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Microsoft Diagnostics
and Recovery Toolset
Overview
Microsoft Diagnostics and Recovery Toolset (DaRT) provides a set
of tools that
help IT shift desktop repair planning from reactive to
proactive, saving time
and reducing the challenges associated with troubleshooting and
repairing
desktop system failures. This white paper offers an overview of
DaRT: its
benefits, its capabilities, and how to evaluate it.
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DART OVERVIEW | INTRODUCTION 1
Introduction
A user frantically calls the Help desk. His PC keeps crashing,
and your manager sends you to fix
the problem. At the users desk, you log on to the Windows
operating system and use the
troubleshooting tools available. You look in Event Viewer for
clues, and you determine that the
problem is a faulty device driver. You then use the Computer
Management console to disable
that driver. Windows includes many such tools to help you
diagnose and fix problems. But what
do you do if you cannot start Windows?
Part of the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP),
illustrated below, DaRT helps IT:
Easily recover PCs that have become unusable
Rapidly diagnose probable causes of issues
Quickly repair unbootable or locked-out systems
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DART OVERVIEW | INTRODUCTION 2
DaRT includes fourteen administrative, system and network tools
for troubleshooting and
desktop recovery, even when Windows Safe Mode or normal boot
will not function. For
example, recover deleted files or partitions with File Restore
or reset lost or forgotten local
passwords with Locksmith. Additionally, the DaRT Defender tool
ensures that malware is not
loaded into the computers memory and cannot remain hidden by
scanning the infected
operating system while it is offline.
The tools in DaRT provide a foundation for shifting desktop
repair procedures from reactive to
proactive. Organizations can develop recovery image deployment
and support plans that best fit
their IT staffing and infrastructure requirements. A proactive
approach can help save time and
reduce the challenges associated with troubleshooting and
repairing system failures, while
getting users back to productivity faster without compromising
settings, preferences, or user
data, as with reimaging.
With a desktop repair plan in place, the simple image creation
process, coupled with an easy to
use tool menu, allows organizations to rapidly deploy, use, and
benefit from DaRT. Deploying
via bootable media such as CD, DVD, or USB is one of the fastest
routes to deployment.
However, depending on a companys infrastructure, deploying
locally to end-user machines or
via network boot servers may provide more long term benefit.
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DART OVERVIEW | WHATS NEW IN DART 8 3
Whats New in DaRT 8
DaRT 8 is the newest version of the toolset, and it is part of
the MDOP 2012 release. It includes
many new features that Table 1 describes.
Table 1New Features in DaRT 8
Support for new software
and hardware platforms:
A reimagined DaRT
Recovery Image Wizard:
Improved Windows
PowerShell scripting:
Support for Windows 8
and Windows Server 2012
Support for GUID Partition
Tables (GPTs)
Transparent Unified
Extensible Firmware
Interface (UEFI) machine
boot integration
Built on Windows
PowerShell cmdlets
Native support for USB
media deployment
Support for WIM and ISO
image file formats
Ability to create 32- and
64-bit images on a single
PC
Four new DaRT cmdlets
Scripting DaRT recovery
images is similar to
scripting other imaging
processes
End-to-end scripting
enabled by DISM cmdlets
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DART OVERVIEW | CREATING RECOVERY IMAGES 4
Creating Recovery Images
You use the DaRT Recovery Image Wizard to create custom DaRT
recovery images. These
recovery images start Windows RE, from which you can start the
DaRT tools.
Microsoft reimagined the DaRT Recovery Image Wizard for DaRT 8.
It is built on Windows
PowerShell cmdlets, and it can generate scripts that you can use
later to rebuild recovery images
by using the same settings. It includes native support for USB
media deployment, so you no
longer have to use an external tool to create bootable USB
drives. It also generates WIM images
in addition to ISO files. You can more easily deploy recovery
images by using your existing
deployment infrastructure (see the section titled Deploying
Recovery Images).
DaRT supports Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012. It has
minimal
hardware requirements, and both x86 and x64 versions are
available.
