Win10 May 2019 Update Features Recommended Troubleshooting
Here’s an interesting new feature in the current Win10 version. MS calls it recommended troubleshooting. It lets the OS automate various levels of troubleshooting. Recommended troubleshooting shows up, first and foremost, as a literal heading under Settings → Privacy → Diagnostics & feedback. That’s why I entitled this post Win10 May 2019 Update Features Recommended Troubleshooting, as this screenshot explains further:
Set up this new feature under the Privacy heading in Settings, but use it under Update & Security.
Pre-requisite for Win10 May 2019 Update Features Recommended Troubleshooting
There is one pre-requisite to use this new capability in Windows 10. Recommended troubleshooting depends on Windows telemetry. In fact, MS calls telemetry “Diagnostic data.” It is mentioned as such at the outset of the Diagnostics & Feedback category. Choose a radio buttons — either Basic or Full — so Recommended Troubleshooting can do its thing. Windows 10 chooses Full by default. Also, only when a third-party tool like O&O Shutup10 is installed will telemetry turn off completely. MS doesn’t recommend this, and neither do I. Tinfoil hat conspiracy theories about MS spying notwithstanding, I think Windows 10 users everywhere benefit from OS telemetry (which MS credibly claims to anonymize before analyzing or sharing anyway).
Using Win10 May 2019 Update Features Recommended Troubleshooting
If you check out the options under this heading in Diagnostics & Feeback, you’ll see it offers four choices, as shown here:
I’ve chosen the option named “Ask me before fixing problems” so I’ll know when Recommended Troubleshooting swings into action.
Those four options are (from top to bottom):
1. Fix problems for me without asking. When Win10 determines troubleshooting is needed, it uses troubleshooters silently in the background.
2. Tell me when problems get fixed. Same as the preceding item, except Win10 informs users when a troubleshooter finds and fixes a problem.
3. Ask me before fixing problems. Will notify the user that a troubleshooter could help fix a problem, but Win10 won’t make that attempt unless the user grants permission.
4. Only fix critical problems for me. Various Win10 troubleshooters are automatically invoked (silently) but only when problems rated “critical” occur. [Note: this is the default option.]
I’ve chosen option 3 because I want to get some experience watching this tool do its thing. The default is option 4, but users who wish to tweak this setting can do so as they see fit.
Checking in on Troubleshooting Recommendations
Once you’ve set all this stuff up, you can visit the Win10 Troubleshooting facility available through Settings → Update & Security → Troubleshoot. There, you’ll find a new heading entitled Recommended troubleshooting. In most cases, visitors will see text below the initial intro beneath that heading that reads “We don’t have any recommendations right now.” But if the OS does have recommendations, this is where they’ll show up. Enjoy!