Tech Talk: Troubleshooting

There it is. You’ve got a gadget, all new tech, fresh out of its box, it’s shiny, it’s sleek. Isn’t it amazing they can make these so small? That’s technology for you. As devices of all kinds become a staple in our everyday lives, so to are technical difficulties.

Do you know what they call people who fix Apple computers?

Geniuses.

As if it isn’t troubling enough to require assistance at all, you go to a Genius Bar and for [at least] $250 they will troubleshoot and fix computer hang ups. Best Buy’s tech support group goes by the monikker Geek Squad, but a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. When problems are encountered, who do you call?

I have a friend who calls her sister for Apple issues and her husband for PC problems. My grandma calls me. I call the internet.

If the internet teaches us anything it’s that we’re not alone. We are a community of people who can’t find the driver, who don’t know what a driver is, who can’t run the app, who, maybe, couldn’t identify a server to save our lives. Without a doubt someone has encountered the same issue and if you’re savvy, can benefit from their experience/wisdom. Never hesitate to search for a solution online. If, however, your problem is connecting to the internet, see below.

Whether your IQ is high enough to qualify for Mensa, you are absolutely capable of more than you know. Before reaching out for potentially costly help, try troubleshooting on your own. At the very least this will give you something to tell the Genius besides it doesn’t work.

Routers

As far as I’m concerned these things work by some kind of bioluminescent magic wherein you plug in a series of cables in a sequence until the lights flash and there is the internet. Voila! If Internet connectivity gets sketchy, the instinctive response is to turn it off, wait a minute, then on again. Unplug the big one. No points for originality here, make sure you put the plugs back where you got them.

The waiting is key, make sure all lights have gone off before initiating relaunch. Then wait for reboot. This process is called a hard reset. It’s hard because patience is a virtue.

With luck, the lights dance, blinking until they’re solid and the internet flows once more. Rejoice!

If your luck has run dry, you have one of two options: sacrifice a wireless mouse (not recommended) or admit it is time to call the internet company. Though their phone lines are exasperating, they can often diagnose and solve problems for free.

Wifi

Let’s say your router is working, but a particular device is having trouble connecting to Wifi. Navigate to Settings, select Wifi. There listed are all the available networks in the immediate vicinity. Since the router is working you’ll find its nickname here. Select it and enter the password. Tick the box beside the phrase show password to ensure the correct entry.

The majority of issues with Wifi involve a lack of authentication, usually caused by entering an incorrect password. Other times, Wifi is simply glitchy, especially if multiple devices are connected and downloading or streaming video or games.

For an iPhone, Wifi issues can sometimes be aided by resetting the network settings. In Settings, ensure that, Airplane Mode is off. Open General, scroll down to Reset and select Reset Network Settings. It’s important to know that the iPhone will remove all saved Wifi passwords, Bluetooth pairing records, VPN and APN settings.

Task Manager | Force Quit Applications

A slow and buggy PC can sometimes be rejuvenated without a hard reset by accessing the Task Manager. Press control + alt + delete at the same time. Select the program that is misbehaving and click End Task.

The iOS equivalent of Task Manager is the Finder. Finder is the program that runs continuously on a Mac. If a program is not responding, click the apple symbol that is always in the upper left corner to open the menu and scroll down to Force Quit. This prompts the Force Quit Applications window to open with a list of every program running. Select the one(s) not responding and wait a minute before restarting the program.

Bluetooth

Bluetooth pairing can be tricky because there are different generations of Bluetooth devices that face compatibility issues even now. So, sometimes it just won’t work. Other times there are apps that act as patches between adjacent technologies. In general, making sure both devices are on the same Wifi network can be the advice that makes the difference between wireless printing and frustration.

Error 404

The HTTP 404, 404 Not Found, 404, Page Not Found, or Server Not Found error message is a Hypertext Transfer Protocol standard response code, in computer network communications, to indicate that the browser was able to communicate with a given server, but the server could not find what was requested. This means the problem may not be on your end at all. Websites go down both unintentionally and for routine maintenance.

User Error

User error is hard to avoid. It happens to everyone. What you can avoid is the pattern of insanity that goes along with repeating ineffective methods. You click and nothing happens. Maybe it didn’t hear you clicking. You click again. Still to no avail. You click again, harder this time so as to make your click clear and precise. Before descending into a click frenzy, check the progress bar to see if there is a hold up. Be patient, friend. At a certain point clicking a million times is only slowing the process. Breathe, and remember that technology is not the boss of you. Then try switching to another task and see if the problem is local to the program or app, or larger scale.

When in doubt, turn it off and on again. If you try all that and still have no luck, then activate the phone tree, whoever that may be for you. Failing that, succumb to the will of the Geniuses.