However, DaRT does not support cross-platform recovery
images.
Creating recovery images by using the DaRT Recovery Image Wizard
is simple. On the Start
screen, type DaRT and click DaRT Recovery Image to start the
wizard. Table 2 on page 5
describes each page of the wizard.
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DART OVERVIEW | CREATING RECOVERY IMAGES 5
Table 2DaRT Recovery Image Wizard
Page Description
The wizard bases DaRT recovery images
on Windows RE, which Windows 8 and
Windows Server 2012 provide. You must
use x86 Windows to build 32-bit DaRT
recovery images. Likewise, use x64
Windows to build 64-bit DaRT recovery
images. You can create recovery images
for both system types on a single PC, but
you cannot create cross-platform
recovery images (i.e., one image that
works on both x86 and x64 system types).
By default, the wizard enables all DaRT
tools for the local user. However, you can
disable some or all of the tools for the
local user while allowing the Help desk
full access to them. For example, you can
make extremely powerful tools (e.g., Disk
Wipe, Locksmith, and Registry Editor)
unavailable to the local user.
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DART OVERVIEW | CREATING RECOVERY IMAGES 6
Using Remote Connection, the Help desk
can connect to end users PCs by using
the Remote Connection Viewer and use
the DaRT tools to troubleshoot and repair
their PCs. When you enable remote
connections, you can also specify a port
number and a welcome message. If you
do not specify a port number, Remote
Connection will assign a random port
number. For more information about
Remote Connection, see Using Remote
Connection, later in this white paper.
This page contains four tabs, each of
which allows you to further customize
and configure the DaRT recovery image:
Drivers. Add device drivers that
Windows 8 does not provide in the
box.
WinPE. Select optional Windows
Preinstallation Environment (PE)
components to include in the DaRT
recovery image.
Crash Analyzer. Add the Windows 8
Debugging Tools to the DaRT recovery
image. Crash Analyzer relies on the
Debugging Tools to analyze memory
dump files. You can install them on the
computer you are using to create the
DaRT recovery image, thereby
including them in the image, or you
can install them on each PC that you
repair. Microsoft recommends
including the Debugging Tools in the
DaRT recovery image. Download the
Windows 8 Debugging Tools as part of
the Windows Driver Kit 8.
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DART OVERVIEW | CREATING RECOVERY IMAGES 7
Defender. Microsoft recommends
downloading the latest malware
definitions from the Internet when you
create the recovery image and also
when you start Defender on Internet
connected PCs.
Specify a path and name for the image
file. (The wizard will create a subfolder
based on the x86 or x64 system type.)
New for DaRT 8, the wizard can create
WIM image files in addition to ISO files.
You can also generate a Windows
PowerShell script that will build a DaRT
recovery image with the same
configuration, and you can add or change
files in the DaRT recovery image.
When finished, the wizard displays the
location where it created the DaRT
recovery image and lists the files it
created. You can also choose a
recordable CD, DVD, or USB drive and
click Create Bootable Media to create
bootable mediawithout using an
external image burner, Windows 7
USB/DVD Download Tool, or other tool.
Otherwise, you can deploy the ISO or
WIM file using the methods that the
section titled Deploying Recovery
Images describes.
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DART OVERVIEW | EXPLORING THE DART TOOLS 8
Deploying Recovery Images
Support staff would traditionally lug around a DaRT CD, DVD, or
USB drive to use the DaRT
recovery image. DaRT 8 offers many other deployment choices that
are logistically simpler. The
end-user and support experience improves greatly when the
recovery image is always
availablelocally or remotely.
Based on Windows RE, the DaRT recovery image is simply a Windows
PE image. As a result, you
can generally deploy the DaRT recovery image using the same
tools and techniques you use to
deploy Windows RE or Windows PE boot images, including the
following (see Table 3 on page 9
for a comparison):
Local installation. By installing the DaRT recovery image
locally, users can start it by
using advanced startup options in Windows 8. You can deploy the
DaRT recovery image
locally by using Microsoft System Center 2012 Configuration
Manager, the Microsoft
Deployment Toolkit 2012 (MDT 2012), or any other electronic
software distribution (ESD)
tool. The process automates local installation of DaRT tools on
each system by using
Reagentc.exe so that DaRT is always available.
