14. What are the Support Tools? Why do I need them?

The Windows 2003 support tools are a collection of resources with the aim of assisting administrators to simplify management tasks. These include: troubleshooting operating systems, configuring networking and security features, managing Active Directory, and automating application deployment. With the use of these tools, the user is able to pin-point problematic issues with the system and will therefore be able to find a solution more easily.


The Windows 2003 Support Tools consist of a number of command-line utilities, visual basic scripts, GUI based applications, and documents - all of which you must install from a separate application. The Support Tools are not automatically installed when you install Windows 2003; their installation isn’t an option in the Windows 2003 setup. The installation program is located on the CD-ROM in the \support\tools folder and the setup file (suptools.msi) must be opened manually to initiate the installation wizard. You can also download support tool fromhttp://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?familyid=96A35011-FD83-419D-939B-9A772EA2DF90&displaylang=en