Put a Help and Support Center Shortcut on Your Desktop

By Stephen Bucaro

Windows XP's built-in Help and Support Center provides troubleshooters that work like wizards. They walk you through step-by-step to the solution to your problem. There's a troubleshooter for the Display, Hardware, Input Devices, Network, Printer, Sound, System Startup, and Shutdown and many more.

Before you make an expensive call to a computer repair service or Microsoft's Technical Support line, try Windows built-in troubleshooters. In many cases, Windows troubleshooters will help you diagnose and fix common system problems. You can access the Help and Support Center through the Start menu, but wouldn't it be handy to have a Help and Support shortcut right on your desktop?

To create a shortcut, left-click on an open area of the desktop, and in the popup menu that appears, select New > Shortcut. In the Create Shortcut dialog box that appears, enter the path shown below.

%SYSTEMROOT%\PCHealth\HelpCtr\Binaries\helpctr.exe

Then click on the [Next] button. On the second page of the dialog box enter a name for the shortcut, i.e. "Help Center". Then click on the [Finish] button. A shortcut to the Help and Support Center will appear. Now next time you have a problem with your computer, you'll remember to try a built-in troubleshooter first.

More Windows Tips:
• How to Fax Documents Using Windows XP
• Move a Window With Keyboard Arrow Keys
• Create Your Own Custom Taskbar Toolbar
• Know Your Keyboard Shortcuts
• Customize Internet Explorer's Security
• Use Windows Key Shortcuts
• Three Ways to Force a Program to Close
• How to Remove Metadata From Files in Windows 7
• How to Cancel a Print Job in Windows 10
• My Favorite Windows 7 Tips and Tricks

RSS Feed

 Follow @Stephen Bucaro

 Windows Troubleshooting
 Basic PC Anatomy
 Computer Architecture
 Internet Security
 A+ Practice Exams
 Maintain, Upgrade PC
 Windows Tips
 Windows Administration
 Linux