Network boot. To network-boot the DaRT recovery image, deploy it
by using Windows
Deployment Services (Windows DS). Deployment via Windows DS can
be the quickest
and simplest way to make the DaRT recovery image available to
connected users in
production. This method can also make updating recovery images
simpler because you
store them centrally instead of locally on each PC.
USB drives. DaRT 8 now offers native support in the DaRT
Recovery Image Wizard for
creating USB media. In previous versions, additional tools
(e.g., the Windows 7 USB/DVD
Download Tool) were required to install the DaRT recovery image
on USB drives.
Removable disks. Of course, DaRT has always supported burning
the recovery image to
CDs or DVDs. However, the new alternatives are far simpler and
more convenient.
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DART OVERVIEW | EXPLORING THE DART TOOLS 9
Table 3Deployment Choices for DaRT Recovery Images
Deployment Method
Po
rtab
ilit
y
Infr
ast
ructu
re
Req
uir
em
en
t
Availab
ilit
y
Cen
tralize
d
Up
date
s
Netw
ork
Req
uir
em
en
t
Rem
ote
Su
pp
ort
Manual Local Installation
Automated Local Installation
Window DS
USB Drive
CD or DVD =good, =better, =best
After you start a PC by using media containing a DaRT recovery
image, Windows RE asks a few
simple questions to initialize the environment. These questions
include whether to initialize
network connectivity in the background by using DHCP (you can
manually configure network
connectivity later by using the TCP/IP Configuration tool);
which language and keyboard you
want to use; and whether you want to start Windows 8,
troubleshoot the PC, or turn off the PC.
To start the DaRT tools, click Troubleshoot, click Microsoft
Diagnostics and Recovery Toolset
(see Figure 1 on page10), and then choose the offline Windows
installation that you want to
troubleshoot. After DaRT starts, you will see the Diagnostics
and Recovery Toolset window.
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DART OVERVIEW | EXPLORING THE DART TOOLS 10
Figure 1Troubleshoot screen
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DART OVERVIEW | EXPLORING THE DART TOOLS 11
Exploring the DaRT Tools
Figure 2 shows the Diagnostics and Recovery Toolset window. From
here, you can launch any of
the individual tools that you made available in the DaRT
recovery image. You can also use the
Solution Wizard to choose the best tool, based on a brief
interview. Click Help to see detailed
instructions for using each tool. The following sections provide
an overview of each tool.
Figure 2Diagnostics and Recovery Toolset Window
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DART OVERVIEW | EXPLORING THE DART TOOLS 12
Registry Editor
You can use Registry Editor, which Figure 3 shows, to edit the
registry of the offline Windows
installation that you are troubleshooting. Tasks include adding,
removing, and editing keys and
values; and importing REG files. Registry Editor enables you to
make registry edits that could
help repair a system that will not boot. You can also use
Registry Editor to edit values that the
offline Windows installation locks while it is running.
Figure 3Registry Editor
Notice in Figure 3 that HKEY_CURRENT_USER is missing. That is
because a user did not log on to
the installed operating system. Instead, Registry Editor
populates HKEY_USERS with all the user
hive files found in the target installation. Additionally,
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE does not contain
a HARDWARE registry key.
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DART OVERVIEW | EXPLORING THE DART TOOLS 13
Serious problems might occur if you modify the registry
incorrectly by
using Registry Editor. These problems might require that you
reinstall the
operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve
these
problems. Modify the registry at your own risk.
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DART OVERVIEW | EXPLORING THE DART TOOLS 14
Locksmith
The Locksmith Wizard (Figure 4) is a simple tool that allows you
to set the password for any
local account on the offline Windows installation that you are
troubleshooting. You do not need
to know the current password. However, the password you set must
comply with any
requirements that a local Group Policy Object (GPO) defines,
including password length and
complexity. Use this tool in the event that the password for a
local account (e.g., the local
Administrator account) is unknown. This tool cannot set
passwords for domain accounts.
