Ron Schenone

I Need Help!

Posted by on Jul 31, 2007 | 22 Comments

The words “I NEED HELP!” resound through the hallways of all forums with a thud. What brought this to my attention this week were two things. One was a comment left here to one of my articles about a boot problem and the second was this Sunday’s newspaper. In an article in the paper the person was having problems with Outlook Express. The writer was trying to explain the Regedit command. Funny, I was doing the same thing trying to help with the boot up problem. When I mentioned Regedit, the person asked what it was.

Which brought to mind the following for me and also to the writer of the news article. Both of us have spent years, if not a decade, learning the ins and outs of Windows. During the course of this learning experience, there have been many mistakes that have ended with undesirable results. Results that may have ended up with a reinstall of the operating system. Results that also may have caused a loss of data. Because of these past experiences, expert users are somewhat reluctant to furnish some information if they sense that the user may be new to Windows.

This always poses a problem for both the expert and the newbie. The expert knows that this person will most likely screw up their system further. The newbie feels that they are not getting the help that they need. Both may end up frustrated. So let us do this. I always like to compare computers to cars. Let us say you have a thumping noise coming from the engine and you call your mechanic on the phone. Let us say the mechanic proceeds to tell you how to rebuild the engine. What are the results going to be?

There is no way you are going to be able to do it. Same with Windows. Windows is the engine of your computer. Some fixes are simple and can usually be done by a user. Some fixes, like messing with the registry, require an expert.

So what do you think? Is trying to help someone via email or in a forum practical? Or are there times when the newbie should seek help from a professional?

Comments welcome.

[tags]i need help, expert, newbie, problems[/tags]

  • http://kylekeeton.com kyle keeton

    Hey Ron,

    Once I saw a disclaimer: We will not be held responsible for the use of this software, By clicking yes, you acknowledge that we the undersigned will not be held responsible for, Your divorce, your house burning down, your kids running away, your expensive new girl friend and last, but not least, your computer crashing and lose of all data. (You use this software at your own risk! )
    Thank you for trying……

    I think that we must be careful who we give info to but then again we gotta learn. I learned the most the hard way. We just need to stop blaming the other guy.

    Kyle

  • http://blog.mbadri.net Badri

    In this case, when a novice doesn’t know what a registry is, noway you can explain these things and get them understand! the best way i would suggest is to send the car to the mechanic or bring the mechanic home(remote assistance).

  • http://www.jasontjohnson.com Jason

    I go back and forth on this… Part of me says don’t let the newbie do more dangerous things, like using regedit. The other part says let them do it, how else will they ever learn? How did we learn? By letting someone else do it for us? In my past experience, the people who i did everything for never learned anything, and years later they are at the same skill level they were at when they started. It’s definitely a vexing problem. I think forums and getting help on forums is great, I personally think seeking help from a “professional” Is not something I could ever do personally. I know a few people who have brought their computer to a “Pro” and in my opinion been ripped off. Maybe because I’m cheap and couldn’t see paying for it. Nor would I ever charge someone for helping them.

  • http://wp3.lockergnome.com/nexus/blade/ Ron Schenone

    Hi Kyle,
    Those disclaimer are a killer.

    Hello Badri,
    Agree. Thanks for your comments.

    Heh Jason,
    I hear you. I struggle with the same thing. Most of us have learned computers by trial and error. :-)

    Thanks all, Ron

  • A. Richter

    Working with the computer impaired all day, every day is soul and hope killing. I could tell the guy, in a step-by-step, let me hold your hand, manner and he would still screw it up and get it wrong and blame me. It’s easier for me to either remote into his machine and edit the registry or go on site and do it.

    Some AV companies have knowledge bases on their site that will give anyone who can look up the name of a virus or mal-ware bug and plug it in, registry editing information. It’s like giving gasoline to a pyromaniac with a book of matches and telling him to just burn the trash. You know what’s going to happen, and despite any disclaimer of responsibility for the stupid actions of others, it’s ALWAYS going to be the fault of the person that knows how to do it, because you didn’t do it for the person in the first place.

    That being said, I encourage learning about the operating system to anyone I know. Sure, I take my car to a mechanic when I need a repair. He is the expert. However, if needs be, I can change my own oil, perform a tune up and change a tire.

  • http://myspace.com/macdaddydwj Daniel Wayne Johnston

    With thorough documentation of all steps required, giving advanced steps to a n00b is no big deal, except for the hassle if they THINK they know what they are doing, and skip steps, don’t listen/read well enough, or decide that a hard fix is not the best fix when it is. Anyhoo… i’m bitter from working as a consumer and then business DSL tech support agent for Verizon. People who don’t whine, have humility to seek help, and can follow instructions will receive my help everytime. No matter their technical proficiency.

  • http://wp3.lockergnome.com/nexus/blade/ Ron Schenone

    Hi A. Richter and Daniel,
    Thanks to you both for sharing your expertise with us. Your comments are appreciated.
    Ron

  • Chinookman

    I wish I was half as savvy as you guys but as mentioned above I have learned by trial and error…..mostly errors….Ha…….

    I live on the forums and always…always…extend a hand of gratitude…..you young guys that get into the nuts and bolts of the one’s and zero’s amaze me. Let me be one to extend my appreciation for you folks that are so willing to lend a hand…yah made the world a little better for someone’s life…!

