Name:	Mack -	Reply
Subject:	Computer User Forum??
Date:	9/23/2015 10:57:33 AM

I am looking for an honest, no advertisements computer users forum where answers/procedures are provided/explained to the unwashed masses. I am not interested in too much technical detail but only the basics of  solutions to the more common problems. Customer service is becoming a lost art.

Any references to such that you have used yourself would be appreciated..

Name:	DSCR -	Reply
Subject:	Computer User Forum??
Date:	9/24/2015 7:47:46 AM

I think you just hit upon a great new forum idea that would generate a lot of traffic and ad revenue. Oh, wait. No ads? Wont happen. 

This stuff is expensive and to even cover costs would require membership or ad revenue. Not to mention the time of volunteer "administrators" to moderate activities.

But, to try to help, are your questions hardware, software or task related?

What operating system?

What Hardware is involved?

What tasks might be involved?

What sort of issues do you or your friend need help with?

For example, sometimes it's hard to find the thing you think you need in Win8 or 8.1 when you are used to Win 7 or, God forbid, Vista.  Win 10 is awesome and pretty much fixes that, except that Win 8.1 and 10 are so good that many things I needed in Win 7 to make it function, I no longer need.

Or, Is it office, word or excel related? Or IOS?

Anyway, there are lots of answers out there. Or maybe Bruce could add a section here, without moderating it himself, where we could all try to help. I have 10 or 15 people who contact me regularly for help of some sort or other with this stuff, and I am no expert. I help when I can. Sometimes, it's tough to determine what someone is really trying to do, vs trying to explain "where the button is" for what they think they want to do. 

Maybe that's in off topic? I donno. Post up. Let's see what'cha got.

Name:	Mack -	Reply
Subject:	Computer User Forum??
Date:	9/24/2015 10:22:59 AM

I was not suggesting a new forum for this site. I was looking for an existing site that might offer some solutions to problems that other forum members had encountered and fixed..

My machine is HP, maybe 6 years old. 4MB. 500MB. WIN 7. The only current problem is sound quality when trying to play a video someone has posted on FB or e-mailed. Drag,drag, drag. Stop altogether. Sounds extremely distorted. This computer is connected to a wireless router with internet speeds running at 6MB down and @ 300Kb up. The same video plays perfectly over my android connected thru the same router.

What think you??

Name:	DSCR -	Reply
Subject:	Computer User Forum??
Date:	9/24/2015 5:31:18 PM

Yeah, i knew what you meant. On here was my suggestion so we could have this kind of conversation in a dedicated place. To my knowledge, there is not a resource that fits your description.

First, Andriod and ios apps on handheld devices will mostly work when there is not enough bandwidth for a computer to work smoothly. But, it sounds like you have something using memory, cache, and processor bandwidth for something behind the scenes. Malware, adware, or just the old slow computer with barely enough memory to function with old bulky win 7. it happens eventually. Are you using an anti virus/malware program? Which one?

When is the last time you wiped out and restored, i.e. started over? Did you ever make the back up disks to make that easier? How much free hard drive space do you have? All those things can be addressed. This is exactly what the geek squad companies exist off of. By the time you paid someone to do this, you could have bought a new entry computer that would be much better. Or, do it yourself and give it a shot.

ideally, you need a new computer. But if you wipe it out and start over with a clean install it will be better for a while.

Windows 8.1 was much better than win7 for these kind of functional issues. Win10, which i upgraded all my computers to a few weeks ago, is awesome! Fast to boot, more like a phone. But a lot of these persnickety issues are just not an issue anymore. if you decide to go that route, i can give you minumum specs to look for then get as close as the budget allows. 

Name:	Ulysses E. McGill -	Reply
Subject:	Computer User Forum??
Date:	9/24/2015 7:35:01 PM

As you probably know, computer technology and hardware advances very quickly.....not sure what processor you have, but you are "driving" somewhere around the equilivant of a 2001 Ford Taurus. It will get you from point A to B most of the time, but it won't always be reliable and will never be fast or comfortable. Newer operating systems such as Windows 8 and 10 require more processing power too, so I'm not sure that upgrade would help a lot. As mentioned above, a total system restore may help, but it's probably time for an upgrade.  We have to replace our computers every 2-3 years just to keep up with the software needed to run our business....for less "taxing" applications, I still find that 4 years is about the limit of what I can stand.

Name:	DSCR -	Reply
Subject:	Computer User Forum??
Date:	9/24/2015 9:16:10 PM (updated 9/24/2015 9:20:25 PM)

Yes, agree. My reference to newer os's was meant to be in conjunction with a new machine. Not an os upgrade on the 6 year old machine. That would not be wise at all.

The upgrade on our machines was on machines bought this year, knowing that win10 was coming. Which means full compatibility. And, it was free.