Figure 4Locksmith Wizard
Crash Analyzer
By using Crash Analyzer, you can quickly determine the cause of
an issue by analyzing memory
dump files on the offline Windows installation that you are
troubleshooting. Based on this
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DART OVERVIEW | EXPLORING THE DART TOOLS 15
information, you can take corrective action. Crash Analyzer can
eliminate much of the guesswork
involved in diagnosing crashes.
For example, if Crash Analyzer reports that a device driver
called myfault.sys is the cause, as
Figure 5 shows, you can disable the device driver by using the
Services and Drivers item in
Computer Management (see the Computer Management section). After
discovering and
disabling the faulty device driver, you can try to start the
repaired Windows installation.
Figure 5Crash Analyzer
Crash Analyzer requires the Windows 8 Debugging Tools. As
described in the Creating
Recovery Images section, you can include the Debugging Tools in
the DaRT recovery image or
you can install them on each PC that you are troubleshooting.
Microsoft recommends that you
include the tools in the DaRT recovery image. Otherwise, you
must locate the Debugging Tools
each time you use Crash Analyzer.
In addition to the Debugging Tools, Crash Analyzer requires
symbol files for the operating
system that you are repairing. Symbol files map memory addresses
to names, helping to provide
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DART OVERVIEW | EXPLORING THE DART TOOLS 16
meaningful information for troubleshooting. You download the
symbol files when you use Crash
Analyzer to troubleshoot a PC. (An Internet connection is
required while troubleshooting.)
Even if you plan to reimage the PC, running Crash Analyzer to
determine
the cause of the issue is a good idea. The image might have a
bad driver
that is causing intermittent problems in your environment, and
Crash
Analyzer can help you see these patterns and improve its
stability.
If you do not have access to symbols or the Debugging Tools on
the PC that you are
troubleshooting, you can copy the memory dump file to another PC
and use the standalone
version of Crash Analyzer to diagnose the issue. After
installing DaRT on the PC, type Crash
Analyzer on the Start screen, and click Crash Analyzer.
File Restore
In Windows, the Recycle Bin helps prevent users from permanently
deleting files by mistake.
However, users sometimes realize that they need a particular
deleted file only after emptying
the Recycle Bin. In other cases, files are too big to fit in the
Recycle Bin, or an application deletes
the files.
File Restore can help restore such deleted files. Figure 6 on
page 17 shows the File Restore user
interface. First, you must find the file you want to restore.
File Restore has filtering capabilities to
help expedite this process. For instance, you can use a file
mask to search for specific filename
patterns. Additionally, you can limit results to a certain path,
date range, or size range. File
Restore can even find files in deleted directories. For each
file that File Restore finds, it indicates
whether recovery is likely or unlikely.
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DART OVERVIEW | EXPLORING THE DART TOOLS 17
Figure 6File Restore
File Restore is not limited to regular disk volumes. File
Restore can find and restore files on lost
volumes or on volumes that Windows BitLocker Drive Encryption
protects. In the first case, File
Restore can scan for and locate lost volumes, which you can then
search for deleted files. In the
second case, File Restore gives you the ability to unlock
BitLocker-encrypted volumes by
manually providing the recovery password or loading the recovery
key from a file.
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DART OVERVIEW | EXPLORING THE DART TOOLS 18
Disk Commander
By using Disk Commander, you can recover and repair disk
partitions or volumes. As Figure 7 on
page 19 shows, you can choose from the following recovery
processes:
Restore the Master Boot Record (MBR) or the header of the GUID
Partition Table
(GPT). This option repairs damaged boot code in the MBR on a
disk or the header of the
GPT, without affecting existing partition tables.
Recover one or more lost volumes. This option scans a disk for
lost volumes and allows
you to recover them.
