Microsoft Fix it June 2010

Microsoft claims it can now fix over 300 common computer problems from a new area of its website called Microsoft Fix it.

The tool, claims Microsoft, is especially useful for those who are still using older systems of the Windows operating system such as Windows XP and Vista – users of the newer Windows 7 should have some of this functionality built into the operating system.

Common problems the tool claims to fix include problems with CD and DVD burning, printing issues, sound and audio, broken desktop shortcuts and unused icons, and speed issues.

Can Microsoft fix it?

To put it to the test, we deliberately 'broke' two computers – one running XP and one running Windows 7 – by disabling some drivers (drivers allow your computer to communicate to the hardware that's attached to it) and installed two anti-virus systems (something we recommend you never do).

So, how does it work? The procedure is relatively simple. If your computer's playing up, go to the Microsoft Fix it Center. There you can choose to run one of five tools. For example, click on problems with overall performance. This then downloads and runs a program file, which checks your machine's performance.

When we ran the 'problems with sound and audio or no sound' tool, Microsoft Fix it instantly spotted that our driver was disabled and restarted it for us. It also spotted all of our 'dead' desktop shortcuts, and removed them.

PC problems

When it came to our multiple anti-virus programs, Windows 7 instantly spotted this on its own, and alerted us to this in the Security Center that's built into the Operating System. However, this wasn’t picked up by Microsoft Fix it on the Windows 7 machine. Similarly, Fix it failed to spot the doubling up of security on XP.

Fix It fared better with our start up programs. We were really impressed that it found a long list of programs that were set to start up automatically. However, there was little hand-holding for the beginner over what they should and shouldn’t disable, which could cause problems if users accidentally disable vital programs.

You can check out Microsoft Fix it yourself on the Microsoft website. And don't forget that you'll find plenty of helpful computing advice right here to help sort out problems on your own - from sorting out your home network to installing extra memory.

Pros: Free, effective at solving certain problems

Cons: Requires a working internet connection