Improving tech support

[Cyborg Alpha]

The best tech support I've seen, on any platform, is community driven.

However, if information is missing then a solution may be more difficult 
to find, as well - it makes it difficult to track problems.

Here are a few suggestion;

1. at the top of the message should be the users system information, 
particularly OS version and if they are on a dual boot system, and if so 
what version of Windows. The system information should be kept 
through-out the conversation (tread) with other non-essential parts 
[snipped].

2. I have found, through observing several tech support groups, that 
many people with tech problems are running dual boot  (windows & linux) 
systems. So here is a tech support trouble shooting flowchart;

a. Always ensure your data is backed up, off system and not dependent on 
back-up software to restore.
b. re-install your version of linux (from CD or DVD) eliminating the 
dual boot to only run linux.
c. there is more than enough linux-ware to make it run similar to 
windows including finding a MS network (and all systems under that network)
d. if that solves the problem, then the problem exists with the windows 
dual boot. Which may not be a linux bug, but a MS hd locking technology 
issue.

I've experienced few issues with clean single boot installs. It took 
three re-installs (on a vista laptop) to fully eliminate MS from the hd. 
The tech issues that I did experience were due to a lack of information 
(and errors) on my part.

My system config;

Toshiba Satellite
Was Ubuntu Karmic
Now Kunbtu
Firefox (working flash), TBird, Kopete (with working webcam)
attached to smb (MS) network