Restore partition tables from Disk Commander backup. This option
restores partition
tables from a backup. Disk Commander gives you the opportunity
to back up partition
tables before making changes.
Save partition tables to Disk Commander backup. This option
backs up partition
tables. The backup includes partition table entries and boot
sectors for each partition.
Microsoft recommends that you back up a disk before using
Disk
Commander to repair it. By using Disk Commander, you can
potentially
damage volumes and make them inaccessible. Additionally, changes
to
one volume can affect other volumes because volumes on a disk
share a
partition table.
Disk Commander does not support recovering deleted
BitLocker-
encrypted volumes.
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DART OVERVIEW | EXPLORING THE DART TOOLS 19
Figure 7Disk Commander
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DART OVERVIEW | EXPLORING THE DART TOOLS 20
Disk Wipe
Many organizations simply format PCs hard disks when they
donate, recycle, or discard them.
However, just formatting the hard disk might not destroy
sensitive company or personal data on
that disk. As various news accounts have shown, malicious people
can get their hands on PCs
that companies discard and can recover sensitive data.
Disk Wipe, which Figure 8 shows, can erase all data from a disk
or volume. Two algorithms are
available: You can use a single-pass overwrite or four-pass
overwrite, the latter of which meets
U.S. Department of Defense standards. After wiping a disk or
volume, you cannot recover the
data, so verify the size and label of a volume before erasing
it.
Figure 8Disk Wipe
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DART OVERVIEW | EXPLORING THE DART TOOLS 21
Computer Management
The Computer Management console that you see in Figure 9 on page
22 will be familiar to any
IT professional. DaRT tailors the console for the purpose of
diagnosing and repairing problems
that can prevent the offline Windows installation from booting.
The items in this console include
the following:
System Information. This item displays information about the
system that you are
repairing. Information includes the Windows version, registered
owner and organization,
the computer name as known by the installed operating system,
and the computer name
that DaRT randomly assigned to the system.
Event Viewer. This item enables you to view the event logs of
the offline Windows
installation that you are troubleshooting. You can use Event
Viewer to look for entries
that can help you diagnose the problem.
Autoruns. This item configures the programs that start
automatically when the
operating system starts. By using Autoruns, you can stop a
program from starting
automatically when you suspect that the program is preventing
Windows from starting.
Services and Drivers. This item manages the services and device
drivers that start when
the target Windows installation starts. For every service and
device driver, you see an
entry that indicates its startup type, a description, a display
name, and so on. You can
change the startup type to Boot, System, Automatic, Disabled, or
Delayed Auto-start.
If you have identified a service or device driver that is
preventing the operating system
from starting, you can disable it here.
Disk Management. This item displays drive information, creates
new partitions or
volumes, and formats drives. Disk Management in DaRT is similar
to Disk Management in
Windows.
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DART OVERVIEW | EXPLORING THE DART TOOLS 22
Figure 9Computer Management
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DART OVERVIEW | EXPLORING THE DART TOOLS 23
Explorer
Sometimes, before you attempt to repair or reimage a system, you
need to salvage business-
critical information that the user stored on a local drive. In
DaRT, you can use Explorer to browse
the PCs file system and network shares. Because you can map
drive letters to network shares,
you can easily copy and move files from the system to the
network for safekeeping or from the
network to the system to restore them. Figure 10 shows
Explorer.
Figure 10Explorer
Solution Wizard
DaRT has many tools, and figuring out which one to use can be
confusing initially. The Solution
Wizard (Figure 11 on page 24) asks you a series of questions and
then recommends the best
tool for the job, based on your answers. This wizard helps you
determine which tool to use when
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DART OVERVIEW | EXPLORING THE DART TOOLS 24
you are not familiar with the tools in DaRT. After becoming
familiar with DaRT, you are more
likely to start the correct tool for each job, without the help
of the Solution Wizard.
