Windows Basics:
WinXP Help Contents

Step-by-Step:  Help Contents -WinXP

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What you will learn:

to open Windows Help to navigate the Contents to find a topic to navigate the topics and related topics

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To work with Help in Windows Vista or Windows 7, skip to Windows Vista/Win7 Help.

Start with: with Taskbar showing.

  Open Help and Support Center

1. Click on the Start button to open the Start menu.
    
2. Click on Help and Support. The Help and Support Center window opens to its Home page.
    

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Navigate to an Article

1. In the Contents pane on the left, move your mouse over the topic Customizing your computer.

   The words become underlined and the mouse pointer changes to a hand. This shows that the words are a link. Clicking on the link will do something. In this case, the page will change inside the window.
    

2.  Click on the topic Customizing your computer. The window changes to show a table of contents, starting at the topic you clicked on.
    

   Icons you will see:

   This topic has subtopics. The subtopics may link to articles or to further lists of subtopics.

   The list of subtopics is already open.

   A list of topics will open in the right pane.

   An article will open in the right pane.

   The link opens in a new window.
   
   The link runs a program. 
   

3.  Click on the topic Keyboard and Mouse. A list of subtopics appears in the right pane. Somewhat unexpected!
    
4.  Click on the topic Mouse Overview in the right pane. An article opens in the right pane.
   Finally we have something to read!
   
    
   
5. Read the article about the mouse.
    

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Articles: Definitions

Take a look at the extra features in Help articles. Links and definitions abound!

1. Move your mouse pointer over the green, underlined phrase secondary mouse button.

   The link and the pointer change. A definition of the phrase or word is available.
    
    

2. Click on the phrase. A definition of the phrase appears on top of the window.
    
3. Click somewhere to close the definition.

   Pressing the ESC key on your keyboard will also close a definition.
    

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Articles: Related Topics

Windows tries hard to guess what else you might want to know.

1. Scroll to the bottom of the article to see the link to Related Topics.
   
   
2. Click on the link Related Topics. A menu appears offering you some choices.
    
3. From the popup menu select Change the number of clicks required to open items.

   

   A new topic is displayed in the right pane. The left pane does not change.
    

4. Click the Back button at the top of the window. You are returned to the previous topic.
    
5. Click the Forward button. You are returned to the topic you just left.
    
6. Practice navigating through the Help topics. Pick some topics that look interesting. Use the Back and Forward buttons as you go along. You can learn quite a lot while by just wandering around.