BB TestAssistant is a desktop recording, editing, and viewing tool for the Windows platform designed to aid tester and developer in defect submission and reproduction. It was developed by UK-based Blueberry Software as a tester/developer oriented version of their Flashback consumer recording software. The concept is simple: a tester runs the recorder, reproduces the defect, and submits the resulting file to the developer who then can review a step-by-step process from the tester's perspective.
While a recording may not be necessary for every scenario of defect reproduction, the technology has many practical applications. Video capture helps recreate exactly what was going on in the event of a difficult to reproduce or rare bug. Certain visual defects can be difficult to summarize in just a series of screen shots. The software creates an easy to use visual demonstration of user input, logging keystrokes and mouse clicks and can even toggle sound and webcam recording to cover anything that words cannot describe. User notes and editing tools like watermarks and highlights further enhance the post-processing to make sure that the developer will not miss out on any relevant data.
Few bugs are as long standing as the svchost.exe Windows Update bug on Windows XP. Some sources have reported that the bug, in which the svchost.exe process suddenly takes up 100 percent of the CPU, has been known at least as far back as 2004.
