Using Automated Help and Support
Windows 8 builds on the extensive diagnostics and problem resolution
architecture that was developed for Windows 7. Although early releases
of Windows included some Help and diagnostics features, those features
were, for the most part, not
self-correcting or self-diagnosing. The current framework, on the other
hand, can detect many types of hardware, memory, and performance issues
and resolve them automatically or help users through the process of
resolving them.
Windows now includes more reliable and better-performing device
drivers that prevent many common causes of hangs and crashes. Improved
I/O cancellation for device drivers ensures that the operating system
can recover gracefully from blocking calls and that fewer blocking disk
I/O operations occur.
To reduce downtime and restarts required for application
installations and updates, Windows can use the update process to mark
in-use files for update and then automatically replace the files the
next time an application is started. In some cases, Windows can save
the application’s data, close the application, update the in-use files,
and then restart the application. To improve overall system performance
and responsiveness, Windows uses memory efficiently, provides ordered
execution for groups of threads, and provides several
process-scheduling mechanisms. By optimizing memory and process usage,
Windows ensures that background processes have less impact on system
performance.
By default, Windows uses smart
screening, which displays a prompt asking for administrator approval
before running an unrecognized app from the Internet. If you don’t want
to require administrator approval, you can configure smart screening to
display a warning instead, or you can turn smart screening off
completely.
Windows provides improved guidance on the causes of unresponsive
conditions. By including additional error-reporting details in the
event logs, Windows makes it easier to identify and resolve issues. To
automatically recover from service failures, Windows uses
service-recovery policies more extensively than did previous versions.
When recovering a failed service, Windows automatically handles both
service and nonservice dependencies as well. Windows starts any
dependent services and system components prior to starting the failed
service.
In early releases of Windows, an application crash or hang is marked as Not
Responding, and it is up to the user to exit and then restart the
application. Windows now attempts to resolve the issue of unresponsive
applications by using the Program Compatibility Assistant (PCA) and Restart
Manager. PCA can detect installation failures, run-time failures, and
drivers blocked because of compatibility issues. To help resolve these
issues, PCA provides options for running an application in
compatibility mode or for getting help online through a Microsoft
website. Restart Manager can shut down and restart unresponsive
applications automatically. Thanks to Restart Manager, you might not
have to intervene to try to resolve issues with frozen applications.
Note
Diagnostic Policy Service and Program Compatibility Assistant Service must be running and properly configured for automated diagnostics and compatibility assistance to work properly. In the Computer
Management console, you can configure these services using the Services
extension. One way to open Computer Management is by pressing the
Windows key, typing compmgmt.msc, and then pressing Enter. This shortcut works so long as the Apps Search box is in focus.
Note
Technically, the
top-level nodes in Computer Management are snap-in extensions. Each was
added to a Microsoft Management Console (MMC) to create the console.
Want to see how? Type MMC
at a prompt. Use Add Or Remove Snap-in to add Computer Management to
the MMC. While working with the Add Or Remove Snap-in dialog box,
select Computer Management under Selected Snap-ins and then click Edit
Extensions. You can see each individual snap-in extension—and how the
console was created by Microsoft.
Failed installations and nonresponsive conditions of applications and drivers are also tracked through Action
Center. In these cases, the built-in diagnostics mechanisms can
sometimes provide a problem response. You can view a list of current
problems at any time by doing one of the following:
-
Tap or click the Action Center icon in the notification area of the taskbar, and then tap or click Open Action Center.
-
In Control Panel, tap or click Review Your Computer’s Status under the System And Security heading.
In Action Center, shown in Figure 1, you can see a list of problems organized into two broad areas: Security and Maintenance.
Problems are color-coded:
-
Red is a warning about an important problem that needs your
attention. For example, if the computer doesn’t have virus protection
software, this is a red warning.
-
Orange is a caution about a problem that you might want to look at.
For example, if a computer hasn’t been scanned recently by Windows
Defender, this is an orange warning.
You can tap or click the Security or Maintenance heading to expand
the section and view more detailed information. Expanding the Security
area displays information about the following:
-
The status of the network firewall, Windows Update, virus
protection, and the computer’s spyware and unwanted software protection.
-
The configuration of Internet security settings, User Account
Control (UAC), Windows SmartScreen, Network Access Protection, and
Windows activation.
