Problems

The basis of fault diagnosis is to know what the system should be doing and compare it with what it is doing in order to identify the discrepancy and its cause . A large proportion of supposed problems are due to lack of understanding of what the system should be doing, so the first step is to read the manual.

Most programs have a help function - please use it.

If a program or device is not working which previously was, think back to when you remember it last working OK, and then consider what changes you have made since.  Note that some software changes occur with little notice to you eg Automatic Updates.

If you get an on-screen error message, make a note of exactly what it said – you can sometimes use the Alt-PrtScrn buttons to capture the screen contents and then paste it temporarily into a Word document.

You can then do a Google search on the error message to find out if it’s a common problem, possibly what its cause is, and also how to resolve it.

Many problems can be cleared by closing down the machine and then re-starting it. For broadband routers wait 30 seconds before restarting.