Newbies Comments on these forums

[jimuk]

Hi,

First I just wanted to say thanks for the great info, and all the work people in this community do.

Being quite an experienced Windows XP user I decided it was the time to start making my own custom installs, as I'm regulary repeating the same boring things every time I reinstall a friends PC or whatever. I'd also reinstall my own PC's a lot more frequently if I knew it was a 1 hour job rather than 1/2 day getting everything just how I like it and installing all apps.

Whilst this site appears to have all the info, there are a few things that make finding it confusing, I hope the powers-that-be take it as constructive criticism rather than an invitation to flame:

1 - I cannot see a "Search in this thread" button. Sometimes thread's can be over 30 pages I think the popularity of this site is sometimes a hindrance as the search functions don't seem adequate enough to me (Yes, I do use other forums so know how to search). The problem with this forum is there are many results for the keywords, mainly because most keywords are used often due to the nature of the forum.

2 - People don't update their original threads often enough, or state clearly that they have done it. e.g. UserA starts a thread entitled "How to slipstream KB123456". I try this and it don't work. Upon examining the thread more closely I see that 10 pages later UserB stated that the switch UserA used was wrong. If UserA had updated his thread after being informed of this then things would have been more simpler. OK, sometimes this happens but then there's not always a "This has been fixed" comment so you're still unsure and have to read 30 pages anyway. Nobody likes to waste time, that's why we're all here after all isn't it, so we can have automated XP installs?

3 - Sometimes the answer to a question is responded with "It's included in my/his utility/pack, download it from......". Whilst users creating ready-made hotfix packs etc... to make things simpler is a great thing, sometimes it's frustrating when you like to learn more and see what every change does and the answer is not very forthcoming. I understand that people will have a certain "This is my baby" attiitude (we're all proud of things we make) but it's not like it's top secret, it's just that sometimes the answers are hard to find - or require much work.

Well, that's what I think so far. Maybe I'll post another post later, but for now I'm just perfecting my XP install and relentlessly searching for my questions and discovering more.

Maybe once I've collated all the info and tested my stuff I'll post a FAQ or instructions aimed more at people new to this game, but who want to learn without ready-made solutions.

[Synapse]

1. I agree with this, but i'm not sure if it can be put in with the Invision Power Board system. maybe in Invision Power Board 2 this can happen.

2. not everyone is perfect, i often start topics and the next day forget about them. and reading though 30 pages to get the answer on how and if the topic has been fixed. usually most things are fixed on the first couple pages.

3. If your talking about Windows Updates or something similar you can usually go to the companys website and find what it did there.

Had to throw a flame but... this is in the wrong forum..

MSFN -> Miscellaneous -> Site & Forum Issues

would've been more suitable

[prathapml]

@jimuk

Yes, those are all good points. We can only hope that people will voluntarily follow those codes of conduct.

*topic moved