Windows Explored

This is a cool Microsoft utility that allows one to look at what has changed on a PC from a specified date. This comes in handy when you need to troubleshoot a system problem that may be the result of a new or recent app, driver, or update that was recently installed so you can see what has changed on the system since the problem started occurring. The interface is simple and easy enough to use, and when combined with other troubleshooting tools may help isolate the cause. You can read about it and download from here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/924732.

Note, to run this with Service pack 3, you need to extract the files from self-extracting exe instead of running directly. You can do this by opening with WinZip or the another zip program. Open the scdiag folder and extract statechangediag.exe and scstyle.xls to a folder.

When run, you will be asked to select a date to go back to scan for changes.

Click the View Report option when complete to open an XML report in IE:

Select the different components to browse for changes.

Since posting this, I have since used this tool to identify a Microsoft component that was installed on my workstation and causing Windows to go BSOD. Read about here.