How do I enable VBScript?

Topic

New Reply

I have an important VBScript that I liked to run from time to time on my W7 SP1 laptop. Somewhere along the way, M_soft disabled it on my machine.

How can I enable VBScript? The Fixit provided in the article referenced by Susan to enable VBScript didn’t work on my machine.

Thanks for any help provided,

Dick-Y

Reply | Quote

Replies

Have you installed the August Rollup/Security-only update?
If so, try uninstalling it.
The August updates broke VP6, VBA and VBScript on all versions of Windows.

1 user thanked author for this post.

southieguy

Reply | Quote

I’ll do that, PKCano; but my VBScipt hasn’t worked for over 6 months. It was only upon reading Susan’s article that caused me to “wake up” and see if I could have VBScript working again.

Dick-Y

Reply | Quote

If it’s been out for 6 months, then the cause is not the Aug updates.
That was just a guess considering the problems this month’s patches have caused.

1 user thanked author for this post.

southieguy

Reply | Quote

What doesn’t work?
How do you know it doesn’t work?
Can you run it manually from the Command Line to see what, if anything, it complains about?

cheers, Paul

1 user thanked author for this post.

southieguy

Reply | Quote

PaulT:

I have always run it by just opening it.  When I do that, nothing happens.  When it worked, it cleans out the notification area for me.  Trying to do what you suggested, a black screen flashed by too fast for me to see what it might be complaining about.  However, that way too, it didn’t clean out anything for me.

 

Dick-Y

Reply | Quote

I keep saying this, but I will say it again. STOP updating. There will be no more updates in a few short months any way. I am firmly convinced that the urgency to do this updating is vastly over-blown for the ordinary joe user. (I am not speaking of enterprise installations.) My clients are that type and have not had a single Microsoft update of any kind in 27 months now. We have not had a single problem of any kind.

CT

2 users thanked author for this post.

lanceboil, Myst

Reply | Quote

I’m sorry, but how does that relate to my being able to enable VBScript?

Dick-Y

1 user thanked author for this post.

geekdom

Reply | Quote

Roll back those last updates that caused this problem, then stop further updating.  I am convinced that the risk involved in doing updates is much greater than not updating at all.

If you cannot roll them back, re-install windows 7, but when you do do updating to a point and stop.  I can be far more explicit about how to do this, if you are interested.  I’ve done if at least 100 times for my clients.

CT

1 user thanked author for this post.

southieguy

Reply | Quote

CT:

Thank you for your kind offer.  If no-one comes up with an enabling solution, I may take you up on your offer of those explicit instructions.  For now, though, I’ll wait hopefully for a solution to my problem.

 

Dick-Y

Reply | Quote

My Windows Update strategy is based on three key events:

1. Dec 31, 2014 all Win7 development ended. Therefore anything that is NOT security is something you do not want because it is how MS tries to make your Win7 machine operate more like win10 from its own perspective

2. September 2016/ The last date that you were able to select out updates you do not want. Rollups began

3. Security-only updates were available until June 2017, when they fixed a bum Security only update in a Rollup. That meant if you used a June 2017 Security only update, you installed a bug which you cannot fix unless you install a rollup. I presume this policy continues to this day

In addition, Office updates started going haywire all over the place starting in June 2017.

So, when you do a re-install, you want to be selective on which updates offered you accept. I follow the above dates and end all updating of any kind that was issued after May 2017.

CT

Reply | Quote

Hi our corporate IT did an update than my VBS files not working any solution?

Reply | Quote

We don’t know what update was made so can only guess.
Ask your corporate help desk.

cheers, Paul

Reply | Quote

Since this has been going on for 6 months, could your antivirus or another security program be disabling your VBScript? If so you may be able to add an exception to allow your script to run.

1 user thanked author for this post.

southieguy

Reply | Quote

I run Malwarebytes Pro, and I wouldn’t know how to do what you suggest, Sueska.

Thank you for the reply though.

Dick-Y

Reply | Quote

I run an older version of Malwarebytes Anti-Malware (MBAM) Pro version 1.75.0.1300. In this version there is an “Ignore list” tab. While in this tab, if you click the add button, you can browse to and add your vbscript file to exclude it. Do you have an older version too, since the paid versions of Malwarebytes are now called Premium? Alternately, if you can temporarily disable your antivirus or security program and test whether your vbscript will now run. In MBAM Pro on the protection tab, you can temporarily disable file protection by unchecking it. I have had issues with MBAM Pro and file protection in the past. In my case a reboot was needed for the change to take effect. If you make any changes for a test, remember to re-enable when done. However, if you have also installed the August windows updates, even if another security product initially broke your vbscript, it may be broken again by the August update. When there are multiple variables, troubleshooting can be tricky.
Are you sure you are not also running an antivirus program? Malwarebytes Pro is not a stand alone antivirus and is meant to be run together with an antivirus.

