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Making efficient calls to customer support

HOLD TIMES FROM HELL

You've dug up the support phone number, navigated a treacherous maze of voicemail options, and now you're trapped in the dungeon of your vendor's support queue. The predicted wait time? Twenty minutes. Worse, the hold music is "David Hasselhoff Sings Barry Manilow." The horror, the horror.

We can't do anything to improve the music, but we can reduce the time you spend waiting and put your time on hold to good use.

1. Stay detached. First, make the call using a cell phone or a cordless headset, if you have one--anything to avoid being tethered to the wall jack near your computer. That way, you can get other stuff done while you're waiting for a live techie.

2. Timing is everything. Try to reach support when the lines open up in the morning and the queue is short. If your vendor offers 24/7 support, avoid peak call times, such as midmorning or just after dinner. Use alternate support avenues such as e-mail support, if your problem isn't urgent, or online chat, if your vendor offers it. Heck, try them all--you'll increase your chance of getting a solution that works.

3. Be prepared. While you're waiting, write down the serial number for your machine, your express service code, and your Windows product key and tape it to your monitor. Most PC makers put this information on a sticker attached to your system case in the most inconvenient possible spot. You may need to surrender this number every time you call, so put it in a place where you can find it quickly.

A picture's worth a thousand words--especially when it comes to arcane computer error codes. When your PC goes haywire, use Print Screen and Windows Paint to capture the e

4. Be even more prepared. If your machine hasn't completely given up the ghost, reboot it to see if you can re-create the problem, taking careful notes on everything you do along the way. Write down any error messages you encounter.

5. Even better, capture a low-res screenshot of every error message you get. If you don't already have a favorite screen-capture program, use the one inside Windows: Press Shift+Print Screen, open Windows Paint, select Edit+Paste, then save the screen in your documents folder with a descriptive title, such as "Error message when trying to access My Documents.jpg." That way, you can refer back to the screen and even e-mail it to the techie, if necessary.