This week I had a chance to sit down with Craig Ashley, product manager for Microsoft’s Diagnostics and Recovery Toolset (DaRT), to discuss the next release of the toolset and the public beta that is now available.
DaRT has been a favorite tool for many IT pros, dating back to its days as part of Winternals Admin Pack. As a quick review, the taoolset can help IT professionals reduce the challenges associated with troubleshooting and repairing system failures on Windows-based desktops, saving time for both them and users. Administrators can easily recover PCs that have become unusable, rapidly diagnose probable causes of issues, and quickly repair unbootable or locked-out systems, all without leaving the office, making it much faster than the average time it takes to reimage a machine. When necessary, it can also quickly restore critical lost files. This helps make PCs safer to use, makes them easier and less expensive to manage, and keeps employees productive,.
For additional details on DaRT or other products within the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack, visit the MDOP Resource Zone on TechNet.
Stephen: Craig, thanks for taking time to chat with me. Let’s jump right in. Many IT Pros have been using DaRT for many years now. What’s new in DaRT 8 for them?
Craig: Absolutely Stephen. I am very excited to start talking about DaRT 8 and get users involved in our beta that is now available.
With regard to what will be new in DaRT 8, we chose to focus on two key investment areas: support for new software and hardware platforms, and improving the image creation process.
First, let’s start with the new software and hardware platforms supported by DaRT 8. If you have not heard the buzz around the technology world, there is a new version of Windows and Windows Server that will be available later this year. One key focus with DaRT 8 is compatibility with these two new versions, Windows 8 and Windows Server 8.
Additionally, we needed to look at supporting some new hardware requirements arriving in the upcoming months as well. The first is support for GUID Partition Tables, which allows tools like Disk Wipe, Disk Commander, File Restore, and Computer Management to work with GPT disks. The second is supporting the UEFI boot process, allowing users with UEFI machines to boot into DaRT.
Read more: Windows Blog
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