Original title: Help and Support CenterI am finding that doing a search using Help and Support Center search box, no longer searches for answers on the microsoft site, as it did previously. Has this help been discontinued forxp home version 2002 service pack 3 by Microsoft, or is there a problem I do not know about with my system?? Any help or information would be most welcome.

Thank you for your reply Amrita M. I have not replied earlier because I have been doing further diagnosis on my computer. Now that I have a better idea of what the problem is, maybe you could refine a fix for me after I explain it better.I have three User Profiles on my XP Home OS. I have recently experienced a computer crash on the system while it was performing a disc check and was not able to boot into the operating system, I eventually corrected this problem and all seemed to work OK.I now find that when I select Start Menu →Help and Support → Set search options (found at the top left of screen), It shows on the page 1.Suggested Topics , 2.Full-text Search Matches, but only a selection box and nothing else whereMicrosoft knowledge Base should be in this 3rd paragraph.Cosequently when I do a search in help and support, the only helps displayed are those on the OS and none from the Microsoft knowledge base site.This I have now discovered is happening on my user profile and works as it should under the other alternative user profiles.I hope this narrows down the problem further for you, to possibly suggest a fix for me.Thank you for any assistance that may work, that does not include creating a new profile for me.

Thank you for your reply Amrita M.I have not replied earlier because I have been doing further diagnosis on my computer. Now that I have a better idea of what the problem is, maybe you could refine a fix for me after I explain it better.I have three User Profiles on my XP Home OS. I have recently experienced a computer crash on the system while it was performing a disc check and was not able to boot into the operating system, I eventually corrected this problem and all seemed to work OK.I now find that when I select Start Menu →Help and Support →Set search options (found at the top left of screen), It shows on the page 1.Suggested Topics ,2.Full-text Search Matches,3.but only a selection box and nothing elsewhere Microsoft knowledge Base should be on this 3rd paragraph.Cosequently when I do a search in help and support, the only helps displayed are those on the OS and none from the Microsoft knowledge base site.This I have now discovered is happening on my user profile and works as it should under the other alternative user profiles.I hope this narrows down the problem further for you, to possibly suggest a fix for me.Thank you for any assistance that may work, that does not include creating a new profile for me.

Hi , You may run System file checker (SFC Scan) on your computer and check if it helps you fix the Help and support issue. System File Checker scans all protected system files immediately and replaces incorrect versions with correct Microsoft versions. This command may require access to the Windows installation source files. Follow the steps below to run SFC scan on your computer. a.Click Start, click Run, type sfc /scannow , and then click OK.b.After the scan is completed, restart the computer.Note You may need the Microsoft Windows installation CD-ROM if the Scan utility cannot find the system files that are required. Access the link below to know more about SFC Scan.http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310747 If running SFC scan does not help, and since it works fine on other user account it would be a user profile corruption on the computer. The resolution would be to create a new user profile on the computer and copy the user data from the old account to the new one.You may access the link below and follow the steps in the article to create a new user account and copy the data to the new account.http://support.microsoft.com/kb/811151Hope this helps. Let us know the result. Thanks and Regards, Srinivas RMicrosoft Support.Visit our Microsoft Answers Feedback Forum and let us know what you think.

Srivanas,I would like to report that I have used sfc /scannow, and after it completed followed by re-boot, the original problem remains.I now think this is a user profile corruption problem, and it would be nice if Microsoft could have produced a fix that did not involve creating a new profile.Aussie

Hi , Just to identify if it’s a user profile corruption, you may try to create a new user account and check if Help and support works fine in the New user account and post back the result. Access the link below and follow the steps to create a new user account.http://support.microsoft.com/kb/279783 Hope this helps. Thanks and Regards, Srinivas RMicrosoft Support.Visit our Microsoft Answers Feedback Forum and let us know what you think.

