Rating: 
Summary: Best Computer Book I Have Ever Owned!
Review: I thought that I was very knowledgeable about Windows scripts but after reading this book I found out how much more I needed to know. I needed a jump start on the changes and new features and this book was that and more. I especially liked the examples and work arounds, but the reference part alone was worth the cost of the book. I would recommend this book at twice the price.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent book
Review: I would recommend this book to anyone that needs to script for NT. I just wish that it came with a PDF or HTML format so I could have it on my laptop at all times! Tim Hill has done a great job in bringing it all together in one concise, yet complete volume. A MUST have for NT Admins!!!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent coverage of NT Schedule Service and Scripting
Review: I'm a Unix fan, but after getting this book, I've become much more of an NT fan (it's hard converting). I've used the Schedule Service with the AT command and many, many other DOS commands that are used in this book. I appreciate the references to Unix to make the explanation clearer, but it was already a very easy read. (From a programmer with 11 years of experience and over 20 languages under my belt.)
Rating: 
Summary: A good book, but has some omissions
Review: I've been looking for a complete reference of NT shell commands, and this is the closest (if not the only at this time) that I could find. I have noticed a few errors and omissions, but all in all, it has helped my scripting capabilities tremendously. A must-have for any NT admin who want's to get creative in his/her administrative tasks.
Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Reference
Review: If you ever find yourself working at the command prompt in NT, this is the book you'll reach for over and over again. In my work, I do alot of file transfers, bulk loads of databases and test script development. I constantly use the Command Reference section in this book for command syntax and command line parameter options as well as it's examples.This was the only book on the topic I could find and I wasn't disappointed!
Rating:
Summary: The only one of it's kind!
Review: If you ever find yourself working at the command prompt in NT, this is the book you'll reach for over and over again. In my work, I do alot of file transfers, bulk loads of databases and test script development. I constantly use the Command Reference section in this book for command syntax and command line parameter options as well as it's examples. This was the only book on the topic I could find and I wasn't disappointed!
Rating:
Summary: Great book for Windows Config. Management Engineers
Review: If you happen to be in the field of being responsible for automated code building (checkout, compile, verify, checkin) this book is a necessary addition to the toolchest. There are many wonderful things to discover about NT scripting that you never thought possible. I would also recommend the "Sed & Awk" reference from O'Reilly (of course, along with the actual programs) to further fill any gaps left by NT scripting; the two in tandom can get almost anything done.
Rating:
Summary: It doesn't get better than this. Now we need a 2nd edition.
Review: If you have a bit of programming experience, this book together with access to the NT Resource Kit tools will provide you with the foundation for doing almost anything you could imagine within Windows NT Shell Scripting. The book can be used both as a tutorial and a reference for Windows NT scripting and gives good examples of the commands, tools and concepts covered. For Windows NT, this book does the job as your Shell Scripting Bible in less than 400 pages. Since Windows NT 4.0, a lot has happened in the Windows scripting field though. With the release of Windows 2000 and the subsequent Windows XP and .NET Server, shell scripting has become much more powerful. A second edition of this book covering the new commands and tools would be most welcome. Until one exists, you might also want to look at newer books covering shell scripting for operating systems based on the Windows NT kernel. You might also want to look at other, often more powerful ways to script your Windows NT-based environment. For that matter I recommend looking at other books covering WSH (Windows Script Host), ADSI and WMI (Windows Management Instrumentation).
Rating: 
Summary: Table of Contents
Review: Introduction Chapter 1: Script Basics 1.1 Scripts Defined (or, What is a Script?) 1.2 The Console Window 1.3 Introducing Scripts 1.4 Script Arguments 1.5 Special Script Lines 1 Chapter 2 The Windows NT Command Shell 2.1 Command Shell Modes 2.2 CMD.EXE and COMMAND.COM 2.3 Starting a Command Shell 2.4 Command Line Editing 2.5 DOSKEY and Command Macros 2.6 Launching Applications from the Shell 2.7 Controlling Script Output 2.8 Command Redirection 2.9 Running Multiple Commands 2.10 Using Command Filters 2.11 The Windows NT Command Scheduler Chapter 3 Script Parameters and Variables 3.1 Variable Basics 3.2 Advanced SET Commands 3.3 Special Variable Syntax 3.4 Script Parameters and Arguments Chapter 4 Control Flow, Procedures, and Script Nesting 4.1 Control Flow and Procedures 4.2 Procedure Nesting 4.3 Procedure Structure 4.4 Script Libraries 4.5 The IF Command 4.6 Interactive Commands 4.7 Script Synchronization Using SLEEP 4.8 The FOR Command 34 Chapter 5 A Scripting Toolkit 5.1 What You Need to Build a Script or Building a Script 5.2 Script Debugging 5.3 An Example Library Chapter 6 User Management Scripts 6.1 Heading 6.2 MAKEUSR Script 6.3 USRQUOTA Script 6.4 PJCOUNT Script 6.5 MTPLOGON.BAT Script Chapter 7 Miscellaneous Scripts 7.1 NT Backup Enhancement 7.2 Machine Burn-in and Testing 7.3 Peer-to-Peer File Replication 7.4 A Simple Game Appendix A: RCMD Resource Kit Utility Appendix B: Other Useful Command Line Tools Index
Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: It's an excellent refresher for those NT admins who never used advanced DOS batch files and a good primer for those who skipped past DOS altogether. It covers some advanced features exclusive to the NT command shell (CMD.EXE) and references useful resource kit utilities. I'd highly recommend this for admins who need to get quick fixes in without having to resort to more traditional coding.
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