Windows 8.1: The Missing Manual

Getting Help from Microsoft

If you run into trouble with installation—or with any Windows feature—the 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 “Contact support” page of the Help system (click “Contact support” at the top of the Help window):

• Support articles and videos. This is the mother lode: the master Web site for help and instructions on running Windows. 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. You generally don’t have to go online to search a second time.

• Windows 8.1 Forum. This link takes you to a discussion site about Windows issues. You can post questions to the multitudes all over the Internet and return later to read the answers.

• Windows Website. Here’s the basic Windows 8.1 promotional Web site, with a few very basic getting-started pages.

• Microsoft Community Website. This link takes you to exactly the same forums as the “Windows 8.1 Forums” link described above.

Microsoft Customer Support

If you bought Windows separately (that is, it didn’t come on your computer), then you have a few additional options.

Most of them begin here: http://support.microsoft.com/get-support.

At this site, you can search the online help articles, ask a question ...