1 user thanked author for this post.

southieguy

Reply | Quote

Back from a movie with my wife.  it’s late, so I’ll do the Malwarebytes step you suggest tomorrow morning.

Microsoft’s Defender also runs on my system

Dick-Y

Reply | Quote

Here are some ideas to try and help you.

How to Enable Windows Script Host in Windows 7
https://www.techwalla.com/articles/how-to-enable-windows-script-host-in-windows-7
A registry key.

enabling VBScript (windows 7)
https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-windows_install/enabling-vbscript/9c865038-bde3-4171-a406-e43b8bc6ac28
It mentions re-registering the VBScript engine.

Option to disable VBScript execution in Internet Explorer for Internet Zone and Restricted Sites Zone
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4012494/option-to-disable-vbscript-execution-in-internet-explorer-for-internet
“Click this easy fix to restore VBScript in Internet Explorer 11 for Internet Zone and Restricted Sites Zone.”
There is a clickable link at the MS site to turn it back on.

Mentioned for windows 10.
Click Start > Run, type regedt32 or regedit, and then click OK.
To enable VBScript execution in Internet Zone, locate the following registry subkey in Registry Editor:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\Zones\3\140C
To enable VBScript execution in Restricted Sites Zone, locate the following registry subkey in Registry Editor:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\Zones\4\140C
Right-click the appropriate registry subkey, and then click Modify.
In the Edit DWORD (32-bit) Value dialog box, type 0
Click OK, and then restart Internet Explorer

https://kb.geomant.com/display/kb/How+to+enable+VBScript+execution+on+Windows+10+build+16237%2C+for+Legacy+Scripting

Registry key to re-enable VBScript controls in Office 365
https://gallery.technet.microsoft.com/office/Registry-key-to-re-enable-835fba77

I like Canadian Tech and his idea. I have been following and promoting that idea -mildly- for some time. I will admit, I still do updates but will probably breath a sigh of -relief- when it is over. As long as Chrome and Firefox continue to make a web browser that is safe and operates on unsupported 7, I will be happy.

Don’t forget to have some kind of antivirus or better anti-spyware and an AD blocker to stop the malicious web sites and advertisements.

Keep us informed CT on how any months you have gone without updates and no issues! I am rooting for you!

1 user thanked author for this post.

southieguy

Reply | Quote

Dick, can you post the VBS file as text so we can see what it should do?

cheers, Paul

Reply | Quote

Before I do anything else, let me start with what happened when I did what Sueska suggested:

BTW, I also misspoke earlier.  I am running MalwareBytes Premium 3.8.3

When I added the vbs script-file as an exclusion, rebooted, and opened the script-file, I got this message:

“There is no script engine for the file extension “.vbs”.”

Dick-Y

PS,

Here’s the text file version:

‘—————————————————————————–
‘Clears items in the Windows 7/Vista/XP Customize Notifications dialog.
‘This script can be used in Windows XP, Windows Vista & Windows 7 OS.
‘Copyright © 2009 Ramesh Srinivasan
‘Created on February 13, 2007
‘Updated on November 27, 2009
‘http://www.winhelponline.com/blog
‘—————————————————————————–

Set WshShell = CreateObject(“WScript.Shell”)
strComputer = “.”
Set objWMIService = GetObject _
(“winmgmts:\\” & strComputer & “\root\cimv2”)

‘Determine if Windows XP or Vista/7
Set colOperatingSystems = objWMIService.ExecQuery _
(“Select * from Win32_OperatingSystem”)
For Each objOperatingSystem in colOperatingSystems
if instr(objOperatingSystem.Caption,”Vista”) or instr(objOperatingSystem.Caption,”Windows 7″) then
strBasekey = “HKCU\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\TrayNotify\”
elseif instr(objOperatingSystem.Caption,”XP”) Then
strBasekey = “HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\TrayNotify\”
else
MsgBox “This script works in Windows XP, Windows Vista & Windows 7 systems only”
wscript.Quit
end if
Next

‘Clear the Customize Notifications dialog
On Error resume next
WshShell.Regdelete strBasekey & “IconStreams”
WshShell.Regdelete strBasekey & “PastIconsStream”
On Error goto 0

‘Get curr. user name
Set colItems = objWMIService.ExecQuery(“Select * From Win32_ComputerSystem”)
For Each objItem in colItems
strCurrentUserName = objItem.UserName
Next

‘Restart user shell
Set colProcessList = objWMIService.ExecQuery _
(“Select * from Win32_Process Where Name = ‘Explorer.exe'”)
For Each objProcess in colProcessList
colProperties = objProcess.GetOwner(strNameOfUser,strUserDomain)
If strUserDomain & “\” & strNameOfUser = strCurrentUserName then
objProcess.Terminate()
end if
Next
strWelcome = “For more tips and articles on Windows XP/Vista/7, visit us at:” & Chr(10) & Chr(10) & vbtab & “http://www.winhelponline.com/blog”
Msgbox “Completed!” & Chr(10) & Chr(10) & strWelcome & Chr(10),64, “Customize Notifications dialog cleared”

Reply | Quote

Excellent. Now you have an error message. Below are some solutions to that error.

