A diagnosis is one AI-led investigation of a problem on your PC. For a step-by-step first run, see Your first diagnosis.
What happens, in order
- Quick look. Before the AI says anything, Diagnosly runs a handful of read-only checks on your PC: recent errors and crashes, blue screens, unexpected shutdowns, failed services, Windows Update problems, disk space and health, uptime and memory, and the busiest programs. These never change anything and don't cost you credits.
- Investigation. The AI works from what it found plus what you typed. It writes down what it suspects and how it will check each suspicion, and shows you that live under What I'm checking: each one is marked as being checked, ruled out or confirmed. It can run PowerShell, read the Windows event logs, look at running processes and search Diagnosly's library of known fixes. Every command is screened on your PC before it runs, and commands that are dangerous whatever you approve (for example reading saved passwords or switching off security software) are refused.
- Questions and plans. It can ask you something, and it proposes a numbered plan before it changes anything. See What it can change, and how you approve it.
- Result. A plain summary of what it found and did.
A single diagnosis is limited in how far it goes, so it can't run on forever: up to 20 rounds of checks in Quick, 20 in Auto (up to 40 if it takes a deeper look), and 40 in Max. Auto takes a deeper look only when a problem looks hard, for example repeated blue screens or a follow-up to something that wasn't fixed, and it tells you when it does, because that can cost more. If it isn't solved, you can continue with a follow-up.
Choosing the Mode
The Mode switch trades speed and cost against depth. You choose a Mode, not an AI model.
| Mode | Best for |
|---|---|
| Quick | Fast, good results for everyday problems. For tricky or recurring issues we recommend Max. |
| Auto | The default. Picks the right depth for each problem. |
| Max | Hard or stubborn problems. Always the deepest analysis, even for simple checks. |
The switch sits under the text box on My PC and in Settings under Diagnosing. Next to it you can see what a diagnosis starts with, for example "starts with up to 0.5 credits". A Mode you don't have enough credits for is greyed out.
Changing how Diagnosly talks
In Settings, How Diagnosly talks to you has three tones:
- Friendly: warm, plain language, light on jargon (the default).
- Concise: short and direct, only what you need to act on.
- Detailed: thorough, with the reason behind each step.
You can also name the assistant and write a short note about yourself, for example how technical you are. The note shapes wording only. It can never change what Diagnosly is allowed to do. If you set your first name under Account, Diagnosly uses it.
If it needs more time
Long downloads and installs can take minutes. If nothing new appears for 30 seconds the log says it's still working. If you're asked something and don't answer, the diagnosis waits for you, up to a day.
Cost and limits
Each diagnosis is charged for the work it does, and it asks before it spends past a spending checkpoint. See Spending limits and checkpoints.
Privacy
What Diagnosly reads from your PC is cleaned of personal details on your PC before it leaves. See Privacy basics.