Diagnostic on Anything About IT

ToolTip Diagnostic Tool for the WSUS Agent

Mon, 18 Jun 2012 17:56:05 +0000

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 of the Windows Update Agent against the installed version of Windows

Microsoft Fixit Center Pro (Beta)

Tue, 06 Mar 2012 00:00:20 +0000

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

Adding Microsoft Diagnostics and Recovery Toolset (DART) to your Windows 7 boot menu

Tue, 16 Nov 2010 21:47:26 +0000

Last weekend I went through the Microsoft TechEd 2010 presentations and one of the presentations that got my attention was “Keeping Windows Running Effeciently with the Microsoft Diagnostics and Recovery Toolset”. Presentation video and slides from this session can be found here (TechEd USA) or here (TechEd Europe)

The Microsoft Diagnostics and Recovery Toolset is part of the MDOP Toolset. If you’re not familiar I recommend watching the TechEd presentation or read more here. One interesting concept they speak about is to deploy DART to the client so that it can be started through the Windows 7 Boot menu. DART is a superset of the Windows Recovery Environment which is installed by default with Windows 7. Today I am going to show you how you can install DART on your local system and add an additional boot menu option. In a later post I plan to explain how to actually replace the Windows 7 default Recovery Environment with DART.

ToolTip: WSUS Workgroup ClientSettingManager

Sun, 21 Mar 2010 10:52:43 +0000

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 such as:

WSUS Client Diagnostic Tool

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 20:18:05 +0000

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.