The IE tool also lets you disable the add-ons you don't need. I'm not sure where I would find this information elsewhere. For example, the Internet Explorer Performance and Safety tester indicates the time each of your Internet Explorer add-ons takes to load. Even if they don't actually fix anything, the troubleshooters provide a wealth of information about your system. I ran several of the Fix It Solution Center's performance and security tools on a Windows 7 notebook. Taking Microsoft's troubleshooting advice Still, you may have a better chance of finding a solution to a specific problem by searching by keyword on the Microsoft Support site. However, the online Fix It tools differ from the troubleshooting utilities built into Windows 7, Office, and other Microsoft products, so at the least they broaden the universe of possible automated fixes for software snafus. I haven't done enough testing to form an opinion one way or the other. Of course, the real test is whether these auto-repair tools actually do any good. The revamped Fix It Solution Center boils troubleshooting down to three steps: pick a product (optional), choose a fix in one of eight categories (and handful of optional subcategories), and then view or run one of Microsoft's many proposed solutions. Microsoft has made it easier to browse for help when one of its products acts up.

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