No Specs - No help?

[mike breck]

Well not quite.

But wouldn't it be a great idea if there was a note at the top of each forum advising members STRONGLY to give as much specs about their PC as possible?

This would help all of us to give good advice without shooting in the dark and wasting a lot of time and effort. A situation, which as we all know, Toaster deplores.

How many times have we seen a hardware problem diagnosed correctly only after the full list of hardware was listed?

Now, of course, we can't expect novices who have never opened a PC case before to give a full listing. In that case, we must help them find the information we need. However, there is really no excuse for someone who has built the PC themselves not to give full specs.

In addition, many requests for specs from PC builders are sometimes completely ignored no matter how many times they are asked. Again, this is not acceptable.

There's got to be a better way of encouraging people to provide more information.

May I suggest the following notice at the top of the Hardware and Assembly Forums:

System Specs - or go to heck!


Seriously, though, I think you get my point.

[Hpro]

Yes right Mike - !!

[Cricket]

Hi mike breck,

I understand your frustration. Many people come here with problems and hope to find a quick fix. They post something like "My computer doesn't work. How do I fix it?"...much too vague. They usually don't give you all the information you need to make a educated diagnosis of the problem and yes, they don't give you their system specs. Makes it very difficult to help them.

You try to help them by posting something you think "might" work and either they don't come back to the forum for a long time or they don't read the whole post (especially if it's long and you're asking them a bunch of questions) and just say "It didn't work, what do I do next?". They don't tell you what they tried or answer your questions. Very frustrating indeed.

I'm more than willing to help people with their computer problems, but they must be willing to help themselves as well by providing the answers to our questions, honestly try every suggestion to fix the problem and then come back to inform us exactly what happened and if the problem was fixed or not.

I think they don't realize that we can't "see" what they're seeing on their monitors and have no clue how things are progressing. I think if they could be put in the shoes of the person trying to help someone, they'd understand why we ask so many questions. Yes, we do need to have a clear picture of what the problem is, what was done prior to the problem starting and what has been tried to fix the problem. If we don't get this information, it can get very frustrating for both parties.

It would be real nice if they would return and let us know that the problem is fixed and exactly what was done to fix the problem.

Oh well...

Cricket

[Mr N8]

...uh, I tried that. Give me something else...

Actually, I agree that posts tend to be either too vague or looking for quick fixes. I too can be guilty of that. I think that the system specs don't always apply, so maybe they shouldn't be required, unless it is a hardware specific problem. Also, you have to understand that a lot of people that come to this post are looking for quick answers because they have no idea where to start, and it costs $35 to listen to some kid read you your manual off of a piece of paper. That is why, even though it may annoy us, we need to stay helpful and ask the right questions. Most common users aren't going to understand what you mean by IRQ, HDD, RDRAM, or OEM. I think we need to be patient, as someone had to have been patient when teaching us at some time or another.

Nate

[Toaster]

Hello folks,

That is a bit of a pet peeve of mine.
"My car wont start, what could be wrong?"

Understandibly, there are folks who are uncomfortable digging about in the innards of their PC. I fully understand this. There is however, a way.
The following would demonstrate:

hi
I have a PC thats not turning on. This happened yesterday and the system was fine up till that point. I went to turn it on and, nothing.
What information would help you help me to get this resolved?
I tried, a new power cable, checked the outlet, no switch on the back of the system to flip. I hear fan like noises but thats all.
What other info would be helpful?


OK folks, we don't see that at all. Mostly, we see "its broken, why?" type questions. Its gotten to the point that I ignore such posts and Emails.
If its an off the shelf store bought system, say so and the model number or system type number. (eg: pekkered bell slug-o-matic)
Do not be afraid of giving "too much" info, type to your hearts content.
I would even entertain a pic of someone pointing to something and saying:
"*** is that!!??"

It should be noted however that things are changing for the better. This is good. Keep in mind that "troubleshooting" a system via your description(s) is haphazzard at best. Nobodies perfect, we all miss the mark at times.
However, don't EXPLOIT this by giving too little information.

[mike breck]

Couldn't agree with all of you more.

BTW my post was firmly tongue-in-cheek.

However, my main point was that it would be helpful if there was a little note at the top of the forums to let people know what information could helpful e.g. CPU, mobo, video card, HDs, OS, or make and model.

After all, even a simple description of P2450 or Duron 600 gives us some clues as to mobo, chipset, HD ATA etc.

If newcomers or occasional members aren't reminded or informed before they post, then we can hardly complain they don't give us enough information.

I realise that space is at a premium but some guidance for posting might be a good idea and improve the forums even more.