Q. How can I easily use BGInfo on all my servers?

A. It's common for administrators to connect to many different servers at the same time. It can sometimes get confusing as to which host you're currently looking at. BGInfo is a free utility from SysInternals. BGInfo allows you to create a configuration file that can include information such as host name, system information, and much more. It places this information in a configurable location and size on the desktop, including, optionally, as a wallpaper.

Once you have your configuration file (bgi), save it and bginfo.exe to a network share. You could also put your custom wallpaper in the file share, and make sure that if you're specifying a wallpaper image in your configuration file, you specify the UNC path to the wallpaper rather than a local path, as shown here.

Finally, create a batch file (e.g. bgrun.bat) that calls bginfo silently. Again, make sure that the configuration file and bginfo.exe are passed as full UNC paths as shown in my bgrun.bat content:

\savdalbfs01toolsbginfo.exe \savdalbfs01toolssavtech.bgi /accepteula /silent /timer 0

You can now call bgrun.bat from a login script by setting User Configuration, Policies, Windows Settings, Scripts, Logon and entering the UNC location of bgrun.bat. Link this GPO to the OU containing your users, or even the root of your domain.

060611-bg-run-bat-use-small_0

The problem is that this logon script would be applied if the user logged onto a server or a workstation, and I don't want my Halo wallpaper being replaced on my desktop machine. So I suggest adding a WMI filter to the GPO that only lets the GPO be used if connecting to a server, as explained in the next FAQ, "Q. How can I apply GPO user settings in a GPO only if connecting to specific machines or classes of machines like servers?" This isn't needed if your administrative users that only ever connect to servers are in their own OU—the GPO can just be linked to the OU containing the administrators that want the BGInfo.