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Welcome to Seven Forums
The following are suggestions to improve problem solving.
They are not rules, commandments or directives.
- Look first
- Use the Source, Luke: Vendors have have intimate knowledge of their products, you have specific information about the issue. Searching is easy, finding is more of an art than a science.
- Search for any specific messages and error codes you see that are related to your issue.
The vendor knowledgebase provides the best information needed to solve issues, then vendor community boards, then non-vendor boards.
Many members on this board also participate on vendor community boards and have been acknowledged for their work- Being too general (BSOD) returns many results, being too specific ("Dell laptop model XYZ does not boot after ABC") might miss the solution.
Try a few different but similar terms (damaged, corrupted) in your search and see what you get.- The tutorial section is a great resource.
Members have have spent a lot of their own time writing many step-by-step instructions to solve specific problems. There are also instructions, in other tutorials, on how to do many of the things you might be asked to do. Some terms and commands might be unfamiliar to you, but most tutorials go step-by-step.
There is a learning curve, so you might have to read a few tutorials in order to understand some technical references. In most cases, the author provides a link to the "extras".
For instance, one tutorial might say "Run XYZ in an elevated Command Prompt", if you don't know what that means, look around for instructions on Command Prompt or Running an Elevated command Prompt.- Search Seven Forums
There's a good chance that you are not the only one with this issue.
There's an equally good chance that a solution already exists and can be found on the forum.- Be prepared
- Make sure that your system is up to date, including any drivers.
This might solve your issue before you ask for help- Fill in the system specs on your forum profile (User CP) - more info
- Someone will most likely ask you to do that before they help you.- Someone helping you might ask you to post a screen shot or file - more info
The snipping tool in Start Menu ==> Accessories ==> Snipping Tool is great for this. There are a few options on the "New" button that direct what is captured by the tool - select "Window Snip", then use the cross-hair to select the window, then save the captured screen.
To attach the screen shot to a post, click on the paper click on the post window and fill in the fields, then upload and close.- It is also useful for a member to know your system when helping you.
The Speccy application makes this easy - more info- This is a technical forum, know some basic terms, learn some new techniques
- There are probably 5-10 different ways to do something. You can use run, or search and dbl click, or use Windows help | search | what is XYZ | open, or navigate to and dbl click - these all do the same thing.
- People use different terms - elevated, run as administrator, UAC, File/folder security settings - have the same or related meanings.
- Be patient
- Everyone here volunteers their time to help anyone who visits and asks for help
- There are possibly hundreds of people asking for help at any given time
- The first suggestion to fix your issue might not work
- There might be multiple, seemingly contradictory, solutions offered. Members all have different experience with what works. Many times a member has solved the issue using a tutorial while another member solved the same issue using a command line.
- Solving technical issues remotely, without remote access, is similar to Weather forecasting: 80% chance of POP means that on 8 out of 10 days with similar weather conditions it rained. When someone suggests a solution, they have seen the issue before and most of the time, their suggestion works the first time.
- Be specific:
Provide software (ie Firefox, IE - not my browser) and versions that you are using when the issue occurs.
Provide the manufacturer, model, and driver information for hardware issues.
Running "System Information" (Start Menu ==> Run... ==> msinfo32) provides all of that for you. Selecting the System Information ==> File menu ==> export creates a report that you can upload on a post.
- Stay focused on solving the original issue
- Don't let comments distract you - people think out loud, it usually doesn't mean anything nefarious
- Changing the issue that you're trying to solve is akin to trying to change a tire on a moving truck. Better to start a new thread for the "new" issue. But wait until you're done with the first issue - the "new" issue might be solved along with the original.
- Be concise.
- If your issue only involves one thing - say so. Don't let members chase down a problem that you aren't experiencing.
"I get error XYZ when I try to connect to site ABC" is a different problem than
"I get error XYZ when I try to connect to all sites". The first is specific to a single site, the second indicates a general problem (browser or communications).- Don't answer a question with a question, unless you need clarification.
- Try the suggestion and post the results
- did it work, did it solve the issue, were there any new error codes, etc- Don't judge a suggestion solely on the member's status.
A new member might provide useful information that solves your issue, they just joined the forum more recently.
The same goes for age - a younger person is not less qualified than an "elder of the tribe".
That being said, the original members and many long time members have dedicated themselves to this forum and deserve our respect and gratitude. The time they spend on this (and sister forums) is incredible, it's no wonder they have also earned accolades from Microsoft and other vendors.
- Once your issue is resolved
- It's always nice to "tip" the member who helped you.
Find the post that solved your issue and Click on the scales icon (middle icon in the group of three) Reputation- It helps other people if you recap in a final post what didn't work and what solved it - that might be multiple steps.
- You should mark the thread as solved
Enjoy your visit to Seven Forums and hopefully your issue was resolved.
I've found this forum to be an indispensable resource, members are courteous, knowledgeable, and very helpful.
Other useful Seven Forum pages:
Chairman Slartybart's Little Red Book will be updated from time to time either for clarity or inclusion.
2014 Jan 5: added more info links
Last edited by Slartybart; 05 Jan 2014 at 11:02. Reason: 2nd edition