“Fix It” … from Microsoft

 

It has been always difficult to find help using standard help documents that we get with our Windows … right ?? … even sometimes it is more difficult to find help document on M$ website too … so most of time people like me prefer to ask google then microsoft .. right ??

Over the past six weeks, Microsoft has quietly added a "Fix it" button to a few of the thousands of help documents on its Web site. When clicked, the computer then takes all the recommended steps automatically.

"If we know what those 15 steps are why shouldn't we just script it," said Lori Brownell, Microsoft's general manager of product quality and online support

The "Fix it" option is still fairly rare, showing up in around 100 different help documents. The effort is growing rapidly, though, up from just four such fixes when the program quietly began in December.

Microsoft continues to offer users the option of doing things on their own if they either don't trust Microsoft or just like being in control.

"We're not trying to hide anything," she said.

The first fixes included a number of common issues, including restoring a missing Internet Explorer icon to the desktop, how to enable the DVD library in Vista's Windows Media Center as well as what to do when encountering the error message in Street & Trips 2008 that "Construction information for routes could not be downloaded"

For now, Microsoft is having to go back and search its archives to see which of its problem solving tips can be automated. Eventually, it hopes to create the automated fixes at the same time the help articles are created.

Where it can, Microsoft is also adding the "Fix it" option into the error reporting tool built into Windows. Initially, all users could do when a program crashed was send a report to Microsoft. More recently, the system has started checking to see if there is any information on the issue. Next up, said Brownell, is offering the option to have the issue solved automatically.

another one example can be action center of windows 7 … which pinpoints and fixes issues that it can fix regarding security and maintenance issues with operating system.

Njoy …