Figure 11Solution Wizard
TCP/IP Configuration
When you start the DaRT boot media, it obtains its TCP/IP
configuration (IP address and DNS
server) from DHCP by default. If DHCP is unavailable, you can
manually configure TCP/IP by
using the TCP/IP Configuration tool, which Figure 12 on page 25
shows. First, you choose a
network adapter, and then you configure the IP address and DNS
server for that adapter. Click
Advanced to configure advanced TCP/IP settings.
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DART OVERVIEW | EXPLORING THE DART TOOLS 25
Figure 12TCP/IP Configuration
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DART OVERVIEW | EXPLORING THE DART TOOLS 26
Hotfix Uninstall
The Hotfix Uninstall Wizard, which Figure 13 shows, can remove
hotfixes or service packs from
the offline Windows installation that you are troubleshooting.
Use this tool when a hotfix or
service pack is potentially preventing the operating system from
starting. Microsoft
recommends that you use this tool to uninstall only one hotfix
at a time, even though the tool
allows you to uninstall more than one at a time. Be aware that
programs that you have installed
or updated after installing the hotfix might not work correctly
after you uninstall the hotfix.
Figure 13Hotfix Uninstall Wizard
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DART OVERVIEW | EXPLORING THE DART TOOLS 27
SFC Scan
Use the System File Repair Wizard (Figure 14) to repair system
files that are preventing the
Windows installation from starting. The System File Repair
Wizard can automatically repair
system files that are corrupted or missing. Alternatively, the
wizard can prompt you before
performing any repairs.
Figure 14System File Repair Wizard
File Search
Before reimaging a PC, recovering files from the local hard disk
is importantparticularly when
the user might not have backed up or stored the files elsewhere.
Although the Explorer tool can
be helpful, File Search can help you find documents when you do
not know the file path or
when you need to search for general types of files across all
the local hard disks. File Search
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DART OVERVIEW | EXPLORING THE DART TOOLS 28
(Figure 15) enables you to search the PC for files. You can
search for specific filename patterns in
specific paths. Additionally, you can limit results to a date
range or size range. In recovery
scenarios, when repairing the installed operating system is not
possible, you can use File Search
to find users documents and copy them from the PC.
Figure 15File Search
Windows Defender Offline
A good antivirus and anti-malware strategy is crucial to
preventing malicious and other
potentially unwanted software from negatively impacting your
organization Although real-time
scanner tools like Microsoft Forefront or Windows Intune
Endpoint Protection are vital, todays
ever-changing landscape requires many different tools to defend
your environment.
Malware that uses rootkits can mask itself from the running
operating system. If a rootkit-
enabled virus or spyware makes its way to the system, most
real-time scanning and removal
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DART OVERVIEW | EXPLORING THE DART TOOLS 29
tools can no longer see it or remove it. Because Windows
Defender Offline scans while the
installed operating system is offline, you can attack the
rootkit without it hiding from you.
Figure 16 shows Windows Defender Offline. It can help detect
malware and unwanted software
and alert you to security risks. When Windows Defender Offline
detects malicious or unwanted
software, it prompts you to remove, quarantine, or allow each
item.
Figure 16Windows Defender Offline
On Internet-connected PCs, Windows Defender Offline will
automatically download the latest
malware definitions. However, Microsoft recommends that you also
download the definitions
when you create the DaRT recovery image by using the DaRT
Recovery Image Wizard. Doing so
ensures that malware definitions are available when you are
troubleshooting PCs without
Internet connectionseven though they might be out of date.
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DART OVERVIEW | USING REMOTE CONNECTION 30
Using Remote Connection
DaRT Remote Connection can help reduce the time and effort
required to support end users.
You can connect to client PCs and use the DaRT tools
remotelywithout visiting users desks.
You enable Remote Connection when you create recovery images by
using the DaRT Recovery
Image Wizard (see the section titled Creating Recovery Images,
earlier in this white paper).
When users require remote assistance, you talk them through
starting the PC into DaRT. After
starting DaRT, they click Remote Connection and confirm that
they want to share the DaRT
tools; then, as Figure 17 shows, Remote Connection displays a
ticket number, IP address, and
port number that the user gives to you.
