Skip to main content

Microsoft Launches Windows Fix It Center Beta

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Anyone with experience troubleshooting Microsoft WIndows can testify that, sometimes, getting to the bottom of a software problem can be a little…time consuming. To help ease the pain, Microsoft has unveiled a beta version of its Microsoft Fix It Center, which hopes to make fixing the most common Windows problems as easy as clicking a button—something even technology-phobic Windows users might be able to do.

Microsoft Fix It Center is designed to help users install appropriate software updates and identify known problems that might be impacting their Windows systems. The application features automated troubleshooters and a series of wizards that guide users through set-up and routine maintenance tasks. The software scans a users’s PC to create an individualized software and hardware profile; that information is then compared against Microsoft’s databases of known support issues and updates, and lets the user know about anything relevant to their particular computer—and the software keeps records of everything its done so users know what’s been changed on their computer. Users can control the level of automation that Fix It Center users, and the system even supports multiple devices.

Recommended Videos

Microsoft Fix It Center is available for Windows XP SP3, Vista, and Windows 7; it’s a free application, but users will need a Windows Live account to use the service.

Geoff Duncan
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Geoff Duncan writes, programs, edits, plays music, and delights in making software misbehave. He's probably the only member…
Microsoft is fixing my biggest problem with Windows 11 on handhelds
Asus ROG Ally with the Windows lock screen.

We're finally starting to make some progress on the handheld experience of Windows 11. Although Windows 11 handhelds like the ROG Ally X are some of the best handheld gaming PCs you can buy, that's despite their use of Windows, not because of it. Now, the latest Windows 11 Insider preview (build 22631.4387) adds a feature that should make navigating the OS much easier on a handheld -- a keyboard built for gamepads.

Windows has included an onscreen keyboard for years, and updates over the last couple of years have even made it usable with touch inputs. On a handheld, however, there are two problems with the keyboard. You can't invoke it naturally -- you have to bind Windows + Ctrl + O to a hotkey -- and you can't use your controller to navigate it. With the new update, Microsoft is fixing that last point, at the very least.

Read more
Windows 11 is creating an ‘undeletable’ 8.63GB cache
The Surface Pro 11 on a white table in front of a window.

The recent Windows 11 24H2 update is reportedly flawed with a new issue where it creates 8.63GB of undeletable update cache. This cache is made during the update process and seems to remain on the system, despite attempts to remove it using traditional methods like Disk Cleanup, Storage Sense, or even manually deleting system folders like Windows.old​.

The issue appears to be linked to checkpoint updates, a new feature in Windows 11 designed to streamline and shrink update sizes by downloading smaller patches rather than full updates.

Read more
Microsoft Word may delete your files — here’s how to avoid it
Windows 11 logo on a laptop.

There's a new bug in Microsoft Word that may delete your files, and according to user reports, they're not always recoverable through the Recycle Bin. Fortunately, Microsoft is aware of the problem, but it's unclear when the issue might be fixed. If you want to make sure that your files stay safe, we've got a few workarounds to help you out.

In the last few days, the Microsoft community boards have been flooded with reports of people complaining about their files randomly being deleted, with one user saying: "I use Word. Today, it deleted eight hours of work." Further reports quickly made it clear that the affected files have a few things in common.

Read more