从DOS时代开始，Microsoft就在其所有软件中包含了帮助(Help)。在过去，帮助(Help)通常特别无用。然而，近年来，Windows中包含的帮助功能更加多样化，现在称为“帮助和支持(Help and Support)” 。让我们了解它是如何工作的，如何使它变得更好，并使用它来获取有关如何使用Windows程序的信息或获得解决Windows 7和Windows 8.1问题的帮助。
如何启动Windows 帮助和支持(Windows Help And Support)
在Windows 7和Windows 8.1中，有多种方法可以显示帮助和支持(Help and Support)。在Windows 7中，您可以在“(Windows 7)开始”菜单(Start Menu)的边栏中找到它。如果您在边栏中没有看到它，请查看我们的Windows 7开始菜单(Start Menu)完整指南(Complete Guide)以获取说明。
您还可以在开始菜单搜索框中键入(Start Menu)“帮助和”("help and") ，然后单击帮助和支持(Help and Support)。
在Windows 8.1中，您可以从“开始(Start)”屏幕中搜索帮助和支持(Help and Support)。如果您需要搜索说明，请参阅我们的教程，该教程解释了搜索在Windows 8.1中的工作原理。
在Windows 7和Windows 8.1中，按Windows键加 F1 将调出帮助和支持(Help and Support)。根据您使用的设备，帮助和支持窗口看起来会有所不同。(Help and Support)这是它在我们的 Windows 8.1测试计算机(test computer)上的显示方式：
我们已经看到了Windows 8.1计算机上的帮助和支持。(Help and Support)这是您将在 Windows 7的帮助和支持中看到的内容：(Help and Support)
在这两种操作系统中，界面都尽可能简化。在Windows 7中，顶部的工具栏有后退和前进按钮、主页(Home)按钮、打印(Print)按钮、浏览帮助(Browse Help)按钮、将您带到其他资源的询问按钮以及提供简短列表的(Ask)选项(Options)下拉菜单的选择。
在Windows 8.1中，界面更加简化。有后退(Back)和前进(Forward)按钮、打印(Print)按钮和带您进入选项的图标，以及(Options,)帮助主页、浏览帮助(Help Home, Browse Help)和联系支持(Contact Support)的菜单选项。左上角的问号图标显示(question mark icon)了(left corner)该窗口的选项（移动、大小、最小化、最大化和关闭）。
Windows帮助和支持(Help and Support)是上下文相关的。它可以告诉您正在做什么，因此您可能需要帮助。
注意：(NOTE:)在大多数应用程序中，单独按F1 键(F1 key)将显示特定于该程序的帮助，该帮助由该软件的开发人员提供。我们将在这里只处理Microsoft的帮助，它是为Windows 操作系统(Windows operating)开发的。您可以确保通过按Windows 键(Windows key)和 F1来获得Windows 帮助和支持。(Windows Help and Support)
帮助和支持设置
在这两种操作系统中，您只能设置几个选项。在Windows 8.1中，单击(Windows 8.1)帮助和支持窗口(Help and Support)右上角(right corner)的小齿轮（如您所见，您也可以按Alt-O）。
在 Windows 7 中，单击选项(Options)，然后单击设置(Settings)。在这两种操作系统中，您都会看到一个提供两种选择的窗口，即使用在线帮助改进我的搜索结果（推荐）(Improve my search results by using online help (recommended))和加入帮助体验计划(Join the Help Experience Program)。选择您要使用的那些。
推荐使用在线帮助(online help)是有充分理由的。如果您允许使用联机帮助，您将被带到比(online help)帮助和支持(Help and Support)本身提供更详细的解释的网站，并且这还会使用Microsoft的最新信息动态更新您的Windows 帮助(Windows help)文件。能够在必要时直接访问一个好的网站(web site)，既能提供信息，又能让人满意。是否要加入在线帮助体验(online help experience)完全取决于您。微软(Microsoft)想知道人们在哪些方面需要帮助，但他们不会收集您所寻找的以外的任何个人数据。如果您希望他们使用这些数据来改进他们的程序和帮助文档(help documentation)，请选中此框。如果没有，请取消选中它并单击OK。如果你不确定你想用这个做什么，你也可以点击链接阅读微软(Microsoft)的官方隐私政策。(privacy policy)您对此选项的选择不会以任何方式影响帮助和支持(Help and Support)。
如何获得问题的答案(Answers)
帮助和支持(Help and Support)窗口顶部有一个搜索框。(search box)输入您要询问的内容，然后按Enter。帮助和支持(Help and Support)将向您显示指向所需信息的可能链接列表。在这里，我们输入了Windows Update。如果结果超过 30 个，“帮助和支持(Help and Support)”会一次显示 30 个。
在这两种操作系统中，在帮助和支持(Help and Support)窗口的底部，您可以选择在线或离线帮助(online or offline help)。这可用于覆盖您在Options下所做的选择。
如何浏览帮助索引
尽管这两个操作系统的帮助和支持(Help and Support)窗口看起来不同，但它们的大部分内容是相同的。让我们看一下“浏览帮助(Browse Help)”按钮 (Windows 7) 或“浏览帮助(Browse Help)”菜单 ( Windows 8.1 )。单击此按钮，您将找到相当于帮助和支持(Help and Support)目录的(Table of Contents)内容。单击(Click)这些主题中的任何一个，您将获得更多信息的链接。您可以像浏览任何其他Windows 程序一样使用(Windows program)前进(Forward)和后退(Back)按钮进行导航。
让我们试试这个目录中的(Table of Contents)入门(Getting Started)链接。您在此页面上看到的内容在Windows 7和Windows 8.1中有所不同，因为Windows 8.1具有早期版本中不可用的选项。这是Windows 7：
