Many users of computers running Windows have heard of such a thing as a “hotfix”. Not every user imagines what this is and what it is for. However, there is nothing complicated either in understanding this term or in the purpose of such tools. Further, as they say, we will arrange everything on the shelves.
Hotfix: what is it?
To understand this term, just translate its English name. On Windows, Hotfix literally means hot fix. In other words, it is a tool for quickly resolving problems with a single Windows component if it does not work or does not function correctly.
The situation, from the point of view of many users, to put it mildly, is funny. It turns out that Microsoft developers are releasing some kind of software product that can hypothetically malfunction, and then quickly begin to patch holes in it, using a hotfix for each of them. What is it? Development negligence or deliberate act resulting in the user simply being forced to download troubleshooting tools? It seems, after all, the second, since it is difficult to admit that specialists who do not test their software products for possible errors work in such a respected corporation.
Patch Installation Conditions
As for the installation of quick fixes, there are pitfalls here. In addition to the fact that they can be downloaded exclusively from the official Microsoft website, you must first give a request, moreover, for the application or system component specifically of interest to the user.
However, there shouldn’t be any difficulties here, because right on the site in the support section you need to select the required fix, indicate your installed operating system and enter the email address. Within a certain time, a response will come with a link to the download and a password for the archive (all hotfixes are delivered exclusively in packaged form).
How to install a hotfix: practical steps
After downloading the archive, you need to unpack it at any convenient place by entering the password you sent for access. After unzipping, the executable file with the patch number (the so-called isolated package of the “Update Center”) will appear on the hard disk.
The rest is simple. Run the file (it is advisable to immediately use the start on behalf of the administrator), agree to install the update, wait for the end of the process and completely overload the computer system. In theory, after integration, application updates or system components will work as expected.
Please note immediately that downloading such tools from resources not related to Microsoft support services is highly discouraged. And this is mainly due only to the fact that the archives themselves, or applets embedded in them, may contain virus codes, not to mention the fact that instead of a hotfix, they may slip in some other undesirable software. Therefore, you should contact only the official resource.
And the easiest way is to use the Hotfix Downloader program, select from the list the necessary update for your version of the OS, download it and install it. So you don’t have to look for hofixes manually.
Instead of an afterword
That’s all with regard to such a thing as “hotfix”. What is it, I think, is already clear. Some users, however, also include utilities like FixIt here. In a certain sense, this program is also a hotfix, although it was originally intended to eliminate problems related exclusively to the Windows Update Center. To restore the functionality of other built-in applications and system services, it is not suitable, although the “Update Center” may be guilty of their inoperability, but only indirectly. However, sometimes problems can be fixed by enabling automatic updates. In this case, the use of hotfixes may not be required.