How to troubleshoot software installations with Windows 2000 application management debug logging (249621)

Important This article contains information about how to modify the registry. Make sure to back up the registry before you modify it. Make sure that you know how to restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up, restore, and modify the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

256986 Description of the Microsoft Windows registry

SUMMARY

When a problem occurs with a program that is deployed on a client computer by using Group Policy, a log file (Appmgmt.log) can be generated. This log file records information related to the advertisement, publishing, or assignment of Windows Installer applications by using Windows 2000 Group Policy. This information, in conjunction with logging from the Windows Installer service, can help determine the cause of a software installation problem.

For more information about how to enable Windows Installer Logging, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

223300 How to enable Windows Installer Logging

MORE INFORMATION

To enable diagnostic logging of Group Policy Software Installation processing, modify the registry on the computer where the program will be installed.

To enable diagnostic logging of Group Policy Software Installation processing, follow these steps:

Warning Serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly by using Registry Editor or by using another method. These problems might require that you reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that these problems can be solved. Modify the registry at your own risk.

Click Start, click Run, type regedit in the Open box, and then click OK.
In the left pane, locate and then click the following registry subkey:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Diagnostics
Note You may have to create the Diagnostics registry subkey.
On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click DWORD Value.
Type AppMgmtDebugLevel, and then press ENTER.
Double-click AppMgmtDebugLevel, type 4b in the Value data box, and then click OK.
Quit Registry Editor.

After you make this registry modification, a log file named Appmgmt.log is created when Group Policy processing occurs. The Appmgmt.log file is located in the %SystemRoot%\Debug\UserMode folder on the computer where the AppMgmtDebugLevel registry value is enabled.

Note After you troubleshoot software installations with Windows 2000 application management debug logging, we recommend that you delete the AppMgmtDebugLevel registry value to avoid performance degradation.