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Thread ID: 35702 2003-07-19 10:27:00 Help PressF1 to help you Elephant (599) Press F1
Post ID Timestamp Content User
161161 2003-07-19 10:27:00 OK . . . . .

It has to be said .

There are far too many posts from people asking for help and not including information in the original post which is very important for anyone attempting to solve the problem .

I just had a look at one which asked how to find Outlook Express folders and transfer them to another computer . I attempted to answer the question and did, but the thought occurred to me that just maybe the person wanted to shift all the stuff to his/her Mothers' computer so the Email etc could be read there . OK . . . Fine . . . . But what happens to Mums' Emails?

What I suggest is that everyone goes away and finds out what's in their system unit . There are various utilities that will do that like Sisoft Sandra and there are free ones as well . I am happy to recommend some free ones .

Print out the results or leave them on screen and open up Notepad and make a text document called Specs . txt

Either cut and paste or type up this document with at least the following information:-
Motherboard Make and model (eg Asus A7N266-VM )
CPU (eg AMD 1800+)
RAM (128 Meg PC2700)
Video (on board)
Operating system (eg Win98, WinXP, Linux etc)
Browser (eg Netscape, IE6, Opera 7 . 01)
Email client (eg Outlook, Outlook Express, Pegasus etc)

Save the resultant document as SPECS . TXT wherever you can get at it easily like My Documents or whatever .

When posting on PressF1 wanting help then you can open this document (SPECS . TXT) and copy and paste into your post whilst doing the post either at the start or finish .

I would like others to add to the list of "important stuff" . We then could turn it into a FAQ .

I don't, for a minute, believe that you need to preface your post with a full 134 page report from Sisoft Sandra for example .

Further, I must say that I'm not getting at anyone in particular here . I fully realize that some of the more frequent posters here who ask for help may well have posted some specifications in the past but I don't go back looking as I just don't have the time for this .

I frequent this Forum several times daily but if I can't figure out the question then I won't answer . IMHO it's better to give no answer than a wrong one .

For example:-

Specs

Motherboard = Soltek 75FRV
CPU = AMD 2800+
RAM = 1 G/B
Video = Winfast 180 AGP 8X
Operating system = Windows XP Pro with SP1
Browser = Internet Explorer 6
Email = Incredimail 		Elephant (599)
161162 2003-07-19 10:44:00 Sometimes people asking for help don't what information might be useful, or what might be irrelevant. somebody (208)
161163 2003-07-19 11:10:00 im sorry, but i believe that a lot of people that visit this site (and should be able too ), are beginers and on the beginer matter they should be allowed to ask questions which seem a bit silly or a bit lacking in info.
I thought that was what this whole site was for, without question.
Helping people who need it without feeling stupid.
And i for one am quite willing to do that without making anyone feel like they shouldnt be here.
i mean arent we kiwis supose to be willing to help?
PC world state that the Press F1 site is for all from beginnners to those that can help them. Remember all are not gurus 		sandyb (3901)
161164 2003-07-19 11:13:00 Also there is some people out there who are very new to computer e.g. beetle etc...[i](Yes I ask her if I can use her as a example here :D)[/i}

& Some people don’t yet understand what type of Motherboard, CPU, Ram etc.... etc... They have & they also don’t know where to find this information so that is why we have to ask them what OS CPU etc.. They have & tell them where to find this information & some times tell them what all of the above mean.

Also as I found out with helping beetle with her problems some people get very confused e.g. when beetle was learning about reforming & her mailwasher problems etc...

