You guys are great. You are fantastically helpful. I have made about 4 posts in the last year, and finished with everything you suggested...with great results. Your service is uncomparable in the field of computer help.

Now, I have a complaint. All four times I have posted on this forum I have had to wait the full 3 days, sometimes with a post in the "overlooked" topic, except for once, I think. I know you guys tell us reasons why you can't help me, too hard, too busy, but I can't help noticing a pattern here. Last time I posted I got so disgusted waiting and waiting that I went ahead and recovered. In something like 12 hours I have had 17 views and no replies. I feel completely ignored. I have seen people get 17 views in 10 minutes. My computer seems to have something wrong with it, and if it is something that can spread, I would really like to fix it before it spreads.

Now I figure I will never be answered after this negative post, but I had to vent. I tried to be as tactful as possible while making my point. If I have done something in the past, please let me know so that I may try to correct tht problem.

As I said, thanks for the wonderful service, all be it slow, it is helpful. Thank you for allowing me to state my opinions. I know you guys do your best, I just wonder why I am so ignored (like the 17 views in 24 hours.)


Respectfully,

olewoman

Fearing that there is a misunderstanding and that any lateness on the part of this site part will strengthen it I will as always speak for myself only here and explain that the site has no control over pace of replies, I remember when I was a geek in trainning here that great care that was taken to give the best advice reached between the trainnee's effort and the teacher's appraisal of that effort which slowed those replies down, also the nature of the beast that those logs are dealing with has evolved resulting in slowness not only here but at the other sites too, even at those where they do not teach. I can promise you that I never saw this site sinking to the level of judging logs by the sender(I was inside for a long time but didn't have the graymatter, those people are smart). One last point, since the advice given here is both free and of a high standard it is well worth waiting for, the alternatives work out either more costly or more risky.

This post has been edited by fleamailman: Jul 5 2006, 09:05 AM

you need to understand that everyone here is a volunteer (even the admin of the site)...and we do this because we like to...also you need to understand that there are HUNDREDS of posts in a day that need to be handled...this can get a bit overwhelming....another pont to concider is that there are some people who have stronpoints and weak points (when it comes to removing one infection over another)....and another point to concider is that...the 17 views your thread got...were more likely from either trainees trying to take a peek and see if they can understand what you've got...or by other people who have the same problems as you....we appologize that you've had to wait...but as fleamailman said...we are doing this for free...as volunteers...so please be patient with us

Also depends on luck and the forums you visit, the malware forum is the busiest place and only staff can help, you will find in other areas of the forum where its quiet and members can help members there is a faster turnaround time often under an hour at the busiest times of the day where there is more staff and knowledgable members.

I will also add my 2 pence worth in addition to what has already been raised. This point is not true in your case, but it may be pertinent in others. I also look at a poster's history and if I see that the poster has previously abandoned a thread before its conclusion, then I assume they will do it again and I do not offer help to them.

There is nothing worse for your morale than spending time analysing a log, researching and writing a fix for someone and then not getting a reply. This happens in about 20% of all cases that I take on. I even send the member a PM after 10 days of inactivity, but very few reply to them.

If I see that they have stayed the course and been polite, then I normally check it to ensure it is within my capabilities before posting a reply.

A lot of factors play into why posts are answered in the ways they are. Some examples would be:

1. Developers who make fixes look for new infections, or new variants of infections, and take those logs in order to tear new files apart.

2. Some Staff are simply more comfortable with certain types of infections than others. Joe Schmoe may do very well with fixing Wareout, but knows his limitations, and isn't comfortable with Vundo. (example, of course)

3. Trainees doing Check My Fix begin with easy infections/logs at first. They look through a log, deciding whether they feel comfortable taking it on. As they do more..they are more confidant, and move onto choosing harder infections/logs. (This can explain part of having so many 'views')

4. Some Staff choose new threads to post to, it's true. They prefer to grab something new, knowing that the chance of the poster responding is high. *however*...most of us choose older threads, sometimes only grabbing ones that are 4 and 5 days old.

There are actually many other reasons, none of which may make "sense". The bottom line here is that every single Staff member we have...from Admins down through Trainees...are volunteers. We all love what we do here, and have a passion to help people. But we also all have children, husbands, wives, jobs, community work, school, familes...you get the picture. The dedication here is unparalleled, to be sure.

I understand your frustration, believe me. Almost all of us started in this fight by coming here (or another similar forum) for help at one time. Malware writers are churning out new infections daily, and we work very hard to keep up...and to get ahead.

We seem to get a topic like this every couple of months, so I decided to pin this one. Good question, good replies.