Figure 17Remote Connection
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DART OVERVIEW | USING REMOTE CONNECTION 31
You then use the Remote Connection Viewer to connect to the DaRT
tools remotely (Figure 18).
To simplify the process and reduce the amount of handholding
required to get Remote
Connection started, you can optionally configure the DaRT
recovery image to start Remote
Connection automatically whenever users start their PCs with the
recovery image. See the DaRT
8 Help for more information.
Figure 18Remote Connection Viewer
You can also restrict local end-user access to the DaRT tools
while retaining full access to them
through the Remote Connection Viewer. Simply disable all of the
tools on the Tool Selection
page of the DaRT Recovery Image Wizard. This configuration only
disables the tools for the local
user. It does not hide them, and it does not disable the Remote
Connection tool. When users
start the DaRT tools, they see that all of the tools are
unavailable except for Remote Connection.
However, when you connect to the DaRT tools by using Remote
Connection Viewer, you still
have unrestricted access to the DaRT tools.
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DART OVERVIEW | CUSTOMIZING REMOTE CONNECTION 32
Customizing Remote Connection
Without customization, using Remote Connection requires
assistance. Additionally, its default
configuration might not match your requirements (e.g., you might
want to perform actions while
the user is away).
You can customize Remote Connection to support advanced options,
though. The configuration
file winpeshl.ini in \Windows\System32\ on the DaRT recovery
image allows you to configure
custom actions when DaRT starts. For example, you can launch the
following applications:
RemoteRecovery.exe nomessage. This initiates the Remote
Connection and bypasses
the confirmation dialog. Remote Connection continues as if the
user had clicked Yes.
WaitForConnection.exe. This prevents the script from continuing
until either Remote
Connection is not running or a valid connection is established
with the users PC.
To customize Remote Connection, modify winpeshl.ini on the
Create Image page of the DaRT
Recovery Image Wizard. Listing 1 shows an example that starts
Remote Connection and waits
for the connection before starting Windows RE.
Listing 1Winpeshl.ini
[LaunchApps]
"%windir%\system32\netstart.exe -network -remount"
"cmd /C start %windir%\system32\RemoteRecovery.exe
-nomessage"
"%windir%\system32\WaitForConnection.exe"
"%SYSTEMDRIVE%\sources\recovery\recenv.exe"
When DaRT starts, it creates the file inv32.xml in
\Windows\System32\ on the RAM disk. This file
contains connection information: IP address, port, and ticket
number. You can copy this file to a
network share to trigger a Help desk workflow. For example, a
custom program can check the
network share for connection files, then create a support ticket
or send email notifications.
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DART OVERVIEW | EVALUATING DART 33
Evaluating DaRT
DaRT helps IT easily recover PCs that have become unusable,
rapidly diagnose probable causes
of issues, and quickly repair unbootable or locked-out systems,
all without leaving their desks
and much faster than the average time it takes to reimage the
machine. DaRT allows
administrators to shift desktop repair planning from reactive to
proactive, saving time and
reducing the challenges associated with troubleshooting and
repairing system failures. With a
plan in place, the simple image creation process, coupled with
an easy to use tool menu, allows
organizations to rapidly deploy, use, and
benefit from the toolset.
DaRT is part of the Microsoft Desktop
Optimization Pack (MDOP), which is an add-on
license available to Software Assurance
customers. Begin your evaluation today:
Download and evaluate DaRT as part
of MDOP. MDOP is available to
Volume Licensing customers, Microsoft
Development Network (MSDN)
subscribers, and Microsoft TechNet
subscribers.
See MDOP on Microsoft.com. To
learn how DaRT and MDOP for
Software Assurance can help you
better troubleshoot and repair PCs, see
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=160297.
See MDOP on TechNet. For technical information about DaRT and
MDOP for Software
Assurance, see http://www.microsoft.com/technet/mdop.
This toolset enables us to
restore clients instantly without
rebuilding themsaving up to
six hours per instance.
David Smith, Technical
Support Center, UMC Health
System