Is Microsoft killing FixIt solution and Hotfix Download Service?

[German]Just a brief information about some observation, we made. Stefan Kanthak pointed out, that Microsoft probably is shutting down silently the "Hotfix Download Service". And it seems that Microsoft's FixIt solutions will be retired.


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Currently it seems that Microsoft is 'cleaning up' some things. Within my blogs I'm noticing since about 2 weeks that a lot of links to various Microsoft downloads or KB articles are broken. Now apparently some services like the "Hotfix Download Service" or the FixIt solutions seems to become retired.

The end for "Hotfix Download Service"

Since 2000 and earlier, Microsoft offered in some KB articles the download of updates (hotfixes), that won't be distributed via Windows Update or via "Download Center" (see e.g. here). However, it seems that this offer is fading away.

Hotfix-Fehlerseite

A Google search for "Hotfix Download Available" on microsoft.com still produces hits. But the search for:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/hotfix/kbhotfix.aspx?kbln=en-US&kbnum=xxx


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(where xxx is a kb number) redirects to the website shown above. This site contains the message, that the hotfix is no longer available.

Currently it's still possible to extend the URL above with &forceorigin=esmc to reach the download page for an hotfix. But I have no idea, when this will end.

Microsoft Easy Fix no longer supported

Microsoft has also created the web site Microsoft Easy Fix solutions are no longer supported, which says:

You might have tried to download a Microsoft Easy Fix solution (formerly referred to as a "Fix It"). Easy Fix solutions are no longer supported or offered for download.

Here is a screenshot of the German version of this Microsoft site.

Ende für Easy Fix-Lösungen von Microsoft

This means that the popular problem solutions for various Windows errors (from Windows 7 to Windows 10), which you could download and try out earlier, are no longer available.  According to comments to my German original article here, the direct links provided on this German site are still working and allowing to download some FixIt wizards. In Windows 10, the troubleshooting tools may be offered directly under the term in the Settings app.


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