Windows 7 - Heal thyself!

Call me naive, but I've always thought that it should be possible for your average PC user to get themselves out of a PC jam without having to call on the Geek Squad (or their friendly neighborhood uber-geek). Windows 7 has in place mechanisms to help even the most basic of users get their PC back from one of the worst situations that they can find themselves in - a system that won't boot.

Check out the Windows 7 Startup Repair gallery

I've already looked at some of Windows 7's troubleshooting tools but the other day I had a chance to use it first hand after a power supply died and corrupted the OS. The system tried rebooting and failed. On the next reboot the OS flipped into Windows Error Recovery mode and offered the Startup Repair option.

Note: Screenshots are simulated after corrupting a VMware virtual machine.

No OS disc required, and the whole process took less than five minutes to complete. 

Note: Some of you have pointed out that this feature already exists in Vista - it does, but the difference here is that the option to repair is given to the user following an problem, and the user doesn't need access the OS installation DVD. With Vista you have to have the DVD and fire up the repair process manually.

This is one example of the many things that I like about Windows 7. With this new OS I really feel like Microsoft has taken a long hard look at what an OS is and where Vista was falling short and actually put in place mechanisms that make the OS easier to manage for those millions on PC users out there who aren't geeks and don't have access to an IT department. These sorts of features will be of far more use to users that eye candy such as Aero.