Information to Give Us to Solve Your Problem

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The more you tell us about your problem or question, the faster we can get you an answer, and everyone is happy.

WARNING! If your post is only FRUSTRATED COMPLAINTS, don't expect any answers. We have no facts to work with. We don't like to ask a "frustrated person" for more facts as they feel we are giving them the "run-around". We need information to help you. Give it to us at the start.

Put on an Attitude of Gratitude for the FREE help you are asking for, and... you will receive it.

MTU and our other technically capable users will be glad to answer you when then see it, understand it, and have the time to answer it. MTUSUPPORT answers posts in the morning and afternoon (EST). These Forums are the best way to get help. Please read our support policy about why emailing MTU is a bad way to ask for help.


The MTU.Community Forums use Cookies! Thus, you must enable Cookies in your Internet Browser program. If not, your computer will be logged out of the Forums whenever you click a Forum link to view it, or click the Post Reply button or the New Thread button. You then must log in again, and again... you get the point.


What Should You Post?

When you have a problem or question and need help, we need as much facts as you can give us. Just saying your computer crashes gives us nothng to diagnose with. Our goal is to solve your problem. The more accurate you are, the faster we can help you without asking you more questions.

For Software Problems - Please post as much of the following information as you can in the Help Forum for the program you need help with.

1. Program name - Example: Microstudio, KHPro. Please mention problems for only one product at a time in a Forum Question. If you have problems with mulitiple programs, post each problem in the associated Help Forum for that program.
   
   
2. Program Version number - Click the Help menu About... command to see the Version number.
   
   
3. Windows Type - What you run on the computer (98SE, ME, 2000, XP Home, XP Pro).
   
   
4. Describe the problem - Tell us clearly what you are trying to do, that you cannot, or that is not working correctly. Give us as much detail as yo can about the problem. Tell us some about what you can do, not just what doesn't work. If we know that some features are working, that helps us diagnose what is wrong. For example with a CD-Recorder, can you write an Audio CD or CDROM with the software that came with the drive? If so, we know the drive is connected correctly.
   
   
5. What are the steps you do when the problem happens? This will allow us to duplicate the problem. Or, we may be able to see that you are missing a step in what you are doing and quickly help you use the feature.
   
   
6. When did the problem start - Was the program running fine before or not? Did you do something to the computer and then the problem started? (Example: I was running find and now the display show garbage lyrics after I installed Service Pack/Update x).
   
   
7. Error Messages - Write down the exact message(s) that appears. If you can't do this, grab the error message box image. To do this, move the mouse arrow inside the message box, and press the Alt key and the Print Screen key on the keyboard at the same time. Open the Windows Paint program, click the Edit menu Paste command and the image will appear in the screen. Click the File menu Save command to store it on your hard drive (remember the location). Go to the MTU Forum and find the Help Forum for your program. Click the New Thread button and enter all the above information. Then, find the Attach file: field and Browse... button at the bottom of the screen. Click the Browse... button and locate your image where you stored it.

For Hardware Problems - Please post as much of the following information as you can.

• CPU type (i.e. AMD Athlon XP2600+)
  
  
• RAM size
  
  
• Motherboard Chipset (look in computer manual or post the name of the motherboard)
  
  
• Graphics card type (can be found in Settings > Control Panel > Device Manager)
  
  
• Windows version (98SE, ME, 2000, XP Home or Pro)
  
  
• Describe any special hardware devices, such as "I have a LiteOn 52x CDRW burner"
  
  
• Describe the problem.

Don't worry if you can't give all of the above. Post as much as you can. If your post contains facts, we can answer faster and more accurately. If not, we must ask you these same questions before we can even guess at your problem.



If we ask you to, run DXDIAG, to gather information about your computer and post it in the Help Forum. This tells us many things about your computer hardware and software. Follow these steps:

• Click the Start Menu Run command
  
  
• Type in DXDIAG and click the OK Button. You can download a free copy from Microsoft at: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/s...displaylang=en.
  
  
• The DirectX DIAGnostic program will appear and automatically gather information about your computer and display it to you.
  
  
• Click the Save all Information button at the bottom.
  
  
• Change the Save in directory to C Drive > Your computer Username > My Documents Folder.
  
  
• Change the filename to dxdiag from Your First+Lastname (example: dxdiag from Joe Smith).
  
  
• Include any other relevant information you can think of to help us.
  
  
• Create a Thread or Post as above, then find the Attach file: field and Browse... button at the bottom of the screen where you enter your question. Click the Browse... button and locate your image where you stored it.
  
  
• Attach your file named dxdiag from Your First+Lastname and click the OK button.
  
  
• We can then read this file about your computer (it does not disclose any personal information, only computer specs) and help you faster.