A guide to microsoft.com - Part 2

The Microsoft Product Support Newsgroups are a useful source for finding further information on a problem you might be experiencing and posting a problem for others to help with.

Just click on the Find a Solution using link, and select Microsoft Newsgroup (Peer to Peer Forums). The main newsgroup page will appear.

Click on the + symbols on the left to see a more detailed list of the categories and subjects listed, and choose a particular topic or software product. There are plenty of software-specific categories to look through.

In the main part of the screen, there will be a list of problems other users have posted. To read one, select it from the list by clicking on it and it will appear in full below.

Use the New Post and Post Reply buttons in the middle of the screen to post your own comments and questions. To do this, you will need to enter your name, email address (optional), subject and problem details.

If you post a problem, make sure it's entered into the correct category. You can then view it and see if anyone replies to it.

Microsoft Knowledge Base
Microsoft's Knowledge Base is a vast collection of product support articles, providing technical advice and step-by-step guides on anything from fixing problems you may be having with a piece of software, to actually installing software.

On the welcome page of the Microsoft Support Center you'll find a search box in the top-left corner of the page that allows you to perform a quick search through the entire archive.

For a more detailed search, click on the Search the Knowledge Base link at the top of this page. The advanced search tool allows you to refine your keyword search to include a date range and alter the way the search tool uses your keywords to find articles.

The more specific you can be with the information you enter here the better, as the archive of articles is huge and your search is likely to return a host of results.

Due to the volume of information in the Knowledge Base, each article has its own numeric ID tag. If you're trying to find an article you read on a previous occasion and made a note if its ID, just click on the Knowledge Base Article ID Number Search link on the Support Center welcome page, enter the ID in the search box on the next page and click on the green arrow.

Keep a note of the ID tag of any articles that you think you might want to refer to again in the future.

Updates for Windows 98 and Me
Eventually, as Microsoft brings out newer versions of its software, active support for older versions of a software product is withdrawn.

Interactive technical support for Windows 98 was destined to end on 16 January this year and has done for all but business customers, who can still pay to receive phone support until 30 June 2006.

While home users can still access online support information on older versions of Windows, including Me, 98 and 98SE, the support provided is passive.

In other words, it's up to you to sort out your own problems from the information provided online, and Microsoft will continue to review any critical security updates and take appropriate steps to remedy any security issues in the short-term.

Support centres for Windows 98 and Me can be accessed through the links on the left side of the welcome screen at www.support.microsoft.com. You can find more information on Microsoft's product support life cycle policy here.

USEFUL WEBSITES:

Internet Explorer critical updates

Microsoft Support Centre

Windows 2000 compatible hardware

Windows updates

Windows XP Catalog