Search Microsoft's online Knowledge Base like a pro

ANALYSIS

It's a database of support information that encompasses the entire range of Microsoft software and hardware. Love it or hate it, the MSKB is a masterpiece of documentation, and once you familiarise yourself with it, you can harness its power to make your support tasks easier. The MSKB comes in two forms: an online version, which you can find at Microsoft's Support Web site, and a local version available to Microsoft TechNet subscribers. With the TechNet program, individuals and organisations pay an annual fee to have the Knowledge Base, service packs, Microsoft Resource Kits, and other support tools sent to them on CD or DVD. The online MSKB is free. Although the local and online MSKBs contain basically the same information, their search mechanisms are quite different. Here, I will explain how to efficiently use the online version. Accessing the online MSKB
Microsoft's Support Web site, shown in Figure A, allows you to search the MSKB in several ways. You can search by entering a word or phrase in the Search The Knowledge Base text box to the left of the page, or you can perform a more detailed search by clicking Advanced Search And Help.

Figure A

Microsoft's Support Web site is your gateway to the online MSKB.

The site's exact layout is determined by your geographic location (and so are the types of search options available). The U.S. site often defaults to the Advanced Search options, while the UK and Middle Eastern sites default to displaying only the Simple Search options. Since I've found that the Advanced Search options more often provide the information I need, I recommend you use them. These options may appear either on the left side or center of the screen. The layout of these options is also determined by your geographic location, but both sets of options (shown in Figure B and Figure C) work equally well.

Figure B

These Advanced Search options will be displayed in the center of the screen.

Figure C

These Advanced Search options will be displayed to the left of the screen.

Tips for international users
I guess the term international user refers to any user outside the United States (myself included). To accommodate international users, Microsoft's Support Web site should automatically adapt itself to the language and locale currently configured on your computer.If this doesn't happen and you are presented with a site you cannot understand, you can manually change the site's language by clicking the International Support link located on the bottom-left corner of the page. This configuration will be saved in a cookie on your machine, and each time you access Microsoft's Support Web site, it will be displayed in the language you chose.

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