Intel Communities : Blog List - Support Community

Are you a 10 Percenter?

webadmin@intel.com — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 15:20:54 GMT

Well, I'm back from holiday and its time to catch up on some blog activity. The community has grown expotentially since launch back in April. To all those contributors, Thank You. Keep it up. Your peers value your help and the community is better for it.

If you’re one of the other 99%, when you see a question or post that asks about something you have knowledge of, move into the top 10%; comment appropriately and offer helpful suggestions or solutions if you have them.

To Recap:

1. Contribute Where You Can --- Share your experiences.

2. Communicate -- Say Hello ocassionally.

3. Create What You Can -- Participate -- Be part of the top 10%

An online community is an interactive group of people joined together by a common interest. The Support Community is such a group. It exists for users and enthusiasts to share tips among themselves on how to solve problems they have encountered with their computers. It is also a forum to explore new ideas and new ways to use technology.

Making Life a Little Easier

webadmin@intel.com — Fri, 29 May 2009 23:38:34 GMT

Have you seen the Intel® Driver Update Utility? The utility provides an automated way to check your drivers to see if they are up to date and lets you download a newer driver if yours is not the latest. Right now, two versions of the utility are available. One checks your Intel® High Definition Audio driver on Intel® Desktop Boards. The other version checks Intel graphics drivers.

I have used the automated updates, and they were easy to use. These new utilities make staying up to date a lot easier than figuring out the versions manually. Give them a try and let me know what you think.

Intel® Driver Update Utility for graphics drivers
Intel® Driver Update Utility for Intel® High Definition Audio drivers

This is just the beginning. Intel® Driver Update Utilities for other drivers are in development. I will post something in the blog when the new versions are available.

Sponsors of Tomorrow

webadmin@intel.com — Sat, 09 May 2009 00:02:00 GMT

This week I returned from 2 weeks of vacation, so I am playing catch up. You have probably experienced the same thing. I do not have anything to post about Ethernet or technical support this week. I am excited about our new Sponsors of Tomorrow campaign, so I am sharing this with you.

You can probably tell from my first blog post that I am proud to work for Intel. One reason is the world-changing work we do. I like Sponsors of Tomorrow because the activities and videos provides a small taste of what we do at Intel.

The Sponsors of Tomorrow site has fun activities and a chance to share what you want to see in the future. Be sure to try your hand in figuring out the right order for putting on a "bunny suit" or just have fun playing with the virtual wind tunnel.

I have the most fun showing the videos to people. Take a look at Oops and Intel Star. You might have to watch Intel Star a couple of times to catch everything that is going on with our star. I played Oops on our big-screen TV at home just to get a better look at the chip. I think I can almost see it. Enjoy!

Peer to Peer Support - Are you a lurker or Contributor?

webadmin@intel.com — Thu, 07 May 2009 01:57:15 GMT

In the social media world there is a principle called 90-9-1 that researcher Jakob Nielsen calls “Participation Inequality.” It states that 90% of users are lurkers, they read or observe but don’t contribute; 9% contribute occasionally; and 1% are active participants who contribute a lot. For those in the 1% group, you have an opportunity to influence. Take that responsibility seriously and you will gain the respect of the community. If you’re one of the other 99%, when you see a question or post that asks about something you have knowledge of, move into the top 10%; comment appropriately and offer helpful suggestions or solutions if you have them.

Any online community is an interactive group of people joined together by a common interest. The Support Community is such a group. It exists for users and enthusiasts to share tips among themselves on how to solve problems they have encountered with their computers. It is also a forum to explore new ideas and new ways to use technology.

This is your community. Keep it vibrant by contributing often.

Are you buying a genuine Intel® Ethernet adapter?

webadmin@intel.com — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 22:17:21 GMT

When I search the Internet for any parts to add to my computer, I often find parts on sale at steeply discounted prices. If I buy from a discount seller, I might not be getting a retail part, or worse, I might be getting a counterfeit. Buying from an authorized retailer is a good strategy for avoiding counterfeit parts.

Counterfeit products are a problem in many industries. You might think of counterfeit products as something sold on a street table or in a flea market, but plenty of these knock offs are sold online.

