In this episode of Defrag Tools, Chad Beeder and Jorge Novillo continue a series on Media eXperience Analyzer (MXA). We examine a video glitch scenario, and show how to use MXA to determine what caused the problem. Media eXperience Analyzer (formerly WindowsXRay) is a tool used to visualize ETW traces, with a particular emphasis on media scenarios such as audio/video capture and playback. Timeline:[00:00] Introductions and overview[01:10] For an introduction to MXA, and explanation of how to capture a trace, refer to Defrag Tools Episode #149.[01:20] Loading the trace into MXA[02:28] Step 1: Look at the Video Glitches and Video Glitches Severity datasets to see where the glitches happened and how bad they were.[05:00] Step 2: Zoom in on a glitch and look at the DX VSync ISR/DPC Cadence dataset[05:52] Handy MXA tip: Press the ` key (grave accent) to automatically rescale the Y-axis of the graph.[08:34] Trace shows the graphics driver skipped a VSync - next step is to follow up with the graphics driver vendor[10:25] Email us at [email protected]

In this episode of Defrag Tools, Chad Beeder and Jorge Novillo continue a series on Media eXperience Analyzer (MXA). We examine an audio glitch scenario, and show how to use MXA to determine what caused the problem. Media eXperience Analyzer (formerly WindowsXRay) is a tool used to visualize ETW traces, with a particular emphasis on media scenarios such as audio/video capture and playback. Timeline:[00:00] Introductions and overview[00:29] For an introduction to MXA, and explanation of how to capture a trace, refer to Defrag Tools Episode #149.[01:11] Example: Playing a video, seeing both audio and video glitches[02:16] Loading the trace into MXA[02:55] Step 1: Look at the Audio Glitches dataset. There are different types of audio glitches logged[04:13] Step 2: Look at driver activity in the CPU Scheduler dataset - find a thread with a long running DPC[07:31] Use the Callstacks dataset to find out which driver is the culprit (an NDIS miniport driver)[11:04] Email us at [email protected]

In this episode of Defrag Tools, Chad Beeder is joined by Jorge Novillo and Jose Baldner. We look at some of the technologies introduced in recent Windows versions to reduce power consumption and improve battery life during video playback on newer hardware, and use Media eXperience Analyzer (MXA) to see whether they are working. Media eXperience Analyzer (formerly WindowsXRay) is a tool used to visualize ETW traces, with a particular emphasis on media scenarios such as audio/video capture and playback. Timeline:[00:00] Introductions and overview[01:42] To capture a trace, refer back to Episode #149.[02:48] Low refresh rate for video playback (48 Hz in our example)[10:36] Processor frequency can drop during lower refresh rate playback[11:26] Batching for video playback - allows CPU cores to be turned off more of the time[14:15] Multiplane Overlay (MPO) - how to see if it's working on your system[21:51] Independent Flip (IFlip) - app can render frames ahead of time and schedule them for the future[25:18] Email us at [email protected]

In this episode of Defrag Tools, Chad Beeder is joined by Jorge Novillo and Jose Baldner to introduce us to Media eXperience Analyzer (MXA). Media eXperience Analyzer (formerly WindowsXRay) is a tool used to visualize ETW traces, with a particular emphasis on media scenarios such as audio/video capture and playback. Timeline:[00:00] Introductions[01:20] What is MXA? What's it good for?[05:34] Installing and setting up MXA (Download link). You also should install Windows Performance Toolkit which is included in the Assessment and Deployment Kit.[07:28] Demo #1: Collecting a trace to analyze in MXA - full of audio and video playback glitches[11:02] Before loading a trace, make sure the symbol path is correct (use the included setsymbolpath.cmd if necessary)[11:37] Loading the trace into MXA and getting a feel for the UI and various datasets available to view[14:46] Let's start with the Audio Glitches and Video Glitches datasets to identify where the problem is[16:15] The CPU Scheduler dataset is very useful; shows which threads were running, and when[20:11] Help->Shortcuts tells you all the keyboard/navigation shortcuts[20:40] Context Switch Call Stack dataviewer shows you when a thread started running, what it was waiting on[21:58] Callstacks dataset compiles all the events that had call stacks captured with them[23:44] Stack Tree data viewer shows the summary breakdown of all call stacks over a selected time[24:45] Using the Video Glitches and DMA Operations datasets to see what the GPU was doing during the glitches[26:37] Demo #2: An audio glitch that occurred when the screen got powered on[27:14] Start with the Audio Glitches and CPU Scheduler datasets[30:52] Use the Callstacks dataset to identify the culprit: display driver was spending too long executing a DPC[34:33] Email us at [email protected]

