Appendix C
Help and support resources
This book is packed with details about how Windows works and how you can make it work better for you, but it can’t possibly answer every question. That’s especially true when you factor in the nearly infinite combinations of hardware and software that are possible in the diverse PC ecosystem and then add the updates that Microsoft delivers every month.
So, where do you find answers to those naggingly specific questions? That’s the purpose of this appendix, which serves as a roadmap to places where you can find help, troubleshooting tips, how-to guides, drivers, utilities, and advice.
Our list starts with official resources, collated and curated by Microsoft, but we also include community-based resources where you’re likely to find reliable answers.
Online help
It’s been more than a decade since any new version of Windows included a local documentation file. Instead, modern versions of Windows make help accessible online, where it’s easily updated and expanded.
In that spirit, your first stop for answering most basic questions should be the web—specifically, the Microsoft Bing search engine, which delivers results directly from Microsoft Help when you ask a question about Windows. Figure C-1 shows one such question, with the answer in a box above all other search results and the source clearly labeled as “Help from Microsoft.”
Figure C-1 Microsoft’s Bing search engine delivers results directly from its collection of online Help from Microsoft if you ask the right questions.
Sometimes, of course, you’re not looking for a detailed explanation or step-by-step instructions but simply trying to find a Windows setting without having to dig through menus or dialogs. For that type of chore, you have your choice of two places to start a search:
The search box on the Start menu Entering a search term (in the example that follows Figure C-2, the word display) in the search box on the taskbar returns a short but usually well-focused set of results.
The Settings search box Click Start > Settings (or use the keyboard shortcut Windows key+I) and enter a word or phrase in the search box above the navigation pane. Note that the results list might also contain entries from the legacy desktop Control Panel, although these options are increasingly rare in the Windows 11 era.
For traditionalists, one bit of local help is available on a Windows 11 device, courtesy of a Microsoft Store app called Tips. The app, shown in Figure C-3, is installed with Windows 11 and updated through the Microsoft Store.
Figure C-2 Using the search box in Start is usually the fastest way to navigate quickly to a specific setting.
Figure C-3 The Tips app is installed with Windows 11 and is intended primarily for beginners and nontechnical users.
The content in the Tips app is basic, offers an overview of core features, and is aimed primarily at nontechnical users. Most readers of this book will probably find little new information there, but it’s an excellent resource to suggest to friends, family members, and coworkers who could benefit from it. Click any topic to see short tips, in an easy-to-follow slideshow format, for that topic.
You can open Tips directly from Start. An alternative entry point comes via pop-up tips that appear occasionally after you sign in to a Windows 11 PC for the first time, suggesting that you try out new features. Those tips are designed to be unobtrusive and don’t appear if you already used the feature the tip is intended to introduce. If you want to eliminate them completely, go to Settings > System > Notifications, scroll to the Additional Settings heading at the bottom of the page, and clear the Get Tips And Suggestions When Using Windows checkbox.
An additional source of detailed help in Windows 11 is available through the Other Troubleshooters section under Settings > System > Troubleshoot. We cover these guided tools as well as online Fix It resources in Chapter 15, “Troubleshooting, backup, and recovery.”
Online reference material from Microsoft
Microsoft’s commitment to ongoing support of Windows includes an enormous library of training aids and reference material. This section lists the most important of these resources. Note that the process of updating documentation originally prepared for Windows 10 is ongoing, and you can expect to find a significant number of topics that have yet to be revised for Windows 11. In some cases, the differences are minor, but it’s worth being cautious when relying on documentation that wasn’t specifically created for the operating system you’re using.
Microsoft Support
The most prominent feature at the Microsoft Support hub for Windows (https://support.microsoft.com/windows) is a large search box, positioned prominently at the top of the page. If a general web search is unsuccessful, navigate to this page and use that search box to find detailed instructions, troubleshooting advice, and links to apps and driver updates that match your search terms.
If you just want a tutorial that’s more detailed than the superficial version in the Tips app, click any of the topics beneath the search bar to see collections of articles organized by subject. The Trending Topics section for Windows 11, near the bottom of the page, lists articles that have proven particularly popular with other visitors.
Microsoft Docs
The well-organized index at Microsoft Docs (https://learn.microsoft.com/docs/) offers just a hint of its scope, with links on the opening page to separate sections for every important product (and a few obscure ones) in Microsoft’s catalog. Collectively, the site contains all of Microsoft’s technical documentation, along with reference materials and tutorials for software developers, hardware designers, and IT professionals. The information is thorough, well organized, and expanding at an impressive rate. The Windows Client Documentation for IT Pros section, at https://learn.microsoft.com/windows/resources/, is likely to be of most interest to readers of this book.
Resources for IT Pros
Microsoft’s Inside Track site (https://www.microsoft.com/insidetrack/it-pro) includes case studies, videos, and tutorials prepared primarily for IT pros. Many of the case studies and whitepapers feature IT experts from Microsoft, explaining how they deployed the company’s own technologies.
Microsoft Learn
This online learning resource (https://learn.microsoft.com/) is an excellent source of free training on a wide range of topics, including Windows 11. Available content includes prerecorded courses, live events (and archives of previous events), and books, with walk-throughs and demos bringing complex topics to life. If you’re looking for a Microsoft certification, start here.