Sometimes you might encounter counterfeit Ethernet adapters labeled as Intel adapters. Counterfeit Ethernet adapters tend to be manufactured as cheaply as possible. The counterfeiters are not worried if the adapter will fail to work when you install it, perform poorly, or break after a short time. You might not find out that your adapter is a counterfeit until after the adapter fails, and you try to return it for a replacement.

If you have a counterfeit, there is no one to turn to when you encounter problems. The bargain can turn out to cost you more than a genuine adapter when you take into account the cost of buying a replacement, suffering from poor performance, or being without a working network connection.

Fortunately, finding a source for genuine parts is not difficult. Retail versions of genuine Intel® Ethernet adapters are sold through authorized retailers and supported by Intel Customer Support. If something goes wrong with the Ethernet adapter because of a manufacturing defect, buyers are covered by Intel’s limited lifetime hardware warranty. Software and driver updates are regularly available from Intel Download Center.

In short, if you want to have the peace of mind from knowing the adapter will work as expected, along with the limited lifetime hardware warranty and access to Intel Customer Support, then your best bet is to buy from an authorized retailer.

What is the difference between an Intel® Network adapter and an Intel® Network Connection?

webadmin@intel.com — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 23:40:58 GMT

Many people do not take notice of the last word in the description of the network interface. I would probably fall into that same group of people if my job did not include supporting Intel® Ethernet adapters. Nevertheless, an important difference exists between the device names that end in adapter compared to names ending in connection.

Intel makes both Ethernet adapters and integrated circuits used for building Ethernet connections into a computer motherboard. You can tell if your Ethernet connection is built in or not from the name. No matter whether you plug your cable into a network connection or a network adapter, the connection works the same. Knowing whether you have an adapter or a built-in connection can be useful if you need support help or want to update your drivers.

If you see “Adapter” in the name then the devices can be added and removed from connectors on the computer motherboard. Intel® Gigabit CT Desktop Adapter and Intel® PRO/1000 MT Server Adapter are examples of adapters.

When you look at Windows* Device Manager under network adapters, you might find an Intel® Network Connection on the list. Intel network connections are built into the computer by the manufacturer and are not customer removable. Network connections are based on Intel® Ethernet controllers or Intel® Ethernet PHYs paired with Intel® I/O Controller Hubs (ICH). Intel® PRO/1000 CT Network Connection and Intel® 82566DM Network Connection are examples of built-in Ethernet connections.

So how does knowing whether you have an adapter or a built-in connection help when you need to contact support? For built-in connections you should always go to the computer manufacturer for help and driver updates. Each manufacturer knows their computer designs best and is the best source for driver updates that work with your computer.

If you bought your computer with an Intel network adapter already installed, the computer manufacturer is still your best bet when you need to contact someone for support or want updated drivers. Many preinstalled adapters are OEM versions, which are supported by the computer builders instead of by Intel. As a last resort, the driver downloads on intel.com will work with most, but not all, of the OEM network adapters and network connections.

If you bought a boxed Intel network adapter then Intel customer support is ready to assist you if you need help. We have a support site for network adapters with answers to many of your questions along with the latest drivers available to download and install.

Mark Hanna's Support Community Blog

webadmin@intel.com — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 22:42:55 GMT

Hello. I am Mark Hanna. Welcome to my support community blog. Let met tell you a bit about myself.

I am 1 of 2 worldwide Product Support Engineers, PSE for short, for Intel® Ethernet adapters. PSEs are responsible for writing and updating the technical content on support.intel.com; posting the latest software to the download center; making sure the contact center agents are prepared to help you with your support questions; and representing the voice of you, the customer, to the engineering teams that develop our products. I have been working in technical support at Intel for over 10 years.

At work I am driven by a desire to have satisfied customers for Intel. Although some of what I do focuses on how to solve problems that occur after you buy an Ethernet adapter, I do my best to influence product development in such a way that you will not have any reason to need technical support. I fully believe in the Intel values, which include both "Customer Orientation" and "Quality". You can read more about our values at http://www.intel.com/lifeatintel/values/.

I welcome (and crave) your feedback so that I will get to know you better. In turn I hope to offer you some insights into the support community at Intel and give you some interesting tidbits about our Ethernet adapters.