Features of the Help and Support Center

Because you want to use the Help and Support Center more efficiently, we'll first start with a quick look around the home page. Note the list of topics on the left side of the window, and a list of tasks on the right side. Click a topic to display a more specific list of subtopics; click a hyperlinked task to begin that particular task.

The home page is the starting point each and every time you open the Help and Support Center. This is not configurable, so it's certainly worthwhile to spend a little time here getting familiar with the home page's sections. There are four sections that will help get you on your way to getting your question answered:

Pick a Help Topic

This section presents a list of common help issues. From this list, you can get immediate help when setting up an XP network. You can get advice on setting up printing and faxing, along with tips to help you customize your computer. This list replaces the Help Content screen from previous versions of Windows.

Ask For Assistance

This section guides you through a couple of options for getting outside help with your computing issue. As explored in Chapter 9, "Playing Nicely with Others," and 12, "Email and Internet Browsing Tricks," the first option steps you through the process of getting someone to remotely control your system. Keep in mind that this feature sometimes calls on knowledge of several networking technologies. Choosing the second option in this section takes you to the Support page, which you can also directly access by clicking the Support toolbar button. We'll look at all the Support options in a separate chunk.

Pick a Task

The tasks listed in this section will help you keep XP running smoothly and help direct you to hardware and software products that should not create problems upon installation. From this list, you can also roll back changes to the operating system if hardware or software installations cause problems, as detailed in Chapter 13, "XP Backup and Recovery."

Did You Know

Mentioned previously, this list in the lower-right corner contains headlines provided by Microsoft support. Third parties can also customize this content, so if you're using a PC with Windows XP already installed, it's possible that the DYK content has been modified with links to your Original Equipment Manufacturer's (OEM) customized content.