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User Support
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Conficker: Was it a real threat or all hype? Take the poll
The Conficker scare has been on the forefront of Internet news and discussion boards for a couple of weeks, now, but was it a real threat, one that actually did adversely affect a lot of users, or...
Posted by Joe Rosberg | April 1, 2009, 10:21 AM PDT | Latest comment by The Weekly Geek
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Keeping on top of the work flow
Letting the routine stuff slide when work is piling up is a false timesaver, says Jeff Dray. If left too long, things like paperwork and follow-up calls can become an impediment to getting other...
Posted by Jeff Dray | March 30, 2009, 1:29 PM PDT
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Make your messages accessible on any device: Use plain-text e-mail
William Jones believes that rich HTML email has seen its day. As people read email in more places and on more devices, content--and not presentation--is paramount.
Posted by William Jones | March 26, 2009, 5:14 PM PDT | Latest comment by rbackus@...
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Registry Cleaners: Are they a good thing or possibly bad?
Many kinds of malware keep rearing their ugly heads because of some embedded trigger planted in the Windows Registry. Can registry cleaners that are designed to remove these things actually do...
Posted by Joe Rosberg | March 25, 2009, 3:13 PM PDT | Latest comment by Zoey11
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Designing and delivering a great support experience
Register to participate in a live BNET Webcast on March 31, discussing how to design and build a customer support experience that increases loyalty and profitablility.
Posted by Selena Frye | March 23, 2009, 1:18 PM PDT
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Freelance training, a good source of extra income
Have you ever thought about making a little extra cash by helping out neighbours with their computer problems? It is not only a good way of helping others but will help you reinforce your own...
Posted by Jeff Dray | March 23, 2009, 1:07 PM PDT
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Customer service means being timely
Paperwork stinks. Bookkeeping stinks. Nobody gets into a business because either of those tasks are fun. They have to be done, though, and in a prompt manner. Procrastinating makes you look...
Posted by William Jones | March 19, 2009, 11:46 PM PDT | Latest comment by deepsand
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Smartphones: Do you use one or support them? Take the poll and share your experience
With the recent popularity of Smartphones, they're bound to make their way into user support functions, either by having to support them or actually using them. Take the poll and share your...
Posted by Joe Rosberg | March 18, 2009, 12:44 PM PDT | Latest comment by sidekick
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Can your help desk understand you?
When his PDA phone starts dying on him, Jeff Dray finds that the ease of world-wide customer service is overkill for simple help desk requests.
Posted by Jeff Dray | March 16, 2009, 2:51 PM PDT | Latest comment by unus@...
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Mine your HD for space hogs with cross-platform JDiskReport
Storage may be cheap, but right now every penny matters. That is why it is vital to have a good disk auditing utility in your toolbox. Just in time for spring-cleaning, William Jones offers his...
Posted by William Jones | March 12, 2009, 3:49 PM PDT | Latest comment by computerguy79-21675236525644372554607442988528
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Supporting DOS machines
I have a couple of DOS computers that I might consider, out of sight, out of mind. When one of them failed, however, its function was quick to remind me of its presence and importance. Here's my...
Posted by Joe Rosberg | March 11, 2009, 4:41 PM PDT | Latest comment by deepsand
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How well do your customers understand what you tell them?
Jeff Dray finds that his relationships with customers often allow him to find out things about them that hadn't been noticed by their own colleagues. As he has pointed out before, the people are...
Posted by Jeff Dray | March 9, 2009, 1:14 PM PDT | Latest comment by die_s_p_a_m@...
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Do employers offer professional development for techs? Take the poll
Support techs and all other IT pros remain relevant by acquiring new skills. Can employers be counted on to help their people grow?
Posted by William Jones | March 5, 2009, 7:43 PM PST | Latest comment by cstanley@...
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Explaining concepts can be a challenge with some users.
Have you ever explained something to users only to have that glassy-eyed look tell you that they had no idea what you just said? What do you do? What are some of the things you've tried to explain...
Posted by Joe Rosberg | March 4, 2009, 5:12 PM PST | Latest comment by jimw917
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Spring-cleaning your working life
Jeff Dray's thoughts have turned to spring and renewal, and thus, the cleaning out and reorganization of his work life. It's time to delete files, throw out the rubbish, and order new supplies....
Posted by Jeff Dray | March 2, 2009, 11:29 AM PST | Latest comment by TonytheTiger
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Support pros vs. social engineering attacks
Developers should always work to make software secure, but it is up to support techs and trainers to inform users how they can keep themselves safe online.
Posted by William Jones | February 27, 2009, 12:08 AM PST | Latest comment by darpoke
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Customer support intentions (take the poll) and some comments on providing excellent customer support
Some readers are wondering about the motives and intentions of a customer support incident I've been writing about. Considering the history of what happened, what do you think? Take the poll - and...
Posted by Joe Rosberg | February 25, 2009, 5:30 PM PST | Latest comment by jyoung@...
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What's on your go-to equipment list?
When replacing or upgrading hardware components, do you have a ready list of vendors and manufacturers that you go to or are you constantly on the lookout for a better product (or just a better...
Posted by Selena Frye | February 25, 2009, 1:20 PM PST | Latest comment by blackepyon01@...
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Age before beauty?
Jeff Dray considers the age divide in the workplace. Youth and vigour, as well as age and experience, have their place in support roles, and the combination of the two benefits everyone.
Posted by Jeff Dray | February 23, 2009, 11:34 AM PST | Latest comment by TechSupport1
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Best Buy's recycling program does not accept storage media
Before the company will recycle an old computer, Best Buy's policy says that the hard drive has to be removed. While it is prudent to make sure that there is no data on a machine destined for a...
