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What do we classify as "not repair related"?

I’ve had this question for quite some time now. What do we classify as not repair related here? Some people argue that “not repair related” means strictly “not repair related” and anything that doesn’t have to do with repair should be removed whilst other people here believe that iFixit should accommodate to both non-repair related questions within reason and also accommodate to repair related questions. I don’t know which side to choose right now but I am weaning towards the strictly “non-repair related” means “non repair related” side.

What are your opinions?

Update (11/24/2018)

Thank you PTT, OldT and Nick! I will keep that in mind when I vote on moderation answers in the future. Keep poking me in the right direction when needed and all will be well. :-)

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@mayer @oldturkey03 @jayeff @danj @nick @blakeklein @evan @pollytintop you guys probably know how to answer this best, what are your thoughts?

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I personally draw a hard line in the sand at excess me too comments/answers. Subscribe to the question without a “me too” and ONLY chime in if the old solutions do not work. Once it gets out of control, some of them need to go and your me too could be there so it’s best to avoid doing so if you can help it. Ask a new question if you need a new solution.

Software is a grey area to me. If it's about fixing a boot issue I don't mind as much (although I don't think it's 100% repair related) but if it's something like “Can my laptop run X?” I don't consider it repair related; ask the vendor first and explicitly mention you tried if you do it out of exhaustion so we know.

Software tied to hardware is fine and doesn’t concern me. For example I consider BIOS password resets software but it’s acceptable since it's tied to hardware. I don't answer these because I'm not interested in dealing with a legal headache if/when someone uses my information to unlock a stolen system and I need to answer to the police or a court. The risk is minimal, but I cannot control the information so I simply do not answer these. The risk outweighs ANY positives that may come of it.

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“Me too” should at best be comments, never answers or questions. Anything software related (excluding firmware)regardless of OS; anything password, authorization code and recovery of files commonly invites spam answers etc. should be removed. Any purchase suggestion for any devices or suggestions on where to buy certain parts (unless they directly pertain to a repair) should be removed as not repair related.

Questions left as answers or comments should not be moderated to a new Question if they are older than one week. Anything older will usually not be checked again by the OP and will leave more orphaned questions

This should just be the beginning and other issues can be resolved as they arise.

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I delete “me toos". Same with people asking a “help” question for their device 2 years later on someone's answered question.. it is cluttering up the advice given.

Software is a minefield… having got stuck for a year by a software drama trying to upgrade, I think its every bit as “repair related" as hardware and even more frustrating.

Questions can be migrated if they're recent, i agree with OT03 there.

People asking where to buy parts? Some are lazy, some need help with naming/identifying. By the time you say “buy it here" the link could be out of date.

I think with anything you've got to see each as an individual, some are 15 year olds, some have 15 years experience. Be kind.

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I'll hold onto a few "me too" replies, but beyond a certain amount they go away. I may choose to hold onto 10 if the comments are minimal but if it's 30+ a few (or none) survive.

And I do agree with you on reasonable parts sourcing questions. For example, if I get a Dell desktop WITHOUT the traditional drive caddy, I know where to buy the one that fits and can deal with it or can fabricate something; been there, done that. However, dealing with that is different from an SSD where the question is (somewhat) redundant as it's less difficult, although I do try and give both groups fair treatment despite the differences in difficulty.

If someone with less experience gets one and isn't aware of how to deal with that and asks, I will provide a link to one I see with the holes or recommend using an unutilized external 3.5" bay if it's present on the chassis but unused on the faceplate (common with Dell). If they didn't want to do that I'd caution the person asking that most caddies are NOT bottom hole mount ready and fabrication or modification will be needed... And to use a CHEAP one that meets your needs just in case.

That can also be applied to SSD's - I expect you to know where to look but if you need a recommendation or need to know AHCI SATA vs NVMe keying differences, that's not something many can figure out quickly unless you have direct experience or information on what the drives look like.

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