B 7 where to get troubleshooting

B.7 Where to Get Troubleshooting Help If the basic steps described in this chapter haven't helped, the universe is crawling with additional help sources In general, this is the part in any Mac book where you're directed to Apple's help Web site, to various discussion forums, and so on—and, indeed, those help sources are listed below But the truth is, the mother of all troubleshooting resources is not any of those—it's Google You'll find more answers faster using Google than you ever will by starting at any of the individual help sites below That's because Google includes all of those help sites in its search! Suppose, for example, that you've just installed the 10.5.1 software update for Leopard, and it's mysteriously turned all your accounts (including your own) into Standard accounts And without any Administrator account, you can't install new programs, change network settings, add or edit other accounts, and so on You could go to one Web site after another, hunting for a fix, repeating your search— or you could just type Leopard 10.5.1 standard accounts into Google and hit Enter See Figure B-4 Figure B-4 Don't waste your time Start any troubleshooting search at Google Leave out small words like "it," "the," "of," and so on; Google ignores them Bottom: Presto: Google's very first results link contains the answer B.7.1 Help Online These Web sites contain nothing but troubleshooting discussions, tools, and help: • Apple Discussion Groups (http://discussions.info.apple.com) The volume and quality of question-and-answer activity here dwarfs any other free source If you're polite and concise, you can post questions to the multitudes here and get more replies to them than you'll know what to with • Apple's help site (www.apple.com/support) Apple's help Web site includes downloadable manuals, software updates, frequently asked questions, and many other resources It also has a Search box, which may look mild-mannered but is actually the mother of all troubleshooting resources: the Knowledge Base This is the collection of 50,000 individual technical articles, organized in a searchable database, that the Apple technicians themselves consult when you call for help You can search it either by typing in keywords or by using pop-up menus of question categories • MacFixIt (www.macfixit.com) The world's one-stop resource for Mac troubleshooting advice; alas, you have to pay to access the good stuff B.7.2 Help by Telephone Finally, consider contacting whoever sold you the component that's making your life miserable: the printer company, scanner company, software company, or whatever If it's a Mac OS problem, you can call Apple at 800-275-2273 (that's 800-APL-CARE) For the first 90 days following your purchase of Mac OS X (which, as far as Apple knows, is the date of your first call), the technicians will answer your questions for free After that, unless you've paid for AppleCare for your Mac (a three-year extended warranty program), Apple will charge you to answer your questions Fortunately, if the problem turns out to be Apple's fault, they won't charge you   ... either by typing in keywords or by using pop-up menus of question categories • MacFixIt (www.macfixit.com) The world's one-stop resource for Mac troubleshooting advice; alas, you have to pay to access... actually the mother of all troubleshooting resources: the Knowledge Base This is the collection of 50,000 individual technical articles, organized in a searchable database, that the Apple technicians... Apple's help Web site includes downloadable manuals, software updates, frequently asked questions, and many other resources It also has a Search box, which may look mild-mannered but is actually