by Alex Verboon
If you’re looking for a more advanced version of the WSUS Client Diagnostic Tool then have a look at the Diagnostic Tool for the WSUS Agent provided by Solarwinds. As for most of the Tools I mention on this blog, it’s FREE. Here are the highlights: The Diagnostic Tool runs on x64 and x86 systems Additional validation tests on key configuration options, such as syntax checking on the WSUS URL, and validating the installed version Read More …
Should you encounter problems with activating Windows 8 or Server 2012 then have a look at the new added command-line tool licensingdiag.exe. To run licensingdiag.exe open a command prompt and enter the following command: licensingdiag.exe -report c:\data\licensing\licenserep.xml -log c:\data\licensing\license.cab This will create a log file and a CAB file. The log file is an XML type file that contains various information about the client, the OS and its licensing status. The CAB file contains a Read More …
On Windows 7 many users suffer from disappearing shortcuts on their desktop. I wrote about this in Control Windows 7 Scheduled Maintenance Behavior Through Group Policy. On Windows 8 this shouldn’t happen anymore, since Microsoft has removed the related scripts and Tasks from the Diagnosis troubleshooting pack (DiagPackage.diagpkg) The following files have been removed from the C:\Windows\diagnostics\scheduled\Maintenance folder: RS_RemoveShortcuts.ps1 RS_RemoveUnusedDesktopIcons.ps1 TS_BrokenShortcuts.ps1 TS_UnusedDesktopIcons.ps1
If you haven’t heard of this yet, I recommend taking a look at recently launched Microsoft Fixit Center Pro (Beta). This is an online service developed by the Microsoft Customer Service and Support organization that can help you with troubleshooting problems. To learn more about Microsoft Fixit Center Pro, I recommend reading the following: Microsoft Fix it Center Pro Now Available! Microsoft Fix it Center Pro automated diagnostic portal
This week one of my customers send me the Microsoft support article KB978980 – Desktop Shortcuts disappear in Windows 7 and the request to make sure this wouldn’t happen to his clients. In short, if a user creates a shortcut that points to a location that isn’t available at the time when the weekly scheduled system maintenance task is running, the shortcuts are considered as broken and therefore automatically deleted. In the support article Microsoft Read More …
Here are some good resources for KMS troubleshooting: MS KB 938450 How to troubleshoot Volume Activation error codes on Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista-based computers. TechNet article How to troubleshoot the Key Management Service (KMS)
If you get tasked to do some system troubleshooting and you just want to get as many information possible from a client, then have a look at the Microsoft Product Support Report Tool and the Product Support Reports Viewer. The Microsoft Product Support Reports Viewer 2.0 can be downloaded from here and the Microsoft Product Support Reports from here First launch the Microsoft Product Support Tool, which is a self-extracting executable (no installation needed). Once Read More …
I just found another nice FREE Utility that any Systems Engineer should have who deals with WSUS. The Tool allows you to configure a client’s WSUS settings without having to manually apply any registry settings or you can use the Tool for Troubleshooting purposes. If your clients receive WSUS configuration through Group Policy Settings, you can use the tool to see if all settings are applied correctly. The Tool also provides some additional useful functions Read More …
Having trouble with a client not getting updates from your Windows Update Services Server ? Then have a look at the WSUS Client Diagnostics Tool. The tool performs various system checks and tests the communication between your client and the WSUS server. The Tool can be downloaded from the Windows Server Update Services Tools and Utilities site at Microsoft TechNet.