Posted by William Jones | February 19, 2009, 11:13 AM PST | Latest comment by TonytheTiger
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Change the OEM information in the Windows System Properties panel to your own
If you want to add your own contact information to the Windows System Properties panel, or change the OEM information that's already there, it's a pretty easy process.
Posted by Joe Rosberg | August 12, 2009, 5:43 AM PDT
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Boot a sick Mac into Target Disk Mode for troubleshooting
William Jones shows you how to use one Mac to access the internal drive of another -- no screwdriver required.
Posted by William Jones | October 3, 2008, 12:16 AM PDT | Latest comment by williamjones
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The right way to format Windows disks using a Mac
A quirk in the Apple Disk Utility allowed me to create a FAT32 volume that would not mount in Windows. Avoiding the same problem is easy once you have an understanding of how Apple's formatting...
Posted by William Jones | May 7, 2009, 5:34 PM PDT | Latest comment by martygoleta@...
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The care and feeding of Li-Ion batteries
Lithium-Ion—or Li-Ion—batteries are in everything, and while they may not last forever, they'll benefit from a little tender loving care. This time, five strategies that will help your users...
Posted by William Jones | November 2, 2007, 3:39 PM PDT | Latest comment by batterynotebookcomau
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How to troubleshoot a computer problem
What steps do you go through in order to diagnose a computer problem? There's more than one correct answer, of course, but here's one way to work through the troubleshooting thought-process.
Posted by Joe Rosberg | September 23, 2009, 9:17 AM PDT | Latest comment by DKeith45
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Keep Thunderbird from building too big a nest on your hard disk
Mozilla's Thunderbird is a great cross-platform alternative for reading e-mail. I've found that the software can require some tuning to provide the best possible experience, though. Here's a tip...
Posted by William Jones | July 10, 2008, 11:53 PM PDT | Latest comment by libskrap
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Hijacked Address Book: How did it happen and what to do?
Most of us have seen those spoof e-mails, when a personal e-mail address has been commandeered for the purpose of sending spam, but in this case, to everyone in your address book.
Posted by Joe Rosberg | April 8, 2009, 3:35 PM PDT | Latest comment by SteveOfLA
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Reasons to have dual monitors
If you had two monitors, what would you use the extra desktop real estate for? Joe Rosberg has some ideas -- try them at your own risk.
Posted by Joe Rosberg | February 29, 2008, 10:38 AM PST | Latest comment by Dr Dij
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Advanced partition management on your Apple computer
All operating systems come with some means of creating partitions and formatting disks. Too often though, the included tools will come up short, omitting support for advanced tasks and non-native...
Posted by William Jones | May 29, 2008, 5:12 PM PDT | Latest comment by stuartbell
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Tips on avoiding hand and wrist pain while keyboarding
If you're like me, you spend hours at the keyboard. You probably, though, don't think of yourselves as classical pianists such as Andre Watts, Lang Lang or Phillipe Entremont. Nor do you likely...
Posted by Calvin Sun | December 5, 2007, 6:39 AM PST | Latest comment by waltjohnson35@...
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Vista's recommended system requirements were not realistic
Did Microsoft sell itself short when it listed the recommended requirements for Vista? Would it have been better received had Microsoft originally presented Vista as requiring a powerful hardware...
Posted by Joe Rosberg | August 6, 2008, 5:59 PM PDT | Latest comment by JCitizen
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What's in your desktop support toolbox?
Joe Rosberg is looking for the perfect support desk toolkit. He lists some of his favorite items for everyday tasks and is open to suggestions from TechRepublic members. What are the tools that...
Posted by Joe Rosberg | April 15, 2008, 10:28 AM PDT | Latest comment by XnavyDK
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A review of Sony's PlayStation 3 repair service
Video game systems are computers designed for a very specific purpose. What can support techs learn from Sony's PS3 service process?
Posted by William Jones | August 27, 2009, 11:05 PM PDT | Latest comment by StefDenis
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Who owns corporate e-mail? Is there a right to privacy?
Does a user have a right to privacy when it comes to corporate e-mail? Or is e-mail corporate property, subject to the whims of the company? Here's one story, what's yours? And take the poll.
Posted by Joe Rosberg | May 13, 2009, 7:00 AM PDT | Latest comment by Forum Surfer
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Getting it all done, the art of time management
Have you got a brain like a sieve or can you remember every little thing you are supposed to do? Do you have methods that help you to keep up with work or do you lurch from one crisis to the next...
Posted by Jeff Dray | December 8, 2008, 12:04 PM PST | Latest comment by webtips@...
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What are your most common desktop support issues?
We'd like to know what you’ve found to be the most common, important, or recurring desktop support issue.
Posted by Joe Rosberg | February 18, 2008, 6:04 PM PST | Latest comment by szlzezezpzzz
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Best Buy's recycling program does not accept storage media
Before the company will recycle an old computer, Best Buy's policy says that the hard drive has to be removed. While it is prudent to make sure that there is no data on a machine destined for a...
Posted by William Jones | February 19, 2009, 11:13 AM PST | Latest comment by TonytheTiger
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Be S.M.A.R.T. about your hard drive's health
Given enough time, all hard disks will fail. Thankfully, most drives support a feature that could give users an early warning before the bitter end. Here's how support pros can introduce...
Posted by William Jones | June 18, 2009, 5:00 PM PDT | Latest comment by cquirke
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Never judge people until you have walked a mile in their shoes
I believe that it is important to gain experience in a variety of departments. Maybe we should try out a few other jobs to help us do our own.
Posted by Jeff Dray | October 27, 2008, 4:31 AM PDT | Latest comment by azra.rizal
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Creative time management can save your sanity
One of the tools that has helped me more than anything in my career as a busy IT pro are good time management skills.
Posted by Tricia Liebert | February 20, 2008, 7:44 AM PST | Latest comment by Joe_R
