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Tips on using Techsurvivors

Why should I register at Techsurvivors?

While you may read our forums and search our archives without registering, you may not ask questions or post to threads. Each applicant is validated by responding from a legitimate email address and monitored briefly during an initial posting period. These measures are to prevent spammers from destroying the clean and friendly atmosphere of our board.

When you register for free at TechSurvivors, you can choose to automatically receive an email whenever someone replies to one of your posts (subscribe), instead of having to check back to see if anyone answered your query.

Some people feel more comfortable making their suggestions 'in private' and if they want to contact you about your problem, they can use the personal mail feature (PM) and send you a suggestion 'offline', but only if you are registered.

And don't be shy about posting, if you make a mistake in your topic or reply, you can edit it at any time. Remember, we don't believe that there are "stupid questions" so don't hesitate to ask.

After you register - how to get help

If this is your first visit to TechSurvivors, welcome!

Here are a few tips about how to post a topic most effectively and get the best and quickest help for your problem.

  1. First, you have to get people to read your post - if nobody reads your post, you won't get any suggestions. This is best accomplished by choosing a descriptive title. Instead of, "Help! I don't know what to do!", which says nothing at all about what is happening, it's better to use something like, "My iMac ate my CD" or "iPhoto opens so slowly" so that others with knowledge of those kinds of problems will be drawn to your post and read it.
  2. In your post, describe your problem in as much detail as you can, and include specifics about your computer, such as which model it is, how much RAM it has, which OS you are using, any peripheral equipment attached, whether you have performed any upgrades, what version software you are using, etc.
  3. All of this data can be critical to giving another person clues about where your problem is, and if you omit these details, you will probably get replies requesting this information, instead of suggestions to solve your problem, which delays the process of arriving at a solution for you.
  4. As a good alternative to listing all the details of your setup when you post a question, if you go to "My Controls" (in the navigation at upper right side of forum window) ->Edit Personal Profile, the last item in the profile is "My Macs," where you can fill in the details of your setup. This information will then appear under your avatar in every post you make, so that you won't have to include all these details over and over again. Be sure to include the Mac model (ie: G5 2.5GHz DP for instance), amount of RAM and the operating system version currently in use. See other's profiles for examples.
  5. Be sure to mention what troubleshooting or repair measures you have already tried and what has been the result. For example, if you have already run Disk Warrior and it found no problems, but your system still responds slowly, mention that fact. If you don't, you are likely to get suggestions to do what you have already done.
  6. Browse or 'Search the forum Archives' or visit our Tips page. You might find the solution to your problem just waiting there for you!
  7. After you have solved your problem, help others by adding the solution to your post thread or acknowledging what hint helped. This 'closes the loop' and has the potential to educate everyone so that the next person with the same problem can be helped even faster.