Error – “There is no script engine for file extension .vbs” when using “Git Bash Here” in Windows 7
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/17757248/error-there-is-no-script-engine-for-file-extension-vbs-when-using-git-bash

“The problem is caused by associating .vbs files with a program other than Microsoft Windows Based Script Host (the default). In my case, I had associated the files with Notepad++. I was able to solve it by running Notepad++ as an administrator and removing the file association for .vbs files.”

Another mentioned,

“In my case I was able to get out of this rid by re-associating the vbs files with the following command: cmd–>Run as Administrator –> now type the following command and press enter”

assoc .vbs=VBSFile

In a previous post I mentioned this possibility,

enabling VBScript (windows 7)
https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-windows_install/enabling-vbscript/9c865038-bde3-4171-a406-e43b8bc6ac28
It mentions re-registering the VBScript engine.

Sounds like you are making headway. Good luck.

1 user thanked author for this post.

southieguy

Reply | Quote

Anon.

Thanks.  I’ve tried the 3 mentioned.  No joy.

I’ve just found a suggestion that required my creating a sub-key in thte Registry.

I’m going to reboot, and give that a go

Dick-Y

Reply | Quote

Dick-Y, I am sorry it didn’t work. I will continue looking too. Keep us informed. Hopefully you will succeed soon!

1 user thanked author for this post.

southieguy

Reply | Quote

Dick-Y, here are some other sites that seem helpful including the location of the script engine EXE. It is amazing now many ways a program can break, then need a specific fix to correct it.

“Go to Start / Control Panel / Default Programs / “Associate a file type or protocol with a specific program” , what is the file extension .vbs associated with? Mine says “Microsoft Windows Based Script Host”. This is wscript.exe found in the C:\Windows\System32 folder.”
https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/there-is-no-script-engine-for-file-extension-vbs/4812c2ec-984f-4a16-9d79-96fa6125123d

and

[Fix] Can’t find Script Engine Vbscript, and “no script engine for .vbs”
https://www.winhelponline.com/blog/error-there-is-no-script-engine-for-file-extension-when-running-vbs-files/

“This happens if the Vbscript.dll module is not registered correctly or the .VBS file association settings are broken. This error can be fixed using the steps listed below, applies to Windows Vista, 7, 8, 8.1 and 10.”

This site has 3 methods to fix it.

Note: Several have mentioned using a “file association ZIP file for VBS”. Make sure it is a reputable site if you do use that.

1 user thanked author for this post.

southieguy

Reply | Quote

A report, before I look at the above and try some of those suggestions.

The registry “fix” I tried did not work.  I got the same error message as before: “There is no . . .”

Dick-Y

 

Reply | Quote

Mine says “Microsoft Windows Based Script Host” also.

Dick-Y

 

Reply | Quote

Try running the file from a full command line.
c:\windows\system32\wscript.exe pathto\nameoffile.vbs

cheers, Paul

1 user thanked author for this post.

southieguy

Reply | Quote

I ran the following as an administrative Command Prompt:

c:\windows\system32\wscript.exe D:\My_Data\Desktop\clear-notification-items.vbs

and got the same error message as before:

“There is no script engine for the file extension “.vbs”.”

Dick-Y

PS:

Prior to doing that, last night I ran all the suggestions that Anonymous had suggested with no joy resulting.

The last suggestion, which was a zipped registry file wouldn’t run.

Whether I ran it under my “normal” system or in safe mode I would get this message:

“Cannot import . . .not all data was successfully written to the registry.  Some keys are open by the system or other processes.”

Reply | Quote

Dick-Y, it looks as though something may had taken over that part of your registry or it is a protected area that you do not have ownership. See the below.

[solved] Cannot import to registry.. “Not all data was successfully written to the registry. some keys are open by the system or other process, or you have insufficient privileges to perform this operation” Posted on July 28, 2013
https://www.windowstechinfo.com/2013/07/solved-cannot-import-to-registry-not.html
“To bypass “Cannot import to registry” error and force add the registry value, follow the below, steps
Download pstools (PSTools.zip) from http://technet.microsoft.com
Then extract PSTools.zip it in to a folder.. open a command prompt run as administrator
(psexec -s -i -d regedit will invoke a registry editor under the powerful privileges of Windows system Account)
Then registry editor will be opened and through file menu import the registry key you want..”