这是 Windows 8.1：
选择一个感兴趣的主题，这将引导您进入更多具有更多选项的窗口。继续探索，直到找到你需要的东西。在帮助主题(help topic)页面的底部，您可能会看到单击按钮来告诉帮助和支持(Help and Support)您所看到的内容是否有用。如果单击“否”(No)，系统会询问您为什么没有帮助，并且您有机会告诉Microsoft为什么没有帮助。这完全是可选的，如果您不想这样做，不会影响帮助和支持的操作。(Help and Support)
在线获取帮助(Help Online)的更多选项
在Windows 7(Windows 7) 帮助和支持(Help and Support)窗口的最底部，有一个指向更多支持选项的链接。(More Support Options.)在这里，您有机会与其他人联系，在Windows 7(Windows 7)支持论坛中提问，或者访问Windows 网站或 TechNet 网站(Windows website or TechNetweb site)以获取更多信息。
这与单击主菜单栏上的(menu bar)询问(Ask)相同，因此以下内容也适用于该选项。
如果您想尝试Windows 远程协助选项(Windows Remote Assistance option)，请查看我们的文章，该文章将向您展示它是如何完成的。
让我们探索在Microsoft Answers(Microsoft Answers)网站（现称为Microsoft Community）中寻求帮助。这是您选择它的地方。
这是网站：
如您所见，这里有很多来自专家和其他用户的帮助。与所有在线社区一样，最好先搜索您的问题是否已经得到回答，而不是直接跳入并询问可能已经多次回答的问题。没有意义浪费时间重新发明轮子。
返回“帮助和支持(Help and Support)”窗口，在“联系技术支持(Contact Technical Support)” (Windows 7) 或“联系支持(Contact Support)” ( Windows 8.1 ) 下，您将看到连接到计算机制造商和与Microsoft 客户支持(Microsoft Customer Support)联系的选项。在我们的Windows 8.1 测试计算机上(test computer)，制造商的技术支持优先。
帮助自己
Windows中的帮助和支持(Help and Support)功能与.hlp文件简短且无用的时代相比已经有了很长的路要走。能够向其中添加内容并直接访问网络资源是一项巨大的改进。您使用Help and Support的次数越多，它的效果就越好。花一些时间来玩弄它，您会发现它可以满足您的需求。
How To Get Help Using The Windows Help And Support Application
Ever since the DOS days, Micrоsoft has included Help in all its software. In the olden days, Help could often be particularly unhelpful. In recent years, however, the help included in Windows is much more versatile, and it's now called Help and Support. Let's discover how it works, how to make it even better, and use it to get information on how to work with Windows programs or to get help in solving problems with Windows 7 and Windows 8.1.
How To Start Windows Help And Support
There are several ways to bring up Help and Support in both Windows 7 and Windows 8.1. In Windows 7, you can find it in the sidebar on the Start Menu. If you don't see it on the sidebar, check our Complete Guide to the Windows 7 Start Menu for instructions.
You can also type "help and" in the Start Menu search box and click on Help and Support.
In Windows 8.1, you can search from the Start screen for Help and Support. If you need instructions for searching, see our tutorial that explains how search works in Windows 8.1.
In both Windows 7 and Windows 8.1, pressing the Windows key plus F1 will pull up Help and Support. The Help and Support window will look different depending on what equipment you are using. This is how it appears on our Windows 8.1 test computer:
We've seen what Help and Support looks like on a Windows 8.1 computer. This is what you'll see in Help and Support in Windows 7:
In both operating systems, the interface is as simplified as possible. In Windows 7 the toolbar at the top has back and forward buttons, a Home button, a Print button, a Browse Help button, an Ask button that will take you to other resources, and an Options drop-down menu that offers a short list of choices.
