Friday, June 10, 2005

Best FREE Online Hardware Support Sites

Do you have a problem with your computer, and you think it is hardware related. Here are some of the sites that I would use to help me troubleshoot my problems over the Internet.

For those of you who are thinking the obvious, if you're computer is down how are you going to access the Internet. Well, you will have to access these sites from another computer, if the one you're working on is down. If you don't have another computer, then you will be on your own.

The first place you want to start looking for help is your hardware (i.e.: computer, motherboard, or other peripheral) manufacturer's web sites. From here you will have access to online technical support, forum, and other resources:
Hardware/Drivers Sites
  • Tom's Hardware Guide (Latest information PC hardware)
  • Windows Driver Guide (Windows Drivers)
  • WinDrivers.com (Windows Drivers [Commercial - Not Free])
    • I included this entry because it is one of the most comprehensive sources for device drivers available that I am aware of. The free alternatives are not as good, with the exception of the 'Windows Driver Guide'.
General Support
  • Google
    • This is a very general purpose area to look for information, but it still contains a wealth of sites that might contain the answer to your question.
  • Google Groups
    • There is a possibility you can find the answer to your question here, if you can't find it in the main Google search engine. Google Groups gives you access to the Usenet archive, which is the world's largest online general purpose bulletin board.

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