14 DAY TRIAL // Windows Vista is full of problems, and the operating system comes complete with new features that will reveal to users the issues logged along the way. You are able to see, by accessing the screenshots included at the bottom of this article, that my copy of Windows Vista Business for example has its fair share of problems. In order to access the same window as I did, make your way via the Start Menu, Control Panel, System Maintenance and then navigate to Problem Reports and Solutions. Here you will be able to access the log with all the issues encountered by the operating system while in use. The Problem Reports and Solutions is intimately connected with the Windows Error Reporting service, and apparently these two together are designed to improve the user experience on Windows Vista.
Theoretically, after Windows Vista has documented a number of problems, you should use the "Check for new solutions" option and get a resolve, or in my case 84. Of course that not all the issues logged are related to Windows Vista. As you can see from the last screenshot, there are a number of programs that have generated exceptions resulting in errors. However, you can also see in the list some of Vista's default components including Internet Explorer 7, Windows Explorer and Windows Sidebar. Problem Reports and Solutions should transmit the error data to Microsoft and come up with resolves, but that is not the case, as I got the "No new solutions found - please check for solutions again later". Later as in when? After Vista SP1?
"The way we have implemented [the feedback mechanism] on Vista, [error reports] don't get uploaded immediately and they take 30 days before Vista prompts you to allow them to be uploaded. So, logs from Vista are especially appreciated," revealed Bret Grinslade, Group Program Manager for our Deployment Technology Group. But Grinslade also explains why you might get no solution for your problems. "We don't promise to know what the fix is for your issue, but we will try to come up with a work around and to identify the problem," Grinslade added.
