# "Windows is checking for a solution to the problem..." **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 7, 2008, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-is-checking-for-a-solution-to-the-problem/440427 "2008-03-07T10:46:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2008, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-is-checking-for-a-solution-to-the-problem/440427/1 "2008-03-07T10:46:25Z")
Has Windows EVER actually found a solution? I don’t think so. Why do they even bother? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2008, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-is-checking-for-a-solution-to-the-problem/440427/2 "2008-03-07T10:55:38Z")
I had one that solved a problem caused by a previous Windows Update (and the problem happened to break Windows Update, so it wasn’t just something that was going to put itself right) - the solution took me to a download page to manually install the patch. Other than that, no, it usually, if anything, takes you to a page that tuts at you for using non-MS software. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2008, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-is-checking-for-a-solution-to-the-problem/440427/3 "2008-03-07T10:56:20Z")
This is a known issue. ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2008, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-is-checking-for-a-solution-to-the-problem/440427/4 "2008-03-07T11:00:43Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] Other than that, no, it usually, if anything, takes you to a page that tuts at you for using non-MS software. [/QUOTE] Or “Well, internet explorer crashed, so it musta been your third-party add-ins. Yeah, that’s it. Turn off all your add-ins. That’ll solve it.” :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2008, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-is-checking-for-a-solution-to-the-problem/440427/5 "2008-03-07T11:09:07Z")
Last one I saw was written in the tone of a shocked maiden aunt. “Mozilla Firefox is \ _Open Source_ software! - You can _try_ getting some help from the scary people you meet on the internet - I do hope you like lying in this bed you made for yourself!” ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2008, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-is-checking-for-a-solution-to-the-problem/440427/6 "2008-03-07T12:56:27Z")
[Because Microsoft likes fucking with people.](http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/news/0BAF623E6F8B23DECC257400006D96E0) > [@](#): > > Dell also used the March 2007 presentation to call out other things it thought Microsoft got wrong in the push for Vista. “Windows Automatic Update was not what was advertised and has lead to a number of poor customer experiences,” Dell charged. “Upgrade programme needs a complete overhaul.” > > Microsoft’s response to Dell’s criticisms was not included in the documents revealed by US District Court Judge Marsha Pechman this week. A Microsoft OEM account manager who passed the Dell presentation to others at her company, however, said that she had told Dell that Microsoft would “have a more detailed postmortem discussion around capable and upgrade in the May [2007] timeframe.” > > Microsoft only just tweaked Windows Anytime Upgrade this month. As of Feb. 20, Microsoft started mailing DVDs equipped with a product activation code, rather than emailing the key and expecting the user to dig out the original Vista installation DVD. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2008, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-is-checking-for-a-solution-to-the-problem/440427/7 "2008-03-07T14:14:22Z")
[QUOTE=guizot] Has Windows EVER actually found a solution? I don’t think so. Why do they even bother? [/QUOTE] Razor? Rope? Poison? ---
**Author:** ![RumMunkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@RumMunkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RumMunkey)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2008, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-is-checking-for-a-solution-to-the-problem/440427/8 "2008-03-07T14:37:26Z")
It took me [here](http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/wa/RSLID?nnmm=browse&mco=7B72367E&node=home/shop_mac/family/imac) once… :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![demographia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c67d28/32.png) [@demographia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/demographia)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-is-checking-for-a-solution-to-the-problem/440427/9 "2010-09-22T02:21:58Z")
Sad thiing is that the most incompatible Office 2007 programs are MS Excel and PPT. One would think MS could have talked to itself and gotten this figured out. Of all the program crashes that create this worthless message (windows is checking for a solution to the problem), MS programs represent at least 90% of the problem for me. PPT crashes quite frequently.:smack: If there were a viable alternative I would switch now. Using Windows 7 and my only complaint is the way these MS programs crash. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-is-checking-for-a-solution-to-the-problem/440427/10 "2010-09-22T02:30:28Z")