The site shows how to do it with screenshots. Some people had success other did not.

Let us know what happens if you decide to use it. Good luck again.

1 user thanked author for this post.

southieguy

Reply | Quote

What happens if you just type “cscript” at a Command Prompt?
You should get “Microsoft (R) Windows Script Host…”.

Right click on a VBS file and select Properties.
Does it show as a “VBScript Script File (.vbs)”?

cheers, Paul

1 user thanked author for this post.

southieguy

Reply | Quote

Try

cscript D:\My_Data\Desktop\clear-notification-items.vbs

1 user thanked author for this post.

southieguy

Reply | Quote

Paul:

I do get that (version 5.8).

Properties: type of file VBS File (.vbs)

Opens with Microsoft Windows Based Script Host

Dick-Y

 

Reply | Quote

PKCano:

Tried it.  It says: “Input error:” Followed by the same “There is no script engine . . .”

Dick-Y

Reply | Quote

This may be an off-the-wall question, but:

Is there anyone out there, running Windows 7, who can successfully run a .vbs script?

Dick-Y

Reply | Quote

Yes, in fact your script runs fine on my windows 7 pro. Got the message box that it completed successfully, although I did not notice any permanent change to my notification area. Some notifications icons disappeared, then re-populated. Had to clean the code up first after a copy and paste from the web of course (replace quotes , commas,etc). I am a group B updater, had a need to update early, and this month installed Aug IE cumulative patch and substituted patch KB4517297 (the one with the vb fixes) for the Aug security only patch. Did you happen to test uninstalling Aug patch in the off chance that something broke your vbscript 6 months ago and now the Aug patch has broke it again? Do you remember uninstalling an antivirus or making some significant change around the time your vbscript broke? Sounds like you tried quite a bit of troubleshooting. The following article may be one you already saw and tried, but is very interesting implicating popular antivirus programs. https://techlogon.com/how-to-fix-the-error-cant-find-script-engine-vbscript-for-script/

1 user thanked author for this post.

southieguy

Reply | Quote

Sueska:

Yes I tried all the steps in the article you referenced, with no joy.

I’m going to go back and uninstall the August patch, and see how that goes.

Thank you for your suggestions.

Dick-Y

Reply | Quote

The above anon. is me.  I forgot to login, after doing Sueska’s suggestions.

Dick-Y

Reply | Quote

Dick-Y, I know a bunch of registry key ideas have been given to you by me or others. When you went in there did you look at both “HKEY_CURRENT_USER” and “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE” for the Script key?

For example:
https://www.thewindowsclub.com/windows-script-host-access-is-disabled-on-this-machine has this key to examine.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows Script Host\Settings

Also look in the Current User keys. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE is global and affects the OS. HKEY_CURRENT_USER only affects a specific user. So see if there -may- be two places to look for.

This is getting tough. I hope you get resolution soon.

1 user thanked author for this post.

southieguy

Reply | Quote

Anon:

Both the global and local keys are already set to “1”, which the article says means “enabled.”

Since the .vbs script that started this adventure is the only one I used to run from time to time, I think trying to resolve this issue has taken up too much time for all of you, and me.  I think it is best for me to “give up the ghost” and put that script on the scrap heap.

Thanks everyone for trying to help me.

Dick-Y

 

 

Reply | Quote

Dick-Y, I am sorry you never got a resolution. I understand getting frustrated and giving up. I have seen in forums people get mad at the lack of success and “reinstall Windows” and that fixed it. You could think about doing a “Windows repair” and not loose your programs. Maybe one day the answer will pop up. I have had things not get answered for months or years later, “ohh that’s what it was” type of situation.

I would wonder if someone made a VBS script program or editor that could help with either its own DLLs and associations to add, or a new error message more precise, on the exact problem causing this failure.

Sorry Dick-Y.

1 user thanked author for this post.

southieguy

Reply | Quote

Thank you Anon.  Prior to receiving your response, I was going to update one more time:

I decided to take the “nuke” approach.  I found an old image of mine, dated 12/01/2018, and restored that.

The .vbs script worked!

Now I have to update some software like MalwareBytes and Macrium Reflect etc.

God bless the creators of backup/restore software; and pray for those who don’t use them.

Dick-Y

2 users thanked author for this post.

Sueska, geekdom

Reply | Quote

Glad to hear your backup got you up and running. Thanks for keeping us informed on your progress.

Reply | Quote