Micro$oft's Network Diagnostic Tool

Just downloaded Micro$oft's ultra spiffy "Network Diagnostic Tool (KB914440)".

Ran the exe file and it said I have to reboot. Waited through that, and... nothing. No desktop shortcut. No new entry in start menu. Nothing in Control Panel. Nothing in Administrative Tools.

Nothing.

Went to Micro$oft's Knowledge Base and searched for KB914440. Nothing. No entry.

Er...

Does this have anything to do with Bill leaving?

Will it stop when he's left?

Er... what does the program do?

... and where is it?

I suppose I should ask Bill, but perhaps he's busy...

(Noticed it had a rating of 1 so I suppose I shouldn't expect much)

 

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=914440

MORE INFORMATION

The Network Diagnostics for Windows XP tool can help troubleshoot some of the most common connection problems that you may encounter in a home networking environment.

To diagnose network connectivity status, the Network Diagnostics for Windows XP tool analyzes the following tests:
•IP configuration test
•Default gateway test
•Winsock test
•DNS test
•Firewall test
•Internet connectivity validation test

Typically, a support professional will work with you when you run the Network Diagnostics for Windows XP tool to help diagnose network connectivity status.

Most home networks use one of the following methods to access or share a single high-speed Internet connection:
•A stand-alone router
•A home gateway, such as a cable modem together with a router or a DSL modem together with router
•A computer that is running Internet Connection Sharing or another form of Network Address Translation (NAT)

How to run the Network Diagnostics for Windows XP tool

You can use the Network Diagnostics for Windows XP tool to test network connectivity and to determine whether your network-related programs and services are working correctly. To start the tool, use one of the following methods:

•In Microsoft Internet Explorer, click Diagnose Connection Problems on the Tools menu.
•Click Start, click Run, type %windir%\network diagnostic\xpnetdiag.exe, and then click OK.
•Run Guided Help for Microsoft Knowledge Base article 326155. For more information about how to download Guided Help for Microsoft Knowledge Base article 326155, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

 

Let's see if I've got this straight...

Micro$oft posts a utility with no help, readme or anything useful... just an .exe file. It installs in the most unlikely place imaginable, pretty well guaranteeing I'll never find it in the next 50 years (because I avoid Internet Explorer like the plague to reduce the chance of my system being compromised...)

A search for the one clue they left, "KB914440" comes up with nothing (I really did type it correctly into the search box at Micro$oft knowledge base and it really did come up with nothing!)

The way to start this little gem(?) is from a new menu item under Tools in IE...!!!?
Huh? - yet absolutely NOTHING in the entire installation has indicated this!

When I run it, it asks if I want to participate in sending information to Micro$oft to improve their er... knowledge. Er... thanks, guys, but no thanks.

So we finally run the thing. It displays one of those WizBang-Wow! Micro$oft graphic thingies (you know, like the paper clip) with two little simple pictures and dots flowing between.

Modem lights flicker for a few seconds, then the screen changes and it says:

"Contact your computer manufacturer for additional assistance."

That's it. (no kidding)

There are now three boxes:

"Quality Improvement" (which takes me back to the do you want to send information to Micro$oft stuff all over again);

"Run Again" (er...);

and "Finish".

Brilliant, guys. Just brilliant.

If you keep this up, someday (maybe) you will be able to write a real program...

 

Anotherld, you are the one that chose to allow it. No one twisted your arm to download the Network Diagnostic Tool. As for hiding it, if you would of read the info before downloading, you would of found the same information that I posted above your other post.

 

"Anotherld, you are the one that chose to allow it. No one twisted your arm to download the Network Diagnostic Tool. As for hiding it, if you would of read the info before downloading, you would of found the same information that I posted above your other post."

I think I should make it clear that my criticism is of Microsoft, not MajorGeeks, who are obviously not responsible for the quality of software posted here.

And if we are stuck in a game of "I said" no "you said"...
Microsoft provided zero information about their program in their post, and the indirect reference to their knowledge base which required considerable prior knowledge of their knowledge base to even figure out that they were refering to their knowledge base, produced no results when entered into their knowledge base...

I am critical because this kind of botched, bungled, no clue about the customer product pervades most of what Microsoft provides to 90% of the world's computer users. Blunt though it may be, maybe, just maybe, something like this will eventually act as a wake up call.

(not terribly likely, since 56 people in the world have viewed it so far...)

 

"I am critical because this kind of botched, bungled, no clue about the customer product pervades most of what Microsoft provides to 90% of the world's computer users."

