Trolling the Net for the Best Tech Advice

We've all been there. It's late at night, you're working on a major project or downloading songs to your iPod, and bam! You get some sort of weird error message. "Error  DKM Device Error 124561." What does that mean? You were just typing, or moving songs around like you always have. But now, out of nowhere, you can't do anything. Your computer has become mysteriously ill. You try all the 'normal' stuff. You close down the program and restart it. You power off your computer and turn it back on. You unplug your computer and plug it back in. Nothing works. Every time you get to the same place in the program or process, the error message pops back up, taunting you like an annoying court jester that speaks a different language. If you have even a little tech acumen you might consider trying to fix the problem yourself. You might troll the help option of whatever software program is giving you problems. Troubleshooting FAQs (frequently asked questions) are notoriously vague and unhelpful though. You may seek out the help of a more tech savvy friend. Or you may suck it up and just take the computer in for service  only to find out that it took the technician three minutes to fix but cost you $300. Many computer companies, including Dell and Apple, have excellent customer service. But often, if the problem doesn't originate with computer hardware or pre-installed software programs, they may just pass the buck and push you onto another phone call with a different company that's going to put you on hold for another two hours. Frustrating as that may be, it is, for many, the best and only option.However, if your confidence in computer problem solving has reached Sudoku-on-easy levels, you might consider trying to fix the problem yourself  even to the point where you delve into the world of changing code and replacing files. For many, this is a dark and scary road. The idea of altering a few lines of code in a program or changing one mysterious .dll file with another mysterious .dll file that you downloaded off the Internet is enough to cause a lot of people to have the Tums in hand and Best Buy on speed dial. Thankfully, unlike the unconnected PC days of yore, today you can find a ton of do-it-yourself instructions on the Web. Often, solving a problem is as easy as doing a Google search for said problem and applying the results. Sometimes, though, it's more difficult. Finding an answer to a problem usually requires that you know which question to ask. And if you don't know what's wrong with your computer, you may not know how to form the question to seek out the answer.This month, we'll take a look at some Web resources that might help you solve some of your computer problems (like anything on the Web, we offer no guarantees). Often, but not always, you'll find the best answers specific to your problem in some kind of forum or community board. Tech folk, eager to show off their technical knowledge, often troll these forums like white knights ready and willing to use their smart swords in the name of working computers. That these forums serve to stroke the egos of these computer experts is a harmless byproduct of good, free information. Indeed, much of what makes the Internet great  free information  is a result of that geekworld ethos of one-upmanship that pits one expert against another expert in a grand game of who knows more. We are all the beneficiaries. See Wikipedia as a good example. It probably would not exist in its current form but for people's needs to correct other people. Tech forums work very much the same way. So be careful to read thoroughly down through the forum posting to be sure that what looks like a good tip hasn't been debunked by someone further below as a great way to destroy your computer. Finding the Question As noted, for the uninitiated, solving a computer problem sometimes never gets past the defining a computer problem stage. Typing 'computer broke' in Google is probably not the best first step. You'll likely just get links to sites where people make fun of other people who tell them their computer is broke. The Net is full of IT guys and gals making fun of all the stupid questions they have ever heard. Instead, if you do in fact receive an error code, a good first step is to copy and paste that error code into Google directly. It may not work, but it may bring you precisely to an answer that solves your problem.If you don't get an error code, but instead need to find some solution within a certain program, you might start with a more basic query like 'Microsoft Word mail merge' or 'iTunes two iPod solution' or 'Why does no one want to be my friend on Facebook?' If you don't know your problem even to that level of specificity, you might start by educating yourself generally on the program you are using. That too could start with a Web search. Or you might find some of these sites useful. CNet.com  Probably the most popular novice tech Web site, CNet is well written, well organized and a great resource if you are thinking about buying a digital camera or similar electronic gadget. It's also host to tons of good articles on various computer programs. From CNet's main page, you can click on a "Tips & Tricks" tab that will take you to a great collection of, well, tips and tricks. It may make techies cringe with simplicity, but it's great for casual users.  ComputerKnowledgeForYou.com  Perfect for beginners, this site helps you understand how a computer works and why it reacts the way it does. It breaks the computer down into its computer parts, explains what is contained in each part and how it contributes to the whole. Alone, this site is unlikely to help you solve your computer problems, but it could narrow the scope of your search.Finding the Answer Okay. Now you have a general idea what may be wrong with your computer. How do you find a solution online? Again, like so many things on the Web, you could try a Google or Yahoo search. Try to be as specific as possible, but not so specific that you don't get back any search results. For example, if you think you are having a problem with iTunes recognizing your iPod, type "iPod iTunes connection issue" or something similar, not "My iPod doesn't want to connect with that iTunes program." If you know that the problem is specific to a particular software program, you may try the Website of the software developer. As noted above, software troubleshooting FAQs are notoriously vague, but software developers often host forums on their Web sites where users and developers can communicate. It's a great resource for the company and the users. But, forums can often be so large (and the search function usually not that helpful) that users can be left wandering for hours in search of an answer that may never appear. Another option of these forums, though, is to post a question yourself and hope that someone answers. If the forum is run by the software developer, you may get an answer from someone that really knows what they are talking about. This probably shouldn't be a first option, though, as you could be waiting for a long time for an answer.Some Websites, though, are dedicated to answering all of the myriad questions that may appear on the Web and that plague computer users all over the world. Some are better than others, but unlike forums that are structured around the type of question asked, these sites tend to be easier to browse through and find the right answer.Consider these few examples:PCHell.com  Aptly named for the state you may feel you are in when your computer crashes, PC Hell is a humorous but useful site chock full of good tips and fix instructions. The main page of the site is loaded and a little bit much to manage, but seems to cover the whole gambit of computer problems. Also, once you fix your specific problem, you should read PC Hell's "Top Ten Steps to Troublefree Computing." The suggestions are simple and obvious to many of us, but novice computer users could use the advice.  TechSupportForum.com  Although this site is a forum by nature, it is well organized, and the site managers know when a particular thread is going to be popular and particularly useful for forum readers. Those threads are 'closed' and placed at the top of any particular subject. Even if those threads don't help your problem they are useful to read. Tek-Tips.com  This site is designed mostly for IT professionals, so it can be a bit overwhelming for novice users. But because almost every one of the contributors is an expert, you can count of the information on the forums to be pretty good (if not confusing).Implementing the Solution   Once you think you find an answer to your solution, before you actually start to make changes to your PC, double check the solution if possible. If you find a thread that tells you to download a particular program that will solve your problem, try to find some independent verification elsewhere on the Web. Otherwise, you may become the victim of someone's cruel joke. Of course, if all else fails, there's always the Geek Squad.