While this seems like a very helpful idea, I would definitely be wary of help received through forums online, particularly when it comes to sophisticated computer or technical problems. The fact is, anyone that is knowledgeable enough and skilled enough to solve a computer problem – especially a complex one – knows how valuable this skill is and is typically either doing it for a living or sees it as a valuable service that typically requires a long-term relationship with a client/problem-haver to do well and also thoroughly, not to mention they know the potential legal issues that could ensue if they suggest a solution to a forum-goer and it is incomplete or causes damage. While forums are certainly a great place to share technical knowledge and seek advice for simple problems, those that use this as a service need to make sure they take any information they get with a grain of salt, because it’s rare that those dispensing the advice know what they are talking about (if they know how much their expertise is worth). The best advice is to seek professional IT support in the form of an experienced IT consulting firm when you have a complex problem (or one that you need solved permanently and thoroughly)!

Hello,

Visitors to Lockergnome’s blogs might not be aware that Chris Pirillo also operates a support web forum, Lockergnome’s Problem Solvers. The forum is located at http://help.lockergnome.com/general/ and is filled with friendly, helpful people.

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky

Had a problem with a corrupt driver on my internal DVD ROM/burner on the (then) new Gateway Ron. Fortunately, I had been making image backups during the cleanup process of getting rid of the bloated and useless bundled software. I did some searching in various blogs and saw quite a few others with the same problem. An email to Gateway tech support got me about a 6 page response, listing many possible fixes! Unfortunately, the one thing I needed … THE DRIVER … was not included in the response! LOL. Yes, many avenues are available for those looking for help on just about any subject. In my case, a “restore” to last good backup was in order, and then it was a matter of thinking things out before doing massive deletes of crappola.

Hello Aryeh,
Thanks for the reminder. I do post this link to LG on occasion.

Hi Don,
Thanks for the comments and for sharing you experience with us. It is appreciated.

Have a great weekend to you both, Ron

The vast majority of my solutions come from random forum posts. I know enough to spot bad advice too (”try formatting the hard drive”). The biggest hold back for this method is forum registration. I have solved countless little problems that I would love to share with forum users (and Google searchers) but I can’t register on hundreds of forums.

The really tough issues I seem to encounter result in few forum answers. I certainly have tried to use them, but definitive answers are few and far between. As one person stated, many forums require a login ID or even $$ to search answers which can be impractical. As a quasi-expert, I am amazed at some answers ‘reinstall Windows’ and try again. But clearly there are some issues that demand a more detailed understanding of Windows beyond my skills. BTW, I ran Win98 for many years (7 plus) without ever reinstalling Windows. I waited on XP until SP2 and only installed that when much software upgrades were no longer available for W98. I suspect that Win7 will be out before I ever consider Vista.

Hello HarryH,
Good point[s]. I also have seen the reinstall fanatics at work. Reinstalling is a last resort when nothing else seems to work. I think a quite a few of us are waiting for Win7.