Read Me First: Asking A Good Question (and Getting It Answered)

[Geeke19]

Last updated 8/13/2006
Thanks to multiple contributors, primarily to Geeke19 for creating it, and Anonymouse taking part in updating it with Geeke19. I thank you Anonymouse

Tech support on this forum is entirely a volunteer effort. We enjoy helping people, REASONABLE people, with their hardware and software headaches.

*People that get rude, we don't have to help* As we said this forum is a volunteer effort to help each other with any computer problems they might face.


Part 1: Searching and thread creation tips

1. SEARCH!
Use our Advanced Search feature you may be suprised how many topics and problems have been discussed here. Say you are looking for an issue with a Liksys router. Go to Advanced Search and type in Linksys in the Key Word(s) box, and select "Tech Support" from "Search in Forum(s)" list. As of 8/13/06 this returns .... 448! results. If this is too broad for you, try narrowing it down - say you know your particular router model, let it be WRT54G. Try not to use too many key words at a time, it may not return the results you want, use a single word, or even a partial word. By the way, WRT54G search string returns 122! results as of 8/13/06

2. SEARCH!!
If your search comes up empty, consider using a search engine. Google [google.com] or Yahoo! [yahoo.com]. Or see (1) on how to make your Advanced Search better (single word or partial word part)

Both Google [google.com] and Yahoo! [yahoo.com] work well. Chances are you do not want to search, or are not sure what to search for, if you are already reading this. But remember, our helpful members more times than you know turn to a search engine and are able to provide you with a quality, on topic, easy to follow response. It's really not that hard. The rules for searching apply, but since Google [google.com] and Yahoo! [yahoo.com] use a more sophisticated (natural language) search you may ask them questions, for example,
Where can i download firmware for my WRT54G router [google.com]. Try skimming through more than first 10 results (which is Google's default), if they are not helping.

3. Create a subject line that summarizes your problem.
There are reasons for this:

• People that have a similar problem are more likely to find a solution based on thier use of the search feature (see #1).
• Members will know what they are getting into before they click the thread, that way people that have a limited amount of time on here each day don't waste their time with something they can't answer, or have no opinion on.

Avoid making outrigt useless post topics, such as "Question", "Problem", "Help", "Help !!!!!!!" - I hope you get the drill - this will save our time and will help you get a quality response faster. And of course will save you from being ignored by users who have seen one too many of threads with such a name.

Say you are looking for a third party firmware for a Linksys WRT54G Rev 3.0 firmware. What prevents you from making a thread called "Help me find Linksys WRT54G Rev 3.0 third-party firmware". Have you used that title instead of saying "Help" and then expanding in the thread, chances are it would take one response from a person who owns a router like that, or simply has such site bookmarked to respond and case is closed. Instead, I guarantee that you will see at least 3 responses quoting Google in one way or another, a couple saying to and maybe one response saying what an idiot you are for calling your thread "Help" . Now we all want to avoid that, right? .

4. When asking for help, please include as much information as possible about the system you are working with.
Belarc Advisor will help assist you in discovering this information beforehand.
Download it free at www.belarc.com - it was originally written for the United States Marine Corps to help track all of their computer stuff when they only had 70,000 computers or so. It will generate a fake, (but real-looking), browser web page, (only on your computer), listing a plethera of information about the hardware and software on your machine.

- a.) CPU - central processing unit - please state manufacturer and speed.
(i.e. AMD Athlon64 X2 4200+ revision E6 or Intel P-III 866MHz)

- b.) mobo - motherboard, please give the manufacturer, the model number and, if possible, the BIOS name & revision number found at boot up on the bottom of your computer screen and whether it's AGP or PCI-Express based graphics. Some boards do not have a video card port, that's OK, we'll know it from the GV designation on the board model number.
(i.e. Intel 478GV or Intel D815-EA, EP revision or ASuS A8N-SLi)

- c.) RAM - Random Access Memory - please list the brand, the amount, the number of sticks or modules, the speed in either PC or MHz, the CAS rate if known, the TYPE, (i.e. EDO, SDRAM, RDRAM, DDR, DDR2, or two Chinese guys locked in the basement with an abacus).
(i.e. (2) - 512MB sticks of Kingston Valueram CAS3 PC2700 333MHz DDR.)