Getting technical support
If you can’t find an answer in the technical documentation, or if a problem seems to be unique to your system configuration, you can turn to the Microsoft Community forums at https://answers.microsoft.com. These threaded message boards are organized into categories—choose Windows, select Windows 11 from the Versions dropdown, and then select an entry from the Topics list to narrow down the list of answers.
If that filtered list doesn’t surface a useful article or discussion, click the search icon in the upper-right corner and enter a relevant search term to see whether anyone else has reported a similar issue or whether a member of the community has written an article on the subject. See Figure C-4 for an example of one such search.
Figure C-4 Use the filter options beneath the search box to narrow the search results from the Microsoft Community forums.
If your search doesn’t turn up the answer you’re looking for, it’s time to get specific. Click Ask A Question to begin composing a question of your own. (You can use this same form to start a discussion if you want to raise an issue that doesn’t require an answer.) When posting to the Community forums, try to use a subject line that will clearly describe the problem to anyone scanning a list of topics, and be as specific as possible when describing your issue. It helps to provide relevant details about your system configuration and hardware as well the results of any troubleshooting steps you’ve already tried.
Note that support in these forums is provided by community members as well as Microsoft support personnel. You’re also likely to run into an occasional Microsoft MVP (Most Valuable Professional). There’s no guarantee you’ll get a satisfactory answer, but we can testify from personal experience that this route has been successful for many people.
To keep track of a discussion, sign in with your Microsoft account and use the Subscribe link at the bottom of any message. You’ll receive an email at the address associated with your Microsoft account whenever anyone replies to the message; this is true regardless of whether you started the discussion yourself or found an existing discussion that you want to follow.
Microsoft Q&A
If you’re an IT pro and have a question or want to start a discussion with other like-minded and experienced individuals, go to Microsoft Q&A, which replaces the advanced forums formerly found on MSDN and TechNet. You’ll find Windows-related discussions here: https://learn.microsoft.com/answers/products/windows. Scroll down to the Windows Client for IT Pros section to find links that lead to a dedicated Windows 11 section.
Topics available on Microsoft Q&A include a much broader range of Microsoft products and technologies than those covered in the Community forums, with a special emphasis on deploying and using Windows in the enterprise.
The basic rules of engagement for these more advanced message boards are similar to those that apply in the Microsoft Community forums: search first, and ask a new question only if you can’t find an existing discussion that addresses your issue.
Search options for Microsoft Q&A allow you to filter by date and by content type. Filtering the results list to show only items posted in the last week can be useful—if you’re looking for details about a known issue with a just-released update, for example, and you don’t want to be distracted by earlier, unrelated discussion. Figure C-5 shows one such filtered search.
Figure C-5 Use the options on the right side of the results list to filter your search by date or article type. Click Refine Search after making your selections.
Free and paid support from Microsoft
Getting answers from fellow Windows users has the advantage of being free and easily accessible, but sometimes you need formal support from Microsoft engineers.
Microsoft provides free support for security issues. If you suspect your computer has been infected with malware, for example, you can request and receive support at no charge. Other support options might be covered under a product warranty that’s provided if you purchase Windows directly from Microsoft, or you can open a support ticket (called an “incident”) for a fee.
Visit the Microsoft Answer Desk online at https://support.microsoft.com/contactus to see your support options. Listings on that page direct you to the appropriate technical support resources for different business categories.
As an alternative, use the Get Help app, which is installed by default with Windows 10 and Windows 11. This app prompts you through an AI-powered chat session with a virtual agent. If that doesn’t provide the answer you’re looking for, you can chat with a support agent to get nonvirtual support. Figure C-6 shows the options available when we asked for help with a possible ransomware issue.
Figure C-6 Use the Get Help app to chat online or talk with a support representative. Note that some options might require payment.
What’s next for Windows
If your organization uses Windows, you should make a special effort to stay on top of what’s coming in current and future updates to Windows 11. The easiest way to keep track of what’s new in each update (and to refresh your recollection about what arrived in earlier updates) is to read the Windows 11 Release Information page at https://aka.ms/windowsreleasehealth.
In addition to reading those engineering and support documents, you can check in regularly at Microsoft’s network of official blogs covering the Windows ecosystem. The following represent valuable information sources we recommend adding to your reading list:
Microsoft runs its own mini network of Windows blogs that includes blogs for Windows Experience, the Windows Insider Program, Windows Developer, Microsoft Edge, and Microsoft Devices. A central hub is located at https://blogs.windows.com/.
The Microsoft lineup of business software is represented by the Microsoft 365 team, which runs a blog at https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-365/blog/.
You’ll find a large assortment of technical blogs at the Microsoft Tech Community. Blogs cover business areas like financial services and healthcare as well as specific products. An index is available at https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/custom/page/page-id/Blogs.
Developers can go to https://devblogs.microsoft.com/ for content on Azure, Visual Studio, PowerShell, and other development tools. This network includes official blogs from product teams as well as personal, sometimes highly technical blogs by individual Microsoft employees.
And, of course, there are dozens of unofficial online news sources of varying credibility that will happily keep you up to date on Windows rumors and news. (Sometimes what appears to be news is really just a rumor.)