- cross-posted to:
- [email protected]
- cross-posted to:
- [email protected]
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Have problem with computer
Search for solution
Find old forum post with the exact problem from 15 years ago
“Edit: Fixed it myself. Nevermind.”
“Have you used driver doctor to update your drivers? Do this first and tell us if problem is fixed.”
This will be now my standard template for the technical support
I scroll to the bottom. If there’s “was this helpful” 99% of the time it isn’t.
Applies to macOS as well. These official support forums are such garbage.
Windows: did you run sfc /scannow and chkdsk? (This has never solved a single thing in my entire building PCs life, so since about 1999.)
macOS: did you reset SMC and PRAM? (This is basically a fancy restart and with Apple Silicon devices, it is literally just a restart.)
Same as the useless windows troubleshoot program that pop off every time a program crashes “Looking for the problem that caused the crash. Oh i found nothing”.
I’m convinced it’s just those 2 pop ups and are placed just for giving the impression of doing something, but actually doing nothing.
I have very positive experience with that thing actually. It fixed many a wifi issue for me (interestingly, while also saying it couldn’t find the issue. It just fixed it. Probably ran something as part of its diagnostics that happened to also fix the problem)
deleted by creator
At least you’re able to get through to an actual human with Apple.
One time I had a problem and all the suggestions were sfc /scannow and chkdsk, except one answer that said “download this extremely shady program”.
…it worked and all the replies were people embarrassed that what should’ve been an obvious virus actually fixed their ongoing tech issue.It’s suggested more than it helps, especially on MS support pages, but for sure sfc fixes a particular set of problems. Out of about 16 times I’ve used it professionally it’s solved the issue about 12 or so times. (In 20 years, so damn you for making me feel old) And when it didn’t it’s usually because the file is also corrupt in dllcache.
Chkdsk is/was useful, imho, if you run it with the /r parameter. In my experience it became irrelevant for user systems with ssd’s.
Both are tools. Don’t blame the tool for being used for something they’re not meant for. You could technically use a power drill to hit nails in a wall, sometimes, but someone suggesting a power drill in place of a hammer doesn’t mean it’s a bad tool.
To be clear, it’s not that I’m saying sfc /scannow and chkdsk are altogether worthless, it’s just that they’re reflexively repeated as a solution to seemingly every issue posted on those forums. It’s more so the advice is frequently useless for the given issue, rather than the specific commands themselves.
Dear, Valued Customer
chkdsk c: /f /r
Microsoft thanks you for your business
That’s the support forums. It gets worse with actual support, that goes all chummy friendly, adds emoji and exclamation marks randomly. I would not have been surprised if my last exchange with MS Support ended with “tee hee”.
They’re weird.
Here’s a handy Venn Diagram:
(Answers) (Answers DOT Microsoft DOT com)
Yeah, it’s pretty funny that occasionally when looking up a real problem they refer you to https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/ which is way better
Even worse when they post „Found a solution“ and close the thread.
“Already answered in another thread. Locked.”
The other thread: “I found this guide on (dead site), and it fixed my problem”
I think about this XKCD every goddam day.
This is one of my favourite xkcds because it made me more consciously aware of the peculiar intimacy of the situation in the comic. Furthermore, in addition to the link that exists between me and someone on a forum with my particular tech problem, it also made me feel connected to everyone who had a different problem to me, but were also desperately trawling forums for help
This comic made me go back to a post I made and put in the solution I found to a really strange problem. 2 years later someone responded saying they had the same problem and my solution fixed it for them.
I love tech “help” that basically suggests you nuke everything you’re trying to save.
I can’t believe they are getting away with so many bullshit non-solutions to the point where you wonder if they even know how to read.
I wonder if they trained AI on this. Might explain some things
I kinda like the MS Support Forum. If it’s in my results, I don’t open it for the solution. I just want to see the braindead support answer and the countless complains about it for fun. It’s amazing how stupid these threads are and even more amazing that MS doesn’t care.
This applies to almost everything tech related whenever there is an official support and non-standard issue. These people (or bots) just follow some script and as soon as there is a bit more complex or non-standard situation, they will have no clue what to do because they are not technical.
As far as Microsoft Support Community goes, if issue is popular there often is a decent answer deeper in thread, do not focus on ″best answer″.
As per this, it seems these Independent Advisors are outsourced by Microsoft from some company called Directly. Answer is from 2019 November so it might be outsourced to different company now. There might be also several. Same happens with at least M365 enterprise support. I have seen supporters from Accenture and other companies.
i once said has anyone fixed any problem with any of these ms threads? and they all say solved.
I wrote about it on my other account a year ago: https://lemmy.world/comment/5005611
Hi, Micro$oft Community Advisor Alicia here!
I’m sorry to hear that your software occasionally crashes. Trying some of these steps may help you:
- Go to Windows Update and search for the latest drivers
- Run ‘sfc /scannow’ in command prompt
- Reinstall Windows
Please mark my post as “Answer” if this helped you solve your problem! Thank you!
Looked up how to “close tabs to left” on Edge* since there’s a button for right but not left. Click MS help link, the dude legitimately recommended moving all the tabs backwards then closing to right.
He also said you could do control click on them and “close selected tabs” which worked… decently. Still mad there’s not a button for closing tabs to left though.* this was on my education laptop where I can’t use Firefox and Chrome doesn’t save cookies so id have to log into everything every single time for ‘safety’
