msd.txt

mas for 8086 microprocessor

                 MICROSOFT DIAGNOSTICS (MSD) UTILITY
                 ===================================

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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      |
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| conditions: 1) All text must be copied without modification and    |
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| on the disk(s) must be copied without modification (the DOS        |
| 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 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved.         |
| Microsoft and the Microsoft logo are registered trademarks of      |
| Microsoft Corporation.                                             |
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The Microsoft Diagnostics (MSD) utility is designed to assist
Microsoft customers and Product Support Services (PSS) technicians in
identifying system configuration information such as the BIOS and
video card type and manufacturer, processor(s) installed, I/O port
status, operating system version, environment settings, hardware
devices attached, and additional software running concurrently with
MSD. This utility is used when Microsoft PSS needs information to
diagnose and solve problems with Microsoft products.


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

Hard Disk System
----------------

To install MSD on a hard disk system, do the following:

1. Place the enclosed disk in drive A.

2. At the DOS prompt, type the following and press the ENTER key

      copy a:\msd.exe <pathname>

   where <pathname> is the location of your root directory. For
   example, type the following and press the ENTER key:

      copy a:\msd.exe c:\

Dual Floppy Disk System
-----------------------

To install MSD on a dual floppy disk system, do the following:

1. Place your DOS boot disk (system disk) in drive A and the enclosed
   Microsoft Diagnostics (MSD) Utility disk in drive B.

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

      copy b:\msd.exe a:


USING THE MICROSOFT DIAGNOSTICS UTILITY
=======================================

The MSD utility (MSD.EXE) runs in DOS and the DOS compatibility box of
OS/2. To start MSD, do the following:

1. At the DOS prompt, change to the root directory (where you
   installed MSD.EXE).

2. Type "msd" (without the quotation marks) and press the ENTER key.
   (For monochrome, black-and-white, and LCD screens, type "msd /b"
   and press ENTER.)

3. The program presents an introduction screen. To continue, press any
   key.

MSD then presents a Main Menu screen split into two sections. The
upper section presents a summary of information that the utility has
gathered from your system. For additional information on any category,
move the highlight bar (using the arrow keys) to any category and
press the ENTER key. A dialog box appears that presents detailed
information for that category. You can quickly choose any category by
pressing the ALT key and the highlighted letter corresponding to the
category you want. Return to the Main Menu screen by pressing the ESC
key.

The following is a brief explanation of the categories in the first
section:

     Category           Description
     --------           -----------
     
     BIOS               Displays the BIOS manufacturer, date, version,
                        and type
     
     Processor          Displays the processor type and math
                        coprocessor, if installed
     
     Memory             Displays a map of physical memory from 768K to
                        1 MB and information concerning the
                        configuration of RAM and ROM in your computer
                        system
     
     Video              Shows your video card's manufacturer and
                        model, BIOS version, memory, and current video
                        mode
     
     Network            Detects whether a network is MS-NET or
                        compatible, or Novell
     
     Mouse              Shows the DOS mouse driver version number,
                        mouse type, and other information concerning
                        the mouse
     
     Game Adapter       Dynamically displays game card status for up
                        to two game devices or joysticks
     
     CD-ROM             Displays the Microsoft CD-ROM Extensions
                        (MSCDEX.EXE) version number and drive letter
     
     Operating System   Displays the operating system version number
                        and path from which MSD was run
     
     Parallel Ports     Dynamically displays the status of installed
                        parallel ports and their port addresses
     
     Serial Ports       Dynamically displays the status of active
                        serial ports and their current configurations
     
     Disk Drives        Scans all local and logical drives and
                        displays the total and available bytes
     
     IRQ Status         Shows the current hardware interrupt, IRQ,
                        status
     
     Environment        Displays environment variables
     
     AUTOEXEC.BAT       Lists the AUTOEXEC.BAT file
     
     CONFIG.SYS         Lists the CONFIG.SYS file

The lower section of the MSD screen includes additional functions you
can use with your system, as follows:

     Function           Description
     --------           -----------
     
     Resident Programs  Displays the names of programs loaded in RAM
                        at the time MSD was executed, their locations,
                        and their sizes; programs may be loaded into
                        multiple segments of RAM and have multiple
                        entries in the table
     
     Device Table       Displays software and hardware device drivers
                        installed; these include default devices, such
                        as COM1 or LPT1, and user-installed devices
                        loaded from the CONFIG.SYS file, such as
                        HIMEM.SYS or EMM386.SYS
     
     Printer Test       Prints a page to test the connection between
                        the computer and either a TTY or PostScript-
                        type printer
     
     Generate Report    Prints a "faxable" report to a normal TTY
                        printer or to a file
     
     File Viewer        Views text files by entering the path and
                        filename
     
     Memory Browser     Searches selected ROM and RAM areas for search
                        strings such as "Copyright" and "Version"
     
     About              Displays MSD version number and copyright
                        information
     
     Exit               Exits MSD


USES FOR THE MICROSOFT DIAGNOSTICS UTILITY
==========================================

The Microsoft Diagnostics utility is designed to be used in one of
three ways:

1. Over the telephone, you can report the information MSD displays to
   the Microsoft PSS technician assisting you in solving the problem
   you are experiencing.

2. You can fax or mail Microsoft PSS a report generated by MSD. The
   Generate Reports feature will print the information to any TTY
   printer. Be sure to send the report to the attention of the
   technician assisting you.

   The mailing address is below. Microsoft's fax number is
   [phone]. Include the following attention line on the fax
   cover sheet:
   
      ATTN: PSS, <technician's name, building, group>

3. You can send us a report file generated by MSD. The Generate
   Reports feature will print a configuration report to a file. You
   can copy this file to a floppy disk and send it to the technician
   helping you or send the file electronically by modem.

   Microsoft's mailing address is as follows:
      
      ATTN: Product Support Services
      <Technician's name, building, group>
      Microsoft Corp.
      One Microsoft Way
      Redmond, WA 98052-6399