Sams Teach Yourself Microsoft Windows XP in 24 Hours

By Greg Perry

• Table of Contents
  • Copyright
  • About the Author
  • Acknowledgments
  • Tell Us What You Think!
  • Introduction
  • Part I: Wake Up with Windows XP
  • Hour 1. Taking a Bird's-Eye Look at Windows XP
  • Hour 2. Getting Started with Windows XP
  • Hour 3. Managing the Windows XP Interface
  • Part II: Morning Windows Desktop Exploration
  • Hour 4. Working with the My Computer Window
  • Hour 5. Navigating Files with Windows Explorer
  • Hour 6. Calling for Help
    • Introducing the Help and Support Center (HSC)
    • Getting Topical Help
    • Obtaining Support
    • Searching the Index
    • Other Forms of Help
    • Summary
    • Q&A
    • Workshop
  • Hour 7. Improving Your Windows Desktop Experience
  • Part III: Early Afternoon Windows Exploration
  • Hour 8. Installing Programs with Windows XP
  • Hour 9. Finding Files, Folders, and Friends
  • Hour 10. Using the Desktop Accessories
  • Part IV: Late Afternoon Internet Integration
  • Hour 11. Surfing the Web with Internet Explorer
  • Hour 12. Tying Windows into the Web
  • Hour 13. Networking with Windows XP
  • Hour 14. Managing E-mail and Newsgroups with Outlook Express
  • Part V: An Evening with Advanced Windows
  • Hour 15. Exploring Your Hardware Interface
  • Hour 16. Understanding Printing and Fonts
  • Hour 17. Using Windows on the Road
  • Hour 18. Giving Windows XP a Tune-Up
  • Hour 19. Managing Your Hard Drives
  • Hour 20. Tinkering with the Advanced System Tools
  • Part VI: Having Fun at Nighttime
  • Hour 21. Using Media Player
  • Hour 22. Picturing Windows XP Graphics
  • Hour 23. Making Movies with Windows XP
  • Hour 24. Advanced Windows XP Tips
  • Part VII: Appendixes
  • Appendix A. Differences Between the Windows Home and Professional Edition
  • Appendix B. Glossary
  • Appendix C. Answers to Quizzes

Getting Topical Help

If you have a question about Windows XP or about a certain utility program that comes with Windows, just ask for help and Windows will supply it. Although the Windows XP help extends to the Web for more complete help topics, you'll find most answers to common Windows questions on your own system and searching your local disk is generally quicker than waiting on a Web search, as the following To Do item demonstrates:

To Do: Requesting Help from Windows XP

1. Open the Help and Support Center window if it is no longer open from the previous section.

2. After a brief pause, the HSC screen that you saw in Figure 6.1 appears.

   The initial Help and Support Center window offers a summary of the help items available to you in an Explorer-like format. Click an item to read more about that topic. When you click a topic, more details emerge from which you can select.

3. Click the entry labeled Music, video, games and photos. Several topics appear in the left window pane for which you can get more detailed help by clicking on one of the topics.
4. Click the Music and sounds topic to open that topic and see the related help topics. An overview of the topic appears in the right pane.
5. Click the Playing and copying music topic to see the help tasks shown in Figure 6.2.
6. Click the toolbar's Back button to see the HSC screen before you displayed the detail. As with any Web page, you can click the Back button to return to the previous help screen. If you view several topics in succession, you sometimes want to return to a previous topic. Return to the detail page once again. You can also return to pages you've backed up from by clicking the Forward button.
   

   Figure 6.2 The Help and Support Center helps you get started with playing and recording music.

You can click the Home link at the top of the Help and Support Center to return to the initial HSC page.

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