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User Support
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New year, new help desk
New years resolutions are made so that you can start the year on a positive note, yet they nearly always get consigned to the dustbin of history by the time January is over.
Posted by Jeff Dray | January 5, 2009, 12:57 PM PST | Latest comment by ajaxnii
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Save money by making your own Ethernet cables
Cables see a huge markup when sold at retail. With only a small investment for tools and a spool of bulk cable, you can make your own Ethernet cables for just pennies.
Posted by William Jones | January 1, 2009, 10:08 PM PST | Latest comment by 2rs
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Year-end walk around for a computer checkup
The last day of the year is a good one for me to walk around the office and check-up on everyone's computer. Here's a list of some of the things I check for.
Posted by Joe Rosberg | December 31, 2008, 6:44 PM PST | Latest comment by thezar
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Accuracy is the key to call logging
Does your help desk write down notes on paper before logging them to the system or do they live log? Do your help desk tickets suffer from 'Chinese Whispers?' The answer is to set up your logging...
Posted by Jeff Dray | December 29, 2008, 2:37 PM PST | Latest comment by Mr T-Man
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Do you use all your days off?
This season is when a lot of workers look forward to taking time away from work. Even considering the holidays, though, do support pros ever get around to using all of the vacation time they may...
Posted by William Jones | December 25, 2008, 12:00 PM PST | Latest comment by jck
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Is there a better user support tool than the Internet?
Do you remember the user support days before the Internet? Is there a better tool for user support professionals than the Internet?
Posted by Joe Rosberg | December 24, 2008, 7:51 PM PST | Latest comment by gbhall
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The alternative Geek-Speak glossary
What are geeks really saying when they use technical terms? For some less tech-savvy managers and end users, a good glossary is essential to better understanding. Read Jeff Dray's "alternative"...
Posted by Jeff Dray | December 22, 2008, 3:00 AM PST | Latest comment by jpgollaba@...
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Home backups: a primer for your users
Industry studies indicate that many people are risking data loss by neglecting to back up their files at home. Home machines are being used for more and more tasks, both work-related and purely...
Posted by William Jones | December 18, 2008, 11:28 PM PST | Latest comment by reisen55@...
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The worst day of my user support life
Have you ever had one of those things happen to which you said - oh no, not that and especially not now? Do the worst things always happen at the worst times, or does it just seem that way?
Posted by Joe Rosberg | December 18, 2008, 11:00 AM PST | Latest comment by jrowen9@...
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Global help desk support: Can it work?
The answer to handling multiple support offices around the globe is clear, non-colloquial communication. It's not just the users who sometimes have a hard time understanding their technical...
Posted by Jeff Dray | December 15, 2008, 6:38 AM PST | Latest comment by GlennHughes
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Supporting Macs in the enterprise: Eliminating malware
In spite of their marketing message, Apple knows that their computers need to be protected from malware. Don't be caught unawares! Make sure your Macs are set for the day the big one hits.
Posted by William Jones | December 12, 2008, 1:11 AM PST | Latest comment by williamjones
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Which spyware removal tool do you use? Take the poll.
Virus protection and a good spyware removal product are both vital tools for user support professionals. But which one to use? Take the poll and participate in the discussion.
Posted by Joe Rosberg | December 10, 2008, 5:58 PM PST | Latest comment by GSystems
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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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Help desk techs are owed overtime pay
Many managers assume that salaried employees are exempt from overtime pay, but this is not necessarily true. According to U.S. labor laws, many support techs may be due for overtime compensation,...
Posted by William Jones | December 4, 2008, 5:09 PM PST | Latest comment by Selltekk
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Supporting home users? Share your experience and take the poll
It seems that supporting home users could provide a huge market for IT pros, but most would prefer to focus their attention on the business user. What are some pros and cons of supporting home...
Posted by Joe Rosberg | December 3, 2008, 6:14 PM PST | Latest comment by hsnelson@...
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Offshoring the help desk
If you think it is hard to understand people on off-shored support lines, spare a thought for those of us who get to do house calls in the more rural parts of Merry England. Blogger Jeff Dray...
Posted by Jeff Dray | December 1, 2008, 4:04 PM PST | Latest comment by brent.russell@...
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Living with elderly technology
The old saying goes, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." New stuff is sexy, but sometimes there are good reasons for keeping older tools that are still serviceable.
Posted by William Jones | November 27, 2008, 5:40 PM PST | Latest comment by cmcarlson.com@...
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What to do when there's no one at the office (and a Happy Thanksgiving message)
I went into the office the day before Thanksgiving, and the first clue as to what kind of day it was going to be could be found in the parking lot. It was practically empty. What to do?
Posted by Joe Rosberg | November 26, 2008, 5:07 PM PST | Latest comment by jeremial-21966916363912016372987921703527
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Christmas on the help desk
That time of year is coming around again, when people take time off to enjoy Christmas at home and the office starts to look empty, yet there is always a need to man the help desk.
Posted by Jeff Dray | November 24, 2008, 2:11 PM PST | Latest comment by Joe_R
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Tips for holiday tech support
If you're going to be supporting friends and family in between servings of turkey and pumpkin pie, here are a few things to bear in mind beforehand.
Posted by William Jones | November 20, 2008, 9:53 PM PST | Latest comment by jerez@...
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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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Ten ways to ensure that you finish work on time
Working life is about surviving the 9 to 5 and making sure that there is some of you left for the next day.
Posted by Jeff Dray | September 7, 2009, 1:06 PM PDT | Latest comment by Chief-Tiff
