Windows Repair Toolbox - Have you tried it?

[AlexCa]

Hi all, I've just released version 3.0.0.6 of WRT. The only purpose of this update was to reduce the size of program package. This was done by replacing Notepad++ (used to edit the custom.xml file in the "Custom Tools" tab) with ATPad, a smaller editor. With this replacement it was possible to reduce the size of the package from 4.16 MB to 2.56 MB, without loosing any functionalities. Thank you.

 

[AlexCa]

Hi everyone, I've just released version 3.0.0.7. Here's what's changed:

- Refactored the code behind the download and execution of the tools, in order to reduce the dependency and number of calls to the definitions file.

- The file "Windows_Repair_Toolbox (fast start, no monitors).bat", that is in the same directory as Windows_Repair_Toolbox.exe and that starts WRT in a fail-safe mode, can now be executed from UNC paths.

- Adapted the download of "FastCopy" to the changes in the packaging of that application that were brought by its latest version, released yesterday (version 3.52). WRT automates all the steps that are now required to use that program as a portable application.

- Replaced "Webroot System Analyzer" with "Kaspersky System Checker" ("Diagnosis" button, in the "Useful Tools" section; and "Analysis" button, in the "Final Tests" tab), because this last one offers a more comprehensive diagnosis / analysis of the system.

Thank you!

 

[AlexCa]

Hi all, version 3.0.0.8 of Windows Repair Toolbox has just been released:

- Added a search box to the "Custom Tools" tab.

- Removed "AOMEI" and "Malwarebytes", and added "Don't Sleep" and "Dr.Web CureIt!". Thanks to @TairikuOkami for suggesting Dr.Web CureIt! on a previous post. All the tools included in the toolbox are now portable.

- Fixed: the "Fahrenheit" setting wasn't being saved in the portable version of WRT - after closing and opening the program it would go back to Celsius.

- Fixed: the tooltips of the "Diagnosis" and the "Report" buttons.

Thank you!

 

[TairikuOkami]

added ... "Dr.Web CureIt!"

It seems, that Dr.Web CureIt is complicated, unless the user accepts the licence, the download link will not work.

 

[AlexCa]

It seems, that Dr.Web CureIt is complicated, unless the user accepts the licence, the download link will not work.

@TairikuOkami
Thank you for the heads up. It's fixed (the problem was just that the download link changed meanwhile). Just close and reopen WRT while connected to the internet, or click "Check Updates" in the settings tab.

 

[Nestor]

Why k9 Web Security block the official page of Windows Repair Toolbox?Maybe FP?

 

[TairikuOkami]

Why k9 Web Security block the official page of Windows Repair Toolbox?Maybe FP?

Probably because of malvertising, PUP? Like for TweakBit, which is blocked by K9 as well.

 

[AlexCa]

Why k9 Web Security block the official page of Windows Repair Toolbox?Maybe FP?

@Nestor
Thank you for the heads up! It's a false positive. I think that the program is being categorized as malware. I installed W9 Web Protection an tested it myself, and, as shown in @TairikuOkami screenshot, the entire domain is blocked with the information "Spyware/Malware sources". I reported the FP and, as required in the submission form, suggested as an alternative the category "Software Downloads" (so, if accepted, it will still be blocked for those who have that filter activated, anyway). On the other hand, Windows Repair Toolbox contains download links to some Nirsoft tools, that are many times detected as malware. Don't know if they take that into account, or even if that's what triggered the detection in the first place. Anyway I'll report back when/if I receive some feedback.

Thank you.

 

[Brie]

i used toolbox. it stopped working. i turned it off and did a sfc /scannow, DISM and chldsk on my own.

 

[AlexCa]

@Nestor
I've just received a reply from K9: "Sur la base de vos recommandations et après avoir analysé méticuleusement le contenu web envoyé, un analyste de contenu web a replacé cette URL dans la catégorie Logiciels potentiellement indésirables."

Translated to English:
"Based on your recommendations and after meticulously analyzing the web content sent, a web content analyst has placed this URL in the Potentially Unwanted Software category."

So, the classification will stay the same even though I don't get a reason. I guess that they are confusing WRT with scareware.

 

[AlexCa]

i used toolbox. it stopped working. i turned it off and did a sfc /scannow, DISM and chldsk on my own.

If you're interested and need help to make it work, just let me know!

 

[Nestor]

@Nestor
I've just received a reply from K9: "Sur la base de vos recommandations et après avoir analysé méticuleusement le contenu web envoyé, un analyste de contenu web a replacé cette URL dans la catégorie Logiciels potentiellement indésirables."

Translated to English:
"Based on your recommendations and after meticulously analyzing the web content sent, a web content analyst has placed this URL in the Potentially Unwanted Software category."

So, the classification will stay the same even though I don't get a reason. I guess that they are confusing WRT with scareware.

