Tech Tip of the Day: You were working in a program, let's say...Outlook, and it pops up an error. Call your service desk!!!!! Actually....let's wait a minute before making that call.
Applications rely on a lot of background things running correctly all of the time. If something messes up for just a moment, it can throw your program off - resulting in your error. Most of these types of problems can be corrected by just closing the program and relaunching it. It's similar to the "have you rebooted your computer?" question that those pesky Service Desk people ask you.
If at first you don't succeed, close that program and try again. It works more times than not. Of course, if it doesn't, you'd better call that service desk!!!!
Thursday, July 24, 2014
Wednesday, July 23, 2014
But it's MINE!! It's my precious....
Tech Tip of the Day: You sit down at your computer after a week of vacation. It's turned on...wait, no that's not right...you made sure you turned it off before you left. Someone's sat in your chair...and used your computer....this can't be good!!! You boot it up, and see there's an email from your IT person...they*gasp* logged onto your computer and did something to it in preparation for a project coming up.
No...they had found in the logs that your computer was on a list of those that was infected with a virus and had to clean it up.
No...they needed to check their email and yours was the closest PC.
Whatever it was....This is unacceptable!
"I must speak with a manager." This is YOUR computer in YOUR office. Your name is on the deed to the building, and you personally purchased that workstation.....oh ....wait.
Though that desktop/laptop/tablet/phone might be assigned to you...it is NOT yours. The company - or an agent of the company - has every right to connect to, use, change, audit use of, remove software from, copy data from company owned equipment, unless that is a violation of policy(Think protected healthcare information.)
You most likely signed a computer usage agreement when you were hired before they gave you that computer...time to go back and read that baby!!
No...they had found in the logs that your computer was on a list of those that was infected with a virus and had to clean it up.
No...they needed to check their email and yours was the closest PC.
Whatever it was....This is unacceptable!
"I must speak with a manager." This is YOUR computer in YOUR office. Your name is on the deed to the building, and you personally purchased that workstation.....oh ....wait.
Though that desktop/laptop/tablet/phone might be assigned to you...it is NOT yours. The company - or an agent of the company - has every right to connect to, use, change, audit use of, remove software from, copy data from company owned equipment, unless that is a violation of policy(Think protected healthcare information.)
You most likely signed a computer usage agreement when you were hired before they gave you that computer...time to go back and read that baby!!
Sunday, June 29, 2014
It's all over
Tech Tip of the Day: Computers can be noisy. Fans are spinning, hard drives clicking. That's because, just like cars, DVD players, Ice Cream Makers, and everything else that breaks at the worst moment possible... they have moving parts.(Seriously!?!?! While it's only HALF frozen....give me my mint chocolate chip!!!!)
True, not all hard drives have moving parts now, but most still do. Things with moving parts wear out. Friction and dust(which increases friction) are the enemies of your computer components. This is part of why your computer slows down with age. Yes, you can have someone take it back to a clean slate of your Operating System, but it will never quite run the way it did out of the box.
But because these components/parts do wear out, they can fail, and cause other parts to fail because of it! So back your important documents up! There are services out there that can usually restore data from a fried hard drive...but they are expensive. A simple backup to an external drive, or even better an automated online backup(I use CrashPlan and love it) can save you money in the long run, and can give you peace of mind.
True, not all hard drives have moving parts now, but most still do. Things with moving parts wear out. Friction and dust(which increases friction) are the enemies of your computer components. This is part of why your computer slows down with age. Yes, you can have someone take it back to a clean slate of your Operating System, but it will never quite run the way it did out of the box.
But because these components/parts do wear out, they can fail, and cause other parts to fail because of it! So back your important documents up! There are services out there that can usually restore data from a fried hard drive...but they are expensive. A simple backup to an external drive, or even better an automated online backup(I use CrashPlan and love it) can save you money in the long run, and can give you peace of mind.
Saturday, April 5, 2014
I went somewhere else, and it's not there!
Tech Tip of the Day: Pretty sweet deal, workplace domains. You can go to just about any computer in the organization, sit down, log in with your own credentials and not have to share your information with every other person that sits there...oh wait, none of your stuff's on this computer!!! "But I saved it to my desktop!!! It should be there when I log in anywhere!"
