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General WMI Troubleshooting Steps

If you determine that WMI does in fact have a problem, you must consider several issues. These are detailed below:

  • DCOM security WMI uses DCOM. Changes in DCOM security settings will prevent WMI from working properly.

  • Service settings The Windows Management Instrumentation service must be running for WMI to work. If this service is disabled, WMI will not work. The Windows Management Instrumentation service must log on with local system privileges. If this account is changed, WMI will not have the permissions needed to operate properly.

  • Module registration The basic WMI service is robust. Due to the flexible nature of WMI, many software vendors use it to provide management of everything from applications to hardware monitoring. These classes often require special modules to be registered. The WMI Check tool can be used to report on the state of these modules. If the application is not working, and the modules are not registered, the application may need to be re-installed. At a minimum, the modules will need to be registered.

  • Rebuild WBEM repository Rebuilding the WMI repository should be the last stepnot the first stepin troubleshooting WMI. It is easy to do so. You stop the WMI service, delete the database, and restart the database. But if it does not fix the problem, what do you do? Make sure you have a backup of the WMI database prior to deleting the database. If rebuilding does not solve the problem, and you have custom settings, you can always perform a restoration.

Quick Check

Q.

What are two tools you can use to see if WMI is accepting connections?

A.

The two tools you can use to see if WMI is accepting connections are the WMI Control tool and WBEMtest.exe.

Q.

If you want to produce a list of WMI classes in a namespace, choose a class, and see a sample WMI script produced that you can run to test WMI with, what tool would you use?

A.

If you need to produce a list of WMI classes in a namespace, choose a class, and see a sample WMI script produced that you can run to test WMI with, you would use the Scriptomatic.

Q.

If you want to test user credentials for a WMI connection on a remote computer, which tool can you use?

A.

If you need to test user credentials for a WMI connection on a remote computer, you can use WBEMtest.exe.

Q.

If you receive a strange error number in the event log and you need to look up the meaning quickly and easily, what tool can you use?

A.

If you receive a strange error number in the event log and you need to look up the meaning quickly and easily, you can use the Err.exe tool to translate the number into something more meaningful.

Q.

If you need to compile a MOF file into the repository, what tool can you use?

A.

If you need to compile a MOF file into the repository, use MofComp.exe.



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