| After you've gathered as much information as possible, you might find that you still need more help. User manuals for components often are discarded, software drivers need to be updated, and some conflicts don't have easy answers. Use the following resources for more help: -
Manufacturers' Web sites ” Most system and component manufacturers provide extensive technical information via the World Wide Web. You'll want to have the Adobe Acrobat Reader program in its latest version available to be able to read the technical manuals you can download (Acrobat Reader itself is a free download from www.adobe.com). These sites often contain expert systems for troubleshooting, specialized newsgroups, downloadable driver updates, and other helps for problems. -
Help for "orphan" systems and components ” It's frustrating to need information about a system whose manufacturer is no longer around. Sites such as http://download.com.com and www.windrivers.com provide information and drivers for orphan systems and components. -
Online computer magazines ” If your back-issue collection of major computer magazines is missing some issues, or even if you've never subscribed to the print versions, you can find a lot of technical content from the major magazine publishers online: www.pcmag.com ( PC Magazine ), www.pcworld.com ( PC World ), and www.maximumpc.com ( Maximum PC ) are just three of my favorite resources. -
Third-party news and information sites ” Tom's Hardware (www.tomshardware.com), AnandTech (www.anandtech.com), TechTV (www.techtv.com), The Register (www.theregister.com) and Digit Life (www.digit-life.com) are just a few of the Web sites I rely on for product reviews, news, and insights. TechTV also produces a great line of books covering current technology topics (I'm the author of TechTV's Upgrading Your PC ), originally published by Que and now published by Que's sister imprint Peachpit Press (www.peachpit.com). -
Book series ” When I was a relative newcomer to PCs in the 1980s, Scott Mueller's Upgrading and Repairing PCs (www.upgradingandrepairingpcs.com) was a lifesaver. With over 2.2 million copies sold, it's still the single best source of information about desktop computer hardware, old and new. I've contributed to several editions in recent years , as well as to other books in the series, such as the brand-new Upgrading and Repairing Laptops and the pocket- sized Upgrading and Repairing PCs: Field Guide . I also recommend Upgrading and Repairing Networks for improving your network skills. When it comes to Windows, I recommend (and have contributed to) Que's Special Edition Using series (www.quepublishing.com). -
Search engines ” My favorite way to search the World Wide Web is Google (www.google.com). Google is fast, finds text in many types of online content (not just HTML Web pages, but also Adobe Acrobat, Microsoft Word, and others), and can search newsgroups and find image files. Use its Advanced Search feature to narrow your search; you can even search a particular Web site only. Click the Cached button to see the site as Google last saw it if the current contents aren't what you needed. With so many sources of information available in print and online, there's no reason to stop learning. To succeed and enjoy yourself, take every opportunity to learn more. Keeping Track of Your Solutions Make a practice of keeping detailed notes about the problems you solve. If your company has a help-desk system with tracking capabilities, use it. Even if the best you can do is write up your findings, you can use desktop search tools to find the answers to the same problems that might arise later. Be sure to note symptoms, underlying problems, workarounds, and final resolutions . To help capture the information you need: -
Use the Windows Screen Capture feature (press the PrtScn button and copy the clipboard contents into Paint or another image editor) to grab screens. -
Use the Save As Web Archive feature in Internet Explorer to grab Web pages complete with text and links as one file. |