> [@demographia](#): > > If there were a viable alternative I would switch now. Using Windows 7 and my only complaint is the way these MS programs crash. Just wait until Windows 8. That’ll fix everything and it will be perfect. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-is-checking-for-a-solution-to-the-problem/440427/11 "2010-09-22T02:32:07Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > > [@demographia](#): > > > > If there were a viable alternative I would switch now. Using Windows 7 and my only complaint is the way these MS programs crash. > > Just wait until Windows 8. That’ll fix everything and it will be perfect. I know you are being sarcastic, but I want to point out that, not only will this not happen, it’s against their business plan. If it were perfect, you wouldn’t upgrade. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-is-checking-for-a-solution-to-the-problem/440427/12 "2010-09-22T02:35:04Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > > [@Musicat](#): > > > > Just wait until Windows 8. That’ll fix everything and it will be perfect. > > I know you are being sarcastic, but I want to point out that, not only will this not happen, it’s against their business plan. If it were perfect, you wouldn’t upgrade. But it’s against their business plan to tell you that, or you wouldn’t ever buy their product again. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-is-checking-for-a-solution-to-the-problem/440427/13 "2010-09-22T02:35:51Z")
Assuming the OP’s rant isn’t rhetorical, yes, it sometimes finds solutions. Eventually. Most of the problems seem to be graphic driver issues, and they’re occasionally able to figure that out. ---
**Author:** ![Jorge\_Burrito](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Jorge\_Burrito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jorge_Burrito)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-is-checking-for-a-solution-to-the-problem/440427/14 "2010-09-22T03:28:59Z")
I always figured there wasn’t actually any solutions to any problems, but just a somewhat friendlier way of saying our software is buggy as hell and we need all the data on the preceding crash we can get if we have a chance to fix it (which we will then incorporate into the next O.S. and charge you for). That way for the privacy nuts Microsoft can just say they were seeing if they could fix the problem rather than “all your computer are belong to us”. ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-is-checking-for-a-solution-to-the-problem/440427/15 "2010-09-22T03:29:29Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > > [@Musicat](#): > > > > Just wait until Windows 8. That’ll fix everything and it will be perfect. > > I know you are being sarcastic, but I want to point out that, not only will this not happen, it’s against their business plan. If it were perfect, you wouldn’t upgrade. Oh, it’ll happen. It will just be Perfect V1.0. See how that works? ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-is-checking-for-a-solution-to-the-problem/440427/16 "2010-09-22T21:51:23Z")
My favorite is when trying to find an unregistered filetype. Do you want to “Use the webservice to find an appropriate program” to open the file…yeah right. I can count the number of times that has been successful over the last 15 years of Windows versions on my amputated stump. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-is-checking-for-a-solution-to-the-problem/440427/17 "2010-09-22T23:08:06Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > Assuming the OP’s rant isn’t rhetorical, yes, it sometimes finds solutions. Eventually. Most of the problems seem to be graphic driver issues, and they’re occasionally able to figure that out. What is that experience like? Does a bouquet of flowers come out of the screen or something? It must be like morphing into a being of a higher plane of existence. ---
**Author:** ![Gus\_Gusterson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85f322/32.png) [@Gus\_Gusterson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gus_Gusterson)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-is-checking-for-a-solution-to-the-problem/440427/18 "2010-09-23T08:52:33Z")
This feature would actually work better if more people used it. The way it works is that it sends Microsoft a report with details about the problem (usually a program crash). Microsoft has a database of these reports. If your report matches one for which they have a fix, you are told how to get the fix. If they don’t have a fix for your issue, it goes into the heap. They work on the issues that have the most reports, so the more times people report a problem the more likely it is that they will try to fix it. This works for Microsoft products and a small number of third-party products for which the problem can be fixed in the operating system. Most third-party issues are simply bugs in the third-party program and Microsoft can’t fix them directly. The makers of third-party products can sign up to access the problem database to find out whether there have been reports of issues in their products. Most don’t. So, if more people reported the problems and more companies worked on fixing them (Microsoft is guilty of this, too) this feature would actually be useful. ---
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-is-checking-for-a-solution-to-the-problem/440427/19 "2010-09-23T10:10:25Z")
I am not much of a computer guy, I don’t have a very good understanding of the “inner workings”. So why especially for morons like me can’t the error message just tell you in plain simple English what the problem encountered is likely to be or most likely the cause? ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-is-checking-for-a-solution-to-the-problem/440427/20 "2010-09-23T10:29:36Z")
Because it doesn’t have the foggiest idea what happened. If it does figure it out, it tells you. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-is-checking-for-a-solution-to-the-problem/440427.md?page=2)