Advanced Search Help

Search Product
For
Show results for
Search Type
Using
Modified
Results
Categories

Search Product:

Select a product to search from the Search Product list, or accept the default All Products option. Select More Products in that list to see the complete list of Microsoft products.

For:

Type the words on which you want to search. Do not use noise words such as “the,” “in,” or “on.” Use words that describe the problem or use the exact error message. After you have provided the search query, select any other advanced options that you want, and then click the arrow to start your search.

For a list of frequently used query words, view the catalog of special keywords that the search engine uses.

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Show results for:

The Show results for option only displays when you select a specific product to search. This option allows you to select how you want the search result list to appear. The options are This product only or This product first.

This product only means that only articles that match the product you selected will be searched. The default product filter option is This product only.

This product first means that all product articles will be searched, but those that match the product selected, will appear first. This option is useful when you are not sure if a problem is related to a program or to the operating system they are using. For example, an Outlook user receives an error. That error may appear to be related to the Outlook client but might actually be caused by the underlying operating system, or even by Exchange Server. With this option selected, you will have a better chance of finding the exact problem by searching more products.

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Search Type:

You can improve the search results by selecting different types of search depending on your requirements.

• Full Text will search the whole article for the search words entered.
• Title Only will match the search words in an article title. The title words do not have to be in the exact order, and the article body will not be searched. This should result in faster search performance.
• Article ID will match the specific KB article ID number. If Article ID is selected, the number entered must be a valid KB article number, for example type 235678 in the For field and select Article ID. If an article ID exists for the entered number, that article will be returned, regardless of the products that you may have selected.
• Error Message will match words in an error message. If you select Error Message in the Search Type box, type all or part of the error message to find articles that reference the error. If you type the error message, the Using field is ignored in the search.

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Using:

The Using options specify how the search program will search for words in the search query. Select one of the following options:

• All of the words entered (default) shows pages that contain all the words in the For box. For example, if you type “sound volume” in the For box, the search results will be pages that contain both sound and volume.
• Any of the words entered shows pages that contain one for more of the words typed, in any order. For example, if you type “sound volume” in the For box and select this option, the search results will be articles that contain either sound or volume.
• The exact phrase entered shows pages that contain all the words entered, in the exact order typed.
• Boolean (text contains AND/OR) customizes your search to include or exclude words or groups of words by using Boolean expressions:
• AND shows pages that contain both of the words specified.
• OR shows pages that contain either of the words specified.
• AND NOT shows pages that do not contain the word specified.

Note that if you do not use text that contains AND, OR, or AND NOT, the Boolean search results will show pages matching all words specified in any order (AND).

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Modified:

The Modified options specify a date range when the articles were modified. You can refine your search results to see the most recent articles, or broaden your results if you do not know a modification date. The default is AnyTime.

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Results:

The Results options specify how the search results will appear. By default, both Results are enabled. The available Results options are:

• Categorized If this option is selected, the search results will appear in groups specified in the Categories section.
• Community Solutions Content When the Community Solutions Content check box is selected, articles written by customers and also by Microsoft Most Valuable Professionals (MVPs) will be included in your search results. See more details about Community Solutions. These articles will appear with the Community Solutions icon .

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Categories:

If you select categorized results, you can select or clear all the categories that you want to be included (or excluded) in your search results. By default, the first three categories below are enabled. Categories may vary between countries/regions. The primary categories are:

• How To Articles displays KB articles that describe a feature or describe how to perform a task.
• Downloads displays KB articles that contain content that links to the Download Center, the Office Update site, or the Windows Update site. It also includes hotfix or security bulletin information.
• Troubleshooting displays KB articles that describe how to fix a problem or that have information about a virus.
• MSDN Content provides in-depth technical content, including references, technical articles, downloads, and code samples, for all developer-related Microsoft products and technologies.
• TechNet Content provides content that is geared toward information technology professionals. It provides information about technology issues, security and virus information, information technology solutions, and community resources.

When search results are categorized, the five most relevant articles in each category will be returned. If there are more then five results, a More link will be listed after the fifth article that will go to a page with all hits for the search query.

Note If you clear all the Categories check boxes, your results will display with the first three categories, effectively resetting to the default category options.

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