Using Windows Vista’s built-in Help

Using Help

To use “Help” in Windows Vista, simply click on “Start” and then on the “Help and Support” button which is located at the bottom right of the start menu.

Windows Help works much the same way as a web browser, so clicking on items usually takes you to a new page. At the top of the page there are “back”, “forward” and “home” buttons as well as a search bar. There is also a printer icon which lets you print out any useful pages you would like to keep or use as a reference.

In the middle of the help window there are links to commonly used issue groups such as “Windows Basics”, “Security and Maintenance”, “Troubleshooting” and more. Most help articles can be accessed by simply clicking on one of these icons and drilling down to the issue you need help with.

Searching for help

Another way to find help is to type what you are looking for into the search bar at the top of the screen. This searches all available help articles for the term you enter. For example, if you wanted to learn how to change your desktop background, you could type “change background” and press enter (or click the magnifying glass).

The results of your search are presented as a list and are ordered from most to least relevant. If the issue you require is not listed, try altering the words you used to search.

In this instance, to view instructions on changing your desktop background, simply click on the text and you will be taken to a page explaining the process. If you decide that the article you have clicked is not relevant, you can click the back button (in the top left corner) to return to the list of search results where you can see if any of the others are more relevant.