======================================================================
    Microsoft Product Support Services Application Note (Text File)
              GA0363: MICROSOFT DIAGNOSTICS UTILITY (MSD)
======================================================================
                                              Revision Date: 04/92
                                                     Disk Included

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| INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THIS DOCUMENT AND ANY SOFTWARE THAT MAY    |
| ACCOMPANY THIS DOCUMENT (collectively referred to as an            |
| Application Note) IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY      |
| KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO    |
| THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND/OR FITNESS FOR A     |
| PARTICULAR PURPOSE. The user assumes the entire risk as to the     |
| accuracy and the use of this Application Note. This Application    |
| Note may be copied and distributed subject to the following        |
| conditions: 1) All text must be copied without modification and    |
| all pages must be included; 2) If software is included, all files  |
| on the disk(s) must be copied without modification [the MS-DOS(R)  |
| utility DISKCOPY is appropriate for this purpose]; 3) All          |
| components of this Application Note must be distributed together;  |
| and 4) This Application Note may not be distributed for profit.    |
|                                                                    |
| Copyright 1990-1992 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved.    |
| Microsoft and MS-DOS are registered trademarks of Microsoft        |
| Corporation.                                                       |
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INTRODUCTION
============

Microsoft Diagnostics (MSD) is an MS-DOS-based utility designed to
provide Microsoft customers and Microsoft Product Support Services
(PSS) personnel with detailed technical information about a computer's
hardware and software components. This information can be helpful when
trying to diagnose and solve problems with Microsoft products.


INSTALLATION
============

Follow these steps to install MSD on your hard disk. (If you do not
want to install MSD on your hard disk, or if your computer does not
have a hard disk, you can run MSD from your floppy disk drive.)

1. Place the enclosed GA0363 disk in drive A.
   
2. Copy MSD.EXE and MSD.INI to your hard disk. At the command prompt,
   type the following and press ENTER:
   
      copy a:\msd.* c:\
         
    NOTE: If you are copying MSD from a drive other than A, substitute
    the appropriate drive letter for "a" in the command above. The
    above command copies MSD to your root directory; you can specify a
    different destination if you prefer. Please refer to your "MS-DOS
    User's Guide and Reference" for more information on the COPY
    command.
    

USING MICROSOFT DIAGNOSTICS
===========================

MSD is an MS-DOS-based application that should be run from the MS-DOS
command prompt. The syntax for MSD is:

   msd [/b] [/i] [/f <filename> | /p <filename> | /s [<filename>]] [/?]

Where:

Option 		Description
-----		-----------

/b  		Starts MSD in black-and-white mode. Use this option if your
		computer has a monochrome or LCD monitor.

/i 		Specifies that no initial hardware detection be performed.
		Use this option if MSD fails to start correctly.

/f <filename> 	Writes a complete MSD report to the specified file.
		Requests information such as name, company, address, 
		telephone number, and comments.

/p <filename> 	Writes a complete MSD report to the specified file
		without requesting any information.

/s [<filename>] Writes a summary MSD report to the specified file. 
		If no filename is specified, the report is displayed
		on the screen.

/? 		Displays the MSD command options.

To start MSD, do the following:

1. Change to the drive and directory where you installed MSD.EXE.

2. At the command prompt, type the following and press ENTER:

      msd

3. As MSD loads, an introduction screen is displayed with a message
   indicating that MSD is examining your system.

Once MSD has loaded, you will see a menu bar at the top of your screen
along with 13 buttons for viewing information on various components of
your system. To choose a button, press the key that corresponds to the
highlighted letter in the button's description. For example, press V
to display information about your video configuration. To choose a
menu from the menu bar, hold down the ALT key and then press the first
letter of the desired menu. For example, to choose the File menu, hold
down the ALT key and then press F.

If you have a mouse installed on your computer, you can point to and
click the desired button or menu.

When you choose a button, a window containing the requested
information will appear. If there is more information than can be
displayed in one screen, use the up and down arrow keys or the PAGE UP
and PAGE DOWN keys to scroll through the additional information. If
you have a mouse, you can use the scroll bars on the right side of the
window to scroll through the information. After you have finished
viewing the information, press ENTER or choose the OK button to close
the window and return to MSD's main screen. For windows that have
multiple buttons (such as an OK button and a Cancel button), use the
TAB key to move from button to button or use your mouse.

When you are finished using MSD, choose Exit from the File menu or
press the F3 function key to exit.

MSD Button Options
------------------

The following is a brief description of the buttons that appear on
MSD's main screen:

Button 			Description
------ 			-----------

Computer		Displays computer manufacturer, processor type, 
			and bus type; ROM BIOS manufacturer, version, 
			and date; keyboard type; DMA controller 
			configuration; and math coprocessor status

Memory 			Displays a map of the upper memory area (UMA)
			--the memory region from 640K to 1024K

Video			Shows your video card manufacturer, model and type; 
			video BIOS version and date; and current video mode

Network 		Displays network-specific configuration information

Operating System	Displays the operating system version, location
	        	of MS-DOS in memory (MS-DOS 5.0 only), the drive 
			the system was booted from (MS-DOS 4.0 or later), 
			the current environment settings, and the path 
			from which MSD was run

Mouse 			Shows the MS-DOS mouse driver version, mouse type, 
			mouse interrupt request line (IRQ) number, and 
			other information specific to the configuration 
			of the mouse

Other Ports 		Dynamically displays the game card status 
			for up to two game devices or joysticks

Disk Drives 		Displays the size of and number of bytes free on
			local and remote drives

LPT Ports 		Displays the port addresses of all installed 
			parallel ports and dynamically displays the status 
			of each port

COM Ports 		Displays the port addresses and current 
			communications parameters of all installed 
			serial ports and dynamically displays the status 
			of each port

IRQ Status 		Displays the configuration of the hardware IRQs

TSR Programs 		Displays the name, location in memory, and size 
			of each	program loaded in memory at the time MSD 
			was run

Device Drivers 		Displays the names of all device drivers installed 
			at the time MSD was run

MSD Menu Options
----------------

The following is a brief description of the menu options that appear
on MSD's main screen:

File Option 		Description
------------		-------------

Find File		Searches for a specific file and allows you to view
			the contents of the file

Print Report 		Prints a "faxable" report to a normal TTY printer,
			PostScript printer, or file

Exit 			Exit the Microsoft Diagnostics utility
	
AUTOEXEC.BAT 		Lists the contents of your AUTOEXEC.BAT file

CONFIG.SYS 		Lists the contents of your CONFIG.SYS file

SYSTEM.INI 		Lists the contents of your Microsoft Windows 
			SYSTEM.INI file

WIN.INI 		Lists the contents of your Microsoft Windows WIN.INI file


Utility Option 		Description
---------------- 	------------

Memory Block Display	Shows memory allocation--the starting address 
			of each block and its size in bytes

Memory Browser		Searches selected ROM and RAM areas for strings
			such as "copyright" and "version"

Insert Command		Allows for quick insertion of a command in the
			appropriate file; the list of commands you can 
			choose from is stored in the [commands] section
			of the MSD.INI file

Test Printer 		Prints a page to test the connection between the 
			computer and printer


Help Option 		Description
-----------		-----------

About			Displays Microsoft Diagnostics version and 
			copyright information

