Microsoft Toolkit

About this release

Microsoft Toolkit has been in circulation long enough to be a fixed point in this category, and it stayed there by being more than a single button. The interface has tabs, and each tab handles a different part of managing the licensing and installation state of the desktop system and the document suite, with a log pane that records everything it does so a technician can see what happened rather than trusting a progress bar.

The management tabs cover the state work. Read the current licensing condition of everything installed, install or remove product keys, set and clear the management service address, refresh a state that has drifted after a hardware change, and check the remaining interval before a state needs renewing. Nothing runs until a tab is chosen and a button is pressed.

The suite tab does the part that is genuinely awkward elsewhere. It can add or remove individual components from an existing installation without running the original installer, extract and back up the installation source so a machine can be rebuilt later without hunting for media, and repair an installation whose components have partly broken. On a machine that needs one application removed rather than the whole suite reinstalled, this saves an afternoon.

It is portable and runs from wherever it is unpacked. Administrator rights are required, the log copies out for a job sheet, and everything it touches is reported. The customisation tab exposes the individual operations for anyone who wants to run one step rather than a sequence.

What it does

Tabbed interface

Separate areas for state reading, key handling, service settings and suite management rather than one button.

Full state reporting

Current condition of every installed product with the remaining interval shown before anything is changed.

Component add and remove

Individual suite applications can be added or removed without rerunning the original installer.

Installation backup

Extract and keep the installation source so a machine can be rebuilt later without media.

Detailed log

Everything performed is written out and copies straight into a job sheet.

Portable

Runs from any folder with nothing installed and nothing left behind.

Changed in this version

• Detection updated for the current system and suite releases.
• Faster component enumeration on machines with large installations.
• Log output made clearer and easier to copy.
• Customisation tab reorganised by task.
• Fixed an error when handling installations on non system drives.

System requirements

Install order

1. Unpack the archive to a folder with room for backups.
2. Run the executable with administrator rights.
3. Check the state readout on the first tab before using any other tab.
4. Take an installation backup before adding or removing suite components.

Worth knowing before you start

File details