INFO: Working with Developer Support for Windows Embedded Systems (323232)

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What Is a Support Incident?

• A single support request and reasonable efforts to resolve it.
• A problem that cannot be broken down into separate issues.
• A situation in which you and the support professional agree on the scope of the problem.

A Support Incident Is Not:

• Custom coding or consulting.
• Bugs, documentation, or requests for product feature. (A refund is provided for bugs and documentation errors.)

What Do You Do Before You Call?

1. Carefully work through the problem and narrow down the scope to a specific issue or problem.
2. Document each step to reproduce the problem, and carefully verify and record the results.
3. Install all available Quick Fix Engineering solutions (QFEs) for your product. If Microsoft support professionals have to try to reproduce your problem, they use computers that have all the QFEs installed. Therefore, you must install all the QFEs before you request support.
   
   You can download QFEs from the following MSDN Web site. In the left column of the window, select Embedded Development, select the product and the version that you are working on, and then select the QFE option.

   Microsoft Windows CE 3.0 QFEs
   http://msdn.microsoft.com/downloads/default.asp?url=/downloads/sample.asp?url=/MSDN-FILES/027/001/919/msdncompositedoc.xml&frame=true

   For more information about QFEs, see "References".
4. As much as possible, carefully and thoroughly debug your application or platform.
   
   For more information about Windows CE .NET, visit the following Web sites:

   Windows CE .NET - Platform Debugging
   http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/wcepb40/htm/_wcepb_Debugging_a_Platform.asp
   
   Windows CE .NET - Driver Debugging
   http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/wceddk40/htm/cxconDriverDebugging.asp.

5. Install a checked/debug build of the OS with the debugger turned on (enabled), and then test your problem under the debugger with the checked/debug build of the OS. Carefully examine the output from the debugger and the debug components in the OS for things specific to your problem.
6. See your product documentation for information about the component or problem in question. Search for terms related to your problem or the components in question.
7. Search the Microsoft Knowledge Base for information and instructions about your problem. Search on simple, specific terms related to the problem you are having, including the component, sub-component, error number, or message that you received, and any other pertinent terms.

   Searching the Knowledge Base
   http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh;en-us;kbinfo

8. If your company has a Microsoft Premier Services contract, contact your Technical Account Manager, or Application Development Consultant, as appropriate.
9. Create a reproducible scenario:
   1. Develop a "small scale", finite, and easily-reproduced scenario that reliably demonstrates the problem.
   2. Test the scenario several times.
   3. Fully document the environment that you are using to build, test, and run your reproducible scenario to demonstrate the problem. Include the development environment and the target environment or platform specifications.
10. Understand that, in order for your problem to be reproduced at Microsoft for research and resolution, you may have to provide your custom hardware to Microsoft with debug capability, including your buildable project or platform source code.

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How Do You Open an Incident?

You can get support in several ways. For more information about support options and pricing, to obtain phone numbers, or to submit a request for online help, visit the following Microsoft Web site: