[Editorial note: there was quite a bit of cut-and-pasting going on - think of the "I" as a collective term for the UAS Ed 673 class. Thanks to everyone who contributed to this.]
http://www.computerhope.com/basic.htm - Computer Hope is an easy to read website dedicated to solving computer issues. Their motto is "free computer help for everyone". The location for free online computer support and computer related information. Computer Hope has been designed to assist all types of computer users with any of their computer related questions as well as a great location to learn more about your computer and its hardware and software.windows
http://www.fonerbooks.com/pcrepair.htm - This Website has flowcharts with hyperlinks to information to help solve computer related issues. The troubleshooting process is the same for an expensive Sony or IBM, or a downmarket eMachines or Gateway. Dell and HP (who purchased Compaq) manufacture PC's in a wide range of price points, but you have to go through the same troubleshooting steps for the cheap ones as the expensive ones if you want to correctly identify and repair the failure.
http://www.pcmech.com/ - PC Mechanic has annoying ads, but has quite a depth of knowledge in its searchable database. I typed in "slow computer" and got back relavent info with suggestions. Its kind of like an Ezine for PC Mechanics. Here is their blurb: Why is PC Mechanic Worth My Time?
Because we like to think we’re a little different. We work to bring the world of technology to the “normal” people. Not geeks and nerds and people who understand all the technical stuff. We talk about the technical stuff, but we try our hardest to talk about it in a REAL fashion, from a practical perspective of a real-world user.
I'd like to suggest TechLearning's Website and newsletter for Tech coordinators. It has a variety of articles so it's not really a "help" desk but still has a lot of information for tech coordinators and some of the info relates to managing a network. Check out http://www.techlearning.com/techcoordinator/index.php
http://www.everythingcomputers.com/troubler.htm - Wide variety of trouble-shooting resources
Whether you have Macs or PCs to maintain, chances are good that you will be using some Microsoft products. Off the main page, http://www.microsoft.com/en/us/default.aspx, in the support section, is located the searchable Knowledge Base., http://support.microsoft.com/search/ The Office Suites for the Mac are supported in a separate area, http://www.microsoft.com/mac/default.mspx.
Integrating Macs and Windows computers is a never-ending issue. http://macwindows.com/ has a fair amount of help on it.
http://www.apple.com/support/mac101/help/ - This site leads though a “wizard” type set up to isolate your issues and offer step-by-step instructions. It also lists information to contact Apple support online or via email. Additionally one can look at Apple customer discussion pages.
Mike Bombich has a great site for imaging macs – it’s the gold standard for ASD tech coordinators. http://www.bombich.com/
Nicole Jacque is an awesome Apple tech who came up to ASD two years back to do some heavy-duty trouble-shooting. She has a couple of really handy Macintosh scripts on her site. http://homepage.mac.com/jacque/script-o-rama/index.html
Apple web-site [www.apple.com] “Support” section. Within that section, I usually turn immediately to the discussions at http://discussions.apple.com/index.jspa . Sometimes it has taken a little creativity to discover the right search terms to use, but so far I have been able to find solutions to any problem that was bothering me, no matter how obscure.
http://www.macintoshos.com/troubleshooting/troubleshooting.html
http://www.aumha.org/ - A site for Mac users with lots of specific information on Mac OS and application bugs and other problems. The Reports page, in particular, has lots of troubleshooting info.
http://www.macfixit.com/ - I have found that MacFixit has a lot of good solutions for trouble shooting issues with specific iLife and iWork programs. I was having a hard time publishing in iWeb and could not find any answers through iWeb’s help or at Apple Support. I went to MacFixit and found my answer right away.
http://www.macfixit.com/staticpages/index.php?page=20031209121115375 - I particularly like the tutorials section of this site. It seems to offer a wide array of tech tip categories and the directions seem informative and easy to follow.
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/ms772425.aspx
http://www.microsoft.com/education/howto.mspx
Windows tutorial articles on various programs that might teach or inspire you to use more features in the many Microsoft programs.
http://support.microsoft.com/search/?adv=1 - I like the advanced search options on this site. It offers a wide searchable knowledge base on many topics and issues.
Within a PC environment, one handy site is http://belarc.com/free_download.html. This provides downloadable software which produces a detailed inventory of the hardware and software on your PC. This particular site is only intended for free use on a single computer. If you find it helpful, though, you can explore the licensing of the software for your institution.
Ubuntu Forums:
http://ubuntuforums.org/“Ubuntu is a community developed, linux-based operating system that is perfect for laptops, desktops and servers. It contains all the applications you need - a web browser, presentation, document and spreadsheet software, instant messaging and much more.” (http://www.ubuntu.com)
They even offer a version designed for schools. http://www.edubuntu.org/
I have dabbled with Ubuntu and believe that it could be a viable free alternative from Windows and Mac lab set ups in an effort to cut some costs. Ubuntu also runs faster on antiquated computers compared to Windows and Mac OS’s.
My district's Internet filter blocks YouTube. Hopefully sites like TeacherTube will soon add similar technology "how to" videos.
www.timesaversforteachers.com/ gsdg
http://pangea.tec.selu.edu/~rbradburn/finalwebquest.html - This is a Webquest on Troubleshooting for Teachers for solving computer problems in the classroom. It includes scenarios with resources and a self-evaluation quiz.
www.nomeschools.com/tech/index.html - Nome Public Schools website for technology
Tech Forum - Lower Kuskokwim School District (LKSD) Tech Forum
http://www.asdk12.org/cio/Help/Index.asp - help site on ASD District website under the Office of the Chief Information Officer
http://www.asdk12.org/cio/hmenu/comptips.asp - Computer Tips and Tricks (ASD)
This one offers Word of the Month, Tip of the Month, and then help on a variety of topics including Microsoft Office programs, Mac operating systems, basics like managing files, keyboard shortcuts, etc. Pretty comprehensive and useful for people within the district.
http://www.asdk12.org/staff/tryon_peter/pages/ - South Anchorage HS tech pages; Hints customized to the specific school. Many are equally appropriate for all of ASD.
http://www.uas.alaska.edu/helpdesk/index.html - UAS Helpdesk; This page has the FAQs for just about everything you can imagine including email, e-portfolios, user accounts, and tons of other issues.
http://www.uas.alaska.edu/helpdesk/coursework/uasHome.html - information on UASHome and university Docs and Web folder.
https://uascentral.uas.alaska.edu/pub - instructions on how to create a shorter URL for your UAS Web site
I am continually amazed at how fast http://www.google.com will take me to an explanation. I type in an error statement and generally in the top ten hits, I’ll see something that sets me on to the answer.
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=installing+macintosh+ram&search=Search
I have also turned to www.youtube.com looking for specific “how to” videos on such things as installing RAM into my Macbook.
https://www.atomiclearning.com - Movie snippets made to teach trouble-shooting and software applications (requires a log-in id)
asktcl.com/index.html -The Computer Lady (all kinds of information on troubleshooting, you can even chat with her one day of the week)
If you have time for some frivolous looks at help desks, you might want to review some of the following sites. They primarily show what you should NOT do— http://everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=512933 is a transcript of a conversation. http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=it+crowd+help+desk&search=Search is a British parody of help desks.
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