Windows XP Support Secrets
Published: March 1, 2004
By Ed Bott
Magicians, sorcerers, and conjurers all live by one iron-clad rule: Never give away the tricks of the trade. If you want to learn how to make an elephant disappear or how to saw your assistant in two and then magically reassemble the pieces, you'll need to join the secret society first.
Thankfully, this rule doesn't apply to Windows experts. They're willing to share the secrets of making personal computers run more smoothly and won't hesitate to help you solve a problem. In Finding Help Online for New Users, Joli Ballew gives her list of favorite sites for helping newcomers get past the trepidation of working with Windows XP. Whether you're a beginner or an expert, you should add her list of recommended sites to your Favorites folder. The Windows XP Support Center, for example, is a treasure trove of advice, step-by-step instructions, and advanced troubleshooting information.
In this article, I list my all-time favorite collections of Windows expertise. If your goal is to advance beyond the basics of Windows, be sure to add these sites to your bag of tricks. You'll also learn how to seriously search the newsgroups for answers to your questions. And I give my recommendation for books that help you learn more about Windows XP.
Find Quick Fixes
If you're having a problem with Windows XP, chances are good that someone else has already had the same problem. And in many cases, immediate help is just a few clicks away. Two longtime Expert Zone contributors and Microsoft MVPs have built comprehensive collections of solutions to common problems. Instead of manually editing the Windows registry, you can download a script or a registry settings file from one of these two sources to make the needed change:
| • | Doug Knox offers a ton of useful information, much if it about Windows XP, at Doug's Windows Tweaks and Tips. Click the Win XP Fixes link in the left-side navigation bar to view his well-organized, frequently-updated collection of useful files. |
| • | Kelly Theriot offers a similar collection of useful information in Troubleshooting Windows XP. Use the Search box to find the fix you're looking for, or click the Tweaks button to see the entire list of nearly 600 scripts and .reg files, neatly organized by category. |
Make Smarter Web Searches
According to legend, Google got its name from the word googol, which means the number 1 with a hundred zeroes after it. If you've ever tried to use Google to track down an answer to a thorny Windows question, you've probably noticed that your list of results is about a googol long. How do you narrow down the search? Here are a few of my favorite Google-taming tricks:
| • | Use specific search terms. If you've received an error code from Windows, paste in the exact code. If no code is available, paste in the entire error message. The more details you provide, the more likely you are to find an article that contains the right answer. |
| • | Add extra details to your search. Google's Advanced Search page (shown in Figure 1) includes a slew of options that you can use to narrow down the result. You can exclude certain words, for instance, or search for complete phrases, or only return pages written in English.  Figure 1: Pin point results on Google's Advanced Search page. |
| • | Search on a specific site. If you add site:microsoft.com before or after your search terms, Google restricts its search to only "official" pages on Microsoft's site. (You can use the same trick for other domains, too.) Can't remember that shortcut? Add the Google Microsoft Search page to your Favorites folder. |
Tame the Newsgroups
The Web contains only a fraction of the useful troubleshooting information on the Internet. You'll find additional valuable information in Usenet newsgroups, where the problem you're trying to solve right now has probably been discussed in excruciating detail several times. Outlook Express is an excellent news reader, but for serious searches you need to turn, once again, to Google, which has indexed more than 800 million posts from Usenet newsgroups, dating back more than 20 years. You could start at the Google Groups home page, but those results can be overwhelming and often irrelevant. Here are some helpful tips to narrow your newsgroup searches:
| • | Start with a specific set of newsgroups. This Google Groups Search page, for instance, focuses only on groups in the microsoft.public.windowsxp hierarchy. (After entering your search terms, be sure to select the Search only in microsoft.public.windowsxp.* option before clicking the Google Search button.) |
| • | Add extra search terms. I often use MVP as an additional search term when looking for a needle in the Google Groups haystack. Using that term helps you find only posts from Microsoft MVPs, who can generally be counted upon to deliver accurate, useful information. |
| • | Weed out old posts. If you're looking for answers that are specifically about Windows XP, your search may turn up answers that are relevant to older versions. The best way to filter the results list so you see only recent posts is to use the Advanced Groups Search page. Enter your search terms and then choose a date range from the Message Dates section before clicking the Google Search button. I usually start by looking at only the last six months' posts on the theory that those results are most likely to contain accurate information. |
In-Depth/In Print Information
Finally, don't underestimate the power of the printed page. Online information is useful, but books devoted exclusively to Windows XP can help you zero in on a topic and learn more. Not surprisingly, I recommend Windows XP Inside Out and Windows XP Inside Out, Deluxe Edition, co-authored by Carl Siechert, Craig Stinson, and me and available from Microsoft Press. Both books include CDs that contains a fully searchable electronic edition of the book, helping you find instant answers without having to rely on the index.
Expert Zone columnist Ed Bott is an award-winning computer journalist who's been working with Microsoft Windows for more than 15 years. His latest Microsoft Press books includeFaster Smarter Microsoft Windows XPandMicrosoft Windows XP Inside Out(with Carl Siechert and Craig Stinson).
