Free ebook: Windows 7 troubleshooting tips
Mitch Tulloch, a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional and lead author of the just-published (and hot-selling) Windows 7 Resource Kit (Microsoft Press, 2010; ISBN: 9780735627000; 1760 pages), has created a short ebook called “What You Can Do Before You Call Tech Support.” Here are the opening paragraphs:
Your sound card has stopped working, your computer seems sluggish, the network is down, your hard drive is clicking, you can’t view a website, your monitor is hard to read, your new webcam isn’t working, your favorite program won’t run, and a funny burning smell is coming from your computer. What can you do on your own to try to troubleshoot the issue before you pick up the phone to call tech support?
If you’re running Windows 7, quite a lot. Microsoft has included a lot of self-support tools in Windows 7 that you can try using before you seek the help of others, and we’ll examine these in a moment. Then there are the tools you were born with—your five senses (see, hear, smell, taste, touch) and most importantly your brain. And by brain I’m including your memory, experience, and capacity for logical reasoning. Finally, there is ancient and sacred lore passed on in secret from Master to Disciple over the millennia. We’ll see shortly how your brain, your senses, and the secrets of the Wise Ones can be very helpful for troubleshooting computer problems. But first let’s look at what troubleshooting tools are built into Windows 7.
You can download the ebook in XPS format here and in PDF format here. Enjoy!
Comments
Anonymous
October 26, 2009
I am fan of Windows 7 and loved all the new features.Anonymous
October 28, 2009
The text on page 4 refers to things like "the yellow exclamation point" or "the red X", but the document is in black & white, not color!Anonymous
November 03, 2009
Hi, Bob. Yes, Mitch is describing the color of items you'll see in the user interface of Windows 7. Sorry if that's confusing.Anonymous
November 25, 2009
Can get neither the PDF nor the XPS links to load anything! :-(Anonymous
November 25, 2009
Oh, of course!!! I should have known!! YOU HAVE TO USE IE TO GET THE FILES TO DOWNLOAD! Bravo, MS! Never let an opportunity pass to show how much BETTER, FASTER and SMARTER IE is than everyone else! Better, that is, when the page is written to only work in IE! :-( The arrogance is a nice touch!Anonymous
November 28, 2009
@Skip: What are you talking about? I just downloaded the pdf with Firefox. Stop trolling.Anonymous
December 29, 2009
Downloaded ok with Firefox....Anonymous
January 20, 2010
i want free e-book 7 troubleshooting tipsAnonymous
January 26, 2010
Is there any website from where i can get the free troubleshooting book?Anonymous
June 06, 2010
Thanks once again more to get stuck into,Must say Windows 7 is So So very good,Wish i could help more people with advice and tips, Unfortunatly for me i worry about getting some topics wrong and do not wish to point people i am trying to help in the wrong direction with incorrect advice.Anonymous
October 23, 2010
Nice book! ThnxAnonymous
December 03, 2010
Downloaded the ebooks usin Safari............Anonymous
April 03, 2011
very helpfull for user thanks...Anonymous
July 17, 2012
I am not able to download this any one help me...Anonymous
March 19, 2013
What's the big fuss about? I downloaded just fine with Firefox... Some people just have to be troublemakers, I guess.Anonymous
July 29, 2014
The comment has been removedAnonymous
January 09, 2017
The comment has been removed