Expanding the Maintenance area displays information about the following:
-
Links for managing the configuration of problem reports
-
The status of File History and the computer’s drives
-
The status of Automatic Maintenance and links for managing maintenance
If you have just set up a computer and want to check for problems,
or if you suspect a computer has problems that haven’t been diagnosed,
you can initiate automatic problem detection by following these steps:
-
In Action Center, tap or click the Maintenance heading, and then scroll down.
-
Below the list of current problems, you’ll see an area labeled Check For Solutions To Problem Reports and a set of related links. Tap or click Check For Solutions to start the automated
problem reporting process. When this process is complete, Action Center
is updated to include all newly discovered problems, and solutions are
provided if known.
-
If automated diagnostics detects problems for which there are no
solutions available, you can view additional information about the
problems. In the Problem Reporting dialog box, shown in Figure 2, tap or click View
Problem Details to get more information about the problems detected. If
you want to do your own troubleshooting, tap or click the links
provided to extract data so that you can analyze the problems later.
The data is extracted to the Temp folder in the logged-on user’s
profile. You need to make a copy of this data before you proceed.
-
In the Problem Reporting dialog box, tap or click Send Information
to send this information to Microsoft, or tap or click Cancel to exit
Problem Reporting without sending the information to Microsoft. If you
send the information to Microsoft, the troubleshooting data is
extracted to the Temp folder in the logged-on user’s profile, sent to
Microsoft, and then deleted from the Temp directory. The amount of data
extracted and sent can be a significant amount.
In Action Center, you can resolve detected problems that have known solutions by following these steps:
-
Each problem has a solution button or link. With Security problems, you can typically find programs online or scan the computer using
protection software. With Maintenance problems, you generally tap or
click View Problem Response to display a page providing more
information about the problem.
-
When you view the More Information page, keep the following in mind:
When a driver or software issue is causing a problem, you’ll find a
link to download and install the latest driver or software update. When
a configuration issue is causing a problem, you’ll find a description
of the problem and a step-by-step guide for modifying the configuration
to resolve the problem.
-
When you have resolved a problem by installing a driver or software
update, you can elect to archive the message for future reference by
selecting the Archive This Message check box before you tap or click OK to close the More Information page.
When you are working with Action Center, you can get a reliability
report for the computer to determine its past history of hardware and
software problems. By reviewing this history, you can determine how
stable the computer is and what devices or programs have caused
problems. To access and work with Reliability Monitor, follow these steps:
-
In Action Center, tap or click the Maintenance heading, and then scroll down.
-
Below the list of current problems, you’ll see an area labeled Check For Solutions To Problem Reports and a set of related links. Tap or click View Reliability History.
-
As shown in Figure 3,
you then see a graphical depiction of the computer’s stability. You can
view the history by days or weeks. The default view is days. To view
the history by weeks, tap or click the Weeks option for View By. The
computer’s stability is graphed with values ranging from 1, meaning
poor reliability, to 10, meaning excellent reliability.
-
Events that could have affected stability are shown in the graph
with information and/or warning icons. Tapping or clicking an icon
displays details for the event in the Reliability Details list. As
shown in Figure 3,
events are listed by source, summary, and date. Under Action, you’ll
see a link. If Windows was able to resolve the problem automatically,
you’ll see the View Problem Response link. Tapping or clicking this
link displays information on how Windows resolved the problem. In other
cases, you’ll see the View Technical Details link. Tapping or clicking
this link provides more information about the stability issue (see Figure 4).
-
At the bottom of the Reliability Monitor window are these additional options:
-
Save Reliability History
Allows you to save complete details about the computer’s stability for future reference. The information is saved as a Reliability
Monitor report and is formatted as XML. Tap or click Save Reliability
History, and then use the dialog box provided to select a save location
and file name for the report. You can view the report in Windows
Internet Explorer by double-tapping or double-clicking the file.
-
View All Problem Reports
Opens the Problem
History window that shows a history of all problems that have been
identified and their status. If you want to clear the history, tap or
click Clear All Problem Reports.
-
Check For Solutions To All Problems
Starts the automated problem reporting process. When this process is complete, Action Center is updated to include all newly discovered problems, and solutions will be provided if known.
