Release Notes (Readme.htm) for Windows Support Tools for Microsoft Windows XP Professional and Windows XP 64-Bit Edition

This document contains important information that is not included in the online Help for the Microsoft® Windows® Support Tools for Microsoft Windows® XP Professional and Windows XP 64-Bit Edition, including information not available from other sources about setting up the Windows Support Tools for Microsoft Windows XP Professional and Windows XP 64-Bit Edition. Also included are very important corrections and new information related to the Windows Support Tools and documentation.

Contents

About the Tools

Setup for Support Tools Software

Tools Documented But Not Installed In This Release

Tools Not Documented

General Setup Instructions

Installing from the Command Prompt

Unattended Installation

Individual Tool Release Notes

Bitsadmin.exe (BITS Administration Tool)

Dumpchk.exe (Dump Check Utility)

Rasdiag.exe (RAS Diagnostics Tool)

Activate.exe (Production Activation Tool)

Online Documents

Support Policy


About the Tools

The Windows Support Tools for Microsoft Windows XP Professional and Windows XP 64-Bit Edition are intended for use by Microsoft support personnel and experienced users to assist in diagnosing and resolving computer problems. For individual tool descriptions, see the Windows Support Tools online tool documentation (Suptools.chm).


Setup for Support Tools Software

The Windows Support Tools for Microsoft Windows XP Professional and Windows XP 64-Bit Edition are located in the \Support\Tools folder on the Windows XP Professional and Windows XP 64-Bit Edition CDs, respectively. The \Support\Tools folder contains a Windows Installer file (suptools.msi), which installs the Support Tools utilities and tools on your computer's hard drive.

Note
The Application Compatibility Toolkit does not install with the Support Tools.

Important
These tools have not been localized: they are written and tested in English only. Using these tools with a different language version of Microsoft Windows XP Professional or Windows XP 64-Bit Edition might produce unpredictable results.

Tools Documented But Not Installed In This Release

The following tools are documented in the Support Tools help file (Suptools.chm) but are not installed in this release.

  • DCDiag.exe
  • Repadmin.exe

    Tools Not Documented

    The following tools install when the Complete checkbox is selected during setup. However, these tools are not documented in a separate Help file. For most command-line tools, you may type /? (for example, apmstat /?) at the command prompt for syntax help.

  • Activate.exe
  • Apmstat.exe
  • Bindiff.exe
  • Browstat.exe
  • Cabarc.exe
  • Dsastat.exe
  • Dupfinder.exe
  • Extract.exe
  • IpsecCmd.exe
  • Ksetup.exe
  • Ktpass.exe
  • Ntfrsutil.exe
  • Pviewer.exe
  • Remote.exe
  • Rsdiag.exe
  • Setspn.exe
  • Timezone.exe
  • Tracefmt.exe
  • Tracelog.exe
  • Tracepdb.exe
  • Vfi.exe
  • Whoami.exe
  • Wsremote.exe

    The following tools install when the Complete checkbox is selected during setup. However, the Help for these tools contains the Windows 2000 version and is not included in Suptools.chm. The help for these tools can be launched from the help menu option of the tools or it can also be launched from the command line by typing the help file name directly.

  • Apimon.exe -- Apimon.hlp
  • Dskprobe.exe -- Dskprobe.hlp
  • Windiff.exe -- Windiff.hlp

    The following scripts install when the Complete checkbox is selected during setup. Help is not included for these scripts. For more information, see the Iadstools.doc and Clonepr.doc files.

  • Clonegg.vbs
  • Cloneggu.vbs
  • Clonelg.vbs
  • Clonepr.vbs
  • Search.vbs
  • Sidhist.vbs

    General Setup Instructions

    The Windows Support Tools for Microsoft Windows XP Professional and Windows XP 64-Bit Edition can be installed only on a computer running the Windows XP Professional or Windows XP 64-Bit Edition operating system. They cannot be used to upgrade Microsoft® Windows NT® or Windows® 2000 Support Tools installed on Microsoft Windows NT or Windows 2000, respectively.

    To install the Windows XP Professional and Windows XP 64-Bit Edition Support Tools

    Important
    It is highly recommended that you remove all previous versions of Support Tools, including beta versions of the Windows Support Tools for Microsoft Windows XP Professional and Windows XP 64-Bit Edition, before running the Support Tools installation program.

    If the Setup program finds an older version of Support Tools, it opens a dialog box with Add/Remove and Remove all (default) options. If you select Remove all, Setup automatically uninstalls Support Tools. If you select Add/Remove, you can manually uninstall Support Tools.

