18 votes

Why was I accused of spreading ransomware (and had my question deleted) for asking about stopping a McAfee service?

Why was my question deleted as "off topic: not related to hardware/software" even though McAfee is definitely a software ? Your question was automatically deleted due to the fact it was ...
Ramhound's user avatar
  • 42.9k
16 votes

Close reason for questions asking for code

"Needs more focus" seems right to me. A question that amounts to "give me teh codez" is not "a specific problem with enough detail to identify an adequate answer" - as opposed to "here is the macro I'...
Mureinik's user avatar
  • 4,024
14 votes

Why was I accused of spreading ransomware (and had my question deleted) for asking about stopping a McAfee service?

Moab isn't a moderator. I do know all the moderators and can assure you none of them work for McAfee, as far as I know I feel like you're looking at the wrong comment - anti virus software tends to be ...
Journeyman Geek's user avatar
  • 129k
13 votes
Accepted

Why was this question deleted instead of closed?

There is evidence that this was posted as a seed for someone to spam their product at us. The format of the question is suspicious and follows a pattern that moderators are familiar with: a leading ...
Mokubai's user avatar
  • 92.6k
11 votes
Accepted

Why do we have the google-calendar tag if we can't ask questions about it here?

Some PC based applications such as the built-in calendar, mail and other applications can connect to web-apps in order to show your online calendars in a system native, and therefore more intuitive, ...
Mokubai's user avatar
  • 92.6k
11 votes

Which UPS related questions are on-topic?

My $0.02 is that UPS's should definately be a category of hardware supported by SuperUser, until you start talking about something more relevant on EE.SE, but at that point it's obviously not a good ...
YetAnotherRandomUser's user avatar
11 votes

Why was this question deleted instead of closed?

It looks a lot like a spam seed to me. By deleting it quickly, it is taken out of circulation so the prospective spammer hopefully realises it's a waste of time. It's fine to assume people have good ...
Journeyman Geek's user avatar
  • 129k
11 votes
Accepted

Question about Microsoft Outlook behaviour closed on assumption that I should contact Microsoft

Based on what's been presented, I agree with you, and you've taken the right approach by escalating to Meta. There's nothing in the rules that I can see that says that issues that can only be resolved ...
NotTheDr01ds's user avatar
  • 21.6k
10 votes

Closure of questions regarding pre-release/beta software

I'll post an answer because there is too much to cover in comments. Interpersonal Let me start with the interpersonal issues, since the bulk of the questions were authored by Evan Carroll and there ...
fixer1234's user avatar
  • 27.4k
9 votes
Accepted

Close reason for questions asking for code

I always vote to close these with a copy/paste from Ask Different, which has this specific close reason… Questions must demonstrate a reasonable amount of research & understanding of the ...
Tetsujin's user avatar
  • 49.5k
8 votes
Accepted

Are relationships/interference between two piece of hardware on topic?

I think this would be on topic - it is a question regarding computer hardware, and is within the scope. It has a canonical answer as well - yes it will cause damage, or no it will not cause damage. ...
Simon Sheehan's user avatar
7 votes
Accepted

Are questions about interfacing with printers on topic?

Excellent question. The bottom line is that edge cases are determined by the community. If enough people think it's off-topic to vote it closed, and not enough people then think it's on-topic to ...
fixer1234's user avatar
  • 27.4k
7 votes
Accepted

Are new questions regarding Windows XP on-topic?

Are new questions regarding Windows XP on-topic? Short answer: Yes they are on-topic. We allow all sorts of questions about old (outdated) operating systems. We may not be able to answer them ...
DavidPostill's user avatar
  • 156k
7 votes
Accepted

How to deal with the numerous off-topic (business environment) Windows Server questions

SF mod chiming in... tl;dr: Don't migrate crap. If the OP is clearly clueless, I don't care if it's a business environment - we don't want their question because the professional way to handle that ...
EEAA's user avatar
  • 1,888
7 votes
Accepted

Closure of questions regarding pre-release/beta software

Well, ReactOS is perpetually in alpha and has been as long as I can remember it. Darned thing is brokenish, and a good many of these are bugs that should be reported to ReactOS developers rather than ...
Journeyman Geek's user avatar
  • 129k
7 votes

