How to Be a Tech Hero
Some of you would probably know these kinds of situations: You want to be nice. When friends or relatives call you with computer trouble, you try to help them. But no matter how much you know about PCs, correcting a problem can be a challenge when you’re talking to someone who doesn’t know a motherboard from a soundcard. So sometimes, you need help to be helpful.
First, I’ll tell you how to help local loved ones–those who live close enough for you to sit down at their PCs. Then I’ll offer advice for long-distance support over the phone and via the Internet. Finally, I’ll suggest a few articles you should encourage your tech dependents to read so they won’t have to depend on you so much in the future.
First, you don’t know everything. If you can’t figure out the problem, say so. It’s better not to help than to make things worse.
Second, you have a life. You’re not obliged to drop everything you’re doing to help figure out why Auntie Vivian’s antivirus conflicts with Final Catastrophe IV: Attack of the Dentists. Let people know when it’s not a good time.
