Troubleshooting | Castellini on Computers - Computer help for beginners

Posts Tagged: troubleshooting

Riding Shotgun with Rick — No Comments
9
Nov 07

Saving valuable time with your computer

Computers are supposed to save us loads of time. In many cases, they do…or at least can save us time. However, I see too many people spinning their wheels for hours or days and in some cases months trying to figure out an answer to a problem with their computer.

Or some computer users spending the same amount of time trying to figure out how to accomplish a task they want to complete with no real direction of how to get there.

When it comes to just about anything, I learned many, many years ago that I like to know that I’m heading in the right direction. I may be one of the rare males who WILL pull over and ask for directions if I have the slightest inclination that I’m not going the right way.

Why? Because I hate, yes hate, wasting time and energy more than any other person on the planet.

I’m not OCD about being efficient, but I do work hard at trying to maintain a positive direction in anything I do.

When it comes to computers, I do believe that learning on your own pays big dividends, but you do have to recognize when you need a little nudge in the right direction. Especially when it comes to troubleshooting problems, it is far too easy to get misled with bad advice or misunderstood advice. Know when to say when and then ask for help.

Sometimes a professional with lots of practical experience can solve something for you in minutes that may take you weeks to troubleshoot…if at all. You could be spending all that time learning a new computer skill that will save you time.

I derive the most satisfaction in my job by teaching my customers how to save time using their computers. Seeing the light bulb go off in someone’s face makes my whole day.

Troubleshooting 101

By now many of you have figured out that computers are unruly beasts. They seem to be fine one day and schizophrenic the next. As a person who troubleshoots computers for a living, I’m going to let you in on a little trade secret.

When something on your computer seems to be a little left of center, stop and ask yourself three questions:

Have I installed or deleted any software (computer program) in the last day or so?
Have I installed or uninstalled any hardware (mouse, scanner, printer, camera, etc) in the last day or so?
Have I shut down and restarted my computer in the last day or so?

If you answer ‘no’ to all three questions, then shut down your computer for a minute or so and then restart it. An overwhelmingly large percentage of the time, this action alone will correct the flaw.

If you answered ‘yes’ to question one or two, then retrace your steps and make sure that everything installed as planned, or try uninstalling (or reinstalling) the most recent item and see how your computer reacts. If it works fine, then one of the new items added (or items taken away) has caused the problem..

If problems are still occurring and you use Windows XP, try using System Restore which I describe here.

And finally, ALWAYS check your computer cables. Cables can be jostled loose through moving a computer or animals wagging their tails or becoming entangled in the mess of wires. Making sure they are securely plugged in cures many a compute ailment. Just remember to shut the computer off before checking the plugs.

Riding Shotgun with Rick — 1 Comment
14
Sep 07

It’s the basics baby…5 of them

A customer of mine commented earlier in the week that he was “amazed” at my knowledge of computers. I thanked him then replied that all of my knowledge could fit in the head of a thimble. And it’s true. Many days I stew over how much more I would like to know and learn about computers, technology, programming (which I know butkus about), web design, and web marketing.

One reason I have been successful in supporting people and their computers is that I stick to the basics. Similar to cars, unless you REALLY know what you are doing and you don’t mind spending HOURS and HOURS troubleshooting a glitch, computers shouldn’t be expected to handle anything you dish out. Here are my five simple rules to living in harmony with your computer or any technology gadget.

Care for it by keeping it clean inside and out. On the outside, don’t let it get caked with dust (because the inside will have 3X as much). Dust insulates the computer and makes it hotter which inevitably leads to problems. On the inside, keep your computer clean by using AVG Antivirus, a couple of good anti-spyware programs, browse the Internet exclusively with Mozilla Firefox or Opera, and use a firewall. Oh, and use the disk cleanup utility (or download one from our Links & Resources section and use it monthly).
Don’t use shady “free” downloaded software (use reputable sites, not search engines to find the good, legit free software) or download services for music/movies, etc. The cost of “free” can add up to hundreds of dollars quickly. When in doubt, don’t download. If you aren’t sure whether to doubt, ask first…preferably someone that knows something about computers, NOT sales people posing as technologists.
If you use the Internet or email and have access to high speed Internet service, get it. Dial-up is dead. The small extra cost for a high speed connection will pay dividends in time and money, I promise.
For computer help, find someone good, and use them and only them. You’ve heard that too many cooks spoil the soup, right? With computers, too many “experts” (including tech support lines) will kill a computer, your sanity, your pocketbook, and your time…fast!
I would love to give credit to who coined this phrase, but it applies to computers almost better than any other situation: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!

Print out and post these five simple rules next your computer and live by them, and your computer will give you many years of trouble-free service.

Riding Shotgun with Rick — No Comments
20
Aug 07

Internet Outages

A major fiber optic line was cut in Colorado today knocking out Internet to a vast number of customers all around Colorado. I swear that people get more riled by an Internet outage than a TV or water outage (me included).

Please remember my number one rule when troubleshooting an Internet problem: If you haven’t changed anything on your system and the Internet was working fine a few hours ago or yesterday, assume that the problem is on the providers end of things and DO NOT messs with any settings on your computer. Simply wait it out for a few hours or a day.

