Keep your device running smoothly with recommended troubleshooting

In current Windows 10 builds, we’ll automatically fix certain critical problems on your Windows device to keep it running smoothly.

We’ll also recommend troubleshooting for other problems that aren’t critical to normal Windows operation but might impact your experience. Unlike critical troubleshooters, recommended ones may change a setting you’ve personalized, so we’ll ask for your permission first.

Critical Troubleshooting

Critical troubleshooting will automatically fix things like corrupt settings that keep critical services from running, make adjustments to work with your hardware, or make other specific changes required for Windows to operate with the hardware, apps, and settings you’ve selected. These are changes you won’t notice. Critical troubleshooting happens automatically and can’t be turned off.

Recommended troubleshooting

Windows 10 devices get recommended troubleshooting for problems we know about and problems found in diagnostic data sent to Microsoft. We might determine that a problem is impacting a specific set of devices based on Windows version information, user feedback, error information, device settings, hardware configuration, and device capabilities such as installed apps and drivers. We’ll let you know when we can help, and you can choose to run the troubleshooter or ignore it. You must be connected to the internet to use recommended troubleshooting.

There are two levels of diagnostic data: Basic and Full. Recommended troubleshooting works with either setting, but we might not be able to detect some problems on devices sending Basic diagnostic data. For more information about diagnostic data and the differences between Basic and Full, including how to change your selection, see diagnostics, feedback, and privacy in Windows 10.

For example, a feature might not work as designed in a specific version of Windows because of an incompatibility caused by a bug found after release. We’ll use diagnostic data to identify devices that:

Experience the crash

Have the specific version of Windows impacted by the bug installed

Have the incompatible app or driver installed

These devices will be offered Microsoft’s recommended troubleshooting for the problem, while other devices that aren’t experiencing the problem won’t. If it’s a critical problem, we’ll automatically run the troubleshooter to fix the problem, otherwise we’ll let you decide what to do.

Recommended troubleshooting settings

To change how recommended troubleshooting is run on your device, go to Start > Settings > Privacy > Diagnostics & Feedback . Next, choose from the following options :

Fix problems for me without asking
Windows will automatically run recommended troubleshooters for problems detected on your device without bothering you.

Tell me when problems get fixed
Windows will tell you after recommended troubleshooters have solved a problem so you know what happened.

Ask me before fixing problems (default)
We’ll let you know when recommended troubleshooting is available. You can review the problem and changes before running the troubleshooters.

Only fix critical problems for me
Windows will automatically run critical troubleshooters but won’t recommend troubleshooting for other problems. You will not get notifications for known problems, and you will need to manually troubleshoot these problems on your device.
Note Devices enrolled in the Windows Insider Program can’t select “Only fix critical problems for me».

Recommended troubleshooting notifications

Windows 10 devices configured to “ask me before fixing problems” will receive a notification when new troubleshooting is available.

Click or tap the notification to view the Troubleshoot settings page, where you can learn more about the problem and what the troubleshooter does. Select Run the troubleshooter to start it immediately. If you don’t want to run the troubleshooter now, you can find it later by going to Start > Settings > Update & Security > Troubleshoot .

Troubleshooters that haven’t been run might be automatically removed from the list of recommended troubleshooting when they no longer apply to your device.

Troubleshooting history

Windows keeps track of the critical and recommended troubleshooting run on your device so you know what problems we’ve fixed. To find troubleshooting history, go to Start > Settings > Update & Security > Troubleshoot > Recommended troubleshooting history.

Devices configured to “ tell me when problems get fixed” can click or tap the notification to view the troubleshooting history and learn more.

Troubleshooting history only tracks critical and recommended troubleshooters. Troubleshooting wizards, like “playing audio”, will not be shown in history.

Install Windows Configuration Designer

Applies to

• WindowsВ 10
• WindowsВ 10 Mobile

Use the Windows Configuration Designer tool to create provisioning packages to easily configure devices running Windows 10. Windows Configuration Designer is primarily designed for use by IT departments for business and educational institutions who need to provision bring-your-own-device (BYOD) and business-supplied devices.

