DNSDies wrote on 2021-02-25, 16:38:

I DM'ed you the fix!

yes! why would people do that on a public forum? Possibly to give poor advice, try to get something back, offer a dubious download

Wow, what a wonderful thread. Definitely something that can be talked about forever.

Trying not to repeat things already said - one thing that's lately has been ticking me off just a bit is the habit of some hardware folks to recommend "refreshing thermal paste" as a solution to everything. Computer locks up? Crashes? Reboots? Well, let's take it apart and "refresh" the paste, just to be sure. Even if there is no evidence that the computer is actually overheating. Seems irresponsible to me, considering that when a relative newbie tries something like this, there is a non-trivial chance to damage something during disassembly/reassembly (especially if it's a laptop).

dr_st wrote on 2021-03-01, 12:37:

Wow, what a wonderful thread. Definitely something that can be talked about forever.

Trying not to repeat things already said - one thing that's lately has been ticking me off just a bit is the habit of some hardware folks to recommend "refreshing thermal paste" as a solution to everything. Computer locks up? Crashes? Reboots? Well, let's take it apart and "refresh" the paste, just to be sure. Even if there is no evidence that the computer is actually overheating. Seems irresponsible to me, considering that when a relative newbie tries something like this, there is a non-trivial chance to damage something during disassembly/reassembly (especially if it's a laptop).

ah yes, the 'one true answer' approach. whatever the problem is - apply thermal paste; overheating, graphics glitches, hardware conflicts, teeth turning yellow - anything that happens needs 'more paste, and make it fresh!'

and there are others along the lines of "this worked for me so it must work for every type of problem that happens that involved the same molecules being present when I solved mine" !

Tetrium wrote on 2021-02-23, 10:49:

the last reply is the OP saying something like "Nevermind, I solved the problem" without actually telling anyone how he solved the problem or what even the problem turned out to be.

I've seen this so many times and it still annoys me to no end.

It's particularly vexing when you are searching for some obscure issue which only has a few hits on google, and the closest you get to a solution is seeing someone post "never mind, I fixed it".

Any thread on Microsoft support forums where the 'community expert' constantly reposts the same answer despite it not fixing the problem.

drosse1meyer wrote on 2021-03-11, 00:24:

Any thread on Microsoft support forums where the 'community expert' constantly reposts the same answer despite it not fixing the problem.

Oh man, this. This is why I have to use other O/S at home......I put a nice welt on my forehead banging my head on the desk looking for help with Windows problems on Microsoft's offical forums. At least if I go to the Mint forums or Ubuntu forums I talk to someone whose not a de-humanized robot that does not listen. I get better support for FreeDOS and as far as I'm aware nobody is using it like a daily O/S from time to time like I am.

creepingnet wrote on 2021-03-11, 00:31:

Oh man, this. This is why I have to use other O/S at home......I put a nice welt on my forehead banging my head on the desk looking for help with Windows problems on Microsoft's offical forums.

Forget Microsoft's official forums and go to MSFN.ORG instead. That's where the community Windows enthusiasts are.

creepingnet wrote on 2021-03-11, 00:31:

drosse1meyer wrote on 2021-03-11, 00:24:

Any thread on Microsoft support forums where the 'community expert' constantly reposts the same answer despite it not fixing the problem.

Oh man, this. This is why I have to use other O/S at home......I put a nice welt on my forehead banging my head on the desk looking for help with Windows problems on Microsoft's offical forums. At least if I go to the Mint forums or Ubuntu forums I talk to someone whose not a de-humanized robot that does not listen. I get better support for FreeDOS and as far as I'm aware nobody is using it like a daily O/S from time to time like I am.

it's not just microsoft, its things sponsored by corporations it seems, even if staffed volunteers. Maybe it makes people feel less adventurous in advising or they follow a standard 'helpdesk' process (a tortuous series of steps, none of which reveal anything nor help in any way - though it may solve some trivial problems), it's the same in many product support areas outside of computing too. I suppose its an approach to be safe rather than sorry, which frequently means to be ineffective rather than 'risk' being effective

drosse1meyer wrote on 2021-03-11, 00:24:

Any thread on Microsoft support forums where the 'community expert' constantly reposts the same answer despite it not fixing the problem.

oh wow, yeah and all those threads get locked so the person asking the question can't even follow up, it's one of the worst help "forums" I have ever seen.
and unfortunately 98% of google results lead there.

Use -site:answers.microsoft.com when searching in Google. 😀

As a linux user it is quite annoying to look up a problem to "why is this program not compiling?" only to realize i need some ancient version of some dev package out there to compile with that is not in my repositories of any given linux distro i may be using at the time.

For example lets say i wanted to run some obscure emulator from circa 2018 on my ubuntu 20.10 box. I download it from github read the readme file think I have all the dev packages out there to compile with the needed libraries only to realize I just don't, I then go on a triad on the internet searching for about anything using some anonymous bad search engines using + "" to narrow down my search dramatically. Only to then realize that its not out there and i have to dynamically link some libraries that were part of the dev packages i had installed on my system from the readme of the newer versions to the older ones only to realize that only gets me halfway through the compile and it just fails due to some small changes. I then look at some old forums only to realize that they were actual changes that happened to my libraries that i was trying to compile with and i just give up trying to compile this random obscure emulator all together and just rm -rf the directory it was in and wipe it from my system.

Imagine being someone who uses linux and does this to himself routinely from time to time.
Imagine being me.

Juubey wrote on 2021-03-12, 03:54:

As a linux user it is quite annoying to look up a problem to "why is this program not compiling?" only to realize i need some an […]
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As a linux user it is quite annoying to look up a problem to "why is this program not compiling?" only to realize i need some ancient version of some dev package out there to compile with that is not in my repositories of any given linux distro i may be using at the time.

For example lets say i wanted to run some obscure emulator from circa 2018 on my ubuntu 20.10 box. I download it from github read the readme file think I have all the dev packages out there to compile with the needed libraries only to realize I just don't, I then go on a triad on the internet searching for about anything using some anonymous bad search engines using + "" to narrow down my search dramatically. Only to then realize that its not out there and i have to dynamically link some libraries that were part of the dev packages i had installed on my system from the readme of the newer versions to the older ones only to realize that only gets me halfway through the compile and it just fails due to some small changes. I then look at some old forums only to realize that they were actual changes that happened to my libraries that i was trying to compile with and i just give up trying to compile this random obscure emulator all together and just rm -rf the directory it was in and wipe it from my system.

Imagine being someone who uses linux and does this to himself routinely from time to time.
Imagine being me.

i tend to treat linux more as a 'leave-alone' appliance for these reasons. ironic considering how versatile it is, but there in lies the problem. some linux evangelists will extoll the virtues of "you can just compile the sources, make changes, like wow man!" but in practice this leads down the rabbit hole of mysterious conflicts and dependencies, getting that feedback is near useless.

having said that the advice on most linux forums is good, most common problems are well addressed and guidance on using that versatility to your benefit is often very good, so the above is a minor criticism