{"id":494,"date":"2009-04-22T10:34:00","date_gmt":"2009-04-22T10:34:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brainlitter.itgroove.net\/2009\/04\/22\/simple-but-effective-techie-troubleshooting-tip\/"},"modified":"2009-04-22T10:34:00","modified_gmt":"2009-04-22T10:34:00","slug":"simple-but-effective-techie-troubleshooting-tip","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regroove.ca\/brainlitter\/2009\/04\/22\/simple-but-effective-techie-troubleshooting-tip\/","title":{"rendered":"Simple But Effective Techie Troubleshooting Tip"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Someone asked this on Experts Exchange today, so I posted my 2 bits. As someone who daily runs into a ‘gosh, that’s weird or new’ in technology, I find this simple but effective technical troubleshooting\/research technique very useful. <\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

As simple as my comments might be, if you aren’t doing this ‘method’ when googling\/investigating errors, etc. maybe you should try it (lots of FUD out there, I find this method is useful for wading through the bumpf). I’m sure, like me, you only want to apply the fix ‘once’. <\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

If I have an obscure error, EventID or something that isn’t descriptive enough, I do the following\u2026 <\/h1>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I google errors, EventID’s, etc. but I take that information with a grain of salt as lots of people post ‘expert’ answers but are completely bupkiss. \u00a0Here’s my approach. <\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \n
    I do my search as specifically as I can on Google<\/strong>. But because there are a lot of folks apparently posting ‘expert’ answers, who quite frankly, post horrible\/bupkiss answers, I take that info with a grain of salt and I\u2026 <\/div>\n
      \n
    1. \n
      For the 5 or 6 that look reasonable\/accurate, I use the ‘open in new windows’ option in IE (or Firefox) to open them all and still maintain my reference page<\/strong> (i.e. don’t close it, you may find yourself going back or wondering how you found the info in the first place). I don’t care for the ‘open in New Tab’ option in this scenario, as I might use another article as the ‘lead page’ for another round of deeper searching and tabs get full\/hard to sift through quickly. <\/div>\n<\/li>\n
    2. \n
      I skim all of the various posts and if I find a common theme\/answer, then I consider applying it <\/strong><\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      \u00a0<\/p>\n

      \u00a0<\/p>\n

      As a picture is worth a 1000 words, here’s what I mean specifically\u2026 <\/em><\/p>\n

      \u00a0<\/p>\n

      Do your search and open the results in new windows or tabs <\/h2>\n

      \u00a0<\/p>\n

      \"\" <\/p>\n

      \u00a0<\/p>\n

      ‘Build’ your approach, document the actions you take and apply the fix <\/h2>\n

      \u00a0<\/p>\n

      \"\" <\/p>\n

      \u00a0<\/p>\n

      Also, my favourite resources (though hardly gospel or in any particular order) are\u2026 <\/em><\/p>\n