Several times I've forgotten how to do some basic, but well-hidden task, for example, turning off the notification feature in Outlook, or editing my signature, or some such thing. Sometimes a co-worker will ask a similar question about a basic application. Lately, I have often been able to find answers quickly and easily by searching the application's Help option, which provides me with information that makes me sound fairly smart and well-informed. But between you and me, it's not really me, it's Help that's gotten smarter.
We can easily forget that almost all applications come with a help option on the drop-down menu, offering instructions that some technical writer has slaved over. Perhaps it's our overall aversion to reading documentation, or it could be Help's reputation in the past for answering every question but the one you happen to need an answer to. Maybe it's the memory of Clippy, automatically popping up on your screen and providing well-meaning, but often useless assistance. At any rate, if you haven't visited the help section of your favorite application recently, you might not realize how much Help has improved in the last few years and how much time you can save by giving it a try.
Of course, the kind of questions that Help can answer are usually those geared to basic functionality. When things go awry and error messages start to populate your screen, you'll probably need more.
That's when I turn to Google. Finally a situation when a cryptic error message can come in handy. I just type the text of the error message into the Google search box, and keep my fingers crossed that I'll find some other poor slob who had the same problem AND found the solution. A Google search can kill two birds with one stone, as it will also pull up entries from the Microsoft Knowledgebase, an excellent resource for help with Microsoft applications.
Just about all software companies offer web support, and Google may or may not direct you there, so don't forget to take a look at the company's web support center, and any user forums they might offer. According to an article in PC World, Hanging Up on Tech Support, (Feb. 2006, p. 37), "web-based support seems to be improving - albeit slowly."
The PC World article also suggests checking independently run tech support sites or user forums. These tend to crop up in your Google search results, but note that some charge a fee. I recently Googled an Access error message, and I found the question, but the answer was behind the curtain at Experts Exchange, which charges a $10 monthly fee. Not bad if you can't figure things out any other way.
Just remember, you're not out there on your own when you have a computer problem. There's a world of resources available, you just have to look.
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