Page Last Updated: 21/02/2010
Creating and Using Login Scripts

If you are a network administrator then a login script can be a very useful tool. You will have provided your users with various network drives, printers and other resources and a script can ensure that they connect to them in a controlled manner. There will be consistency across all users and machines. If you need to change those letter and locations, you can do so in one location, meaning that you don't have to visit every machine. 

Login scripts can be also be used on your local machine. This can be useful if you have multiple users on the machine and want them all to connect to the same resources. Otherwise it is a useful tool during testing but of little practical use once the script is complete.

Writing that first login script can be daunting if you haven't done it before. What this section will do is show you how to create a simple batch file login script. You can combine different elements to create quite sophisticated script that configure many parts of your environment for every user. Microsoft have even provided tools in the resource kit to allow you to complete different functions in the login script.

Login Scripts are basically Command Prompt commands, and therefore many of them can be tested by simply running them within a command prompt window. If you haven't used a command prompt before, then we have a getting started guide on dosprompt.info.

Conventions

When you are looking at the examples and text in this section, information you should be entering in to your login script or commands you should choose from menus will be found in italics, or in a text box, not only for ease of reference but to make it simple to copy and paste the code in to your own script.

However when you copy script text in to your text editor, the formatting will not follow. Login scripts are basic text files.

Getting Started

• Creating the Initial File
• Testing
• Implementation

Basic Techniques

• Mapping Network Drives
• Connecting Printers
• Section Labels

More Advanced Techniques

• Using Windows Domain Group Membership to Control Drive Letters and Printers
• Recording Script Results
• Location Detection
• Machine Identification
• Operating System Detection
• Registry Changes
• Redirection of Internet Explorer Favourites
• Checking for Existence of a File or Directory

More Information

There are lots of references on the Internet for login scripts and the commands that you can use in them. You can use almost any command line tools that are available in the operating system.

Microsoft Technet: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/ 

About.com: http://windows.about.com/cs/batchscriptingtips/

Script Database: http://www.myitforum.com/articles/11/view.asp?id=6298

About this site

This information originally started life as a page on amset.info, our community assistance site. However that site is targeted at Microsoft Exchange server, as Sembee Ltd. is a Microsoft Exchange consultancy. Therefore it was moved to its own domain in early 2010. Traffic from amset.info is directed here.

Other sites that are owned and operated by Sembee Ltd include kbsearch.info, certificatesforexchange.com, dosprompt.info, office-recovery.info, wuauclt.info, blog.sembee.co.uk, exbpa.com and amset.info.