Yes it's strange..

 

[Brie]

If you're interested and need help to make it work, just let me know!

thank you very much. i found a similar tool.

 

[AlexCa]

Hello everyone, I've just released version 3.0.0.9 of WRT. Here's what's changed.

Added:
- The +info label will now inform if Bitlocker is protecting the system volume [Windows 7 and higher, and limited to the editions where Bitlocker is available].

- Added some keyboard actions meant to make the utilization easier in some parts of the program. E.g.: "Enter" key in the "Custom tools" listbox will execute the selected program, "Escape" key will return the focus to the search box, "Down arrow" will change the focus from the search box to the listbox, and more.

- A Changelog for the current version of the program is now available from the "About" tab (by clicking the version number).

Changed:
- In the "Final Tests" tab, the "SSL Test" has been replaced with an "Email" test. This will open the program that is set as the default email client on the computer (if any). If it succeeds, and if an email account is configured, it will give the option to send an email to an echo mailer service (

at the University of Vienna), in order to test if it's sending and receiving.

Fixed:
- There will be far fewer cases where the +info label will present the information: "Could not retrieve more information about the drive".
What was happening is that the "Could not retrieve more information about the drive" message was shown even when only one information was missing. Now the program will individualize what is not available (by stating "[Information not available]"), and will still display the rest of the information, as shown below:

- Many times the program could not determine whether the computer was using BIOS or UEFI, and therefore would not display that information. That should now be an exceptional occurrence.

- The "Reset to Defaults" button wasn't restoring the default "Hide About tab" setting, nor restoring the exhibition of the temperature from Fahrenheit to Celsius.

- The "DrWeb" download wasn't deleting the previous version of the program when downloading a newer one.

Several other minor improvements and fixes.

Thank you.

 

[AlexCa]

Hi all, version 3.0.1.0 of WRT is now available for download. Here's what's changed:

### Added
- The tooltip of the linklabel "OS", at the bottom of the first tab, will now additionally display the following information about the computer:
. The local IPV4 Address and the network interface type in use;
. The default DNS Server name (if available);
. The DNS server address;
. The computer hostname;
. The current domain (or hostname, if not part of a domain) and username.

Screenshot:

- Added a false positive alert before the download of the tool "Zoek" (located in the "Tools" tab > "Repairs" section).

### Changed
- The information whether the BitLocker protection is activated or not is now refreshed every time the respective tooltip is shown, instead of being collected at the program startup and remaining static.

- Several other minor improvements.

Thank you.

 

[AlexCa]

Hello everyone, I've just released version 3.0.1.5 of Windows Repair Toolbox. Here's what's changed:

### Added
- The tooltip of the linklabel "OS", at the bottom of the first tab, will now additionally display:
. The Default Gateway;
. The BIOS Manufacturer, version and date.

- Added "Crucial System Scanner" to the "Hardware" section of the toolbox.

. "Crucial System Scanner" replaced "SSD-Z". This was because, as far as I could gather, SSD-Z relies on database updates with the new SSD models, but unfortunately the program hasn't been updated since 2016. And, after reading the product forum, it seems now to be an abandoned project. Furthermore, I think that other tools in the “Hardware” section of the toolbox that are capable of provide enough information about hard drives (HWiNFO, CrystalDiskInfo, GSmartControl). Crucial System Scanner is a tool from Crucial that shows compatible memory and storage upgrades for the specific computer or motherboard model where the program is executed. I think that is particularly useful in the part that it reveals what’s the type of memory, maximum memory supported, and the number of slots for a specific machine.

- Added "Furmark" to the "Hardware" section of the toolbox.

. "Furmark" replaced "VMTEST". Video Memory Stress Test is a tool from back 2008 and it’s limited to check 1GB of memory, so I think that is much less relevant nowadays. When searching for ways to test the GPU Memory, I've found (link1, link2, link3) people into cryptocurrency mining using HWiNFO (HWinfo > sensors > scroll down to the GPU > entry "GPU Memory Errors"), that is already included in the toolbox. So I've decided to remove VMTEST and replace it with Furmark (even though it's not a portable program), the well-known GPU stress test and graphics card benchmark program.

- Added a "Welcome" form at the program startup that gives the option to run the program in minimal mode (previously known as "safe mode").

- The message that informs that there's a new version of WRT available, will now also inform that the program has a functionality that allows to backup/restore the Branding settings and the Custom Tools from the old to the new version.


### Changed
- The setting to display the CPU temperature in the Fahrenheit scale is now backed up/restored when performing a customizations backup.

- Replaced the "Loading... please wait" startup splash screen with a progress bar showing the startup steps and percentage indication.

- Refactored the startup process of the program.

- Removed the the lower panel when running the program in "Minimal Mode" (previously known as "Safe Mode"), for a a better look.

