MSDN Library for Visual Studio Express Editions

  • Article

Welcome to Help for the Visual Studio Express Editions. The Express editions offer lightweight, easy-to-use, easy-to-learn tools for hobbyists, novices, and student developers who want to build Windows-based applications and Web sites.

The Express Editions of Visual Studio include an abridged version of the MSDN Library that is installed locally. There are several options available for accessing the full version of the library.

Help Options

The best choice for accessing the full MSDN Library depends on several factors: the availability of an Internet connection, the amount of available disk space, and your personal preferences for viewing Help.

If you have a persistent connection to the Internet, you should consider using the online version of the library. This version of the documentation is constantly being updated, so that you will always have the most up-to-date information.

If do not have persistent Internet access and must access a local copy of the library, you can either download a copy of the full library or order a copy on DVD.

To Use the Online Version of the MSDN Library

When you first installed Visual Studio, you were given three options for accessing Help content:

  • Try online first, then local.

  • Try local first, then online.

  • Try local only, not online.

To use the online version of the library, you should select the first option. For information about how to change this setting, see How to: Include Online Content in Search and F1 Help Results.

Links to topics that are not included in the MSDN Library for Visual Studio Express Editions will display the Information Not Found page. However, you can still access the topics that the links refer to by connecting to the Internet and searching in the MSDN Library. You can access the MSDN Library outside of the Visual Studio IDE by going to https://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/default.aspx.

  1. On the Help menu, click Search.

    The Search Page opens.

  2. In the search box, type the text that was displayed in the link, and then click Search.

    A search is performed and the results are displayed.

  3. Select the MSDN Online tab on the right side of the Search page.

    Note

    If MSDN Online is not displayed, your Help system may not be configured for online access. For more information, see How to: Include Online Content in Search and F1 Help Results.

  4. Click the topic title that most closely matches the text of the original link.

    The topic is displayed.

To Download the MSDN Library

You can install the complete MSDN Library, or an abridged version that contains the most important content for new users of Visual Studio 2008 Express Editions. You can download the MSDN Library from the Visual Studio Express Web site.

See Also

Tasks

How to: Include Online Content in Search and F1 Help Results

Other Resources

Help on Help (Microsoft Document Explorer Help)

Change History

Date

History

Reason

July 2008

Added information about accessing the MSDN Library from outside the Visual Studio IDE.

Customer feedback.