What's Microsoft Support Diagnostic Tool (MSDT)? How to Disable? - MiniTool

Learn more about Microsoft Support Diagnostic Tools (MSDT): How to use, security risks, and how to disable it

This article will provide a detailed introduction to Microsoft's support diagnostic tool (MSDT), including its features, usage, security risks, and how to disable the tool to enhance security on Windows systems.

What is Microsoft Support Diagnostic Tool (MSDT)?

MSDT (Microsoft Support Diagnostic Tool) is a service in Windows systems that Microsoft support staff uses to remotely analyze diagnostic data to resolve and repair system problems. The tool collects critical system and log information to help quickly diagnose problems and provide solutions.

Unlike other diagnostic tools, MSDT is not a user-run tool. When you run the tool, you will be prompted to enter the passcode provided by Microsoft Technical Support. MSDT can only be used after communicating with Microsoft technical support staff and obtaining the pass code. MSDT tracks your operations on your computer and sends data to Microsoft for diagnosis. MSDT is compatible with Windows 11/10/8/7 systems.

How to run MSDT?

Opening MSDT is very simple: enter "msdt" in the Windows search bar, and click the result to run. Enter the pass code and follow the on-screen instructions to diagnose.

Can diagnose computers without MSDT

If you do not want to contact technical support for a passcode, but you still need a diagnostic computer, you can use the system diagnostic report instead of MSDT.

Press Win R to open the run window, enter perfmon /report and click OK. The system will collect data (approximately 60 seconds) and generate a report containing recommendations for performance optimization and system operation improvements. You can enter perfmon in the Run window and click Reports > System > System Diagnostics to view the report.

Security vulnerabilities and disable methods of MSDT

MSDT requires a pass code to run, which is relatively inconvenient to use. More importantly, MSDT has security vulnerabilities and is prone to various threats. Many hackers exploit MSDT vulnerabilities to run arbitrary code with the permissions of an application, install programs, create new accounts in the context that user permissions allow, change, view or delete data, etc.

In recent years, MSDT vulnerabilities have been maliciously exploited. In 2022, security researchers discovered two vulnerabilities, Follina and DogWalk, and their impact cannot be ignored.

To prevent Windows systems from being attacked by MSDT vulnerabilities, you can choose to disable MSDT. Open a command prompt as administrator, enter reg delete HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ms-msdt /f and press Enter.

Microsoft plans to deprecate MSDT

According to user feedback, an announcement has been issued in the Windows 11 Dev Build 25276 version, and Microsoft plans to deprecate MSDT in 2025. Twitter users have also noticed this change. When opening MSDT in Windows 11, you may see the message "Microsoft Support Diagnostic Tool (MSDT) will be retired by 2025".

This change may be related to the release of Windows 12. From a security standpoint, this could be a welcome change.

Summarize

This article introduces the relevant information about Microsoft's support for diagnostic tool MSDT. If you need a diagnostic computer, you need to contact technical support to get the passcode and run MSDT. Because of its security vulnerability, you can choose to disable it. In the near future, it will be deprecated before Windows 12 is released.

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