Tech Wiz, troubleshooting tips column…

I have over the years of my career spent a lot of time troubleshooting problems. Many years ago, I decided to stop having a “beta” network at home. I used to have a network that only had the latest and greatest software and hardware. It wasn’t a production system, and I cannot tell you how many times I had to walk my wife or daughter through how to reset the system while I was away. When we moved to Maryland, I decided I was going to move my beta or new technology network to the cloud, and that my home network was going to be a production system. Ther result is that I don’t travel now, but I also don’t spend hours working on my home network.  We don’t have enough bandwidth, but that is a different issue.

That got me thinking about the reality of issues. There are issues that we accept, simply because we know how to work around them. There are issues that slow us down, but again we don’t want to stop and spend the time to fix them. Finally, there are the issues that we don’t know how to fix, and we know what they are, so we avoid using things that cause the issue. Many years ago I had a printer that I needed (a Plotter) that when connected to a PC while it was starting, the PC wouldn’t work. So I only plugged that plotter into the computer when the computer was already running. I have some older USB devices that cause one of my computers to boot slowly, I only plug those devices in, when the computer is booted.

It isn’t just you, I promise. All of us have frustrations that we have to deal with.when it comes to technology. I am going to devote a couple of columns to helping people become better troubleshooters. It isn’t hard, and frankly, there are two things you can do that will solve most problems quickly.

1. Check for updates (all operating systems need updates)
2. Reboot the computer

Just those two solve many problems you are experiencing. More tips to come!