When Asking For Help

[honestone]

I am rather new here (joined last week), and it seems like a great place to be. Also, like others on here, I always want to help folks when I can. In fact, I have already posted about 5 or 6 responses to help-related questions.

What I would suggest when one needs help is to first do a google search, using a good description of your issues in a few short, applicable words. For example, a user earlier today posted a request to provide help with a forgotten admin password. When I saw it, I first went to google and entered "How to retrieve one's administrator password on a Mac", and I got quite a few relevant "hits". I then went and chose part of one that I think will help the individual.

Again, this is not a "complaint", and I am more than happy to provide assistance when I can. But, trying a google search first can get you answers faster (and maybe even better than any of us can provide).

 

[Kaveman]

maybe they googles "Mac Help", many times people need help identifying and explaining their problem than it take to fix the problem.

There is also a lot of rubbish out there in internet land, and it can give people the idea they can fix hardware problems that require a trained Apple Service technician.

 

[honestone]

maybe they googles "Mac Help", many times people need help identifying and explaining their problem than it take to fix the problem.

There is also a lot of rubbish out there in internet land, and it can give people the idea they can fix hardware problems that require a trained Apple Service technician.

Obviously, googling just "Mac Help" is WAY, WAY too broad. As I stated, I get rather specific with the phrase/sentence that I enter in google (the password one I gave is a good example). I have always been very successful when I enter very specific phrases in google, and a good portion of the hits are very, very helpful. But yeah, there is quite a bit of rubbish out there. One just needs to know how to weed such crap out.

 

[Spawn_Dooley]

googling is a 'fine' art you need to cross-reference whatever info you find, if i google something trying to answer a thread here, i always cross-reference about 3 or 4 times before i post anything back here. everything i've learned is from google, i'm no technician, but as i wrote, cross-referencing is crucial, the same as in researching a family tree!

 

[oldscribe]

Hi,

I agree Google can be a good base to start when encountering problems, but with so much info it takes time as SD said to cross reference and narrow the field so to speak.
This is inregard to software issues not hardware. As personally I would not be confident tinkering inside such an important piece of electronic equipment

 

[honestone]

Hi,

I agree Google can be a good base to start when encountering problems, but with so much info it takes time as SD said to cross reference and narrow the field so to speak.
This is inregard to software issues not hardware. As personally I would not be confident tinkering inside such an important piece of electronic equipment

For software searches, if one uses as many specific words related to their issue in the search field, most of the time the first few "hits" are the best ones. That has been my experience.

For hardware repairs/upgrades, an excellent source is the site www.ifixit.com.

 

[honestone]

As a complementary subject on asking for help, it is important for the person asking for help to provide the following information:

1. Mac Model, including amount of RAM and Internal Hard Disk size: please just don't say "Macbook Pro". It is best to give the year of the model, and as much other information as possible. For example, here is the information for my MacBook Air that I am entering this on:

"13" MacBook Air, mid 2013, 1.3 GHz Intel Core i5, 4 Gig of RAM, 256 Gig SSD"

One can get this information by clicking on the Apple symbol in the upper left hand corner, revealing "About This Mac". Then, click "More Info", and after getting most of the information from there, click "System Report". (Those options are for Mavericks. For earlier OSs, there are similar screens/buttons).

2. Version of the OS you are using: For my MacBook Air, it is Mavericks, Version 10.9.5.