With my article from last week as supplementary material, I hope to give advice that is both valuable and understandable to those who do not consider themselves technologically inclined.
Last week, I covered how to troubleshoot using Google. This week, I will focus on useful habits that help to troubleshoot problems which you can apply across various fields of work, be it mechanics or technology.
First, it is important to understand documentation. Whenever an issue arises or you suspect an issue is over, it becomes infinitely useful to have a detailed record of the events and/or status of the product in question.
Even though you may have a record of the events that happened in memory, it is more useful to have those thoughts and events written down on paper so that you (and any others you enlist to aid you) can process them more easily and begin to understand the cause-and-effect relationship between the symptoms and the problem.
I purchased a vehicle over the summer and later on the vehicle died on me in the middle of a drive.
Immediately, I began to worry and thought about everything that had happened with the vehicle in the past.
Most immediately, I noted the most recent events: my lights began to flicker and the gas pedal began to feather and putter out.
Also in the past, while driving, I noticed that I would sometimes not be able to hit higher speeds, and when I cranked the car if I did not hit the gas, the vehicle would die.
Before I go any further, I will say that the extent of my knowledge of cars is about as much as a few hours of Googling will get me.
I wrote all of this down in explicit detail and in chronological order and began my Googling and research.
Eventually I came to the conclusion that it could be a few things: the battery, the alternator, the fuel pump or the fuel filter.
I put these possibilities down on paper and sent my car off to a mechanic.
Within about two days and two phone calls later, my vehicle was back in my hands and fully operational.
The mechanic thanked me for the amount of information I provided and noted that it saved him time in diagnosing the problem, which in turn saved me money.
Hopefully, that anecdote will properly emphasize the importance of documentation. In next week’s column, I will continue outlining hardware troubleshooting skills by discussing methods of trial and error that will help you document and research problems.
