TS FAQ

The TechSpot FAQ

 * What Are Attachments?
 * Using Attachments, you can add extra stuffs in your post. You can attach .bmp, .doc, .gif, .jpe, .jpeg, .jpg, .pdf, .png, .psd, .txt and .zip files.
 * Note that only 3 Attachments are permitted per post.


 * Can I send email to other members?
 * Yes, You can check the member's profile page for "Send Email" link. You can also email him by clicking the username in any post and clicking Send Email link from the drop down menu.


 * What is Private Messaging?
 * Note that some members don't wish to receive email and now you'll have to Private Message/Personal Message (PM) the members. You can PM a user by clicking the username in any post and clicking Send PM link from the drop down menu. You can also Use Send New Message in your User CP. You can view your inbox by clicking List Messages in your User CP.

What are the general rules ?

What may my signature contain ?

What are the avatar rules ?

What qualifies as spam ?

What if I double post ?

How to Thank for/Rate an useful post ?

What the hell is Points ?

What are allowed in posting, and what is not ?

What if I post in a wrong section ?

What should I do before creating a new thread ?

How to report a thread ?

How to quote from a post ?

How to quote from multiple posts ?

Are there any special codes/tags I can use to markup my posts?

What is email notification?

What are smilies?

Code Buttons and Clickable Smilies

How do I create and vote in polls?

What are message icons?Can I edit my own posts?

What Are Moderators?

Why have some of the words in my post been ****ed ?

How do I search the forum?

How do I use the Member List?

What are announcements?

HOWTO Ask a question
So you've got a problem, huh ? Ofcourse forums are the best place to get an answer. But most of your problems remain unsolved. Why ?

Before Posting a query
''Gooooooooooooogle'

There are a lot of search engines available on earth, Google being one of the best. Always the first step you must do is to get answer from Search Engines. 99% of the problems are generic, and has been answered before. So there's a fair good chance to get your problem solved without waiting for someone to reply.

Read FAQs and Guides

There are numerous FAQs and Guides available on almost all software/hardware on earth. Most of the common problems are handled by these faqs.

If you're unable to find a FAQ, Open up www.google.com, type in software faq [Eg: Apache faq], and click Search.

If everything fails, read Manuals

This should come first in the list, But Manuals are considered as the most boring part regarding a software.

If you've some problems, Please read the ReadMe/Documentation files provided along with the source. Try to get a manual from the software website and have a look.

Posting on forums
So, if you haven't find a solution by any of the above methods, the next best thing you can do is to ask the experts, ofcourse found at various forums.

Use the Search Button

On Techspot Forums and any other forums, You can find a Search Button for sure. Use that before posting a new topic. There is a high chance that your question has been answered already, or there will be a discussion going on the same topic.

Look for the Stickies

Moderators make Important topics as Sticky Topics and these topics stay on top of others. Check whether any of the Stickies contains solution for your problems.

If you haven't found a solution eitherways, create a new topic for your problem.

Use a Sensible Topic Title

Always Choose a Sensible and apt Topic Title. Generic titles will attract more user views, but are often discarded by Serious users/hackers.

On Web forums, the subject header is your golden opportunity to attract qualified experts' attention in around 50 characters or fewer. Don't waste it on babble like “Please help me” (let alone “PLEASE HELP ME!!!!”; messages with subjects like that get discarded by reflex). Don't try to impress us with the depth of your anguish; use the space for a super-concise problem description instead.

A good convention for subject headers, used by many tech support organizations, is “object - deviation”. The “object” part specifies what thing or group of things is having a problem, and the “deviation” part describes the deviation from expected behavior.

Stupid: ''HELP! Video doesn't work properly on my laptop!''

Smart: ''XFree86 4.1 misshapen mouse cursor, Fooware MV1005 vid. chipset''

Smarter: ''XFree86 4.1 mouse cursor on Fooware MV1005 vid. chipset - is misshapen ''

Be precise and informative about your problem


 * Describe the symptoms of your problem or bug carefully and clearly.
 * Describe the environment in which it occurs (machine, OS, application, whatever).
 * Provide your OS level detail and release level (e.g.: “Fedora Core 2”, “Windows XP SP2”, etc.).
 * Describe the research you did to try and understand the problem before you asked the question.
 * Describe the diagnostic steps you took to try and pin down the problem yourself before you asked the question.
 * Describe any recent changes in your computer or software configuration that might be relevant.
 * Post the output of error logs, if present.

Provide your System Specs

Whether it is a Software or Hardware problem, always provide your complete Machine configuration, along with specific information about your Softwares.

Eg: If you've got some problems with your Web Server. I'm using Fedora Core 4 with kernel 2.6.15, GNOME 2.10, no KDE, Apache 2.0.54, MySQL 3.14 and PHP 5.0.4. My System Specs are AMD Athlon XP 2000+ on an ASUS A7N266VM Mobo, 1 GB DDR400 RAM, 120 GB Seagate Baracudda HDD.

Provide more details on a specific Hardware/Software you're facing problems with.

Prepared to provide more details

The hackers gonna ask you a lot of questions. So be prepared. Always Do the best you can to anticipate the questions a hacker will ask, and to answer them in advance in your request for help.

Please Read This too - How To Ask Questions The Smart Way