Microsoft posted a program on a site that has a general audience with nothing to indicate it was a specialized tool for IT professionals and no useful information whatsoever on how to use it. The tool itself provides no useful output when run, only a log file containing stupidly complicated statements about what network performance it has encountered.

The main issue here is a complete absence of "user engineering" in every aspect of its existence. Not a big deal in itself perhaps, except this same clueless philosophy pervades much of what Microsoft does.

Microsoft bashing? Only because this kind of incompetence attracts it.

Change to Linux, Mac etc.? Sorry, the lion's share of serious applications are not available despite the superior operating systems...

 

Reading my posts is helpful too.

(There was NO provided info!)

 

Anotherld, if you would of read the description of the download before you just started clicking away, it would of told you about it, the KB article for further info, which would of told you more detail. Now for granted, who ever was assigned to put the info on the update servers may of only been told (here is a new download, put a description up), which was short sighted.

 

I am not a newbie and I am not (normally) an idiot. (In fact I may have more real world experience than all the posters in this thread combined!)

Here is what the posted description of the program said:

"The Network Diagnostics for Windows XP tool analyzes information about your network connectivity to help you troubleshoot network-related problems with your computer."

And here is the title:

"Microsoft Network Diagnostic Tool (KB914440)"

You will note that there are NO instructions on how to use the program.

There is also nothing whatsoever to indicate that "(KB914440)" is further information about the program as opposed to a version number, serial number or any one of a host of other designations (Just look at the junk on any Unix installation file!).

A search for KB914440 on M$ knowledge base came up with NO MATCH ! ! !

In other words, the one clue they posted did not link to any useful information.

**********************************************************************************************
So STOP trying to tell me I'm an idiot who didn't read their instructions.
**********************************************************************************************
​

OK?

 

In 1970 the US Navy lost a nuclear submarine. It's generator failed, it used up its battery power, lost communication and sank - 'somewhere' out there in deep water.

The equipment that found it was a proton precession magnetometer that used nuclear magnetic resonance to measure magnetic fields with extreme accuracy. The designer of the equipment was a 23 year old Physicist turned electronics designer, fresh off the boat from England. You are reading a post by him right now.

I designed the first anti-shoplifting system that worked, control systems that revolutionised the printing and dye cutting industry, security communication systems that changed a whole industry (using microprocessors that were then in their infancy), and a host of other complicated contraptions.

It is true that you may surpass this (which is why I used the word "may").

Now let's go through the rest of the facts in this silly little ego contest....

Since there was no useful information available with the program and I obvious tried to find it before I posted, which obviously occurred BEFORE YOU POSTED THE KNOWLEDGE BASE INFORMATION, I, and others like me, lacked information on how to run the program.

How could I read the information you posted before you posted it?

Got it yet?

 

Ranting.
Seems YOU are the one who doesn't 'Get it'
Had you simply clicked the knowledge Base (KB) Articles: # you would have had all the info you needed. I don't try to use a tool without first finding out how to use it and I'm no genious either!

 

You guys all seem to have egos the size of an elephant. You are just going to keep on pounding out this same supremacist, chest thumping rubbish until you feel superior, regardless of the real world, aren't you?

When I attempted to find instructions for the M$'s program I was not an expert in their hallowed knowledge base.

I copied and pasted KB914440 into their search box. It said there was no match. I checked the characters for accuracy. I copied and pasted again, this time without the KB. No match.

I don't doubt that the information was hiding in there somewhere! You posted it! So stop trying to tell me it exists.

But it was not available when I did the most obvious thing - go to the Microsoft website, choose knowledge base and enter their own information in their own search box.

What this means is Microsoft clumsily failed to provide instructions about their program and the only indirect clue to them did NOT work.

Anyone who has become an expert in the use of their knowledge base, such as yourself, would obviously not have had the same difficulty. The rest of us were left out in the cold.

Now for heaven's sake, surely we all have better things to do with our lives than blunder back in the ring trying to throw punches.........?

(I am trying to point to Microsoft's inadequacy, not win an argument....)

 

Overview states "Typically you will do this along with a support professional, either on the phone or over the internet."

So if you don't use support then you will personally take it upon yourself to figure it out.

Maybe you're having a browser/cache problem? Seems like everyone else is able to find articles on KB914440. When I enter KB914440 into the MS search field, it results in http://search.microsoft.com/results.aspx?mkt=en-US&setlang=en-US&q=KB914440 (do you get something similar to that?).