The troubleshooting tips in this chapter cover the problems you're most likely to encounter. But as any PC veteran can tell you, there's an almost infinite list of other things that can go wrong. Here are some other places to turn when Windows 2000 glitches raise their ugly heads:
Microsoft Knowledge Base. A wealth of information is in Microsoft's Knowledge Base, located at http://search.support.microsoft.com. Here you can search the same database of articles that Microsoft Tech Support uses when handling customer problems.
Microsoft Newsgroups. If you don't know enough to find the problem in the Knowledge Base, try one of the online newsgroups at http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/support/newsgroups. The newsgroups are an amazing resource; just post your question politely and succinctly (but with all necessary information), and check the newsgroups again; you'll probably find several intelligent responses in a matter of hours.
Note
The newsgroup links on this Web page work only if you've configured Outlook Express or another newsreader to access a news server. See Section 12.6.5 for more information.
Free phone help. If you bought Windows 2000 Pro in a box (that is, it didn't come on your computer), you can call Microsoft for free phone help at any hour—twice. Consult the Getting Started booklet for restrictions and phone numbers.
If Windows 2000 came preinstalled in your machine, on the other hand, you're supposed to call the computer company with your Windows questions.
Expensive phone help. Once you've used up your two free calls, you can still call Microsoft with your questions—but they'll charge you plenty per incident. Fortunately, each problem is a single incident even if it takes several calls to fix the situation. This service is available 24 hours a day.
Tip
If you're not in the United States, direct your help calls to the local Microsoft office in your country. You can look up a list of these subsidiaries at http://www.microsoft.com/support.
UP TO SPEED : The Registry
Here and there, in books, articles, and conversations, you'll hear references to the Windows Registry.
The Registry is your PC's master database of settings. It includes your preferences, the way Windows 2000 and other applications are set up to run on your computer, what hardware is installed, and what software drivers are used to run the hardware. This information isn't stored in a plain English format; it takes the form of a hierarchy of long, coded strings of text and numbers. (The applets in your Control Panel are little more than safe, easily understood "front ends" for various Registry settings.)
As you can well imagine, the Registry is an extremely important cog in a Windows machine. That's why Windows marks your Registry files as invisible and nondeletable. If the Registry gets damaged or edited incorrectly, you'll have a plague of problems that can range from minor (requiring reinstallation of a single program) to serious (requiring a complete rebuilding of your hard drive, including reinstalling Windows and all applications.)
Windows 2000 comes with a program called RegEdit, which you can use to make changes to the Registry. But don't use it unless you have no alternative. Registry editors bypass the standard safeguards provided by administrative tools, which prevent you from entering conflicting settings or settings that are likely to damage your system.