Today I thought I'd briefly touch on a new troubleshooting concept-- the meta-pack.  A meta-pack is a logical grouping of multiple Windows Troubleshooting Packs which can then be executed as one.  You can use a meta-pack to group similar troubleshooting tasks or to extend the functionality of an existing diagnostic without having to modify the original code.  For example, rather than build a new troubleshooting pack that addresses basic networking plus your configuration-specific root-causes you can create a meta-pack that includes the Windows 7 networking troubleshooter plus your configurations-specific troubleshooter, giving you the basic network troubleshooting for free.

I've attached a sample DiagCab file that illustrates this concept by combining the Windows 7 maintenance, audio, printer, and aero troubleshooters into one meta-pack.   

The contents of the DiagCab is quite simple.  It contains one file called "metapack.diagcfg" which defines the meta-pack.  The contents of the file is provided below.  Transforming this file into a meta-pack is simply a matter of cabbing up the file and changing the extension from ".cab" to ".diagcab". 

If you wanted to extend a Windows 7 Troubleshooting Pack then the XML and directory structure would look something like this.  Note that the first package entry points to a folder called "MyAppDiag"; this is the folder that contains your completed diagnostic, which must be included.  Cab the whole thing up, rename to .diagcab, and you're ready to go!

Contents of .DiagCfg

Directory Structure of .DiagCab

-mb