Supported platforms

Windows Configuration Designer can create provisioning packages for Windows 10 desktop and mobile editions, including Windows 10 IoT Core, as well as Microsoft Surface Hub and Microsoft HoloLens. You can run Windows Configuration Designer on the following operating systems:

• Windows 10 — x86 and amd64
• Windows 8.1 Update — x86 and amd64
• Windows 8.1 — x86 and amd64
• Windows 8 — x86 and amd64
• Windows 7 — x86 and amd64
• Windows Server 2016
• Windows Server 2012 R2 Update
• Windows Server 2012 R2
• Windows Server 2012
• Windows Server 2008 R2

You must run Windows Configuration Designer on Windows 10 to configure Azure Active Directory enrollment using any of the wizards.

Install Windows Configuration Designer

On devices running Windows 10, you can install the Windows Configuration Designer app from the Microsoft Store. To run Windows Configuration Designer on other operating systems or in languages other than English, install it from the Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (ADK) for Windows 10.

If you install Windows Configuration Designer from both the ADK and Microsoft Store, the Store app will not open.

The Windows Configuration Designer App from Microsoft Store currently supports only English. For a localized version of the Windows Configuration Designer, install it from the Windows ADK.

Go to Download the Windows ADK and select Get Windows ADK for the version of Windows 10 that you want to create provisioning packages for (version 1511, 1607, or 1703).

The rest of this procedure uses Windows ADK for Windows 10, version 1703 as an example.

Save adksetup.exe and then run it.

On the Specify Location page, select an installation path and then click Next.

The estimated disk space listed on this page applies to the full Windows ADK. If you only install Windows Configuration Designer, the space requirement is approximately 32 MB.

Make a selection on the Windows Kits Privacy page, and then click Next.

Accept the License Agreement, and then click Next.

On the Select the features you want to install page, clear all selections except Configuration Designer, and then click Install.

Current Windows Configuration Designer limitations

Windows Configuration Designer will not work properly if the Group Policy setting Policies > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Internet Explorer > Security Zones: Use only machine settings is enabled. We recommend that you run Windows Configuration Designer on a different device, rather than change the security setting.

You can only run one instance of Windows Configuration Designer on your computer at a time.

Be aware that when adding apps and drivers, all files stored in the same folder will be imported and may cause errors during the build process.

The Windows Configuration Designer UI does not support multivariant configurations. Instead, you must use the Windows Configuration Designer command-line interface to configure multivariant settings. For more information, see Create a provisioning package with multivariant settings.

While you can open multiple projects at the same time within Windows Configuration Designer, you can only build one project at a time.

In order to enable the simplified authoring jscripts to work on a server SKU running Windows Configuration Designer, you need to explicitly enable Allow websites to prompt for information using scripted windows. Do this by opening Internet Explorer and then navigating to Settings > Internet Options > Security -> Custom level > Allow websites to prompt for information using scripted windows, and then choose Enable.

If you copy a Windows Configuration Designer project from one PC to another PC, make sure that all the associated files for the deployment assets, such as apps and drivers, are copied along with the project to the same path as it was on the original PC.

For example, when you add a driver to a provisioned package, you must copy the .INF file to a local directory on the PC that is running Windows Configuration Designer. If you don’t do this, and attempt to use a copied version of this project on a different PC, Windows Configuration Designer might attempt to resolve the path to the files that point to the original PC.

Recommended: Before starting, copy all source files to the PC running Windows Configuration Designer, rather than using external sources like network shares or removable drives. This reduces the risk of interrupting the build process from a temporary network issue or from disconnecting the USB device.

Windows 7 support ended on January 14, 2020

Microsoft made a commitment to provide 10 years of product support for Windows 7 when it was released on October 22, 2009. This 10-year period has now ended, and Microsoft has discontinued Windows 7 support so that we can focus our investment on supporting newer technologies and great new experiences. The specific end of support day for Windows 7 was January 14, 2020. Technical assistance and software updates from Windows Update that help protect your PC are no longer available for the product. Microsoft strongly recommends that you move to Windows 10 to avoid a situation where you need service or support that is no longer available.

