Copyright ©1996, RF Specialties Group.
It doesn't matter if you have a complete office network or one PC doing a simple job, at some time you will have to change the configuration of the PC. Microsoft has given us a very helpful utility called Microsoft Diagnostics (MSD), starting with its MS-DOS version 6.0 operating system. MSD was designed to help Microsoft technicians diagnose problems with your computer if you were to call them for help. You can do the same thing yourself. Most importantly, you can record the important configuration files and settings to an ASCII file or directly to paper.
To do this: At the C:\DOS prompt, type MSD and press Enter. MSD will start and warn you it may give you wrong information if run under Windows. You will then get the main menu screen with choices ranging from type of computer hardware settings to what TSR's and device drivers are loaded. Use the function keys or mouse to make choices. To generate a report, press "ALT F" and then press "P" for print report. Choose the items you want or select "Report All". Hint: Always choose customer information. This will allow you to generate a custom heading for each report. Choose your printer port or enter a path and file name for the report. Click "OK" or press Enter. MSD can be useful in various situations. When you first start using a new PC, record the configuration to a file that can be kept on the computer you're using as well as on paper. That will allow you to recreate the configuration files if the computer should lose any data. Unfortunately, MSD will not create these files on its own. You must rewrite them yourself -- but at least you have the original data.
Before making any changes to a PC, update the MSD files created above. If you make mistakes or need to return to the original configuration, you will have a current copy. After you have made changes to the software or hardware in a PC, use a new copy of the MSD report and compare it to the old version to hopefully trace the source of conflicts that are keeping your newest changes from taking effect. Watch out, MSD is not perfect. It can be fooled if run under Windows and its "HELP" feature is not very useful. But it will record most essential PC settings with a simple command, and that alone should be worth the minutes it takes to use.