Fix

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Microsoft’s online troubleshooting and support documents can be useful, but even if you find a help doc, it can still be a pain to follow along with their steps, right? Not anymore. CNET reports that Microsoft has started adding a new Fix it button to a few thousand Microsoft help and support docs that—when clicked—downloads a script that will run through the steps for you, like this support doc for enabling the DVD library on your Vista PC. It seems like a good idea, but as far as we can tell, the Fix it feature is weighed down by some serious cons.

Pros:

• You may not be required to do quite as much tech support for your friends and family for trivial fixes.

Cons:

• The “scripts” come in MSI packages that you have to execute on your desktop. God knows how soon we’ll start seeing Fix it icons everywhere offering to fix your common Windows problem with a boatload of malware.
• I tried the script to restore the IE icon on your desktop script, and it required a restart!

That’s the short list, but I’m sure you can think of a few more. Let’s hear what you think of this new feature in the comments.