SPQuery 4.0
SPQuery installation was smooth. The setup program asked me for a license key, which the purchased product includes. The license key determines the number of computers that SPQuery lets you manage simultaneously. SPQuery requires 7MB of disk space, NT 4.0 SP4 or later, and IE 4.0 or later. I recommend that you use a later version of IE because the Help file wouldn't open with my IE 4.0 version of HTML Help. When I spoke to technical support about this problem, the representative suggested that I download the HTML Help Update from St. Bernard Software's FTP site at ftp://ftp.stbernard.com/pub/spq/hhupg .exe. Because SPQuery's program window contains so much information, I recommend a display resolution of at least 800 x 600.
I retrieved a list of the systems on my test network. After I right-clicked the domain name in the Network list at the top left corner of the Machine status view, I could query the entire domain or selected computers. I decided to query the domain, although querying the domain on a network with many computers might take more time than you want to spend. When I selected a domain, a list to the right of the Network list displayed the OS version and service pack information for each computer in that domain. When I looked carefully at the list of computers and their currently installed service packs, I noticed that the program didn't correctly detect the computers running SP6 rather than SP6a. The SP6 machines showed up as having no service pack installed. The vendor told me that the problem will be corrected in version 4.1, which should be available by the time you read this review. The vendor also sent me an alpha version of SPQuery 4.1, and it did indeed fix the bug.
The program's service pack installation features worked well. I opened the Service Packs menu and selected Install Service Pack, which opened the Install Service Pack dialog box. This dialog box provides a list of available service packs for Win2K; NT Server; NT Server 4.0, Terminal Server Edition (WTS); and NT Workstation systems. When I selected a service pack, the program displayed a list of computers with an appropriate (i.e., earlier) service pack version and OS version (e.g., NT Server 4.0 for NT Server service packs). This procedure prevents you from accidentally downgrading a machine (e.g., from SP6a to SP5), but it also prevents you from simultaneously installing a service pack on NT Server and NT Workstation computers. With the exception of WTS service packs, NT Server and NT Work-station service packs are identical, so this constraint seemed unnecessary. SPQuery also let me choose a central location for each service pack executable file.
I installed SP6a on two NT workstations running SP4 and one NT server running SP4, and I installed SP1 on my Win2K machine. The installation worked well, except on the computer running SPQuery. After copying the files, Windows attempted to reboot, but couldn't because either the SPQuery program or OLEChannelWnd wouldn't respond to the End Task request. I easily contacted a knowledgeable technical support operator at St. Bernard Software, who acknowledged the problem and said that it would be fixed in version 4.1. However, the alpha version of SPQuery 4.1 didn't fix this bug.
I also used the product's scheduling feature to schedule overnight installations of SP5 on the other three NT computers (i.e., NT Workstation with SP1, NT Workstation with SP4, and NT Server with SP4) in my test network. The program copied the service pack executable file to a temporary folder on the destination computers, then used the remote systems' built-in scheduling service to execute the service pack at the specified time. When I came back to the computers the next day, SPQuery had successfully installed the service packs.
Next, I tested hotfix installation. When I selected a computer from the Network list, the product displayed a list of available hotfixes for that machine, as Figure 2 shows. I could right-click a hotfix from this list to install or download the hotfix to selected machines from the Network list. I liked that I could simultaneously install one or more hotfixes to multiple computers, regardless of the machines' OS. To test this capability, I installed a couple of TCP/IP-related security hotfixes to the NT servers and NT workstations running SP5. The hotfixes installed without a problem, and the hotfix list displayed a green light next to the service pack.
You can select a hotfix from the available hotfix list and click the toolbar's Hotfix Info button. The program's built-in Web browser then opens a Web page that displays a Microsoft article about the hotfix. I found this easy access to information helpful.
In the Report Options tabbed dialog box at the bottom left of the UI, the Hotfixes tab offered options to let me view computers with selected hotfixes; the Missing tab let me view systems without selected hotfixes. I could use the Profiles tab to store a list of several hotfixes from various service packs, then compare selected computers to see whether they matched that profile. SPQuery displayed in the Report window all the results from these tabs; I could print the results or save them to a Comma Separated Values (CSV) file.
I was a little disappointed with the UI, which seemed crowded. At first, I had difficulty finding the information I needed. I also wanted feedback about the status of current and scheduled installations. The program let me continue working as soon as a service pack transfer was completed, which was a helpful ability. I was pleased that the product offered both printed documentation and searchable online Help, although the documentation wasn't as detailed as I would have liked.
When you purchase SPQuery, you have the option of purchasing a 1-year maintenance program that provides updates, upgrades, and unlimited telephone and email technical support. You can purchase additional maintenance programs if you want to continue the support after the first year. The program also has a built-in feature that automatically checks the St. Bernard Software FTP site for the availability of an updated service pack and hotfix database. The presence of an update on the vendor's FTP site activates the program toolbar's Update button, which you can then click to download the database. When I installed SPQuery, the program wouldn't let me perform an SP6a upgrade because the program's database thought that SP6a needed to be upgraded manually. After I downloaded an updated database, the program successfully upgraded the computers to SP6a.
SPQuery is a helpful program that simplifies access to detailed service pack and hotfix information from Microsoft's Web site. I wanted a more user-friendly UI, but the online and printed documentation helped answer the questions I had about the interface. I'd prefer the ability to perform service pack updates simultaneously on servers and workstations, and service pack-installation progress information would have been useful as well. However, if you're familiar with service pack installations and would rather perform upgrades based on OS type (e.g., upgrade all your servers simultaneously), this product is a worthwhile investment.