Patent ID: 7464102

Claim:
In a computing environment, a method for automating computer support, the method comprising: detecting a type of computer-related problem on a user machine; selecting a manifest from a plurality of manifests based upon the detected type of computer-related problem, each of the plurality of manifests being a named data file; the selected manifest identifying a set of one or more tools that when executed collects data for analysis with respect to diagnosing the computer-related problem; the selected manifest identifying the location from which each of the set of one or more tools may be downloaded; for each of the set of one or more tools, the selected manifest identifying the current version of the tool, how the tool should be installed, and what parameters should be specified; the selected manifest providing information comprising parameters for running each of the set of tools with an appropriate configuration; the selected manifest describing what output should be collected; providing a control mechanism to interpret the selected manifest; the control mechanism automatically loading and executing on the user machine; the control mechanism interpreting the manifest; when necessary, the control mechanism installing one or more of the set of one or more tools; the control mechanism executing each tool identified in the manifest upon the user machine; each tool, when executed by the control mechanism, collecting data from the user machine; the control mechanism executing a reporting program; the reporting program collecting and packaging the data collected by the tools; and the reporting program delivering the packaged data to a central support depository.