Chapter 5. Help, Support, and Troubleshooting

Ever heard the saying, "If all else fails, read the instructions?" It's sarcastic, of course. But it's also somewhat profound, because it touches on our natural desire for immediate gratification. Believe me, when it comes to wanting and expecting immediate gratification, I'm as guilty as the next person.

Unfortunately, there are no one-size-fits-all instructions for using a computer. If all instructions for all types of computers and programs were gathered into one set, it would be bigger than multiple sets of the Encyclopedia Britannica — actually, probably big enough to fill a decent-sized public library. Truth is, you can do so many things with a computer, and such a huge volume of information is available, that no single source of information could possibly exist.

To survive in the digital world these days, you have to be resourceful. And being resourceful means having enough skills to find the information you need, when you need it, wherever that information might be. But being resourceful isn't a skill anyone is born with. You have to learn to be resourceful. And that's what this chapter is all about.

Introducing Help and Support

By far, the most important resource for getting the information you need, when you need it, is the Help and Support built into Windows 7. It doesn't cover everything in great depth. But it does cover all the main features ...

Get Windows® 7 Bible now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.