Before You Call . . .

The following points have been extracted from Arun's advice for FSB. While we are unable to offer personalized telephone support for issues our consultants have not examined personally, we do offer the following suggestions as a guideline for clients prior to phoning for an appointment. These points are intentionally generalized, so as to cover as many issues as possible.

In addition to evaluating your computer problems, following these procedures will also assist you in describing your support issues to our office staff and, with any luck, you may find yourself better able to address issues as they arise in the future.

So you have a problem with your computer..
Begin with our first suggestion and proceed down the list
 

• Before doing anything, shut down your computer. Check ALL power and data cables and then restart. Many problems are caused by loose or improperly secured cables.

• Can you repeat the problem? Even an optimally configured computer can occasionally crash. Repeatability is the key to isolating your problem and determining what to do.

 
• How localized is the problem? Is it confined to a particular program, a particular document created within that program or perhaps some action within that program?


An example of this would be a problem which occurs while using a word processing program. The problem may occur in Microsoft Word, but does it happen with every word file, or just really large documents? Does it only happen when using a certain font? Does using the same font or another large document in another program (say, WordPerfect) also cause the problem. Localizing the problem allows you to narrow your focus to a few problem areas, instead of getting overwhelmed in possibilities.

• Ask a friend if they have encountered this problem. This is not the same as asking for (or taking) a friend's advice on what to do. (Sometimes that can make things worse, much worse; a frequent source of our referrals are well intentioned friends.) What we're suggesting is that a friend's computer can provide a point of reference.


For instance, we once encountered a case where a client's modem would disconnect from their internet provider after 3 minutes without due cause. We checked in with another client who had the same provider and they were also having the same issue. The problem was indeed with the provider, who had upgraded a bank of modems. We could just as easily have checked with another client who had a different provider but the same modem, and so on.

This is another way of localizing the problem, as in the previous point.

• Have you changed anything about your computer recently? Added a new component? Installed some new software? Replaced the ink or toner in your printer? Moved your monitor? Verify that everything is positioned, connected and installed correctly and according to the manufacturer's directions.


Re-install your recent addition if necessary and, remember those read-me files which came with your new software? They're named that way for a reason. Following the instructions is cheaper than calling in someone who follows the instructions, unless that's what you really want to do..
 

• If you did install your new purchase according to the instructions, perhaps the manufacturer's software is out of date. This can be particularly true for new products and newly released versions of software. It often takes a few tries for developers to get all of the bugs out of their programs. The world wide web is an excellent source of updates. Our company's toolkit and technical resource server is updated daily with installers culled from the internet.

 
• If you've managed to isolate your problem to a particular component, a friendly call or email to the manufacturer's technical support pros might help. If the problem isn't localized, then don't expect more than a few well intentioned "do no harm to try this" tips, but if the issue is with a particular device, there's nothing wrong with getting in touch with the source.

• If you are technically inclined, try to step back for a moment and think about how things are supposed to work, in stages.


This isn't for everyone, but knowing, for instance that when a modem want to dial it needs to have a dial tone, before it can connect there has to be a modem answering at the other end, when answering modem connects the two modems must negotiate a connection at a common speed helps you visualize the process. You can then verify you have dial tone by plugging a plain old telephone into your modem line, and verify there's a modem answering at the other side by dialing the number on the phone and listening for whatever (or whoever) answers. A more technical user could then verify the modem itself works by using a terminal program to test the modem, etc. but that's puts us on a slippery slope towards geekdom. Do only as much as you are comfortable doing.

• Ultimately, troubleshooting a computer is problem solving, and the more you know -- the more experience, the more patience you bring to the situation -- the greater your success will be will be. Don't get frustrated, don't do anything you don't understand, or anything you can't undo, and don't get in over your head.


Make regular backups of your data before you encounter problems, and finally, if you just don't have clue, call a professional.

If the above points don't solve your computer problem, at least you know you haven't done anything a professional wouldn't consider doing.
Now you can sit back and look and learn. Don't be afraid to ask questions when our consultant is onsite with your computer.

See our Policies and Procedures for further details regarding the scheduling of appointments and our invoicing and follow-up support.