And Some people are just unlucky to have computer problems as they are learning how to use one, (some times it is a good thing, because they learn lot more, but in a short amount of time & They might get confused) & some people don’t understand why they are having these problems or why this is happing Like that post about yahoo mail, & why he/she was getting this error message. 		stu140103 (137)
161165 2003-07-19 11:15:00 **corrects formating**

> Also there is some people out there who are very new
> to computer e.g. beetle etc... (Yes I ask her if I
> can use her as a example here :D)
>
> & Some people don’t yet understand what type of
> Motherboard, CPU, Ram etc... . etc... They have & they
> also don’t know where to find this information so
> that is why we have to ask them what OS CPU etc..
> They have & tell them where to find this information
> & some times tell them what all of the above mean.
>
> Also as I found out with helping beetle with her
> problems some people get very confused e.g. when
> beetle was learning about reforming & her mailwasher
> problems etc...
>
> And Some people are just unlucky to have computer
> problems as they are learning how to use one, (some
> times it is a good thing, because they learn lot
> more, but in a short amount of time & They might get
> confused) & some people don’t understand why they are
> having these problems or why this is happing Like
> that post about yahoo mail, & why he/she was getting
> this error message. 		stu140103 (137)
161166 2003-07-19 11:15:00 Very true and I understand what you are saying.

If you have just a software problem then people could at least say what operating system they use and what application we are talking about. There seems to be great confusion about "Outlook" and "Outlook express" for example. To clear that one up Outlook is a part of MS Office. There was a stand alone version of Outlook a few years ago but I don't think it's about now. Outlook Express is the cut down version of Outlook and comes with the Operating system.

Please don't think I that I am here to slag people off.

I can't say I'm perfect as my Wife will tell you I'm not but I do *try* to help people.

I am sitting here reading posts and I have to decide whether I can help or not. Now I can ask some MORE questions if I have to and I don't mind doing this) but bear in mind that my advice is free to you and others. The more information ( up to a point) that you give with the original post then the more we as a community will be able to help each other.

All of the helpers here give their advice for free. I am just asking people who ask for help to give at least the basic type stuff.

As you say.... Some things are relevant and some aren't...
If you tell me that you stubbed your toe and the Monitor doesn't work I may be led to the conclusion that you kicked it. If you stubbed your toe outside and came in to find the Monitor not working then I wouldn't relate the two incidents.

I hope this helps. (IHTH) 		Elephant (599)
161167 2003-07-19 11:22:00 True, but we cannot exactly include a "Code of what to include in your posts" when they sign up ;-)

Why not just post, asking for more information with your reply, help them out the best they can.. to the extent of your knowledge on their situation, and if you're wrong in your train of thinking, then you're just like me...
Im not perfect.. and you're not always gonna nail the problem with one post :-)

Im sure there's been a thread like this before somewhere.. wonder if I can find it? 		Chilling_Silently (228)
161168 2003-07-19 11:33:00 I don't mind silly questions . . . . In fact ( as I understand it ) it's the question you don't ask that gets you into trouble . There is no such thing as a silly question unless you apply for a job as IT Manager and during the interview ask, "What is a computer?"

I am very much aware of beginners' problems as I was there once myself and I've helped a few since .

My post was put in to get the people here to give enough info so at least they will get some responses that are relevant and appropriate .

I would far rather someone asked, " What does Format C: do?" before they went and did it as it were . 		Elephant (599)
161169 2003-07-19 11:44:00 It was I who started all this concern with my obviously dumb question about how to transfer my Outlook Express folders. I apologise for being so dumb and causing frustration. I did try to simplify my problem and present it to the best of my ability. With bowed head all I can say is that I am very sorry for the trouble I am causing.

Dumb-bell 		dumb-bell (3303)
161170 2003-07-19 11:50:00 People wanting help can use a utility called AIDA32 to find out what is in the system box. It runs on Win95, 98, ME, 2000 and XP to my definite knowledge. Now I admit that we are not going to want to know whether or not the video card is capable of rendering this, that or the other.

FREE even.

I realize that they can't do that when their computer is broken but they can do it before it breaks.

It's like the BACKUP we are always going to do but don't.

If we want to help then we need to know relevant information.

My post was to try to help people to get the info BEFORE something nasty happens.

OK??? 		Elephant (599)
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