Windows starter path

Transparent Windows starter checks.

Deploy a PMT starter check, or use it as the starting point for your own.

Starter checks are visible scripts and scheduled tasks that send small selected results to PMT.

No endpoint agent. No remote commands. No inventory layer.

Before you deploy starter checks

Starter checks are a fast path, not a promise of complete Windows monitoring.

They may fit when

• you want a first useful PMT result without writing a script;
• Windows scheduled tasks are acceptable;
• the included check answers a clear operational question;
• technicians should be able to inspect and adapt it.

They may not fit when

• you expect complete Windows monitoring coverage;
• you want patching, remediation or diagnosis;
• you need hidden agent behaviour or remote execution;
• scheduled tasks are prohibited;
• you need immutable compliance evidence or a guaranteed notification path.

Each starter check answers only its own question.

Three deployment paths

BAT setup

Run-Setup.bat

Run as Administrator.

PowerShell setup

.\Deploy-PMT-Simple.ps1

Silent deployment

.\Deploy-PMT-Simple.ps1 -Token "YOUR_SEND_TOKEN" -Silent

Group Policy rollout

Use Group Policy where normal Windows domain tooling is already the right way to stage and run scripts.

Test one machine first.

Then confirm the expected task, local logs, PMT result and rollback path before moving to a wider OU or site.

Group Policy Deployment →

Windows starter checks

The starter pack answers narrow operational questions. The script decides the value; PMT stores the numeric result.

What they do not prove

Heartbeat does not prove every service is healthy. Disk checks do not diagnose the cause or remediate it. Reboot-pending does not decide when a reboot is safe. Windows Update failure counts do not patch the machine.

Do not turn a selected result into a claim about the whole endpoint.

Inspect, test, adapt, remove.

Tasks run as SYSTEM and are visible as PMT_* scheduled tasks.

.\Test-PMTWindowsStarterChecks.ps1
.\Test-PMTWindowsStarterChecks.ps1 -AsJson

Setup logs: %ProgramData%\PMT\SetupLogs\

Per-check logs: %ProgramData%\PMT\PMT_*.log

Remove cleanly

.\Deploy-PMT-Simple.ps1 -Delete

You can also remove PMT_* tasks through normal Windows administration.

Adapt rather than accumulate. Change thresholds, cadence or semantics where local judgement requires it; leave out checks that do not answer a useful question.

Token and compatibility notes

The send token determines where results land. Treat it as a credential.

For small tests, inline token use may be acceptable if exposure is understood. For repeated/wider deployment, prefer a protected configuration path where practical.

The packaged deployer requires Administrator rights and the Windows ScheduledTasks module — generally Windows 8 / Server 2012 or newer.

Token Storage & Rotation →

What starter checks are not

• not an endpoint-management agent;
• not a remote shell;
• not an inventory collector;
• not proof of whole-machine health;
• not a patching or remediation system.

If an expected scheduled result stops arriving, cadence/stale rules can make the absence visible. PMT does not diagnose the cause.