Indeed there is. It doesn't involve buying a bunch of expensive and weighty manuals and sequestering yourself with the machine for a fortnight. In fact, it's not a do-it-yourself approach at all. Instead, you can get expert tech support through an online service that will both talk to you and work on your computer remotely.
The service is BluePhone. Tech support is their game. They hire experienced and credentialed computer technicians to run a remote help desk. Most help desks are corporate in-house services not available to individuals. BluePhone offers similar support to anyone who wants to subscribe. Once you're signed-up you have unlimited access and no problem is too trivial, no question too inane.
Telephone troubleshooting is a staple among help desks. In many cases, having an expert available to discuss a problem is all that is needed. Many problems that appear complex are just due to having made a wrong turn during installation or operation of some function. You could dig through the manuals and figure a lot of this stuff out yourself... if you had the time and patience. But you could also call someone who is more familiar with the issue and get back on track in minutes instead of hours or days.
Remote access takes telephone troubleshooting to another level. Instead of someone telling you what to do and you doing it and then reporting back what happened, a support tech can access your computer via your broadband Internet connection and actually run the system as if they were sitting right next to it. BluePhone uses Cisco WebEx remote access software to get in and troubleshoot your computer, with your permission of course.
What sort of problems can be resolved through online troubleshooting? Not serious hardware failures such as smoldering power supplies, sizzling monitors or grinding disk drives. That's where you need a local service shop, if not an cyber undertaker. What's handled by remote access or telephone consultation are software issues, network setups, and cleaning up after virus attacks or spyware invasions. If you don't quite know how to format a presentation or can't get software installed and working or the printer just sits there and won't print or one of your several computers refuses to access the Internet, then the help desk is the place for you. They're also good for things like getting music players to download tunes or calenders to sync between desktop computer and smartphone.
As it turns out, most problems aren't dire hardware failures. Indeed the majority of computers that head to the landfill or get recycled are working perfectly well. They're just too old to keep up with the rapid advances of technology. Most problems are the kind that can be resolved by an on site tech expert tickling the keyboard or by a remote technician doing the same thing.
If you think this sort of help would be of value to you, learn more about BluePhone online tech support. There is a single incident call option available, but you may well want to subscribe on an annual or monthly basis. That gives you unlimited support 24/7/365 for up to 3 computers and their peripherals. The subscription plans also include a 14 day free trial. Both PCs and Macs are supported, as well as Linux and Vista. Like you'd ever need help with Vista, right?
