Help IT Help You

For some reason, most people have some aversion to speaking "computerese".  I suppose they are afraid of saying something that is somehow embarrassing, or sounding too much like an actual Nerd.  But we all use computers.  Every day.  Most of us use more than one, not even counting smart phones, tablets and the like.

So, when you encounter an error, or "glitch" or whatever you want to call it, you may need to ask for some help.  Here are a few things you can do to get your problem resolved quickly (making YOU happy) by giving your tech support peeps enough info to figure out what's wrong without spending a ton of time going back and forth (making THEM happy).

1. Be specific in describing the problem. If you are interacting with an application that generates an error message, copy it EXACTLY as it appears.  Telling your IT support staff that you got an "error message" but you don't know anything more than that does little good.  I can't count the number of times I have had someone tell me they received an error message, but failed to read it and don't remember anything at all about what it said.  Those messages are (or should be, depending on the author) fairly descriptive. Be as specific and detailed as you can, and you will be helping get your problem resolved MUCH faster.

2. Take a picture. If you can take a screenshot and send it to your support team, definitely do that. Windows 7 and later has a built-in screen grab utility called Snipping Tool that you can find under Accessories.  Use it to capture part or all of your screen, and copy and paste that image into an e-mail to your support folks.  Aren't sure how to do this?  Us your phone to take a picture of the screen.  Seriously.  They will appreciate it!

2. Can you reproduce the problem? Yes? Good! If you can tell the support team a set of steps that they can take to cause the problem to appear again, that will go a long way toward getting a quick resolution.  Write the steps down, like you are making a recipe.  "Opened application, clicked on File, Print. Attached error message appeared." Even if you aren't exactly sure what caused the problem, jot down as much as you can.

I know this sounds simple, and hopefully most of us are following these guidelines when seeking support.  The good news is computer application errors are far less frequent than they once were.  But they still happen. By using the information provided by the operating system and application developers, you will likely get that frustrating problem resolved much more quickly and efficiently. And who doesn't want that?