Have you ever had a computer problem that required
   you to make a phone call to get technical support?
   Would you say that your experience was a GOOD one?

If you are like most of the people that have a computer from a “known” corporation (i.e.: Dell, Compaq), you mostly likely spoke with someone based in India,  the Philippines, etc.  One thing that I have learned by speaking with people in foreign countries to assist me with my PC or related problems is:

             BE SPECIFIC IN DESCRIBING YOUR COMPUTER PROBLEM!!

    I know that sounds vague, but there are countless people who will make a tech support call and give poor details on their problem, thus frustrating them more-so, when the tech can’t figure out HOW to help!  Not to mention, that usually the first person that you speak to is the lowest “Tier” as far as administering support. They usually follow a strict script of asking questions that many experienced computer users think is a waste of time, before they escalate the call to the next Tier of support.

If you have ever experienced this, you have most likely dealt with being on the phone for at least 30 minutes, answering questions such as: “is your computer plugged up”, “is your keyboard plugged in”, etc.  After answering these “dumb” questions, you are told that you need to be transferred, so you can answer MORE “dumb” questions!

So.....giving specific details will definitely be a good step in the right direction!  Here are several examples below of a BAD explanation, followed by  a GOOD explanation that includes as much detail as possible. Whether you are calling Microsoft Support, your companies IT support or help desk support; these tips will come in handy in addressing your computer problem(s) or network problem(s).  These tips will also assist when you are getting online support via email, forum, messenger etc:
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BAD = ”My computer won’t power up, and I don’t know why”

GOOD= “My computer won’t power on, the light on my tower won’t come on, and the computer is plugged up in a working outlet but there is still no power”

(The technician will now know, that your problem is power related, and will troubleshoot accordingly. This will decrease the time needed to repair your issue)
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BAD= ”My computer is very slow when I go online”

GOOD= “Yesterday I downloaded some music and since then my computer has been loading web pages very slowly.  I also constantly get the “hourglass” on my cursor”< /FONT>

(The technician will now estimate that you have a spyware/malware/virus issue, and that the problem started after you downloaded music. Since these same symptoms can be caused by hardware failure or configuration problems, the technician will know how to proceed in fixing the problem, without wasting time with “trial and error”)
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BAD= “My movies won’t play on my PC"

GOOD= “ I put a DVD in my DVD drive and I can hear it spinning but it won’t play. I have the DVD playback software installed, and the DVD works in my other players but not my PC”

(The technician will now know that, you are having problems playing DVDs ONLY, not movie files saved on your hard-drive, such as avi, mpeg, etc.  The technician can better logically deduce that there is most likely a problem with your DVD drive without wasting much time “chasing” other possible issues)
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BAD= “My computer doesn’t work” OR “I can’t get into Windows”

GOOD= “When I turn my computer on, I see a screen that says Power On Self Test, and afterwards my computer freezes on the screen that reads “ verifying DMI pool"