Methods for getting Help from Computer Tech Support People
Show up, you may want to call up Computer Tech Support to fix something. Perhaps one morning you get the blue screen of death, or you get one of those scary error messages on your screen. Or maybe you try to turn your computer on and…Nothing. Perhaps it’s not your computer at all, but your website is completely down and to make that call to your web designer or web hosting company. I’ve been on both sides of that panicky call and there are carry out to help make that tech support call a little bit of less stressful:
1. Don’t panic – This is easier said than done when you’re computer’s on the blink and you’re staring down the barrel of a deadline. But things will be less stressful holistic acne freak out. Chances are drastically not nearly as bad (or expensive) as you think.
2. Check the obvious before you call – Factor things that your Computer Tech Support person will have you do is to check for obvious causes of trouble. Like is your computer plugged in? Or is the surge protector your computer’s connected is turned on? Are all of the cables coming from your computer plugged in tight? Or are entering your password in correctly? Or have you got the “CAPS lock” key on while you’re entering your password? They have you run through this drill because many times the simple stuff is the problem. So run through a number of the obvious causes of trouble before you pick up the phone.
3. Get prepared – When you have any warranties or service contracts gather up all those materials before you call. It will save you a little bit of time should your tech person requests this information. It’s also possible to need the serial number for your computer. These are generally located on a sticker placed on the back, bottom, or side of your computer or they are located in your computer registration paperwork.
4. Be as specific as possible – Simply saying “My computer’s not working” is not that helpful. Computer Tech Support already assumes that your computer isn’t working because you wouldn’t call just to say hi. What they desire to know is “in what way is your computer not working?”. You need as specific as possible. Will your computer not start at all? Is the problem that you can turn the computer on but it won’t go past the start-up screen? You could get past the start-up screen but you can’t open up a particular program? Describe your problem from beginning to end; what you were doing when you encountered your problem, what your computer does, and if there are any special situations that seem to coincide with the problem.
5. Write down error messages – Usually when something goes wrong, you’ll get some kind of error message that attempts to tell you what the problem is. If you cannot make heads or tails of the message, take the time to jot it down. It may mean something to the Computer Tech Support person you’re talking to and it might help them diagnose the problem just a little faster.
6. Make note of any recent changes or incidents – Sometimes the reason for your computer trouble is something that’s changed on your computer or some incident that has happened recently such as:
- incorporating new hardware (printer, scanner, hard drive, memory, etc)
- the addition or deletion of software
- a power disruption or power surge
- the addition of deletion of a service
- software upgrades or security patches
Sometimes changes like this can cause some unforeseen problems with other things that may or may not appear to be related to your problem. When you’re talking to your Computer Tech Support person, make them aware of any changes or additions you made before you started having problems. They’ll be able to tell you if these changes matched to your trouble.
7. Keep notes- A lot of times a call to the Computer Tech Support means that you’ll be spending a lot of time on the phone being sent from one person to another. Keep notes on who you talk to, when you talked to them, and what they’ve done to help diagnose the problem. In the event that you will have to keep calling the Computer Tech Support or when you have to a repair person fix your computer in person, these notes comes into play handy.
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