- d.) OS - operating system - it's really hard to help you with a microsoft solution when you are running Linux Ubantu or OSX10 for Mac.

- e.) GPU - the graphic your computer uses, whether AGP, AGP2, PCI-Express, or onboard mobo-based graphics is in use. List Make/model/interface,
(i.e. Visiontek ATI 9600XT All-In-Wonder 128MB AGP or GForce nVidia 6600GT 256MB DDR3 PCI-E or Intel Extreme Graphics 2).

- f.) PSU - power supply unit - list the brand name, wattage, & the Amp rate on the +12V rail(s)
(i.e. FSP 350W +12V/18A)

- g.) PCI/PIC-X/PIC-E add-on cards - List any PCI, PCI-X, or PCI-Express cards installed on your machine. Many problems exist, and are known to the help volunteers, with certain brands of add-on hardware.

- h.) hard drives - list the brand, size in GB, and model, (ATA, SATA, RAMDRIVE, Post-It notes?), of the hard drive(s) on your machine.

- i.) USB devices - list any any USB devices as they may be the cause of your conflict. Make/model/software version

- j.) Programs - the name and revision or version number of the software that is causing a problem on your computer
(i.e. DVD X Copy v.3.2.1.0 or Nero v.7.0.1.2)

5. Post in the tech support section, if you are unsure to what section on the slickdeals forum to ask your question.A moderator will move it if you chose the wrong one. If your problem has been solved please go back to your post you made and put FIXED: if your the OP of that made that thread please put FIXED: in the title so we know that they problem has been fixed.
Do not post the same question in multiple sections of the forums - they will get deleted, and if you get over board, you may even get a warning.

List of what each section of the slickdeal forums are for.


- a.) Slickdeals Section is for deals picked out by Mr. Slickdeals

- b.) Hot Deals Section is were memeber's post the hot deals they have found online.

- c.) Coupon Section is were memebers post coupons/discounts to products like dell and staples.

- d.) Freebie Section is were members post free deals and stuff they have found on line. Freebies worth over $5 should be posted in Hot Deals .

- e.) Free Magazines Section is a sub forum were members post free sample issues are 1 year issue of magazines 100% Free.

- f.) Rebates Section this is for memebers that need a rebate form or having problems and need help with the rebates they are asking about.

- g.) Help Me Find a Deal Section something you want to buy and need help finding a deal a memebers can try to help you find a low price deal.

- h.) Site Suggestions and Problems Section something on slickdeals not working right or you want the mods to add something. Then talk about it here, Please do not post your computer help questions here.

- i.) Tech Support Section this is the section were memebers talk about tech need computer help or need to know what computer to buy then ask here. Redsolar and many other tech geeks will be glad to help you.

- j.) The Lounge Section were memebers talk about anything their lifes,jobs,things,everyday life. No XXX links or pics of any kind.

- k.) The Podium Section is for memebers to talk about politics,religion and controversial topics. Democrats,Repbulicans,Green Parties and religion Welcome.


Posting in multiple areas creates a seperation of replies and makes it harder on people that follow rule #1.

6. If you came to seek help here - it will remain here
Please do not ask to be e-mailed with an answer, most members can't be troubled to do that. Just ask in the thread or make a thread if you havent already, somebody will help you.

Some might even put you on a nice porn site list just to play a nasty joke with you - and you really want to avoid that. And it does not have to be done by people - there are plenty "spiders" that collect email addresses just for that reason.

Part 2: Being active and showing your willingness to be helped.

1. It's hard to emphasize this enough, but BE ACTIVE!. If you want help - provide the extra information that others need from you. If people have posted, but you still have not been able to solve your problem - let the people know so they can try harder to help. If you don't do this, we would think that you are gone with the wind and we will rightfully forget you ever existed.

2. Now, that said, do not be overzealous in your responses. Do not respond just to bump your thread up without a need. Most of us read all the posts that we have not read, going bottom up (I do that -redsolar.). So if you bumped your thread to the top, it will be last one most of us will read. Your choice, but mods will delete shameless and may give warnings. Bumping is ok, if it's been a few days, and your thread seems to dive deeper and deeper - after all we are free support, so we might have missed your question for one reason or another. Be patient

3. Do not go . If you feel the urge to do that - go here and blow your steam cap there


Part 3: Replying to a thread

1. Try and reply only if you have something to add. This keeps people from having to sift through 6 posts of nonsense before they can get to 1 relavent post. Sometimes it may make sense to add some newly important information to the original post you made, so that people don't have to go through pages and pages of posts.