    So you guys keep up the good work and ‘member…some folks yah can’t hep anyways..right….. ;-) …….lol……

  • http://wp3.lockergnome.com/nexus/blade/ Ron Schenone

    Hello Chinookman,
    Thanks for your comments.
    Ron

  • kiko

    remember: good judgement comes from experience and experience comes from bad judgement….so there you are…it’s called learning…

  • http://wp3.lockergnome.com/nexus/blade/ Ron Schenone

    Hi kiko,
    Good point. Thanks for your comment.
    Ron

  • http://motherunit.mindsay.com/ motherunit

    I agree. Hands on and trial & error is the way to learn. Experiment when you can’t cause any permanent damage. Do your homework before attempting anything critical, like flashing the bios or editing the registry. Don’t be afraid to ask for advice – most people love to give it. I never took a formal computer class in my life, but I’m usually the one my co-workers come to when they’re having computer problems. I always advise them to be gentle with our work machines….they are PRICELESS ANTIQUES!

  • http://wp3.lockergnome.com/nexus/blade/ Ron Schenone

    Hello motherunit,
    Thanks for your comments and advice.
    Ron

  • HarryH

    Oh my, the _Registry_ again. Simply put, this abomination from Microsoft is remarkable. Indeed, by not following directions exactly with some degree of understanding, the user can create impossible havoc. But one still questions the rationale behind the registry. Microsoft sought to embed a remarkable amount of information into the registry that has little to do with the machine’s static environment. This adds fluff (recently used documents, etc) that could readily be included in a localized INI file.

    I love the MAC OS approach – drag a program folder to the trash and it’s gone. No “registry” effects. Whatever resources that program needed are dumped. Simple.

    But within the registry there are hundreds of obscure links. I can and have, removed manually all traces of Symantec to finally shed System Works. But that was a daunting task. I can’t imagine how to explain to the typical user the steps involved, nor do I think I should.

    I personally think the registry should be a central place to enumerate the machine’s environment rather than a catalog of every application’s environment which should be maintained local to that application. That would have made the registry fairly simple, and global to that machine’s environment. But that arguement has long been lost.

    Indeed, Regedit is both a useful tool and a curse. I use it in a crisis, cursing the entire time.

  • http://wp3.lockergnome.com/nexus/blade/ Ron Schenone

    Hello HarryH,
    It is a curse at times. :-)
    Ron

  • http://about.me/kevin.mark Kevin Mark

    105/10?! Comcast is useless. There’s no reason(?) they can’t provide a better uplink. I’d much rather go 70/30 or 50/50.

    • kevin sexton

      they don’t want to sell residential internet service to people uploading, but providers have gone to 10:1 ratio or higher, the slow upload means slower download in some cases due to requests going out slower. They want people doing streaming etc to buy high priced business class service, even though the up bandwidth is there behind the modem being wasted.

      • http://about.me/kevin.mark Kevin Mark

        Exactly. It’s purely for monetary gain. They don’t truly care about the performance of the service.

  • kevin sexton

    The reasoning for the caps would be that that 1% of people goe way way over the cap amount. An example would be someone using file sharing and maxing both up and down 24/7. However, they should be open about it, scale the cap with your plan, and have the meter obviously placed, and send emails every 10%. One thing they probably figure is if you are legally using up that capped amount, it’s probably at least in part streaming video, when they want you watching their video content, either internet or TV. In some cases providers want to have a cap that doesn’t count their content for this reason.
    Also most providers for residential service have set uplink speed lower and lower relative to down. It’s going to get to a point where people notice web pages load slow, and it’s because requests go out so slow.

  • http://twitter.com/superbenA2002 Ben Arrowood

    I’ve had Comcast multi-room DVR issues as well. Old fashioned VHS tapes and post 1995 VCRs were simpler. My mom uses to set the timer on the VCR in the family room, put a recordable tape in, set the VCR to basic cable channel 23 (local CBS affiliate WJZ-TV channel 13) and when she came home all of her soaps would be on that tape and she would rewind the tape and take it into the computer room and watch them while she did some work at home.

  • Marco Di Fresco

    I am in Italy and I am using Telecom Italia; it doesn’t put a cap, but still it cost about 30 euros a month for a 7 Mib and there are times you don’t even get it (the infrastructure is pitiful and old and overcrowded by more connections it can handle).

    The customer service is horrible as they usually end up blaming your computer and/or personal router and there isn’t much you can do about it as the contract clearly says that actually you can get UP TO 7 Mib (the actual minimum speed granted is so low that they can get away with it most of the times).

  • http://twitter.com/thestig888 Mark Hilton

    i’m currently on BT (British Telecom) in the uk and whilst i’m on their unlimited usage package, they do have a fair usage policy (this states that i can’t exceed 120gbs of data transfer per month)

    If I reach 80gb a warning email is sent, and if i exceed it the speed is capped to under 1mbps for a month. what makes it bad is that the average speed is about 1-5mbps depending how far you are from your exchange.

    put simply it’s bad :(

    what makes it worse is that virgin media (another ISP in the uk) is offering 50mbps of fiber optic traffic, and whilst BT is to rollout fiber optic broadband i won’t be getting it till march next year wahh :(