In Windows 8.1 the interface has been simplified even more. There are Back and Forward buttons, a Print button, and an icon that takes you to Options, plus menu choices for Help Home, Browse Help and Contact Support. The question mark icon in the upper left corner shows you the options for that window (move, size, minimize, maximize and close).
Windows Help and Support is context sensitive. It can tell what you're doing, and therefore what you might need help with.
NOTE: In most applications, pressing the F1 key by itself will bring up help that is specific to that program, which is supplied by the developer of that software. We will just deal with Microsoft's help here, that was developed for the Windows operating system.. You can be sure you're getting Windows Help and Support by pressing the Windows key along with F1.
The Help And Support Settings
In both operating systems, there are only a few options you can set. In Windows 8.1, click on the little gear wheel in the upper right corner of the Help and Support window (as you can see, you can also press Alt-O).
In Windows 7, click on Options and then click on Settings. In both operating systems you'll see a window that offers two choices, Improve my search results by using online help (recommended) and Join the Help Experience Program. Select the ones that you want to use.
Using online help is recommended for a very good reason. If you allow the use of online help, you can be taken to web sites that give you a much more detailed explanation than Help and Support would provide on its own, and this also updates your Windows help files dynamically with the latest information from Microsoft. Being able to go direct to a good web site when necessary is both informative and satisfying. Whether you want to join the online help experience is entirely up to you. Microsoft wants to know what people need help with, but they do not collect any personal data other than what you looked for. If you'd like them to use that data to improve their programs and their help documentation, leave this box checked. If not, uncheck it and click OK. You can also click on the link to read Microsoft's official privacy policy if you're not sure what you want to do with this one. Your choices on this option will not affect Help and Support in any way.
How To Get Answers To Your Questions
The Help and Support window has a search box at the top. Type in what you want to ask about, and press Enter. Help and Support will show you a list of possible links to the information you need. Here we have typed Windows Update. If there are more than 30 results, Help and Support shows you 30 at a time.
In both operating systems, at the bottom of the Help and Support window, you have the option to select online or offline help. This can be used to override the choice you made under Options.
How To Browse The Help Index
Although the two operating systems' Help and Support windows look different, much about them is the same. Let's take a look at the Browse Help button (Windows 7) or Browse Help menu (Windows 8.1). Click on this, and you'll find what amounts to a Table of Contents for Help and Support. Click on any of those topics and you'll be given links to more information. You can navigate using the Forward and Back buttons just as you would through any other Windows program.
Let's try the Getting Started link from this Table of Contents. What you see on this page is different in Windows 7 and Windows 8.1, because Windows 8.1 has options that weren't available in earlier versions. Here is Windows 7:
And here is Windows 8.1:
Pick a topic of interest, which will lead you to more windows with more options. Keep exploring till you find what you need. At the bottom of the help topic pages you may see buttons to click to tell Help and Support whether what you've seen was helpful or not. If you click No, you'll be asked why it wasn't helpful and you get a chance to tell Microsoft why it wasn't. This is strictly optional, and won't affect the operation of Help and Support if you don't want to do it.
More Options For Getting Help Online
At the very bottom of the Windows 7 Help and Support window there is a link to More Support Options. Here you have a chance to connect to someone else, to ask questions in the Windows 7 support forums, or to go to the Windows website or TechNetweb site to get more information.
This is the same thing as clicking Ask on the main menu bar, so the following applies to that option as well.
If you'd like to try the Windows Remote Assistance option, check our article that will show you how it's done.
Let's explore asking for help in the Microsoft Answers website (now called Microsoft Community). Here is where you choose it.
And here is the web site:
As you can see, there is a wealth of help available here, both from experts and from other users. As with all online communities, it's a good idea to start by searching to see if your question has already been answered, rather than just jumping right in and asking something that may have already been answered a number of times. No sense wasting time re-inventing the wheel.
Returning to the Help and Support window, under Contact Technical Support (Windows 7) or Contact Support (Windows 8.1) you'll see options to connect to your computer's manufacturer and to talk with Microsoft Customer Support. On our Windows 8.1 test computer, the manufacturer's tech support took precedence.
Help Yourself
The Help and Support feature in Windows has come a long way from the days of short and un-helpful .hlp files. Being able to add content to it and go directly to web sources is a huge improvement. The more you use Help and Support, the better it works. Take some time to play around with it and you'll find it gives you exactly what you need.
