Windows 7 comes with diagnostic tools—together, they’re called the Windows Diagnostic Infrastructure (WDI)—that
not only do a better job of finding the source of many common disk,
memory, and network problems, but can detect impending failures and
alert you to take corrective or mitigating action (such as backing up
your files). The next few sections describe these tools.
Running the Windows 7 Troubleshooters
Windows Vista introduced the idea of the troubleshooter,
a Help system component that offered a series of solutions that led you
deeper into a problem in an attempt to fix it. In Windows 7, the
troubleshooters have been beefed up and given their own home within the
Control Panel interface. To see the Windows 7 troubleshooters, select
Start, type trouble, and then choose Troubleshooting in the search results. The Troubleshooting window (see Figure 1)
is divided into several categories (Programs, Hardware and Sound, and
so on), each of which offers a few links to general troubleshooting
tasks.
Note, too, the Get the
Most Up-to-Date Troubleshooters check box at the bottom of the window.
If you leave that option activated, and then click a category, Windows 7
queries the Windows Online Troubleshooting service for the latest
troubleshooting packs, and then displays the complete list for that
category. For example, Figure 2 shows the troubleshooters that were available for the Programs category as I wrote this.
Tip
If you want to see all the available troubleshooters, click the View All link in the Troubleshooting window.
