[bojo]

My buddy and I call that "I asked how to use a ladder, you told me to take the elevator" syndrome. I'm picking apples!

[sciurus]

That's why in your question, you need to state that you're picking apples!

http://www.catb.org/esr/faqs/smart-questions.html#goal

[davidgerard]

Makes no difference in my experience. Geeksplaining is an unstoppable force of obnoxiousness.

[tracker1]

I will usually under or over answer for those kinds of reasons... If the specific case is pretty narrow, I'll write either a thorough answer to a more broad scope, or a specific answer with some additional info on alternatives.

Sometimes I will write a very broad answer, especially when it's apparent the person doesn't seem to have looked into finding anything, and just asked a question on SO, which happens a lot.