Using Windows 7 Hardware Troubleshooting Tools : Troubleshooting with the Windows 7 Action Center

When you are troubleshooting a computer problem of an unknown origin, the first and easiest place to check for information about that problem is the Action Center. The Action Center is an expanded version of the tool that was called the Security Center in Windows Vista. In Windows 7, the newly expanded Action Center displays more than security warnings. Now it displays all types of important alerts that require user action. Although these alerts often indicate software problems related to security (such as faulty firewall or antivirus settings) or maintenance (such as failed backups), they can also indicate certain types of hardware problems, such as those related to missing or incompatible device drivers. The Action Center is shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1. The Windows 7 Action Center

You can access the Action Center by clicking the flag icon in the notification area of the taskbar. When you click this icon, a menu appears (as shown in Figure 2) and displays links to view any alert messages, to initiate recommended actions, and to open the Action Center itself.

Figure 2. The Action Center displays a flag in the Notification Area.

Note that even if you don't see any alert messages in the Action Center that are related to the problem you are trying to solve, you can still use the Action Center to connect to other important troubleshooting tools. For example, from within the Action Center, you can open Control Panel troubleshooters and Reliability Monitor.

Enabling Alerts in the Action Center

You can configure the Action Center to limit the type of alert messages that it displays. For this reason, if you are troubleshooting a hardware failure and no related alerts are displayed in the Action Center, you should verify that Windows Troubleshooting messages have not been turned off. To do so, in the Action Center, first select the Change Action Center Settings option, as shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3. Changing Action Center settings

Then, under Turn Messages On Or Off, verify that the Windows Troubleshooting check box is selected, as shown in Figure 4.

Figure 4. Disabling Windows troubleshooting messages in the Action Center