A Common Sense Approach To Technology

Troubleshooting

Or: How I learned to stop worrying and love technology

The first rule, the golden rule, the rule that supersedes

all others...

Is it PLUGGED IN!This applies to everything on campus and at home:

• Power

• Printing

• Internet

• Keyboard & Mouse

• TView

• Anything and everything...

Power - Is it plugged in: CPU, monitor, and peripherals?

Picture - Is it connected (i.e. monitor or TView) to the CPU?

Input - Is it connected (i.e. mouse and/or keyboard) connected to the CPU?

Output - Is it connected (i.e. printer) to the CPU and itself, is the path complete? :-)

Network - Is it connected to the CPU and the wall jack or is the wireless connection available?

Simplify the Technology

Hardware and its bastard child software

Hardware is usually the easiest to diagnose:

• The nuts and bolts of the technology nothing more

Software is a different BEAST all together:

• It directly affects hardware

• It can interact strangely with other software or not at all

• It can be time consuming and frustrating to determine the problem

Hardware TroubleshootingKnow your hardware:

• Simply put - mess with it.

The basics of hardware troubleshooting:

• Is there power?

• Does it power up as expected?

• Are there any indicator lights, do they display the status of the device, and what are they indicating?

• Has the device and/or cable been damaged?

Hardware TroubleshootingThe basics continued:

• How does it sound? This may seem weird, but sometimes it’s the only indication.

• Be sure to check any interconnecting devices: hubs, cables, or video equipment etc.

• If things look physically correct, check any available device settings: input, output, channel, or type of connection etc.

• If you’ve witnessed any magic smoke, it’s time to break out the checkbook...

Software Troubleshooting

Check the basics:

• Check any user settings, i.e. proxy setting etc.

• Installation history - what has been added or subtracted and what was the effect?

• Could the problem be hardware* related?

• Are software updates or bug fixes available?

• Have you downloaded something or opened an email that may have been questionable?

Software Troubleshooting

Software TroubleshootingMore advanced issues:

• If the application or OS is reporting an error or they repeatedly fail, there are several options:

• www.google.com

• http://groups.google.com

• www.tek-tips.com

• www.experts-exchange.com (pay based service)

• www.computing.net

• The manufacture’s website

Speaking of Frustration

Problem Solved...

Viruses Adware Spyware

Avoiding the evil trio

• Alternative browsers (Win/Mac):

• Netscape

• Mozilla

• Firefox

• Opera

• Basically avoid using Internet Explorer

Viruses Adware Spyware

• Employ virus protection & update/scan often:

• Norton Anti-virus

• Panda Anti-virus

• AVG Ant-virus (free windows)

• F-Prot Anti-virus (free dos scanner)

• Be internet smart: avoid P2P networks, downloading without scanning, and email attachments

• Be wary of hoax/look-alike emails and their promises

Viruses Adware Spyware

• Employ Adware/Spyware protection & update/scan often:

• Ad-Aware

• Spybot Search and Destroy

• My personal favorites and they’re free

• Be internet smart: avoid P2P networks, downloading without scanning, and INTERNET EXPLORER

Viruses Adware Spyware

Or answer all your troubleshooting problems in one easy step...

;-)

Thank you?