From: http://www.misterorange.com
8 End-User Troubleshooting Tips
These are things you should do or keep in mind as you’re contacting your local
admin or support.
#1 – Reboot
The Holy Grail of Tech Support returns! Not much to say about this one. Some
say it fixes the symptoms but doesn’t cure the problem, and to that I say—bah!
Sometimes weird crap happens and you just can’t explain it. Sometimes the
printing subsystem dies and it needs a restart to come back to life. Running
the 16–bit subsystem in NT4 is a nightmare. Bad things happen and a memory and
cache flush usually clears things up just fine. I think it’s sexier to say that
there’s really a hidden cause for your troubles that can be cured with the
right widget or tweak, but rarely is this the case.
#2 – Don’t Lie
Yes, the opposite of #1 on that other
list is very important. Don’t lie to me. If you want your problem
fixed, just tell me what happened. If you visited a site you weren’t supposed
to, I need to know. I’m not in the tattle-telling business, but I’m also not in
the coddling business. If you were doing something bad, your boss will probably
know about it—eventually. But as for my time with you on the phone, in person,
or reading about your troubles in email, a majority of the time bad things
don’t begin happening “for no reason at all.†If you’re filesharing, think you
have a virus, or are riddled with spyware, the more information you can give
me, no matter how hurt or shameful, the better and the faster you get fixed.
#3 – Plug It In
It’s a cliche, but it’s true: Sometimes you need to plug the damn thing in.
And I’m not talking about power cords exclusively. Keyboards, mice,
microphones, network cables—none of these things will function if they have no
connection to the machine. I can’t tell you how many times I had to run out to
a facility only to find that the mouse was loose in the back, or the network
cable was unplugged. If you’re not comfortable with fiddling with that stuff
it’s okay, but at least jiggle a few chords and see if anything is loose.
#4 – What Changed?
Whenever there is a software problem, most of the time something changed to
cause it. I know it may have been a slight change. You may have upgraded
your hardware, you may have upgraded your Acrobat Reader or ran Windows Update
and didn’t think to mention it. Whatever it was, the guys on the other end of
the phone or staring into the innards of your PC need to know about it.
Something as “innocent†as a Network Drive Letter changing can be huge in terms
of configuration files and where they’re looking for data.
#5 – Get the Exact Error Message
Before you contact those who are forced to wade through the jungle of errors
and problems, be sure you write down everything an error message tells you. And
hopefully you don’t leave anything out because, as House M.D. will tell you, a
bad ‘history’ (ie, the exact data on prior events and conditions) is necessary
to properly diagnose a problem. If its a run-time error, I need to know the
number. If it’s a start-up error, I need to know how far along the machine
booted until it crashed. If you get an error message of any kind, expect us to
ask you exactly what it said.
#6 – If it isn’t Critical, Please Email Instead
I know you just gotta have some things by a certain time. I also
understand the pressure of someone sitting on the other side of your desk
staring you down. By all means, give me a call. I want to help. I’ll come down
and fix it if necessary, or even bring you another machine. But if it isn’t
life or death and it isn’t absolutely crucial to your day-to-day
activities, please give me an email instead. Particularly if its a strange or
new error message you’ve never seen, I’ll get to take one look at it and either
have time to research it or will contact you immediately and fix it. Either way
it’s a win-win: If I’m busy and need something done, I’ll have the time to
finish that before I get back with you.
#7 – Check Your Neighbors
Can’t check your email or access the network? Check your neighbor(s) if you
can before you call. If its been down for any length of time beyond 2–3
minutes, the IT department has probably heard about it. There’s no need to let
us know again, unless something has changed (see #4). While I
appreciate the heads-up as far as downtime, the longer I’m on the phone trying
to pacify your fears the longer it takes to actually fix the problem.
#8 – Threats Don’t Speed Up Assistance
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been passive-aggressively threatened.
“Well, what do you think Mr. Smith, your boss, would think of not making it out
here until Thursday?†some ask. To that I respond, go ahead and ask him. Knock
yourself out. If it’s not critical and I’ve got more important things to work
on I’m afraid you’ll have to wait. I know you’re important and the fact that
you’ll have to use another printer in the building is a terrible thing, but
threats will get you nothing but a pissed off IT crew that will take their
sweet time helping you now and in the future.
