Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

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Installation & Running

Runtime prompts "Administrator privileges required"?

A: The following features require administrator privileges:

• GPU temperature/load monitoring
• Disk SMART data reading
• Some hardware information collection

Solution:

1. Right-click the application and select "Run as administrator"
2. Or configure "runAsAdministrator": true in .vscode/launch.json

Startup prompts missing .NET Runtime?

A: The framework-dependent version (FDD) requires .NET 10 Runtime.

Solutions:

Method	Steps
Method 1	Download the self-contained version (SCD), no .NET required
Method 2	Install .NET Desktop Runtime 10 from Microsoft

Windows Defender reports the app as a virus?

A: This is a false positive because the app uses WMI and hardware monitoring APIs.

Solutions:

1. Add an exclusion in Windows Defender
2. Verify the installer with VirusTotal
3. Temporarily disable real-time protection if needed

Features

Why does GPU temperature show N/A?

A: Possible causes:

Cause	Solution
Not running as administrator	Run the app as administrator
GPU driver not supported	Update graphics drivers
Virtual machine environment	GPU monitoring may not work in VMs
LibreHardwareMonitor doesn't support	Check compatibility list

SMART data incomplete?

A: Some disk controllers or external drives may not support SMART.

Supported Disk Types:

• ✅ SATA SSD/HDD
• ✅ NVMe SSD
• ⚠️ Some USB external drives (depends on controller)

Reliability records are empty?

A: Possible causes:

1. Windows Reliability Monitor data has been cleared
2. System recently reinstalled, no history
3. Query time range too small

Solutions:

• Adjust "Days back" parameter (default 7 days, max 90)
• Check if Reliability Monitor has data in Control Panel
• Verify Event Log service is running

Exported HTML report opens slowly?

A: Large number of event logs can cause large HTML files.

Optimization:

1. Reduce "Max events" setting (default 1000)
2. Use JSON format export (smaller, faster)
3. Use modern browsers (Chrome/Edge/Firefox)
4. Reduce days back range

Troubleshooting

App crashes on startup?

A: Troubleshooting steps:

Step 1: Check logs

%LOCALAPPDATA%\DigYourWindows\Logs\DigYourWindows_YYYYMMDD.log

Step 2: Common issues and fixes

Symptom	Cause	Solution
Exits immediately	.NET version mismatch	Reinstall .NET 10 SDK
UI freeze on load	Hardware monitor init failed	Run as administrator
Out of memory	System memory low	Close other applications

Step 3: Reset app

# Delete config file (resets all settings)
Remove-Item -Path "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\DigYourWindows\settings.json" -Force

CPU/GPU monitoring values not updating?

A: Monitor service may not be initialized properly.

Troubleshooting:

1. Restart app as administrator
2. Check logs for errors (search "HardwareMonitor")
3. Verify LibreHardwareMonitor dependencies loaded correctly
4. Try disabling and re-enabling monitoring (click refresh)

Import JSON file failed?

A: JSON file format may be incorrect or version incompatible.

Solutions:

1. Confirm JSON from same or compatible version
2. Validate JSON format with JSONLint
3. Check logs for specific errors
4. Verify file is complete (not truncated)

Development

How to debug hardware monitoring?

A: Debug methods:

Method 1: Visual Studio Debugging

1. Start Visual Studio as administrator
2. Set breakpoints in CpuMonitorService.cs or GpuMonitorService.cs
3. Press F5 to start debugging

Method 2: VS Code Configuration

{
  "name": "Debug Hardware",
  "type": "coreclr",
  "request": "launch",
  "program": "${workspaceFolder}/src/DigYourWindows.UI/bin/Debug/net10.0-windows/DigYourWindows.UI.dll",
  "windows": { "runAsAdministrator": true }
}

Where is the test coverage report?

A: Coverage report generation steps:

# 1. Collect coverage
dotnet test --collect:"XPlat Code Coverage"

# 2. Report location
tests/DigYourWindows.Tests/TestResults/{guid}/coverage.cobertura.xml

# 3. Generate HTML (optional)
dotnet tool install -g dotnet-reportgenerator-globaltool
reportgenerator -reports:**/coverage.cobertura.xml -targetdir:coverage_report

How to add new hardware monitoring metrics?

Steps:

1. Enable hardware type in HardwareMonitorProvider
2. Add collection logic in corresponding service
3. Update data models
4. Add unit tests

Other

Supported operating systems?

A:

OS	Support Status	Notes
Windows 11	✅ Full Support	Recommended
Windows 10 (Build 19041+)	✅ Full Support	Requires 20H1 or later
Windows 10 (Build < 19041)	⚠️ Limited Support	Some features unavailable
Windows 7/8	❌ Not Supported	.NET 10 not supported
Linux/macOS	❌ Not Supported	Windows-specific tool

Is data uploaded to the cloud?

A: No. All data is collected, stored, and exported locally:

• ✅ Data saved to local file system
• ✅ Export files controlled by user
• ✅ No remote server connections
• ✅ Open source, auditable

How to get the latest version?

A:

Method 1: GitHub Releases (Recommended)

https://github.com/LessUp/dig-your-windows/releases/latest

Method 2: Build from source

git pull
dotnet build
dotnet run

How to report issues or suggestions?

Channel	Purpose	Link
GitHub Issues	Bug reports, feature requests	Create Issue
GitHub Discussions	General discussion	Discussions

Include in bug reports:

• OS version
• .NET version (dotnet --version)
• App version (check About page)
• Reproduction steps
• Relevant log snippets

Quick Reference

Keyboard Shortcuts

Shortcut	Function
F5	Refresh diagnostic data
Ctrl + S	Save report
Ctrl + T	Toggle theme
Esc	Cancel ongoing collection

Health Score Grades

Score	Grade	Color	Status	Recommendation
90-100	Excellent	#28a745 🟢	Optimal	Maintain status
75-89	Good	#17a2b8 🔵	Normal	Regular maintenance
60-74	Fair	#ffc107 🟡	Some issues	Monitor closely
40-59	Poor	#fd7e14 🟠	Needs attention	Optimize soon
< 40	Needs Optimization	#dc3545 🔴	Critical	Immediate action

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