Tag: troubleshooting

  • Windows 7: Problem Step Recorder

    As a support technician, I have often needed to see how a problem occurs, or show someone how to do something, but the person I need info from, or need to teach, is not available so that it can be done face to face, or over the phone.   A lot of my users are…

  • A better way to see trends

    An old joke says that there are three kinds of lies; black lies, white lies and the internal polling data of political parties. The latter example is typically statistics, and while statistics can be presented in such a way as to prove almost anything, raw, unprocessed statistics are a great tool.   One of my…

  • Free eBook: Troubleshooting Windows 7

    Working in IT, I often have people ask me about issues they are having with their computer. Now, while I’m happy to help out, I often find that the problems I solve for them are problems they could have solved themselves. Mitch Tulloch, a Microsoft MVP and lead author of the just-published Windows 7 Resource…

  • KISS – Keep It Simple, Stupid

    The number one biggest error many techs make when diagnosing problems for users, be it on the phone or on site, is going the complicated route. There is a reason why most ISPs have a script for their 1st tier techs to follow, to make sure that the basic errors have been corrected.   While…

  • Quickly and simply troubleshoot networks from the command line

    I love using command line tools, especially for troubleshooting networking. There are two simple commands you need to know; ipconfig and ping. Here’s a simple guide to finding where the problem :   Open the command line by opening the “run” dialog box, entering cmd and clicking OK Ensure that the TCP/IP service is running…