You is easy to enable/disable this MS Knowledge Base search option in the Help and Support Center using the Group Policy Editor, Internet Communications settings, but it is system wide, so it doesn't make sense that it would be okay for one user and not work for you (I am working from memory).I justed enabled the feature using GPE and now the KB search option is missing from Help and Support, Set Search Options and it was there a minute ago.It reads like this:Specifies whether users can perform a Microsoft Knowledge Base search from the Help and Support Center. The Knowledge Base is an online source of technical support information and self-help tools for Microsoft products and is searched as part of all Help and Support Center searches with the default search options.If you enable this setting, it will remove the Knowledge Base section from the Help and Support Center "Set search options" page and only help content on the local computer will be searched. If you disable this setting or do not configure it, the Knowledge Base will be searched if the user has a connection to the Internet and has not disabled the Knowledge Base search from the Search Options page. Sometimes malicious software will adjust your Group Policy settings knowing that your next thought after trying a bunch of things is going to be to give up trying to undo the changes and then attempt to do a Repair Install, use a Restore Point or completely reinstall your XP (and none of this is required). If that happened to you, there may be some other things that don't work that you just haven't discovered yet. Since there are no details on your disk crash, recovery method from same and other problems, who knows what might be going on.If you have XP Home, there is not Group Policy Editor console, but all the Gruup Policy options are available for checking, setting, clearing, etc. through the registry. Somebody could check it out though and get more details (I can't do any experimenting for a while).You can sure turn off that feature.Perhaps that will inspire some ideas from the Microsoft Support Moderators, MVPs, etc.Do, or do not. There is no try.I need YOUR votes and points for helpful replies and Propose as Answers. I am saving up for a pony!

It is easy to enable/disable this MS Knowledge Base search option in the Help and Support Center using the Group Policy Editor, Internet Communications settings, but it is system wide, so it doesn't make sense that it would be okay for one user and not work for you (I am working from memory).I justed enabled the feature using GPE and now the KB search option is missing from Help and Support, Set Search Options and it was there a minute ago.It reads like this:Specifies whether users can perform a Microsoft Knowledge Base search from the Help and Support Center. The Knowledge Base is an online source of technical support information and self-help tools for Microsoft products and is searched as part of all Help and Support Center searches with the default search options.If you enable this setting, it will remove the Knowledge Base section from the Help and Support Center "Set search options" page and only help content on the local computer will be searched. If you disable this setting or do not configure it, the Knowledge Base will be searched if the user has a connection to the Internet and has not disabled the Knowledge Base search from the Search Options page. Sometimes malicious software will adjust your Group Policy settings knowing that your next thought after trying a bunch of things is going to be to give up trying to undo the changes and then attempt to do a Repair Install, use a Restore Point or completely reinstall your XP (and none of this is required). If that happened to you, there may be some other things that don't work that you just haven't discovered yet. Since there are no details on your disk crash, recovery method from same and other problems, who knows what might be going on.If you have XP Home, there is not Group Policy Editor console, but all the Gruup Policy options are available for checking, setting, clearing, etc. through the registry. Somebody could check it out though and get more details (I can't do any experimenting for a while).You can sure turn off that feature.Perhaps that will inspire some ideas from the Microsoft Support Moderators, MVPs, etc.Do, or do not. There is no try.I need YOUR votes and points for helpful replies and Propose as Answers. I am saving up for a pony!

Hi Srivanas,I created a new profile as under KB811151 and when finished I found the problem still remains. Conclusion the profile is not corrupt.!!!!!I will create a new user next, without copying any of my old profile files/folders to see if this removes the problem.Aussie

To all that have experienced this problem,I would like to report that all of the posted solutions, ie1. re-install Help & Support,2. running SFC /scannow,3. creating a new user profile by any microsoft suggeted methods,"Do not, (I repeat, Do Not) work in solving this problem."The only solution I have found that does work is to1. Create a New User2. Move ( NOT Copy) all your personal Folders and Files from the My Documents,My Music, My Pictures, and My Videos folders from your damagedUser profile to the New User profile into the corresponding place moved from under this new profile.3. Do not copy or move any Hidden files or folders that you have not created and hidden yourself.4. You also must make sure, you backup any settings, emails and contacts (contacts already in .pst file in Outlook) using the appropriate method for your email program to enable recovery of these in your new profile.5. You can Export your Favorites and Feeds (and cookies) fromInternet Explorer under your Old profile, to a file in your new profile, then Import them from your New profile, after you run Internet Explorer from there.6. Do not worry about programs these are available to every user.I hope this can help any one else, that has had the exact same problem I did.Aussie