After January 14, 2020, PCs running Windows 7 no longer receive security updates. Therefore, it’s important that you upgrade to a modern operating system such as Windows 10, which can provide the latest security updates to help keep you and your data safer. In addition, Microsoft customer service is no longer available to provide Windows 7 technical support. Related services for Windows 7 are also also being discontinued over time. For example, certain games such as Internet Backgammon and Internet Checkers as well as Electronic Program Guide for Windows Media Center are scheduled to be discontinued in January 2020.

For most Windows 7 users, moving to a new device with Windows 10 is the recommended path forward. Today’s PCs are faster, lightweight yet powerful, and more secure, with an average price that’s considerably less than that of the average PC eight years ago. Our Guide can help you choose a new PC in just a few easy steps.

To take advantage of the latest hardware capabilities, we recommend moving to a new PC with Windows 10. As an alternative, compatible Windows 7 PCs can be upgraded by purchasing and installing a full version of the software.

Download the Guide to Windows 10 app to learn if your PC can be upgraded and to compare your options for moving to Windows 10. Get the Guide to Windows 10 app

*This app is for Windows 7 only

The Windows 10 free upgrade offer ended on July 29, 2016. To get Windows 10 you will need to either purchase a new device or, if you have a compatible PC, purchase a full version of the software to upgrade your existing device. We recommend that you don’t install Windows 10 on an older device, as some Windows 7 devices are not compatible with Windows 10 or could experience reduced feature availability.

If you continue to use Windows 7 after support has ended, your PC will still work, but it will be more vulnerable to security risks and viruses. Your PC will continue to start and run, but will no longer receive software updates, including security updates, from Microsoft.

Windows 7 can still be installed and activated after end of support; however, it will be more vulnerable to security risks and viruses due to the lack of security updates. After January 14, 2020, Microsoft strongly recommends that you use Windows 10 instead of Windows 7.

Support for Internet Explorer on a Windows 7 device was also discontinued on January 14, 2020. As a component of Windows, Internet Explorer follows the support lifecycle of the Windows operating system it’s installed on. See Lifecycle FAQ – Internet Explorer for more information.

We recommend you use the new Microsoft Edge. The new Microsoft Edge was built to bring you the best of the web, with more control and more privacy as you browse.

Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) will continue to receive signature updates after January 14, 2020. However, the MSE platform is no longer being updated. Click here to learn more about learn more about Microsoft Security Essentials.

If you are using Windows as part of a work environment, we recommend you check first with your IT department or see Windows 10 deployment support to learn more.

Windows for embedded devices such as ATMs or gas pumps have lifecycle dates that sometimes differ from versions of Windows that are used on PC devices.

For the best possible experience, we recommend doing a fresh installation of your programs and apps on your new Windows 10 PC. Microsoft Store has a variety of third-party apps that can be easily downloaded and installed. On your Windows 10 PC, you can open Microsoft Store by selecting the icon on the taskbar or by searching for «Microsoft Store» in the search box on the taskbar.

For any software not currently available in Microsoft Store, we recommend going to that company’s official website and downloading the Windows 10 version from there. In limited circumstances, some older software may not have an updated version that’s compatible with Windows 10.

Your experience may be different depending on the Office version you’re running. To learn more, see Windows 7 end of support and Office. It’s important to note that Windows 7 itself no longer receives security updates, leaving your device vulnerable to security threats. As such, if you’re running Microsoft Office on a Windows 7 PC, we recommend you move to a new Windows 10 PC.

Support for Windows 7 came to an end on January 14, 2020. You are receiving notifications as a Windows 7 customer to remind you that your device is no longer supported and no longer receiving security updates. We recommend moving to a new PC with Windows 10. More information on the notification is available here.

Stay protected with Windows 10

Considering a move to Windows 10? Download the Guide to Windows 10 app to explore your options for making the move and get personalized recommendations for your PC.