13.3. Getting Help from Microsoft If you run into trouble with installationor with any Windows featurethe world of Microsoft is filled with sources of technical help. For example, you can follow any of these avenues, all of which have direct links from the home page of the Help system (choose Start  Help and Support): -
 Windows communities . This link takes you to some Internet newsgroups (bulletin boards ) pertaining to Windows and Windows issues. You can post questions to the multitudes all over the Internet and return later to read the answers. -
Microsoft Customer Support pages . This Web site offers a summary of all the different ways you can get help from Microsoft: phone numbers , pricing plans, links to other help sources, and so on. You'll discover there that if you bought Vista separately (that is, it didn't come on your computer), you can call Microsoft for free during business hours. The company is especially interested in helping you get Windows installed. In fact, you can call as often as you like on this subject. After that, you can call for everyday Windows questions for freetwice. You'll be asked to provide your 20-digit product ID number, which you can look up by right-clicking Computer in your Start menu and clicking the Properties tab. The not-toll-free number is listed in the packaging of your Vista installation DVD. (If Windows came preinstalled on your machine, on the other hand, you're supposed to call the computer company with your Windows questions.) Once you've used up your two free calls, you can still call Microsoftfor $35 per incident. (They say "per incident" to make it clear that if it takes several phone calls to solve a particular problem, it's still just one problem.) This service is available 24 hours a day; the U.S. number is (800) 936-5700.
Tip: If you're not in the United States, direct your help calls to the local Microsoft office in your country. You'll find a list of these subsidiaries at http://support.microsoft.com.
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Microsoft website for IT professionals . This link takes you to a special Web site for network administrators, programmers, and other IT (information technology) pros. At this site you'll find special articles on deployment, corporate security, and so on. -
Windows Online Help and Support . This is the mother lode: the master Web site for help and instructions on running Windows Vista. You can search it, use its links to other pages, read articles, study FAQs (frequently asked questions), or burrow into special-topic articles. Of course, a lot of these online articles are built right into the regular Help system described at the beginning of this chapter. Unless you've turned off "Include Windows Online Help and Support when you search for help," you generally don't have to go online to search a second time.  |
