We love to answer questions... it is why we are here! we are here to help. HOWEVER there is MUCH you can do to help us as we try to help you fix whatever problems you may be having. What I mean is there is a lot you can do to get your issue resolved as quickly as possible.

Remember that although most of us have "real" jobs, we don't work for eBay, or for any company that pays us to answer your questions. We are by nature and by necessity problem solvers... please understand this, for it is extremely significant. Perhaps you will come across answers that you do not like. Sorry. Accept the advice in the spirit in which it is given or ignore it. Your choice. We will give you the best advice we can, but like everything else in life, there is no guarantee.

It COULD be wrong, and it COULD fail. It MIGHT even make things worse. We try not to do that.
You COULD get run over by a semi on the way to the grocery store. You try not to do that.
In here, just as in life, there are no guarantees.

Again, I must stress that we LOVE problems. We get off on solving them. The more difficult your situation, the more we enjoy helping you through it!

Therefore, we must encourage you to adhere to this simple truth:
Asking a good question yields a good answer

Please understand the mechanics of this:

Posting a question that says: "I need help" or "Can I ask a question?" is completely common. All we can say in response to that is: "What is your problem?" Honestly... Read down through the forum and see how long it takes someone to get around to ACTUALLY asking their question.

However, posting a question that says: " keypress.dll disables teamspeak" assists us in ways you cannot imagine. It might just be that someone has dealt with your specific problem directly and can answer your question specifically, directly, expertly, and most importantly... quickly. This is a forum for people with computer problems to ask questions of people who may be able to help them fix those problems. Get on with asking the question.

Give us the information we need to get started. Tell us about your computer. What version of Windows you are running (98, SE, ME, XP Home, XP Pro) or if it is a Mac or is running Linux or OS2 or whatever else, let us know. How much memory does it have? What processor (AMD or Intel, K6-2, Athlon, Athlon XP, Penitum I, II, III or IV)? If you don't have a clue about any of that, tell us, and we'll try to help you figure it out, but if you already know, tell us up front.

Then, tell us how it acts. "It won't boot at all... None of the lights come on and it is completely silent." "It starts to boot, beeps 3 times (2 short and 1 long) and then freezes." "It gets almost done booting and then goes to a blue screen with the following message [insert the exact message here]." "It boots and runs, but the sound/video/[whatever else] isn't right in this specific way." "It boots and runs, but it takes 2 minutes to open a window."
You get the idea. The more you tell us up front, the less we'll have to pry out of you later. Also, if you have made any changes lately, let us know. "My machine was working fine until I installed [insert new hardware or software here]."

We'll ask you some questions, and make some recommendations. Remember that the people here do this for fun, but I promise you that they're pretty good at it. If you can follow their recommendations, together we can probably diagnose and fix your machine. That fix may be beyond your ability to accomplish. If your motherboard is fried or your hard drive is dead, you may want to take the machine to a shop. (Not to say we won't talk you through a hard drive swap or motherboard transplant, if you're up for it.) Even so, if you go to the shop and tell the tech there, "This is what I've done; this is what I found; and this is what I think... " You're likely to come out better than if you hand it to the tech and say "It won't work."

So, before you post, read down through the old posts to get a "feel for the neighborhood", and then collect your thoughts. Post your question in a clear concise manner, and give us a little time to respond. The initial response may be "You need to talk to [insert regular's name here], and he/she is usually around in the morning/evening/late at night. Repost your question then."

These aren't intended to be "rules". They are intended to help you help us help you. Remember that, as twisted as it sounds, we think this is fun. If you take the fun out of it, we're less likely to play. So ask clear, concise questions, be nice, and let's see if we can fix your computer.

Note that there are lotsa help forums around the net. Some are better than others. I stole the idea for this message and some of the text from several of them. Several of the regulars' pages have links to some very valuable resources that we all use all the time. Check them out.

Thanks for reading clear to the bottom of this ramble. I hope it was helpful, and I hope we can help.