tech support
Fix
Computer Repair Flowchart Troubleshoots Hardware Problems
8:00AM Azadeh Ensha | We recently showed you a fun (but accurate) tech support cheat sheet courtesy of popular web comic xkcd. If hardware is more your problem, this series of interactive charts can help you troubleshoot some common hardware problems. More »
Fix
Tech Support Cheat Sheet Reveals The Secrets Of Troubleshooting
11:30AM Adam Pash | If you read Lifehacker, chances are you’ve been designated as your family’s de facto IT person, and you’ve probably spent more than your fair share of hours troubleshooting applications you know no better than the person asking. How do you do it?! More »
Communicate
8:30AM Angus Kidman | When you’ve got an Internet connectivity problem, the last thing you want to do is hang on hold for hours on end. Internode is trying to help consumers sidestep that issue with a continuously updated online record of call waiting times. More »
Internode Shows Call Wait Times On Its Site
8:30AM Angus Kidman | When you’ve got an Internet connectivity problem, the last thing you want to do is hang on hold for hours on end. Internode is trying to help consumers sidestep that issue with a continuously updated online record of call waiting times. More »
Fix
3:00PM Angus Kidman | The recession gets blamed for everything these days, so I’m wondering if it’s also an excuse for new slackness in tech support departments, Back in January, I lodged a support request with SanDisk after the C240 voice recorder I use refused to install on my new PC. None of the online support documents were any help, so I resorted to the company’s online system. It took SanDisk’s support team an entire month before it got back to me, and none of its advice proved any use. But even more galling, it then marked the entire support case as closed within a week, even though I hadn’t contacted anyone to say anything had been fixed. It strikes me that a company which takes a month even to respond doesn’t have much excuse for then closing off correspondence in a much shorter time frame. I’m wondering: is this unusual, or are we going to see even more and more cost-cutting and penny-pinching? Share your tech support nightmares in the comments.
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Are Tech Support Departments Getting Worse?
3:00PM Angus Kidman | The recession gets blamed for everything these days, so I’m wondering if it’s also an excuse for new slackness in tech support departments, Back in January, I lodged a support request with SanDisk after the C240 voice recorder I use refused to install on my new PC. None of the online support documents were any help, so I resorted to the company’s online system. It took SanDisk’s support team an entire month before it got back to me, and none of its advice proved any use. But even more galling, it then marked the entire support case as closed within a week, even though I hadn’t contacted anyone to say anything had been fixed. It strikes me that a company which takes a month even to respond doesn’t have much excuse for then closing off correspondence in a much shorter time frame. I’m wondering: is this unusual, or are we going to see even more and more cost-cutting and penny-pinching? Share your tech support nightmares in the comments.
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Work
Install-It Creates Auto-Starting Installer CDs For Any Applications
10:00PM Kevin Purdy | Windows only: Free app Install-It puts a small auto-starting application on any removable drive that makes installing applications a double-click affair. After downloading the Install-It package, you’ll want to extract its files to somewhere you can reach, like your desktop, and open up the Install.ini file in your favourite text editor. This file is simply a list of program descriptions and the locations of their installer files. If you’re creating a disc full of useful installers, just replace the default examples with your chosen verbiage for each app and the location/names of the setup files. You separate those two items with a comma, using slashes where necessary, and end each line with a semi-colon. More »
Work
Ammyy Admin Shares Screens In Three Steps
1:30AM Kevin Purdy | Windows only: If you’re eager for a simple, non-browser, quick-starting app that will let you get remote desktop access to your mom’s desktop, your struggling friend’s laptop, or nearly any other machine, Ammyy Admin is just about perfect for your needs. The 128KB, no-install app opens and gives you a dedicated client ID number. To connect as the administrator, you simply enter the client’s ID’s number, choose a connection speed optimiser (if needed), and hit “Connect,” while the client only has to hit “Start.” Unless you use its sister private router product, Ammyy Admin will route its screen-sharing traffic over the developer’s servers, so work that requires privacy shouldn’t rely on Ammyy. Still, for keeping it simple with one-time connections—or even regular hook-ups, through Ammyy’s Windows service option—Ammyy is worth checking out. Ammyy Admin is a free download for Windows systems only. Ammyy Admin [via FreewareGenius.com] More »
Organise
Let Me Google That For You Passive-Aggressively Helps Your Friends
6:30AM Lifehacker US Edition | If you’re a power searcher, or other people think you are, and you’re getting tired of constant requests for answers to questions that a quick Google search would provide, try Let me google that for you. Enter a search term, click the Google Search button, and a link appears that you can copy, paste and send to your friend. When they click the link, an animation displays the complicated process of searching Google for information, and then directs the user to the actual search results page from Google. Snarky? Yes. However, the time the user is forced to study the search term you used, they might pick up a trick or two in keyword syntax, search operators, literal strings and the like. After all, give a man an answer, and he’ll come back tomorrow asking for more. Teach a man to search Google, and you’ll have to offer tech support when he ends up downloading malware while cruising shadier purveyors of adult entertainment and file sharing software. Let me google that for you [via Laughing Squid] More »
Organise
Roll Your Own System Administration Panel
10:34PM Kevin Purdy | If you’re regularly digging into Windows’ Control Panel and Administrative Tools to tinker with your system, or a friends’, the How-To Geek has quite the time-saving tip for you. Both Windows XP and Vista have a built-in tool that lets you cherry-pick the tools you regularly use—disk management, user/group control, services, and the like—and pack them all into a custom panel. You can place a shortcut to this panel anywhere you’d like, and you can even add in links to helpful web pages or folder locations. Pretty handy stuff for professional sysadmins, or those folks regularly putting on their fix-it cap. Create a Custom System Administration Panel in Windows XP or Vista [The How-To Geek] More »
Work
Give Tech Support or Grab Files Remotely on any System
2:00AM Kevin Purdy | Whether you’re missing a crucial file at work or home, or you just need to tweak one little setting to get Mom’s email working again, having remote control of another desktop can be seriously handy. But not everybody can walk the less-tech-inclined through installing a VNC server and opening up their router ports, or have the time to create their own SingleClick tech support tool (cool as it may be). Today, we’re looking at the best solutions for getting into a computer remotely, whether you’re helping out Uncle Bif, grabbing files from home, or controlling your media server from the lounger. Photo by miguelb. More »Take notes during tech support calls to keep your provider accountable
1:06PM Sarah Stokely | While many call centres these days record support calls, it can help you to keep them accountable (and keep track of your account details) if you keep notes on any support calls you make.You don’t need a word-by-word transcript, but here are some basic facts you can note down:
the date and time of your call
the name of the operator
any specific details related to your call such as dates, times, or payment amounts discussed
if they say anything which seems odd or wrong to you, make note of it. For example, a staffer at one ISP told me it didn’t matter what phone provider I used, I’d be able to get their internet regardless. It seemed odd, and sure enough, when I rang back the next day to connect, I was told that I had to be with Telstra or a Telstra wholesaler to get their service.
Having these notes to hand can make any followup support calls much easier for you and the company you’re calling.
My other advice is to ask questions to clarify anything complex, and repeat it back to them. Saying “So if I understood you correctly, the situation is…” can help make sure you’re both on the same page. More » 
