Fix-It is software designed to: a) provide an analysis of the hardware and software in a system; b) allow you to fix software conflicts or hardware configuration errors; and c) prevent crashes. It contains provisions for creating an Emergency Recovery Disk, has a good user's manual and a list of contacts for hundreds of manufacturers of computer items. Also provided is three months technical support and satisfaction guaranty with a complete refund in a 30 day trial period. Win95 program, requires 5M of disk space, 8M of RAM. It boasts of having a database of more than 1,000 applications.

The program loads two icons into the Task Bar: 1) Fix-it Crash Defender, moniters errors to prevent crashes, and Fix-It Agent, monitors and records changes. Unless deactivated, these two functions continually monitor the PC in the background. Activating Fix-It opens a window containing 8 chooseable functions: Conflict Detector -- Detects and corrects conflicts between applications, hardware, and the Windows 95 system and missing program files, also detects and corrects configuration problems with hardware. Problem Presenter -- Detects and corrects Windows 95 environment problems including unresolved shortcuts, invalid system registry and configuration entries. Pre-Installation Inspector -- Finds conflicts before installing a new application. Crash Defender -- Intercepts exception errors caused by 16 and 32 bit applications before these can cause crashes. Error information can be saved and transmitted to technical support. Performance Optimizer -- Tunes up graphics, virtual memory, hard disk, file system, and CD-ROM drive settings for optimal performance. Change Remover -- Easy reversal of software upgrades, new hardware installations, and configuration changes that cause problems. Emergency Recovery -- Creates a bootable disk with computer configuration information for emergency recovery. Support Directory -- Phone, fax, e-mail and on-line information for hundreds of manufacturers.

It should be said that all software installed in my PC, prior to the Fix-It installation, seemed to be operating well. The Fix-it software installed easily. Activating the Performance Optimizer, I found that my File System, CD-ROM, Virtual Memory, and Graphics had optimal performance. I then made a two-disk Emergency Recovery backup. The disks were not tested, but contained files required to repair damage to the partition and boot structure of the hard disk, CMOS settings, system boot files, .INI files, registry files, and critical device drivers.

Activation of the Conflict Detector produced: 10 Applications with conflicts, 17 applications with missing files, and 0 Hardware Devices with configuration problems. Fix-it showed that the Print Shop Deluxe that seemed to be working OK had two general missing file problems: incomplete installation and missing DLL's. When the incomplete installation button was expanded, two files were shown. When Fix- it was directed to fix the installation problems, its solution ... reinstall the program. I did not do this because I had been using the program extensively and had no problems, perhaps Fix-it reported one because it did not contain data on the relatively new Print Shop Deluxe III Ensemble. Next, two files popped up from the missing DLL's. I do not fool around with DLL's that I don't understand, I've had bad experiences. Most of the other missing files also involved incomplete installations ... which I didn't fix.

This leads to the Problem Preventor; "13 Registry entries with unresolved references" were found. Didn't touch them. However, the "System configuration files integrity" checked out OK. The Crash Defender may be activated or deactivated and contains a test to determine if it works. I tried one test, and that worked. It’s been running, but didn't work in one case. This involved an installation of a program where I prevented an overwriting of a Windows DLL file. Despite my rejection of the overwrite, the installation finished, but every time I tried to activate it, I got a GPF error and freeze-up. Ctrl-Alt-Del got a reluctant response that eventually brought up a Fix-It window whose Fix button didn't work. The computer finally required rebooting. I didn't check out the Pre-installation Inspector.

The Support Directory is extremely useful when one needs to contact a manufacturer. The Change Remover is an interesting tool to see exactly What’s happening during system changes like installation or uninstallation of software. It displays an extensive record-tree of the deleted and new files that are involved in the actions. A record can be printed.

Fix-it is a useful program for those who like to poke around, but one needs to be careful in taking the advice and actions suggested by the program. The feature of preventing a full crash is not as useful in Windows 95 as it was in Windows 3.x; Windows 95 is supposed to isolate concurrently running programs so that a crash of one doesn't crash all.