Windows XP system Powerful support tool

Whether it is monitoring the performance of the system or exploring the cause of the failure, the real key is to find the right tools. Open XP's "All Programs" menu, "System Tools" there is a lot of tools to let you choose. However, if you are an experienced user, Windows XP also prepares you for another package: there are more than 100 different tools hidden on the installation CD.

They cover all aspects of the operating system, from network and Internet connections to folder and Disk Management, without any surprise.

This is a toolset called Windows Support Tools, designed for users who are unwilling to stay on Windows fur. Before I begin to dig this treasure, I warn you that misuse of certain tools can jeopardize the security of the system itself. Do not use tools in order to use tools, run each tool before the heart to have a clear goal, careful operation.

Windows XP, which is installed by default, does not have support tools, which must be manually installed with the Windows installation CD. During installation, the wizard asks whether you want to perform a typical or a full installation, a typical installation will install 57 tools, and a full installation will install 103 tools. After the installation is complete, a new folder is added to the Program Files directory. The tools are more natural and the tools are mostly used to diagnose network and server related problems.

We can cite a few examples to see the rich features of Support tools: Application Monitor Apimon.exe, counting and timing all function calls, monitoring page failure errors, disk probe Dskprobe.exe, direct access, editing, Saving and replicating various areas of the hard drive, which can be difficult to access in a regular way, such as the ability to replace the master boot record (MBR) of the hard disk, repair the damaged partition table, and the Windiff.exe, the ability to analyze two files or folders to compare the differences between the two.

First, the general use of the process

If you want to understand the general use of a program, the best way is to read the Help documentation for support tools, which is under the All Programs menu. In this Help document, you can find a list of tools in alphabetical order that contains most of the tools and their functional descriptions for support tools. Some tools are independent. HLP help file, open the program Filessupport Tools folder, and double-click one. HLP file to view its contents.

Most tools can be double-clicked in the Program Filessupport Tools folder. EXE file, but not every tool has a graphical user interface, some tools must be run from the command line, such tools are usually run with command line parameters control, enter the program name of a tool plus "/?" parameter to get a list of command-line arguments and their purpose description.

Second, install from the command line

Sometimes Windows XP does not start and requires support tools to help identify the cause of the failure. However, if you do not have support tools installed, you will not be able to use support tools at all. Don't worry, Msiexec can help. msiexec can perform installation, modification, and other operations of Windows Installer (Windows Installer) from the command line.

The commands for performing a typical installation of the Support Tools on the command line are: msiexec/i x:supporttoolssuptools.msi/q, where x is the drive letter of the CD driver. The fully installed command is: msiexec/i x:supporttoolssuptools.msi/q Addlocal=all, where Addlocal=all represents the installation of all the tools.

Third, handle the software unloading failure

After you run out of a software, you may want to delete it. However, sometimes it should be easy to delete the operation, the system is somehow the crash, or the appearance of strange error messages. There are many reasons for deleting a failure, either the software itself is not adequately tested, or the registry configuration may be corrupted or invalidated. Don't worry, support tools can help you. In fact, you can find two removal tools for Windows Installer: Msicuu.exe,msizap.exe. The English name of the latter is Windows Installer Zapper, which can only be run from the command line.

Msicuu.exe: This tool cleans up files, folders, and registry information that is added to the system when you install programs in Windows Explorer. If Add or Remove Programs in Control Panel is not valid for a software, Msicuu.exe is worth a try. Msicuu.exe provides an easy-to-use dialogue window to help you clear the problematic software. Note When you use Msicuu.exe, you must be logged on to Windows XP as an administrator, or you will be prompted with an error message.

All actions performed with Msicuu.exe are recorded in a log file, which is the msicu.log file stored in the Windowstemp directory. The content of this log file is constantly accumulating, and every time you delete a software, the details of the operation are logged to that log.

Msizap.exe: The main function is similar to Msicuu.exe, the biggest difference is that Msizap.exe runs from the command line and does not provide a window interface. It is also important to note that Msizap.exe is likely to remove essential system files, so you can consider using Msizap.exe only if Add or Remove Programs, Msicuu.exe are not valid. Start Msizap.exe by clicking "Start"-" All Programs "-Windows support Tools"-"Command Prompt", enter Msizap.exe and press ENTER. Msizap.exe will display the available command-line arguments in the command window.

To clear an installed software with Msizap.exe, you must specify the identity of the software in the registry on the command line. The identification of the software can be found under the Hkey_local_machine/software/microsoft/windows/currentversion/uninstall key of the registry. For example, if you want to use Msizap.exe to clear all content related to Acme antivirus software, execute the command: MSIZap T {66ch7520-b423-4bd1-a7e4-75bb8b44740e}.

Iv. managing files and directories

Directory Disk usage is Diruse.exe, which is also a command-line tool. You can use it to view the size of the directory, detailed compression information (only for NTFS partitions). In addition to the disk space used by the folder, it is also able to set the maximum space limit for the specified folder and alerts when the folder occupies more space than the limit.

Diruse.exe is the ideal tool for managing public PCs, and with the use of Windows's disk management capabilities, you can closely monitor all user accounts. Users with administrator privileges can check the usage of all directories, including directories that are not part of the current account.

Support Tools is a valuable lifeline when Windows does not start and only enters the Recovery Console. For example, you can use the File version tool (Filever.exe) to view the execution file information that is saved in the directory, including detailed instructions that are typically only seen when Windows is running normally, especially when you get it. The exact version number of the EXE file.

V. Documents and Information

The Visual File Information tool (Vfi.exe) can be launched with the Run dialog box, which is a tool with a graphical interface. You can use it to show Xin raise  Nan Xi the fang Bream Ⅰ@ relief  Regret said Frank Sham Ile "-" Add a File "(or add a directory), and then join to view the details of the file or directory, Vfi.exe will display in a table the properties of the file, including the file name, extension, Creation date, modification date, version, language, code page, and so on.

If you want to compare files from different locations, Vfi.exe is an ideal tool. Vfi.exe also has a commendable feature, it can modify the original creation date of the file, click the Touch button to display a calendar and clock, you just set the date, time information and then click OK.

Vi. Looking for duplicate documents

The duplicate file finder (Dupfinder.exe) is perhaps one of the most useful tools in support tool. If you plan to clean up the extra files in your system, Dupfinder.exe is definitely worth a try. Dupfinder.exe provides a graphical user interface that is easy to use. Even so, use caution when you find duplicate files and do not delete them immediately. The more secure way is to rename the duplicate files first, to see if the system is functioning properly, to test for a period of time to confirm that the system function is not affected, and then to delete the duplicate files.

After starting Dupfinder.exe, enter a directory name (default C:) in the Search in input box, and click the Start Search button to start searching. Searching the entire C: drive may take some time.

The search results are displayed in the list below the window. Right-click a file to perform actions such as deleting, moving, renaming, viewing information, and so on. Delete files for system folders (and their subfolders) be careful, if there are duplicate files in other folders, you should keep the files of the Windows System folder as a priority.