My question was wrongly "put on hold" as "off-topic"

Its pretty broad. We don't do yes/no answers, we do answers in detail, and literally the only way to answer your question is with a hardware recommendation. So literally the only way to answer your ...
Journeyman Geek's user avatar
  • 129k
6 votes
Accepted

How to delete a wrong post

You've got two questions that aren't on topic, and deletions are also one of the criteria for question blocks. Your association bonus ought to be a bit of a cushion, but no one really knows the ...
Journeyman Geek's user avatar
  • 129k
6 votes

Why was this off-topic (resource recommendation) flag declined?

Your flag was correct. However... The only part of the question that makes it off-topic is the sentence: Is there any software that can make it work? You can (and should) flag questions that are off-...
I say Reinstate Monica's user avatar
5 votes
Accepted

Is my question about Netbeans more suitable for Stack Overflow or SuperUser?

While there might not strictly be any programming happening in the question, it is definitely about a software tool used primarily by programmers. Stack Overflow's on-topic page includes this guidance,...
Ben N's user avatar
  • 40.9k
5 votes
Accepted

Internet Security on Super User

Well, internet security, in the context of your computer is quite often on topic. Lets talk about your question first - Its really not about computers. Its about people, and the mindsets behind ...
Journeyman Geek's user avatar
  • 129k
5 votes

Why was this off-topic (resource recommendation) flag declined?

What am I not understanding about off-topicness on SU? Your understanding is correct, and I would probably have accepted that flag. However, in this case, your flag put the question in the close ...
DavidPostill's user avatar
  • 156k
5 votes

Which UPS related questions are on-topic?

There are some gray areas where opinions vary as to what's on-topic. Where you draw the boundary around "computer hardware" is one, and the context affects it. I don't put a UPS in the same category ...
fixer1234's user avatar
  • 27.4k
5 votes

Closure of questions regarding pre-release/beta software

One of the main goals of SU is to be a compendium, an encyclopedia, of questions and answers. Some questions should be put elsewhere because of the state of the technology they are about. This is ...
music2myear's user avatar
  • 41.6k
5 votes

Why was I accused of spreading ransomware (and had my question deleted) for asking about stopping a McAfee service?

I think the other answers are great but I'd like to put the situation into a different perspective. The main reason folks do not want to discuss ways to stopping a corporate antivirus product are ...
duct_tape_coder's user avatar
4 votes

Is it opinion based to ask for reasons for a specific technical decision?

Its pretty much impossible to answer unless you're the person designing it. You should only ask practical, answerable questions based on actual problems that you face The answer might be something ...
Journeyman Geek's user avatar
  • 129k
4 votes
Accepted

Question 1080786 on Windows shutdown command flagged off-topic - why?

Problems based entirely in wetware (such as "how do I stop myself browsing the internet") would be off-topic. It is also very difficult to read past the "I am the real problem, please make my ...
Mokubai's user avatar
  • 92.6k
4 votes

Is SU the appropriate place to ask how hardware affects code?

As is - it's unclear what the question is. And without testable or at least sharable examples it's pretty hard to ask a clear question. You can certainly ask a question in the context of the software ...
Journeyman Geek's user avatar
  • 129k
4 votes
Accepted

Is this question about processor licensing off-topic?

Questions starting with why that involve human factors (in your case, you're specifically asking why people in a company don't do a particular thing) are off-topic pretty much across the entire SE ...
allquixotic's user avatar
  • 34.6k
4 votes

Why is this whatsapp question off-topic?

Whatsapp is, broadly speaking, a web service. Whether a web service has a particular feature natively and independent from your client is off topic on Super User per What topics can I ask about here? ...
Mokubai's user avatar
  • 92.6k
4 votes

Are questions about microcontrollers off topic?

It isn't on topic here except in the narrow aspect of where there's issues where a computer interfaces with the microcontroller, for example when programming it. There may be more specialised sites ...
Journeyman Geek's user avatar
  • 129k

Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible