Tag Archives: software

troubleshoot

Learning How to Troubleshoot the Right Way

Playing around with a bunch of wires and fidgeting with the gadgets on the keyboard can not only be unproductive, but it can also be dangerous. When you want to know how to fix problems with your computer properly, what steps can you take?

Ask a Friend

Chances are, you know someone who graduated with a degree in Computer Science or who is working at a major computer store. Instead of fiddling around with the keyboard today, give that person a call. Find out when he or she is available, and ask this individual if a private tutoring session could be arranged. Let your friend know you want to learn how to deal with common troubleshooting issues when they arise, and, hopefully, this person will be happy to teach you.

Take a Course

Many people do receive their degrees in Computer Science and other related fields. As a result, most colleges, if not all, in your area will offer at least a handful of courses related to the subject matter. Over the summer or during a season when work is a little bit slow, enroll in one of these courses. You’re likely rather worried about the price. Fortunately, many community colleges also offer classes, and you can enroll in these for a fraction of the cost of what other universities would offer.

Read the Books

Whenever you purchase a new computer or a gadget for your computer, you are given a pamphlet. In this booklet, you’ll find an array of information about the device as well as details on how to deal with common troubleshooting issues when they arise. Generally, people tend to cram this booklet up into a drawer someone and completely forget where they put it in their times of needs. Make a nice little file of all of the booklets, and refer to them when your computer isn’t functioning properly. It’s quite likely you will find the answer for which you are looking in one of the chapters.

Using the Computer

Sometimes, the computer is not entirely beyond repair. For example, you might be able to turn it on, but, once you do, one of the programs you need for work will not function properly. Many computers have troubleshooting functions built right into them. As long as you are able to use the computer, look up steps on it to help you resolve the problem in a timely fashion. Sometimes, these tools can also check for problems on the system. Therefore, you will be able to find the root of the problem to address that as opposed to waffling around with issues that are not really problems at all.

The best way to learn how to troubleshoot on a computer is to have a professional or someone who works in the industry show you. If you have any questions, you can ask that person. However, when you cannot take a class or no one is available, other options exist to help you deal with the computer crisis.


This article was submitted through TechGeec’s article submission form.

Walter O’Neal writes about technology, education and more. Most recently, he has written a series of pieces on the best computer degrees.

txt to computer

How to Transfer/Backup Text Messages from iPhone to Computer

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boxee box release 2

Boxee Box Has Been Released – Buy Yours Now

For those who have never heard of the computer software, Boxee, it’s a free program that brings all of your favorite shows that are available online all to one place where you can manage what shows you want to watch now, watch later, or never watch at all. It takes the time you spend searching for your favorite TV shows online out of the equation and it does the work for you. You tell it what you watch, it finds it for you (so long as the TV show has episodes online).

Boxee just recently (November 10, 2010) released what I feel to be the missing link in the “TV box” line. In this day and age when the internet is at the center of almost all of our lives and when almost everything is available online, not one company has yet to release a product that allows the consumer to watch TV shows that are online on their TVs – until now.

The Boxee Box by D-Link is a product that will most likely cause many TV service providers to lose business. If all of the shows that you watch on your TV are available online, then there is absolutely no need for you to spend the money for cable or satellite when you can use Boxee for free. The Boxee Box essentially takes everything from their computer application to your TV, all through a small “box”.

Many might ask themselves, “I’m not going to cancel my service with my cable/satellite provider because I still want to watch live TV and I have a DVR to record all my shows so why would I need a Boxee Box?” That’s a fantastic and extremely easy question to answer. I recently switched from Dish Network to DirecTV and while all of my favorite shows recorded onto the Dish Network DVR, there was no way for

me to transfer those episodes to a computer or to the new DirecTV DVR. I didn’t have the time to watch my recorded shows which resulted in me missing a whole week worth of television shows. Some shows have story lines which carry over to the following week’s episode and I didn’t want to be lost when that time came around. Luckily all of the TV shows I watch are available online. So instead of endlessly searching on the web for the episodes I missed, I went onto Boxee and all of the episodes were right there waiting for me in my queue.

But how does the Boxee Box compare to other TV “boxes” such as the new Apple TV, Google TV, or Roku? You’ll have to wait for our review of the Boxee Box coming in December.

You can pick up your own Boxee Box at Amazon.com for a list price of $229.99. As of November 14, however, Amazon is offering a 13% discount making the price $199.99. If you use Boxee of you already have a Boxee Box, let us know what you think about it my leaving us a comment below this article.

iPad Capable of Taking Pictures?

One great disappointment that the iPad has is the fact that there is no camera, whether it be a front-facing one or a rear-facing one and today where almost everything has a camera, it’s a bit odd that Apple didn’t include it. Recently, it was found that in the iPad’s SDK (software development kit) there was an option to add the ability to take pictures. Could this be a new feature for the second generation iPad or could Apple possibly be making a camera that will connect to the iPad through the 30-pin dock connector? The attachment does not seem possibly, however, because it does not seem to be something that Steve Jobs would approve of. Here’s the picture of the feature: