Computing.Net Help

At first glance, Computing.Net can seem daunting. With over half a million pages of content, even the most intelligent person may be somewhat confused. However, a quick look over this section should answer most, if not all, of your questions.

• How do I search previously asked questions?
• How do I ask a question?
• What are the rules for Computing.Net?
• How do I track my question?
• What are Private Messages?
• How do I find a user's My Computing.Net name?
• What are Alerts and how do I receive them?
• Why did my post disappear or change to another post?

How do I search previously asked questions?

Computing.Net has a knowledge-base containing hundreds of thousands of answers. You should always check this before asking a new question. Please look at this page for instructions on using Computing.Net's search engine. Also, you may look at this page for instructions on improving your searches.

How do I ask a question?

Computing.Net has thousands of extremely knowledgeable experts just waiting to help you with your problem. Asking a question on Computing.Net is really quite simple.

First, you must create a My Computing.Net account. You may create this account by clicking here and finding the "Register For My Computing.Net" section. Choose a username and password for your account and click "Register". Please do not choose your e-mail address as your username, as doing so could cause privacy issues.

Since Computing.Net's membership is so large, it is quite likely your first choice of username will be taken. Do not fear. Simply keep trying until you find a username that is available.

Once the account is created, you will be presented with a page that informs you of your account name and password. Please do not lose this information. Printing the page is highly recommended.

Now that you have created your account, you will need to login. Click here to access My Computing.Net. This time you will use the "Login to My Computing.Net" form. Enter your username and password exactly as you registered them and click "Login." Remember, usernames and passwords are case sensitive so the password "Hello" is not the same as "hello." Now you should be logged in.

Please read the "Forum Settings" section on the My Computing.Net page to see if you would like to use these settings. This is optional, but it can save a great deal of time.

Finally, you may ask your question. Click here to read a short file about how to properly ask questions on the site.

This process of registering an account and asking a question may have seemed long. However, you should realize that registering is a one-time event. To ask questions in the future, all you need to do is go to www.computing.net, click "My Computing.Net," login (if necessary) and ask the question.

What are the rules for Computing.Net?

The rules for Computing.Net are outlined on this page. While most are common sense, you should be aware of the rules regarding double posting and posting multiple times.

How do I track my question?

Every time you post a new question, it is automatically added to something called a "My Computing.Net List." Assuming you are logged into My Computing.Net, click here to view the "My Computing.Net List."

All questions listed in the "My Computing.Net List" track status. If your question has an empty file box (all gray), no replies have been added since your last visit. If your question has a filled file box (blue folder inside a gray box), one or more replies have been added since your last visit. Replies will most likely be answers or other information relating your question. Click on the message in the list to view it.

If your question has been properly answered, please use the "Use following form to reply to current message" form to thank the person or persons who answered it. If the responding parties have not properly answered your question or they have requested more information, use the same form to provide this information. Do not post an entirely new question with this new information. It will only serve to confuse those trying to help you.

Note that after entering additional information, you may want to "Alert" the people attempting to help you about this additional input. If you see an "Alert" button, you may click that to alert the poster. If one does not exist, the user does not allow alerts. He or she will probably check the message in due course.

You may also use the "Computing.Net Buddy" to track messages. This is a small window that remains open, refreshing every ten minutes. Any new replies will be listed in the "Unread Replies" section of the buddy. To access the buddy, go to your "My Computing.Net" page and click "Computing.Net Buddy."

What are Private Messages?

Private Messages are short messages sent between My Computing.Net users. All messages will be listed on your My Computing.Net page under the heading "Private Message Center."

To write someone a Private Message enter his or her My Computing.Net username, the desired message and click "send message."

How do I find a user's My Computing.Net name?

The simplest way to find a user's My Computing.Net is to ask the user. However, this is not always necessary.

When a user posts a message (either a new question or a follow up) on Computing.Net's forums, he or she has the option of using the My Computing.Net name as the posting name. The majority of users exercise this option. If the name in the "Name: " field is in bold text, that user's posting name and My Computing.Net name are identical. Simply copy this name and use it to send the message. If the name is in normal text, the My Computing.Net name will follow the user's posting name in the format "(by Name)." You may use this name for the private messages.

Remember, My Computing.Net names are case sensitive. They must be entered exactly as they appear. Otherwise, the send may fail or go to the wrong person.

What are Alerts and how do I receive them?

Alerts are primarily designed for users who provide help. They appear on every follow up posted and allow any active user in the discussion to alert you. You may enable alerts by checking the "Allow users to alert me re: my posts." box in the "Forum Settings" section of My Computing.Net. Once this is done, click "Set/change" to save the setting. You will be notified of new alerts when you open the "My Computing.Net" page. Alerts are also listed in "Computing.Net Buddy."

Note that you should use the "Message List" technique outlined above for tracking questions. Only use the alert system for tracking your answers.

Why did my post disappear or change to another post?

This section begins with the assumption that, at one point in time, you could see your post on Computing.Net. If you were never able to see your posting, you may have a browser or router caching problem. Computing.Net's forums contain many posts about these types of problems. Since caching issues can be diverse in nature, this help section will not address them. Instead, acquire use of a working computer and post your caching question on Computing.Net's forums.

For those who, at one point in time, could see their post, posts are not routinely removed from Computing.Net. The best way to find if your post is still available on the site would be to look in your My Computing.Net "Message List." New postings you make are automatically added to this list. Unless you edited this list to remove the posting in question, it should still be there. If it is not, your posting may have been removed from the site.

Posts on the site that violate the rules of Computing.Net are sometimes removed. If you believe one of your posts was removed from the site, please read the rules of Computing.Net by clicking here.