Frequently Asked Questions
Q. Micro-Scope claims
to be O/S independent. What does that mean?
Q. All the PCs I
work on have Windows, so why should I care about O/S independence?
Q. How long has Micro-Scope
been around?
Q. Do you have an
annual maintenance program?
Q. How many different
tests are included on the CD?
Q. What pieces of
hardware does Micro-Scope test?
Q. If Micro-Scope
is so thorough, why is it included in a 'Toolkit' with other
products?
Q. Can I buy just
the Micro-Scope without the Toolkit or Post-Probe?
Q. I see a new feature
called Secure Wipe. What is that?
Q. Does it come
with a manual?
Q.
Micro-Scope claims to be O/S independent. What does that mean?
A. The Micro-Scope
CD contains its own bootable operating system, designed specifically
for diagnostics. Therefore it can be used on any PC, whether
the resident OS on that PC is DOS, Windows, Linux, NetWare,
O/S 2 or what have you.
Q.
All the PCs I work on have Windows, so why should I care about
O/S independence?
A. Windows, like DOS
and other popular operating systems, was designed to run the
hardware in the background, so the applications (and the user)
are free to focus on the task at hand and don't need to duplicate
the most basic control functions from one application to the
next. This is normally a good thing, but when the application
is a hardware diagnostic, the operating system makes it impossible
for the diagnostic to directly access the various peripherals
and motherboard components, leading to inaccuracy and missing
information. With Micro-Scope, the proprietary
O/S gives direct hardware access to the diagnostic routines
for the most accurate and complete results.
Q.
How long has Micro-Scope been around?
A. The first version
hit the market in 1991, but has developed and evolved continually
to keep up with advances in PC technology. The latest is Version
2005, released at the end of June 2005.
Q.
Do you have an annual maintenance program?
A. Yes, for a small fee
our customers can purchase the annual maintenance for Micro-Scope,
which covers all the upgrades, updates and tech support over
the entire year.
Q.
How many different tests are included on the CD?
A. There are approximately
250 routines, although it varies from one version to the next.
Only some of these are diagnostic tests or benchmarks, though.
Others are for information gathering and component identification,
and some are utilities for all sorts of system management
tasks.
Q.
What pieces of hardware does Micro-Scope test?
A. Far too many to list
them all here. Suffice to say that just about every motherboard
component or system peripheral will be identified and tested
by some part of the Micro-Scope program.
A more thorough list of the tests can be seen at 'Microscope
Tests'.
Q.
If Micro-Scope is so thorough, why is it included in a 'Toolkit'
with other products?
A. Micro-Scope
requires the system to be functioning well enough to boot
up to its operating system. If the PC can't boot up, a card
called the Post-Probe will diagnose the boot-up
process to see where it is failing. That's the other product
in the 'Toolkit'.
Q.
Can I buy just the Micro-Scope without the Toolkit or Post-Probe?
A. Yes.
Q.
I see a new feature called Secure Wipe. What is that?
A. This is a utility
added in Version 11 that allows all or part of a hard drive
to be sterilized, making the data inaccessible. Many people
don't realize that when a computer file is deleted, the data
is still on the platter and can be recovered with the right
equipment. The Secure Wipe feature allows
law enforcement agencies, the military, financial institutions
etc. to dispose of hard drives without fear that sensitive
data can be recovered from them.
Q.
Does it come with a manual?
A. Yes, there is a very
thorough manual. In truth though, the menu-driven interface
is so simple and intuitive that the manual is not even needed
for most features.
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