    1. Start Windows XP Professional or Windows XP 64-Bit Edition, and then insert the Windows XP Professional or Windows XP 64-Bit Edition CD in your CD-ROM drive.
    2. Follow the instructions that appear on your screen.

    Note
    In the unlikely event that your computer pauses for a few minutes during installation while the Setup window is displaying "publishing product information," please be patient. The Setup program will continue shortly and will finish installing the Support Tools.

    The Setup program installs Windows Support Tools files onto your hard disk. A typical installation requires 4 megabytes (MB) of free space.

    As it installs the Support Tools, Setup:

    Some tools require separate or additional setup besides the steps described earlier. For more information about each of these tools and others with additional requirements, as well as a complete list of the tools, see the online Help file (Suptools.chm).

    Note
    On the Windows XP Professional and Windows XP 64-Bit Edition CDs, most tools are compressed into cabinet (.cab) files. You cannot run executable files, call other binaries, or open documentation directly from .cab files. Before you run a tool that you have not installed by using the Support Tools Setup, you must first extract all executable files and dependencies for a tool from the .cab file on the CD to your hard drive.

    Be aware also that for some tools, the Support Tools Setup or the tool's own Setup program performs other installation procedures, such as making changes in the registry. You might not be able to run these tools even if you extract all their files from the .cab; first install them with the Support Tools Setup or the tool's own Setup program.

    Installing from the Command Prompt

    You can install the Windows Support Tools for Microsoft Windows XP Professional and Windows XP 64-Bit Edition from the command prompt. If necessary, you can also use the /qb option to install or uninstall in silent mode, which requires no further interaction from the user.

    The following table lists the command-line options for installing from the command prompt.

    Option Parameters Meaning
    /i FullPath\suptools.msi
    [/qb]
    Installs or configures.
    /qb performs unattended installation (optional).
    /f [ReinstallModes] FullPath\suptools.msi Repairs a previous installation.
    /a FullPath\suptools.msi Admin Installation. Installs on the network.
    /x FullPath\suptools.msi Uninstalls.
    /l [i|w|e|f|a|r|u|c|m|p|+]FullPath\LogFile Specifies path to log file. The flags indicate what information to log.

    i – Status messages.

    w – Nonfatal warnings.

    e – All error messages.

    f – List of replaced files.

    a – Startup of actions.

    r – Action-specific records.

    u – User requests.

    c – Initial UI parameters.

    m – Out of memory.

    p – Terminal properties.

    + – Append to existing file.

    For example, to install Support Tools in the current directory, insert the Windows XP Professional or Windows Windows XP 64-Bit Edition CD in your CD-ROM drive and type the following at the command prompt:

    msiexec /i CDDriveLetter:\support\tools\suptools.msi

    where:
    CDDriveLetter: is the letter indicating the CD-ROM drive (for example, d:).

    Unattended Installation

    To perform an unattended installation of the Windows XP Professional or Windows XP 64-bit Edition Support Tools from the CD, use the following syntax:

    msiexec /i CDDriveLetter:\support\tools\suptools.msi /qb


    Individual Tool Release Notes

    The following section covers release note information for individual Windows XP Professional and Windows XP 64-Bit Edition tools. When using a tool, make sure to also check the online Help (Suptools.chm) for more information.


    Online Documents

    The following table describes major online documents available with the Windows Support Tools for Microsoft Windows XP Professional and Windows XP 64-Bit Edition.

    Document Description
    Suptools.chm Documentation for Windows Support Tools for Microsoft Windows XP Professional and Windows XP 64-Bit Edition, describing the required files, syntax, and other usage issues, along with examples for using these tools.

    Support Policy

    The SOFTWARE supplied in the Program Files\Support Tools directory is not supported under any Microsoft standard support program or service. You can, however, report issues and bugs by sending e-mail to stinput@microsoft.com. Microsoft will, at its sole discretion, address issues and bugs reported in this manner, and responses are not guaranteed.

    The SOFTWARE (including instructions for its use and all printed and online documentation) is provided AS IS without warranty of any kind. Microsoft further disclaims all implied warranties including, without limitation, any implied warranties of merchantability or of fitness for a particular purpose. The entire risk arising out of the use or performance of the SOFTWARE and documentation remains with you.

    In no event shall Microsoft, its authors, or anyone else involved in the creation, production, or delivery of the SOFTWARE be liable for any damages whatsoever (including, without limitation, damages for loss of business profits, business interruption, loss of business information, or other pecuniary loss) arising out of the use of or inability to use the SOFTWARE or documentation, even if Microsoft has been advised of the possibility of such damages.

    © Copyright 1985–2001 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.