which forums you use for PC troubleshooting?

[kalos]

hello!

I used to use a forum, I don't remember its name, but now it's pretty much dead

Also, some other "famous" forums, like Tomshardware, are populated by kiddies and noobs, I never encountered a really useful advice there.

Any decent forums for PC troubleshooting, where they are frequented by really knowledgeable people who respond quickly?

thanks!

[Ath]

 

[Ath]

How about the DC forum (as in: Right here, where you are looking at) ?

[TaoPhoenix]

hello!
...
Any decent forums for PC troubleshooting, where they are frequented by really knowledgeable people who respond quickly?

thanks!

-kalos (July 08, 2014, 02:01 PM)

This one!!
 

...
I used to use a forum, I don't remember its name, but now it's pretty much dead

thanks!

-kalos (July 08, 2014, 02:01 PM)

I am contemplating teaching a chess course for kids, but it works for adults too. I absolutely intend to include a few general computer concepts in there.

The most glaring improved bang for the buck is learning about "regular" vs "advanced" search.

Basically, reg search sux. Like many other phrases, "once you go advanced, you never go back".
I'm being long winded but gimme about 3 sentences and then I'll loop back to your question.

Basically reg search takes your five words you put in there and takes "best guesses" at two or three at a time, obscured of course by SEO games aimed at people like you.

Advanced search has about three basic features (another thread can go into the advanced ones) that are vital. First, you find the fields and pick either "all of these words" or "exact phrase", or both. It still sometimes likes to cheat, but it tries much harder to follow those rules.

So now looping to your question, if you can't remember that forum you used to use in 2005 etc, what you do is (hopefully!) recall your old user name, and one or two posts that you really really remember standing out as meaningful to you from all the rest.

Then you put in "all of these words" and put your username, and about four of the signature words of that super important post. (Or three, whatever, in case you didn't use one word you thought you did).

Then if a certain couple of sites are "muddying" your results, you put "not these words" and put about three of those in there, and re-search. You'll still get some junk, but not as bad.

Do that a few times, and once you get the knack, the name of that old forum should pop up because if you posted there, and it wasn't 1992, it's long been archived by the engines and in the Internet's version of 20 Questions, you can find it again.

Heh per another thread, I found the children's book from about 1957 I'd read 30 years ago with an unpronounceable author and a title I'd forgotten with the same basic method!

[MilesAhead]

If you are looking for Windows specific advice then I highly recommend these:

http://www.eightforums.com/
http://www.sevenforums.com/
http://www.vistax64.com/

I'm not sure what is highly rated for XP these days.

For video stuff on any OS a good resource is
http://forum.videohelp.com/

I'll leave it to others for Linux and other OS.

[kalos]

I have been extremely satisfied by DC forum, but I thought general PC troubleshooting wouldn't fit with its thematology

I asked this question, because yesterday I had a problem with "Wi-Fi" doesn't have a valid IP configuration".
And we all know how extremely frustrating is not to be able to connect to the internet.
I searched google, and the web is full of posts for solution to this problem.
There are numerous replies, even numerous youtube videos, how to "solve" it, but the majority is total bullshit!
Numerous requests to post whole sheets of logs, run cmd commands, do this, do that, etc! all bullshit!

And after searching alot, I came across this brilliant post...
http://windowsforum.....111633/#post-318561
A brilliant post saying that you just need to reboot your router! And all done!
And this person wasn't even thanked for this post!

[MilesAhead]

Many of the regular posters on the Windows forums I listed are IT/Support professionals current or former. Many of the retired ones just enjoy working the problems and try to help.

I've been on them for several years.  They don't solve every problem.  But just the Tutorials section alone has a wealth of info.

In fact when I first got a Vista PC pre service pack I found the Vista forum to help me tweak it. I've been posting there ever since. The same group who runs the Vista forum runs the others.  There's already a Windows Nine waiting for the OS pre-releases.

I'll also look through HowtoGeek on occasion.  Some good nuggets there. Used to be you could find fixes to the really quirky issues on the annoyances forums.  I don't know if they are still active though.

[Renegade]

I'll add this:

http://stackoverflow.com/

There are a quite a few sub-sites in there though. Check the upper left dropdown menu.

In the same "family" of sites:

http://superuser.com/

http://unix.stackexchange.com/

http://askubuntu.com/

And many, many more. It's not limited to technical topics though:

http://christianity.stackexchange.com/

http://philosophy.stackexchange.com/

http://sports.stackexchange.com/

Stack Exchange has some really, really good answers in there. Esoteric topics/issues/problems that very few people ever encounter are plentiful.

It's pulled my ass out of the fire more than just a few times.

[Stoic Joker]

"A problem well stated is a problem half-solved"

I don't use any specific forums other than EventID.net. Everything else is generally an attempt to separate nomenclature from lingo in an attempt to synthesizing a correct way of phrasing the issue. Once that is done, much of the idiot suggestions (e.g. noise) disappear allowing a solution to be found with a Bing or Google search.

It truly is amazing how you can search on a problem for days with no results, and then after rephrasing the question a bit...find hundreds of references to the correct answer.

[MilesAhead]

It truly is amazing how you can search on a problem for days with no results, and then after rephrasing the question a bit...find hundreds of references to the correct answer.

-Stoic Joker (July 10, 2014, 05:06 PM)

So true.  Often I find the thorniest problems involve a term nearly impossible to search on without a deluge of irrelevant hits.  For example a problem that involves searching itself.  Also it would be cool if some AI algorithm could exclude stuff like doors, picture windows, and storm windows when searching on "Windows" issues. 

[40hz]

I've generally found forums less useful than some of the better tech blogs and industry KB sites. Such places won't answer your specific questions - but the material found in the articles (and the reader comments) is usually enough to get you to where you can figure out the solution yourself.

(Note: I'll +1 on the Stackoverflow sites and EventID.net. An answer is not always found there - but when it is it's almost always correct. Which is more than you can say about many "tech" website's answers and suggestions.)

[MilesAhead]

Another factor is the savvy of the poster with the issue.  On the sites I listed there's a form to fill in hardware specifics.  But there's no item for experience level or expertise.  Seems like whenever I go the extra yard to give step by step how to set a particular Windows option the person replies "I;ve been programming Windows for 20 years.  I know where Control Panel is."  It can be embarrassing.  

Another stumbling block I run into when working an issue is that some posters feel that if they were thinking something when typing the problem description I should pick it up via clairvoyance.  Unless you are an exceptionally quick typist it can be easy to think you've entered more than is actually there.

And of course the classic case where the poster lists none of the remedies tried and when you suggest a fix or two you get "I already tried those. None of them worked."  Clairvoyance again being indispensable.  

I find often a step by step remedy is in one of the tutorials.  I know I've seen it.  But the problem is hitting on the right search terms.  Sometimes it takes me 1/2 an hour to find a tutorial I know is there.  Of course by that time I return to the thread and someone else has already pasted the link. 

[Contro]

If you are looking for Windows specific advice then I highly recommend these:

http://www.eightforums.com/
http://www.sevenforums.com/
http://www.vistax64.com/

I'm not sure what is highly rated for XP these days.

For video stuff on any OS a good resource is
http://forum.videohelp.com/

I'll leave it to others for Linux and other OS.

-MilesAhead (July 08, 2014, 03:22 PM)

That's correct. I have seen Miles in some of those wonderful forums

[4wd]

MSFN

[kalos]

yes, msfn.org is what I used, but I think now it's a pretty much dead forum?
after it's founder said that he hadn't money to support it anymore