OfficeMax's Ctrlcenter Takes on The Geek Squad

Watch out Geek Squad. OfficeMax wants some of your tech support business.

Starting today, troubled users can get help diagnosing a problem using Ctrlcenter. The 24/7 service, powered by HiWired, uses remote access software that lets the technician handle the problem without a house call.

Neither service is cheap. Geek Squad's rates start at $29 for a phone call that tries to diagnose the problem. Ctrlcenter clocks in at $50 to help you set up peripherals, such as cameras or printers, $80 buys you a software installation and tutorial, or a technology problem help session.

A Better (and Cheaper) Idea
If you bump into a PC-specific problem, something you can't figure out -- and isn't life threatening to your computer -- do some Internet digging.

First, read Helpfulness Is Next to Geekliness: Be your own help desk with these simple tricks and great resources.

Then take a look at 11 Easy Ways to Keep a PC Up-to-Date: Get the latest on patches and upgrades for your hardware and software.

Next, you might try sifting around to find an answer. Here's how: Start with Google and type in a few words in quotes (and experiment without the quotes) that are specific to the problem, such as:

"SP2 NET Framework"
"retrieve files memory card"
"undelete files memory card"
"screen color camera color match"
"delete Outlook addresses"
"MSVCRT.DLL error"
"MSVCRT IE"
"msimn Kernal32DDL"
"kernal msimn"
"Error saving web page"
"export AOL favorites"
"IE not maximized"
"IE second window"
"loading file accessibility wizard"
"Eudora embedded crash"
"continue running script"

Get the idea?

You can also read Maximum Google: Google is fast, accurate, and fun to use, but you can get even more out of the boss of search engines.

Tomorrow: Some of my favorite sites to get help.

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