- The "AVLeftovers" functionality can now start a scan by simply pressing enter (no need to click the startup button).

- Simplified the logic that makes a warning being shown to the user in case of unexpected termination of the "Run Unattended" process (in the "Malware Removal" tab).

- Small improvements to some of the downloads (BlueScreenView, UltraSearch, DDU, CCleaner).


### Fixed
- Added a timeout for a startup operation that could potentially take a long time.

- Fixed a bug that would prevent the user to select a icon named "custom_program_icon" in the Branding settings.

- The "Hide About tab" setting wasn't being restored after performing a customizations backup.

- Fixed the download of the 64-bits version of RogueKiller (after the recent release of the version 13 of RogueKiller, WRT was still getting version 12).

- Added the download of the 64-bits version of DMDE, that was missing.

- Handled some circumstances that could crash the program.

- The repetition of the download in case of incompletion at the first attempt wasn't working for the "NirLauncher" download.

- The warning message that is shown before the download of "Zoek" and "NortonPE" was being shown once again in case of automated repetition of the download (by incompletion).

- The program was not preventing the user to save the customizations backup to one of the internal Windows Repair Toolbox folders, what could lead to errors if it did.


### Removed
- Discontinued the "installer" version of Windows Repair Toolbox. Decided to do this in order to be able to focus in just one version.

- Removed "SSD-Z" from the "Hardware" section of the toolbox.

- Removed "VMTEST" (that stands for "Video Memory stress Test") from the "Hardware" section of the toolbox.

- Removed the "Minimal Mode" option from the "Settings" tab (replaced with an option to run WRT in minimal mode at the program startup).

- Removed the "Windows_Repair_Toolbox (fast start, no monitors).bat" file (replaced with an option to run WRT in minimal mode at the program startup).

- Removed the "/safe" command-line argument (replaced with an option to run WRT in minimal mode at the program startup).

Thank you!

 

[TairikuOkami]

- Removed the "/safe" command-line argument (replaced with an option to run WRT in minimal mode at the program startup).

Pity, if I fail to hit Minimal in time, it will fail to start with my settings, besides it is one more click.

 

[Local Host]

Pity, if I fail to hit Minimal in time, it will fail to start with my settings, besides it is one more click.

Command-line was better, but more casual users would miss it. Having both would be a better option in my opinion.

 

[AlexCa]

Yes, it's like @Local Host said. The objective was to make the option more visible. @TairikuOkami, instead of using the mouse in that window, you can just press the right arrow key and hit enter, it's faster and it will work

 

[AlexCa]

Hello everyone, I’ve just released version 3.0.1.6 of Windows Repair Toolbox. Here’s what has changed:

### Added

- Added the command line argument '/minimal', that starts the program in minimal mode (thanks to @TairikuOkami and @Local Host for the feedback).

- Added the MacAddress information to the tooltip of the "OS" label at the bottom of the first tab.

- If the OS is Windows 10, when hovering the mouse over the label that gives that information, a tooltip will be shown displaying the specific version (e.g.: 1809).

### Changed

- In the "Useful Tools" section, replaced "Ninite" (that was a link to ninite.com) with "Firefox Portable".
. When a new version of Firefox Portable is available, all the current user settings and data are preserved (bookmarks, extensions, etc).

- In the "Repairs" section, replaced "Zoek" with "SFCFix".

- In the "Repairs" section, replaced "Easy Fix" (discontinued by Microsoft) with "Office Uninstaller".

- Increased the countdown time in the Welcome Form (thanks to @TairikuOkami for the feedback).

- In "Notes" tab, the default format to insert a picture is now the .PNG format (since that's the default format when saving a picture using the Snipping Tool, i thought it would be more practical).

- Updated the 7-Zip components to version 18.06.

### Fixed

- Several things wouldn't work if Windows Repair Toolbox was located in a path containing any empty spaces:

. The Microphone test (in the "Final Tests" tab) wouldn't work.

. The Nirsoft password recovery tools (in the "Notes" tab) wouldn't work and will cause Windows Repair Toolbox to keep running in the background after its main window being closed.

. The "Run Unattended" functionality (in the "Malware Removal" tab) would break if RKill, TDSSKiller or KVRT were selected to run.

- RKill whitelisting functionality doesn't support paths containing empty spaces. So, if Windows Repair Toolbox was located in a path containing empty spaces, RKill would terminate it (heuristic detection). Until that is fixed, the possible workaround was to prevent RKill from running when it's located in a path containing empty spaces (and informing the user about the reason why).

- The program "Crucial System Scanner" takes some time to close itself after doing its work (it continues to run in the background for awhile). So if the user tried to execute it again before allowing it to close the program wouldn't work. In order to avoid this, WRT will now check if the program is already closed before allowing to run it again (otherwise it will ask the user to wait and try again in one minute).

Thank you!