[TechGuy]

Having problems using or connecting to this site? Here's your check list. Please glance through this before complaining!

1. THERE WILL BE PROBLEMS. Unfortunately, the Internet isn't perfect. Also, we run this site on a thin budget and can't afford multiple optical connections like the big boys. When things are VERY busy, they can get slow. When there are network upgrades or problems, there may be connection problems. However, we're currently averaging an up-time of over 99.8% over the last year according to www.watchdog.com and www.sitemonitors.com.

2. At 2:00AM Eastern, every day, the site goes offline about 25 minutes. This is because our system automatically backs up our HUGE database during this time. You wouldn't want us to go without backups, would you?

3. Is something blocking cookies or filtering pages? Even though most other sites may appear to be functioning normally, before complaining to us, please TRY -- just TRY -- closing other programs on your computer. Specifically, temporarily disable programs like ZoneAlarm, Norton Internet Security, pop-up blockers, Internet filtering software, and ad-blocking software (like AdBlock). If any of those are not configured properly, they WILL prevent you from properly using this and several other sites. If you're not interested in trying to solve the problem on your end first, don't bother telling me about it!

4. Still having a problem? Let us know! After all, if I don't know there's a problem, I certainly can't fix it! However, be sure to give plenty of information. What problem, specifically, are you having? When does it happen? How do you connect to the Internet? What operating system and browser do you use? Have you discovered any ways around the problem, or discovered any cause and effect to the behavior? Can you reproduce the problem on another machine (not just yours)? If the problem is only happening on your computer, you should probably post in another forum -- like the one for your particular version of Windows -- so that we can better discover what's wrong on your end. Also, please let me know which TSG server you're using.



I'll probably add more to this, and correct any mistakes, soon. If you think anything should be added, feel free to start another thread (I'm going to try to keep this clean) or email mike@techguy.org ... THANKS!!!