General resources and tips for IT Pros
My students are often looking for good technical resources and tools for troubleshooting. In general, here are my recommendations when it comes to looking for answers on the Web, especially if you are a network administrator or help desk support professional.
1. Use Bing search engine. Don’t be scared. Bing is a serious contender among search engines. It’s much improved and people have started to really like it.
2. Don’t just go to Google, instead use the special search engine for Microsoft resources that is offered by Google: http://www.google.com/microsoft. If you search a KB article on Microsoft’s site and can’t find it, go to google.com/microsoft and chances are you will find the KB article, which will point back to Microsoft’s own site.
3. Looks for answers on TechNet, Microsoft newsgroups and forums.
4. If you’ve tried other resources and can’t find an answer, go to an MVP’s Web site or blog. For example, for solutions to Outlook, find an Outlook MVP’s Web site or for SharePoint solutions look for a SharePoint MVP’s blog or Web site. The MVP blogs/sites are located at: http://www.mvps.org/links.html.
5. Go to kbalertz.com for knowledge base articles.
6. For event ID errors, go to eventid.net. The annual subscription is practically free (only $24/year).
