Stuff To Do Before You Call Part 2
by Gary Woods

To pick up where we left off last week, the sixth thing to do before you call is narrow down the problem. The basic rule of problem solving is to start with what works and proceed to what doesn't work. If you just installed a new piece of hardware or software, uninstall it and see if the problem goes away.

Seventh, know your system. Resolving a problem over the phone requires a series of questions, often having to do with specific hardware, operating system, and software. It would be good to know what all these things are before you call.

Eighth, check for IRQ conflicts. IRQs are hardware connections for a particular device. To see if you have any conflicts go to Start, Control Panel, System and finally select Device Manager. If you see a yellow circle with a black exclamation mark in it, you have a conflict. The important thing is that when you call you'll be able to tell the technician what's going on.

Ninth, access crash logs. The crash log for Windows XP resides at C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\Dr Watson. If you can have this file ready to send to a technician it can be a huge help.

Tenth, you should back up all your data often. There are many utilities for this like Power Quest’s Drive Image and Norton's Ghost. I've been saved by frequent backups numerous times. DO IT NOW!!!!

If you have any suggestions or questions for me please drop me a note at garyandlaury@santabarbaraproperties.com or see my column on the Internet at http://www.santabarbaraproperties.com or call me at (805) 729-0910