In this episode of Defrag Tools, Andrew Richards and Chad Beeder talk about Windows Installer and the ORCA Editor. The ORCA Editor is used to view and author Windows Installer files (*.msi, *.msm, *.msp, *.mst). Timeline:[01:20] - Windows Installer files[02:28] - "MSI Tools" in the Windows 10 SDK[07:22] - ORCA Editor[16:26] - Windows Installer Logging - voicewarmup[18:32] - Sequencing[23:58] - "Windows Logo" Validation[25:08] - Email us your issues at [email protected]

In this episode of Defrag Tools, Andrew Richards and Chad Beeder talk about Dependency Walker. A tool used to view the DLL Import dependencies of EXEs and DLLs, and to view the Exports. Timeline:[01:20] - View EXE/DLL dependencies[04:34] - http://dependencywalker.com/[07:15] - Depends.exe[08:08] - API Sets[10:30] - LoadLibrary/GetProcAddress[11:30] - Exports by Name or Ordinal[17:50] - Email us your issues at [email protected]

In this episode of Defrag Tools, Andrew Richards and Chad Beeder talk about WinDiff. A tool used to compare folders and files. Timeline:[01:20] - WinDiff[02:55] - x64 version available on Defrag Tools OneDrive[04:53] - File or Directory compare[10:22] - Alt-B (Both), Alt-L (Left), Alt-R (Right)[11:40] - F7 (Previous Change), F8 (Next Change)[13:00] - Outline/Expand (Esc)[14:44] - Tab Width (4 characters instead of 8 characters)[18:00] - Email us your issues at [email protected]

In this special episode of Defrag Tools, following up on our most recent expeditions through the Microsoft Archives, Chad Beeder visits the Living Computer Museum in Seattle, and takes a hands-on trip through their extensive collection of Microsoft-related artifacts, with tour guide Aaron Alcorn. Timeline:[00:00] Welcome to the Living Computer Museum![02:40] DEC PDP-7 from 1964 - only working example of a PDP-7 in the world today.[05:19] Bill Gates and Paul Allen in school: teletype connection to a GE mainframe[07:10] MITS Altair 8800 running Microsoft's first product: Altair BASIC[14:39] Gates and Allen didn't have an Altair to write software on - they had to make an emulator on a DEC PDP-10.[15:55] ...Let's look at a PDP-10![18:10] You can connect online to the museum's mainframes and play with them yourself![19:26] Control Data Corporation 6500: Seymour Cray's $8 million supercomputer from the 1960s.[23:29] Original IBM PC from 1981, MS-DOS 2.10 and Microsoft PC BASIC[26:50] PC AT running Windows 1.0 with an original Microsoft Mouse[29:49] Office Professional on many, many floppies - installing to your hard drive was an ordeal[31:40] Windows 95! Introduction of the Start Button![33:40] Windows ME and Microsoft Bob - early ancestor of today's virtual assistants like Cortana and Siri[36:14] Microsoft SoftCard (Microsoft's first hardware product: a Z80 processor card which enabled an Apple II to run CP/M)[37:47] Microsoft Cordless Phone System - here's a TV commercial for it.(Note: Not compatible with Windows NT or Macintosh)[42:05] Lots of other cool stuff to see! Check it out![44:43] Email us at [email protected] Thanks to the Living Computer Museum for hosting us!

In a two part special for Defrag Tools, Raymond Chen joins Andrew Richards and Chad Beeder to celebrate the 30 years of Windows. We travel to the Microsoft Archives building to reminisce over a selection of products that Microsoft has produced over the 30 years. Resources:Microsoft Archives - Campus ToursMicrosoft Archives - Microspotting

In this on-location special for Defrag Tools, Andrew Richards and Chad Beeder invade Raymond Chen's office. Raymond is a 23yr veteran of Microsoft, who's worked on everything from MS-DOS to the Windows 10 UI. We talk about his Blog and Book Old New Thing, Security Reports on the wrong side of the Airtight Hatchway, various Microspeak terms including 'North Star' and Bedlam, Code Samples, and lot's of other random stuff. Resources:Blog - Old New ThingBook - Old New ThingBedlam - Larry Osterman's WeblogBedlam - The Exchange Team Blog - Me Too! Timeline:[00:00] Studio E[01:45] The "Reference" sign[02:25] Raymond Chen's history[04:02] SDK Samples[12:26] Old New Thing [20:14] The Book[21:52] Airtight Hatchway[25:12] Microspeak[28:37] Microspeak - North Star[31:45] Microspeak - Bedlam[33:38] How do you achieve a daily blog?[36:14] Responding to blog comments[38:18] Questions? Email us at [email protected]