3 Important Steps to practice when confronted with a computer problem

Throughout my week I receive many exasperated calls from computer users and encounter flustered users when I visit their home or office. In the almost 13 years that I've been helping people with their computers, I have found that many problems can be resolved quickly IF the following three steps are practiced:

1. When the event occurs, push away from the computer, take a deep breath and reach for a piece of paper and pencil. Immediately write down on that piece of paper the events that led up to the event. This will help you in at least two ways; 1) You might recognize where things went south yourself and be able to fix it, 2) The information you write down will be invaluable for tech guys like me who might come to your house or for phone tech help people as well.
2. If Step 1 didn't already fix your problem, shut your computer off (saving things first if possible). Leave it off for about five minutes, then turn it back on and try again.
3. If Step 2  didn't work for you, contact your support person for further instructions. The biggest way to get yourself deeper into trouble is by fiddling around too much with settings and preferences without any direction.

Following these straight forward steps you can save your self a lot of grief and get back up and running much quicker.

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