Check the Cables

Two common questions I get throughout my travels as a computer help guy are: 1) My sound doesn't work, 2) My modem (dial-up or high speed) is acting funny.

Interestingly enough, a large majority of the solutions happen to be cable related. For the sound, make sure that your speakers are plugged into the 'sound out' or speaker jack. It usually is marked green on the back of your computer. If you happen to have two round green plugs on the back of the computer, always use the lowest one. Also, with most speakers, make sure that you have the power cable plugged into the speakers and the power outlet. And lastly, if your speakers have an on/off button, make sure that it is powered on and the volume turned up both on the speakers and on your computer volume control

For dial-up modem users, many problems result from the modem being plugged into the wrong jack on the back of the computer. The phone line should run directly from the wall to the jack marked either "line" or with the picture of a plug in jack. DO NOT PLUG the line from the wall into the jack marked "phone" or with a picture of a phone. Go ahead, turn your computer around and check your phone connection...if it's wrong, log off the Internet and then plug it in correctly.

This holds true for DSL modem users as well. Make sure that you DO NOT have a filter on the phone line that is running from the wall to the modem. And that line should be plugged into the jack marked Line, NOT phone. 

Keep these two tips in mind and you will undoubtedly be able to help your friends and neighbors with problems resulting from these two common questions. 

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