A Sad Realization

Dave Methvin, Rob Cheng and I founded PC Pitstop in 1999. From the beginning, it was a classic Windows DNA site: we wove together an ActiveX control, quite a bit of client-side JavaScript, ASP server code also written in JavaScript, and a SQL Server database. The idea was to quickly and automatically diagnose most common PC ailments.

If I remember correctly, we started out supporting Windows 95 and Windows 98, then added Windows NT and Windows 2000. Over the years we kept updating the site to do more and to support new systems as they were released. I stopped working on it full time after the dot-com bust and terrorist attacks of 2001, which together ruined the market for banner advertising. I continued to consult for the site on and off, and became more active again last summer.

Because PC Pitstop tests tens of thousands of computers every month, we have a pretty good idea about industry trends. We try to anticipate them a little when we think they’ll need new code for proper support, but we also find out rather quickly when there are breaking changes from new hardware or new systems.

Last week I finally bit the bullet and started trying to fix the tests that didn’t work properly on Windows Vista. There were 8 problems that we were able to identify when people came to the site with Internet Explorer 7 in the default Protected Mode on Windows Vista:

1. The CPU Load was not tested
2. Running Programs only listed one: IE
3. All outgoing pings were lost
4. Disk fragmentation was not tested on C:
5. Disk speed was not tested on C:
6. No CD or DVD drives were detected
7. Could not obtain monitor information
8. Got incorrect results for the size of the junk files

I tracked down the C++ code in the ActiveX control that does each of these tests, and realized that some of the failing tests were trying to do things that require Administrator privilege on Windows Vista, but that others were doing things that only require normal privilege. IE didn’t even have normal privilege, however, because it was running in Protected Mode, which flags itself as a low integrity process.

I did three experiments. I verified that all 8 issues happen in Protected Mode. I determined that three problems go away, two completely and one partially, with IE’s Protected Mode off. And finally I determined that all tests run correctly when IE is run with Administrator privilege.

I looked at alternative ways to execute the tests that might work with Protected Mode enabled, because I really wanted the site to work that way. I found a way to detect CD and DVD drives using WMI, but the information returned isn’t as complete as we get by using the low-level SCSI and ASPI interfaces, so I think that’s just a back-up plan. I found a simple way to fix the disk speed problem that I think will be fine on most systems, which involves putting the test file into the temporary directory if the temp directory is on the drive being tested.

There were so many issues that I couldn’t fix, however, that I came to a sad realization: PC Pitstop will only run properly on Windows Vista if the browser has Administrative privilege. Like the janitor in your building, we can’t clean up after you unless we have the keys to the office.