99.9% of the time this plays out to be true. However, countless computer users immeadiately start fiddling with Windows’ and network settings, plugging and unplugging cables from their routers, modems and computer and walking through hours of troubleshooting with tech support. Since the problem, in these cases, does not reside on the users end, almost invaribly something does get screwed up on the users computer, and when the Internet does finally get fixed at the providers end, the user is now not working at all requiring even more intensive troubleshooting.

Keep calm, read a book, listen to music, take a walk, or mow the lawn. The Internet will come back on…eventually.

Riding Shotgun with Rick — No Comments
24
Jul 07

Ubuntu – Day 8

Week two with Ubuntu starts today, and still no shakes, dry heaves, or headaches after leaving Windows last weekend. I’m enjoying the Ubuntu and even have the spam a little more under control with Thunderbird email. Normally, I don’t play games on my computer, but I do like puzzle games that challenge my mind and help me wind down after a long day troubleshooting Windows’ problems. Ubuntu comes with a literal plethora of small, fun games. I like one called “Same Gnome” that challenges you to clear a game board of small orbs by lining them up as the same color. Sounds simple, but it is fun and like all good puzzle games is addicting.

Since I don’t have much to report on Ubuntu today, I want to make my almost monthly plea to everyone about backup. This weekend a family friend of ours had a problem with their computer and were worried about losing all their data. They had almost two years of photos stored on it, as well as financial data, and kid’s school and other work. Fortunately, I was able to salvage all their data and get the computer up and running, but that’s not always the norm. One of my biggest computer soap boxes is trying to convince people how important it is to backup and backup often and backup BEFORE a problem arises.

Please, do yourself a favor and get a backup routine started and then stick with it!

Riding Shotgun with Rick — 1 Comment
23
Jul 07

Ubuntu – Day 7

Today marks the one week mark that I quit using my Windows Vista machine and started using Ubuntu exclusively. I pledged to use Ubuntu only for two straight weeks to really put the operating system through the paces of daily use. After a rough start with email and fighting spam, I am almost in a groove of using this free and robust operating system. I think that Microsoft has the work cut out for themselves over the next few years to maintain their huge share of the operating system pie.

When I first installed Ubuntu on a test machine almost five months ago, I wrote how optimistic I was for the system. After a full week with the machine, I maintain that optimism. I said then, and still believe that today, that Ubuntu would make a great operating system for anyone who ONLY needs to do email, web browsing, word processing, card and puzzle games, and some digital photography. If a user needs to break out of those areas and do things like desktop publishing, genealogy, video editing, and other specific applications, it can be done with Ubuntu, but requires much more expertise and troubleshooting abilities than a Windows machine…at the moment.

Keep reading all week long as I continue my two week trek into the world of Ubuntu.

Riding Shotgun with Adam — No Comments
19
Jun 07

Small details make a big difference

Today I saw two clients who described their situation the same. They each had broadband Internet and could get online with one computer that was wired to the network but not with a wireless.

When I got to each of these locations they were each connected to the wireless network but weren't getting any Internet. The first client was connected to the wrong network, an ad hoc connection to an HP device somewhere.

The second client was much more complicated. Like the first they were able to connect to the wireless network (even the correct wireless network) but not the Internet. It turns out that was just the beginning. They also had a printer that would print just fine from anywhere except from a remote Quickbooks terminal (too geek to explain). They were also trying to setup an new network based time clock.

Once had a look at the problem which was described as a wireless computer that couldn't get online, it turned out to be that the computer was trying to connect to the Internet through the time clock and the firewalls were set to heavy for the printer to print from remote Quickbooks.

While I was able to determine the problem, I am going to go back tomorrow to run a 30-foot cable from their DSL to a network hub to solve their last big problem.

Both problems took some troubleshooting to figure out, but occasionally I enjoy a day like this as it feels more like solving a puzzle or brain teaser than computer repair. Just as with puzzles, it helps to have all of the pieces before you jump in and start trying to fix it.

OnAir Solutions / Riding Shotgun with Adam — No Comments
16
Jun 07

Disable iChat

We believe we found the answer to how to disable iChat on the Mac.

Riding Shotgun with Rick — 4 Comments
14
Jun 07

Do you remember your password for…?

If you do any online shopping and/or banking, user name and passwords have infiltrated your life. Many of my customers can easily knock one-half hour or more off their bill if they kept track of their passwords. I get many blank stares when I’m troubleshooting a machine and need to log into an Internet service or web site and I ask the customer for their password. Often times I receive the classic, “I don’t have a password.”

Everyone has a password for email, their bank, any other online service you might sign up for be it banking or a community forum.

Keeping track of passwords takes some diligence, but it absolutely must be done and approached sensibly.

Rule #1: DO NOT use the same password for everything you do. Using the same password can get you into online trouble faster than posting your credit card number on eBay.

Rule #2: Always write down your user name and password (and the date you obtained them). Preferably not on a sticky note that is attached to your monitor.

Rule #3: Use a mix of upper case and lower case, plus throw in some other characters as well, like * $ # @, etc. Using passwords like this make “cracking” a password much tougher. If you don’t believe me, read this interesting article I found on the subject.

Here are many more articles we have written that talk about how to properly manage your passwords.