By default your personal desktop, "My Documents", printer, mapped drives, and programs are all on your local PC ONLY. You save it to your desktop on your computer, or your my documents, and it saves it to that place, on that specific computer. Just because you are using your username and password on another computer does not mean that anything you've put anywhere will be there.
There are exceptions. If your organization invests in enough storage space to create "home drives" then you can be set to have your documents follow you from computer to computer. In the same way, there is a way to have a "Roaming Profile" that has your desktop, shortcuts, favorites and basic settings follow you from computer to computer. But once again, that requires an investment in storage space, as well as network bandwidth. Some companies even have a streaming/virtual desktop solution that keeps absolutely everything out there off the local machine, but these solutions aren't the norm.
By default your personal desktop, "My Documents", printer, mapped drives, and programs are all on your local PC ONLY. You save it to your desktop on your computer, or your my documents, and it saves it to that place, on that specific computer. Just because you are using your username and password on another computer does not mean that anything you've put anywhere will be there.
There are exceptions. If your organization invests in enough storage space to create "home drives" then you can be set to have your documents follow you from computer to computer. In the same way, there is a way to have a "Roaming Profile" that has your desktop, shortcuts, favorites and basic settings follow you from computer to computer. But once again, that requires an investment in storage space, as well as network bandwidth. Some companies even have a streaming/virtual desktop solution that keeps absolutely everything out there off the local machine, but these solutions aren't the norm.
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
Sorry, I'm not very technical
Tech Tips of the Day: "You want me to do what? Sorry I'm not very technical." This is a valid excuse for not understanding what that gibberish error message on your screen means. Some IT Professionals tend to forget that just because it seems like an obvious answer to them - sometimes what they might even consider common sense - that doesn't mean it is the actual obvious answer for someone who has less experience dealing with these "mundane computer issues."
Even though computer and tech use is more prevalent, the computer savvy level of the population as a whole really hasn't. They may feel like they are since they use technology now more than ever, but they really still have no idea what to do when things go wrong. And that's OK.
But the lack of technical skill or aptitude is NOT an excuse for not being able to comprehend a standard sentence or paragraph, just because it's displayed on a computer screen.
"Your password has expired and must be changed. Please input your information into the following boxes."
This sentence just told you what happened, and what you need to do. There is no ambiguity.
"Your attempted new password does not meet the minimum requirements. Please click here to view the requirements."
Once again, straightforward. Tells you what to do if you don't know what it wants....all you have to do is read.
Even though computer and tech use is more prevalent, the computer savvy level of the population as a whole really hasn't. They may feel like they are since they use technology now more than ever, but they really still have no idea what to do when things go wrong. And that's OK.
But the lack of technical skill or aptitude is NOT an excuse for not being able to comprehend a standard sentence or paragraph, just because it's displayed on a computer screen.
"Your password has expired and must be changed. Please input your information into the following boxes."
This sentence just told you what happened, and what you need to do. There is no ambiguity.
"Your attempted new password does not meet the minimum requirements. Please click here to view the requirements."
Once again, straightforward. Tells you what to do if you don't know what it wants....all you have to do is read.
Monday, January 27, 2014
It's only required
Tech Tip of the Day: So you are filling out a form and you try to submit it or save it...and it doesn't let you!! The nerve!!! That message saying that a field is required doesn't apply to you. Obviously.
Nearly all web forms, or applications have fields that are required to be completed before you can move to the next screen or submit the information. Those fields usually have some kind of indicator, such as being bold, Having an asterisk(*) next to them, or the field be highlighted in another color. If you try to submit the form without these fields completed, then it's not going to allow you. If you expect your IT professional to be able to help you complete the form without the required fields, you're going to be disappointed. We do not have a magic button that we can circumvent an application or web form's programming.
Nearly all web forms, or applications have fields that are required to be completed before you can move to the next screen or submit the information. Those fields usually have some kind of indicator, such as being bold, Having an asterisk(*) next to them, or the field be highlighted in another color. If you try to submit the form without these fields completed, then it's not going to allow you. If you expect your IT professional to be able to help you complete the form without the required fields, you're going to be disappointed. We do not have a magic button that we can circumvent an application or web form's programming.
Tuesday, January 14, 2014
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