Visit the vendor's web site

You can usually find their web site address in your documentation, help system, or by using a web search engine. Here’s a list of vendors for hardware and software I use.

Here’s a searchable database of products and vendors.

Once you’ve found the vendor’s site:

• Find the tech support area.
• See if there’s a area, forum, or newsgroup dedicated to supporting your product.
• See if there’s a "knowledge base" you can do a keyword search on.
• See if there’s a "technical notes" area where you can read about current issues (i.e. problems).
• If available, read the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) file/page. (Sometimes these are done by someone besides the vendor.)
• If possible search the site for keywords about your product and/or problem.
• See if there’s a way to email a tech support person with your question.

Example: Some Windows95 users have a problem with the dialup connectoid having the "save password box grayed out (they can't save the password). Use the Microsoft Knowledge Base to get tech support on this problem.

If you’re lucky, you’ll find just the tip, trick or program update to fix your problem.

Sometimes, you won’t find what you’re looking for.

Let's try the FAQ attack.

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©1997, Mike Molloy, Mountain Data Systems