What this site is
This site is for people who want to fix their own machines, not just read about them. It covers the tools, tricks, and troubleshooting steps for everyday tech problems—whether you’re wrestling with a stubborn printer, debugging a script, or trying to make a piece of software behave.
No manuals speak like a real person in a real office, so that’s what you’ll find here.
It’s not a hardware review blog, a software marketing page, or a forum for arguing about Linux vs. Windows. What you *will* find is the kind of advice that comes from actually solving a problem, not just copying a support article.
If you’ve ever Googled a tech issue and ended up with answers that assume you’re a developer or a corporate IT team, this is the place to cut through the noise.
| What you will find here | What you will not |
|---|---|
| Step-by-step guides for fixing common Windows/Linux issues | Generic ‘try this if it works’ advice |
| Comparisons of productivity tools (Outlook, PowerPoint, etc.) | Paid software ads or affiliate links |
| Hardware troubleshooting for printers, monitors, and peripherals | Spec sheets or benchmarks |
| Real-world workflow tips for non-technical users | Command-line tutorials for sysadmins |
Meet the cook
Jerome Lockhart writes the guides, fixes the broken things, and answers the questions that never get answered in tutorials.
A day in the life of a tech troubleshooter
- 15:40 a.m.
The Wi-Fi router is down again. I’ve already rebooted it twice—this time, I’m digging into the logs to see if it’s overheating. The coffee maker is on its third cycle, and the cat is sitting on the keyboard, judging my lack of sleep.
- 29:15 a.m.
I’m writing a guide on fixing Outlook’s ‘send/receive’ errors, but the demo account keeps timing out. The IT guy at the coffee shop next door is watching me type ‘nslookup’ like it’s a spell. I ignore him and keep going.
- 31:30 p.m.
The printer jammed mid-job, and now there’s toner everywhere. I’ve got a screwdriver in one hand and a vacuum in the other, cursing the fact that the manual says ‘check paper tray’ but not ‘how to remove dried toner without a hazmat suit.’
- 4Just after the school run
I’m supposed to be testing a new Linux distro for a review, but the kids’ tablets are low on battery, and I’ve spent the last hour arguing with a driver update that refuses to install. The distro can wait—again.
- 5The hour before dinner
I finally got the script to run without errors, but the output is still wrong. The problem? A semicolon in the wrong place. I delete it, save the file, and realize I’ve been staring at the same screen for forty minutes. Dinner smells like burnt garlic.
I keep a screwdriver in my bag. Not the fancy one, the one with the missing bit for Phillips screws. It’s been in my bag since 2003, when I learned that most tech problems aren’t software—they’re loose connections, dust bunnies, or someone who forgot to plug it in.
The rules we hold ourselves to
These are the things we won’t compromise on, even if it means slower updates or fewer posts.
A command-line fix without context is useless. You’ll always get the background—why a registry key matters, how a driver update actually works, or why your printer keeps eating paper.
That’s the last resort, not the first step. If we tell you to wipe a drive, it’s because we’ve tried everything else—and even then, we’ll warn you what you’ll lose.
What we still get wrong
We’re still bad at covering Mac-specific issues—most of our readers use Windows or Linux, and Apple’s ecosystem gets shortchanged. We’re fixing that by adding a dedicated troubleshooter to the team next quarter.
Our hardware reviews lean too heavily on mid-range gear. Budget and high-end setups get less attention, even though they’re where most people’s problems live. We’re prioritizing more affordable options in 2025.
How to reach us
We love hearing about the fixes that worked (or didn’t) for you—especially the ones that aren’t in any manual. If you’ve got a tip, a horror story, or just a question that stumped you for hours, the contact page is the place to share it.
The guides are grouped by category: App, Coding, Hardware, Operating System, Outlook and PowerPoint.