Top 10 Things You Should do Before Calling Technical Support

How many times have you called a friend or technical support to solve a computer problem? Have you had problems describing your problem? Have you just told a tech person – It does not work without giving them anything else?

Everyday some of my customers say that an application does not work, or their monitor was not on, or their printer did not print. Many of these were operator trouble.

To help you get the most out of a Tech Support call, below are ten items that will benefit you and the tech person supporting you.

1. Reboot (turn off your computer and turn it back on).. Sometimes computers get confused and it tries to do something that resulted in an error. If you rebooted your computer and the error does not come back you just saved yourself a phone call.

2. Gather some information about your computer before calling for help. What type of operating system are you running, how much memory is installed, what applications were open when the problem occurred, what was the exact error message, and what were you trying to do.

Also if your computer is still under warranty, have all the warranty information available, including the date it was purchased, serial number, etc..

3. If the problem is with one of the hardware components in or attached to your computer, is it turned on? If it is your printer is the ready - online light on? Is there a light on the monitor? Did the keyboard come unattached while cleaning? Check all cables, making sure they are in the right slot and fit snug.

4. Is the error message reproducible? Every time you do “x” or “y”…what happens. Is it consistent or does something different occur each time (that still causes some kind of problem.

5. Are you calling because you forgot your password? Forgetting a password is usually about 34% of all support calls tech centers receive daily. Use a program on your computer to remember your password and keep it safe. I you frequently forget your password, here's a simple method to remember passwords.

6. Check the vendor’s site for support forums or search their site (using the error message) for a solution. Many times the problem was reported before and the vendor’s site might have the answer.

7. Did you run anti-virus and spyware removal software to see if anything malicious was installed?

8. Try running disk cleanup and defrag your hard drive. Sometimes these programs will clear up common errors.

9. Go into Internet Explorer and delete the Internet temp files and history files.

10. If the problem is connecting to the cable or DSL modem, restart the modem and the computer it is attached to. If you also have a router you should restart that as well. There might have been noise on the line, or a fluctuation in signal or electric. Restarting all components may solve the problem.

Author - John Gontowicz - Your Computer Connection. If you need to learn how to do any of these things please visit my site where you will find many free tutorials – www.yourpcguide.com