Microsoft wants to help fix your problems
Well, anyway a few computer problems. A new feature called “fix-it” has been added to a small number of Microsoft Knowledge Base (KB) articles. More detail about “fix-it” is given further on. But first, let me remind you what the Microsoft KB is.
The KB is a giant repository of information, patches, tips and various things about Windows and other Microsoft products. In many ways, it is the ultimate source to go to when you have a Windows problem. However, it is also almost inaccessible to average home PC users. To begin with, its vast size combined with a poor search function makes it hard to find anything in KB unless you are an expert. If you do find an appropriate article, it is often written in Microsoft-speak and you are left wondering what it actually says. Then there is the problem that many solutions require a Registry edit. After Microsoft issues its standard warning that messing with the Registry can cause horrible things to your computer, few average PC users will touch it. All in all, the KB is not much visited by ordinary PC users. This is unfortunate because a lot of good stuff is there.
Now comes something new to some of the KB articles–a fix-it button. Neowin has a description and shows some screenshots :
Microsoft Windows operating systems like Windows XP and Windows Vista provide troubleshooting options for errors that occur in your PC and sometimes provide a link which can have a solution for that error. But finding a proper fix has always been a difficult task for many. Sometimes we may think why can’t Microsoft fix this for me?
The Fix-it teams’ purpose is to help users fix their problems in a click of a button. The Microsoft KB articles and the Windows Error Reporting are now fix-it enabled with a list of steps that can be followed to resolve the issue.
So far there seem to be only a few articles with this facility. Let’s see how far Microsoft goes with this idea. KB articles that have “fix-it” included are listed at the Fix it for me blog.
An older help aid for carrying out instructions in KB articles is called “Guided help”. It requires downloading and installing some Microsoft software and it is described at this Microsoft KB article.
If anybody has tried one of these help methods, let us know how it worked out.
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