How to fix Mom’s computer

Hello! . . . and Help!

As always, I anxiously look forward to receiving my next Tech News Watch newsletter. One of the articles available for reading in the 03/17/07 newsletter was entitled “Research Has Shed Light On The Computer Frustrations That Plague Older Adults.” After reading the article, I clicked on one of the bulleted items listed below the article entitled “How To Fix Mom’s Computer” and dated 12/20/04.

Being a Mom, who’s 59 years “young” and only uses her computer for email and word processing (as referenced in the article), I was exceptionally happy to have found this article. There are times when something seems to go “hay-wire” with/on/in my computer and I DO get VERY frustrated not knowing how to fix it. One way or another, it usually gets fixed; however, being a rather independent person, it’s perplexing that I can’t do it myself! So this article was immediately VERY intriguing to me.

On with my story . . . Within the article, I clicked on the words “this article” that was supposed to direct me to another page/site which (I eagerly hoped) would give me ALL of the information I needed to maintain my computer for the 2 small and non-technical ways I like to use it. And sure enough, a new page WAS displayed on my screen. It read as follows:

“Sorry! - We couldn’t find the page you were looking for.

Please go back and try again.

Feel free to contact support if you need any help.”

Now my questions are:

~ Why did this happen?

~ If the 12/20/04 article was too old access, then why was it provided as a link?

~ Where can I go to learn what would have been presented in the article?

~ Why don’t the “writers - producers - people who put the information in the newsletters” verify that ALL links referenced (whether it be click on or cut/paste) are accessible BEFORE the newsletters are sent out to the subscribers?

And last, but not least . . .

~ I don’t even know how to find and/or where to go within this Tech New Watch site to read a response to this comment . . . in the event someone DOES respond and provide me with some helpful information!

And then people wonder why the “older” folks become soooooooooooo confused, frustrated, and eager to give up when something is “wrong” with their computers!!!

Thank you for listening to (reading) some of my frustrations that seem to continually plague me in the computer world!

K. Beam
03/17/07

Hello, there!

Well, Lockergnome’s been around for a while, and links listed under “related articles” are exactly that: articles that have appeared at some point in the past (they could be from yesterday, or they could be from several years ago). These links are generated by the system and, for now, beyond human control.

Links from those entries, even if checked daily, often go to outside sources, and can go “bad” even a day after their inclusion into a newsletter. Obviously, with thousands of back entries containing thousands of links, we don’t have a big staff that can check and double check them all on a daily basis.

That being said, I went and found another link for the entry above and switched it in place of the old one. I hope that helps!

Cheers!

Robert Glen Fogarty
Editor, Lockergnome
bob@lockergnome.com