Launch of Plusnet Assist

[#1]

Quote from: Oldjim

Just follow the link to the survey http://community.plus.net/forum/index.php/topic,100526

Okay, Oldjim.  I have followed the link above, but can't find the survey. 
Chandu.

[#2]

In the email you received there was a link to the survey at the bottom
See the last line of the quote in my post  - I deleted mine so I can't help

[#3]

Quote from: Oldjim

In the email you received there was a link to the survey at the bottom

Thanks.  Much apprecited. 
Chandu.

[#4]

I did a dumb thing today, I installed Plusnet Assist.
Bad move. When it ran, it deleted all my cookie settings in ie9 
But, as luck would have it, it wasn't my main machine, just the server, which didn't have many cookie settings anyway. 

Regards  Nick

[#5]

Quote from: drj

I fail to see why, when I asked it to analyse my computer for problems, it flagged up the fact that I DON'T have my homepage set to http://portal.plus.net as a problem suggesting I should "fix this issue".

This is still happening. Isn't this just going to confuse a novice?

[#6]

Can we have options to turn parts of it off, like email faults. i don't use plusnet email and so when it appears it can't help me

[#7]

Hi gerry4,
Unfortunately that's not possible at the moment, though yours isn't the first request for this feature we've had so it's been fed back. Other than that though I'm afraid we can't confirm if it'll be added to any future versions.

[#8]

In the light of the gerry4's comment, I think it's worth repeating the connected problem I have - since I DO use Plusnet for email, but Plusnet Assist thinks I don't! If I run "troubleshoot Email" I get this:
"Email Troubleshooting
No email account found
Your computer has been scanned and we've not found any Plusnet email accounts.  
 
This may be because you are using an alternative email address such as GoogleMail, Yahoo!Mail, Microsoft Live or another email provider.  Plusnet Assist currently only supports Plusnet email accounts.  If this is the case you can now press 'Finish'
 
If you do have a Plusnet email account and would like us to set up your email account in Windows Mail, Outlook or Outlook Express just click the 'create account' button.    
 
The email assistant found the following non Plusnet Internet email accounts on your computer, please check with the support websites for these email services for further help in fixing your issue.  "
... and it then lists 19 email addresses all of which in fact use Plusnet but are "cloaked" because they use a variety of different domain names.
It's been pointed out to me before that only "basic" Plusnet email addresses are picked up as Plusnet accounts by this software. I believe there needs to be a better explanation of what the situation is in cases like mine because less computer-literate people could easily be misled.
When are you considering an update to Plusnet Assist to get rid of obvious errors? I have reported these issues before too but nothing's changed. For the benefit of other readers I'm attaching screenshots this time to illuminate.
If I click on "PC Healthcheck" I get the attached result - which suggests there are problems on my computer - there aren't.  
The three issues highlighted are:
1. an incorrect "desire" to set my home page to Plusnet - that is not a problem and not something I want to do or need to do.
2. an incorrect "desire" to clear my internet history - that is not a problem and not something I want to do or need to do.
3. a report of a "quite weak" wireless signal - a surprising result since this computer doesn't have a wireless facility at all - that is an incorrect diagnosis and thus not a faulty on my system as presently it suggests - why can't it just say it can't detect a signal at all - and cannot it interrogate the computer's hardware to discover whether there's a wireless facility installed?.
Since this is supposed to be a problem at least partly targeted at Internet novices, surely it has to be totally accurate in both its diagnosis and advice, something which appears to be lacking at present? I hope people aren't being needlessly misled...

[#9]

Quote from: drj

1. an incorrect "desire" to set my home page to Plusnet - that is not a problem and not something I want to do or need to do..

The idea behind that is so customers have direct access to their account and self help.

Quote from: drj

2. an incorrect "desire" to clear my internet history - that is not a problem and not something I want to do or need to do.

The thinking is that there are many occasions where a large cache can slow down the browser, which can lead to unnecessary frustration for the novice.

Quote from: drj

3. a report of a "quite weak" wireless signal - a surprising result since this computer doesn't have a wireless facility at all - that is an incorrect diagnosis and thus not a faulty on my system as presently it suggests - why can't it just say it can't detect a signal at all - and cannot it interrogate the computer's hardware to discover whether there's a wireless facility installed?.

This is a bug that will be fixed in the next release.
As for your emails, it will only recognise .plus.com email addresses and not related domains.
Whilst it's not perfect, it certainly has helped a lot of people so far, who would have otherwise had to ask someone else for help.
Jojo

[#10]

I notice after the update that the "wireless" issue is now reporting "Wireless card is not available or probably switched off" rather than a weak signal as previously; potentially better then. However since for example it can detect how much memory is in the machine I'd have thought it could detect whether there was a wireless facility installed or not. I'd suggest if there isn't a card it would be more appropriate to report "Your computer does not have a network card installed" than "Wireless card is not available". That message - particularly the curious use of the word "probably" - may mislead novices into thinking their computer does have a card but it's switched off.
It's also still reporting "Test 6: Windows wireless settings changed in the last 24hrs?: Yes" when nothing's changed except it's tested it.
And I realise you've answered my next point but I note it still tries to change my home page to http://portal.plus.net...