2. Try and post only things you know to be facts, if you must speculate make it clear that that is what you are doing, I'd hate to do something that messes up my system because someone told me that it worked, when in fact they weren't sure. So if you :idontknow, don't answer it.


3. Use "Quote" feature. If you are only answering or responding to a certain portion of someone's question or comment then use the quote feature and edit out the parts that you are not responding to. This makes it easier for people to see what you are commenting on.

Thank You Again For Visting The Tech Support Forums at Slickdeals.net

Have A Nice Day

[Noddy]

How To Ask Questions The Smart Way [catb.org]

[Xanarax]

Quote from Geeke19 : 1. Use our search feature you may be suprised how many topics and problems have been discussed here. 2. If your search comes up empty, consider using a search engine. www.google.com works pretty well. 3. Create a subject line that summarizes your problem. There are reasons for this: 3a. People that have a similar problem are more likely to find a solution based on thier use of the search feature (see #1). 3b. Members will know what they are getting into before they click the thread, that way people that have a limited amount of time on here each day don't waste their time with something they can't answer, or have no opinion on. 4. Include everything that may possibly be relavent in your question. This includes but is not limited to: Operating System Processor Video Card Amount of RAM Hard Drives Other Drives Internet Connection And anything you have done since when things were working fine. 5. Post in the tech support section, if you are unsure to what section on the slickdeals forum to ask your question.A moderator will move it if you chose the wrong one. Do not post the same question in multiple sections of the forums.

I think the above section should be made a sticky. Too many times a user makes a post without providing any details to help tech "geeks" evaluate what is causing the problem. And it's fine that users post here first without doing their research. But if you can, at least make an ATTEMPT to search online before asking here.

I'd add some additional things to the list of info to include when dealing with adding hardware to the system. That info would include:

Make of hardware
Model of hardware
Driver information for hardware in operating system (if they know how to retrieve it)
How they are connecting the hardware to the system (primary, slave, to controller card, to motherboard, etc)

Good post

[redsolar]

Stuck. Thanks for making it .

[Geeke19]

whooo my first sticky whooo thanks red solar

[yjchung]

How about posting whether the problem was resolved or not, and how?

[TtWEAK]

Quote from yjchung : How about posting whether the problem was resolved or not, and how?

If your problem has been solved please ammend the name to include the following.
*FIXED*
Redsolar or Geeke19 if you think this is a good idea please put in in the OP.

[Noddy]

Quote from TtWEAK : If your problem has been solved please ammend the name to include the following symbol. {PS} Stands for problem solved. Redsolar or Geeke19 if you think this is a good idea please put in in the OP.

I like the simple and clear FIXED. Really ticks me off when people don't post back to say fixed, thanks, didn't work, whatever. I very quickly stop posting in threads where the OP isn't answering the questions or providing full information.

[redsolar]

Quote from Noddy : I like the simple and clear FIXED. Really ticks me off when people don't post back to say fixed, thanks, didn't work, whatever. I very quickly stop posting in threads where the OP isn't answering the questions or providing full information.

Same here. So to all of you reading this, do participate, and give feedback often. Or we'll forget you ever made a thread .

I vote for the "FIXED:" addendum to the title, when the problem is fixed.

[Geeke19]

I put the FIXED part in there guys.

5. Post in the tech support section, if you are unsure to what section on the slickdeals forum to ask your question.A moderator will move it if you chose the wrong one. If your problem has been solved please go back to your post you made and put FIXED: if your the OP of that made that thread please put FIXED: in the title so we know that they problem has been fixed.
Do not post the same question in multiple sections of the forums

[Noddy]

Wish we could make reading this mandatory before people could post questions. I'm pretty sick of people posting a question and then days later asking more questions without ever answering any of the points raised in responses to their original question!! Shows a complete lack of respect for the people responding and no understanding or appreciation of the time and effort some people here put into trying to help others.

[tightwad]

I post on a couple forums. I HATE it when some writes the title...."help" or "problems" I generally look right over them, even though in many automotive forums I could probably have helped them. Like Geeke said, write a comprehensive title that details the problem, then in the post include all the information you can think of, even if you don't think it is pertinent.

[Geeke19]

updated