinguish Pro from Home?

Well, you can read the data from the "prodspec.ini" file in the 
System32 directory, which is supposed to "never be modified or 
deleted". So you can do this:

function XPType
  put (specialFolderPath(37) & "/prodspec.ini") into tINIFile
  if there is a file tINIFile then
    put url ("file:" & tINIFile) into tData
    if tData contains "Windows XP Professional" then
      return "Pro"
    else
      return "Home"
    end if
  else
    return "Error: File not found."
  end if
end XPType

> Second, if anyone has dealt with this phenomenon before I would like 
> to know how you succeeded in infusing an XP Home client with XP Pro 
> command line capability.

Well, in some cases you're allowed to distribute certain command line 
apps with your distribution (you'd have to check Microsoft's site for 
that). But in general, I'd assume that if it's not on both versions, 
you should go with a third party utility you can bundle.
 
> Third, does a master cross-reference exist somewhere that enumerates 
> what shell commands are compatible from Win 2000 through to Vista?

Not AFAIK, but it would be great if someone knew where one was...

Ken Ray
Sons of Thunder Software, Inc.
Email: kray at sonsothunder.com
Web Site: http://www.sonsothunder.com/