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Troubleshooting Questions and Answers This troubleshooting guide was created with two teachers who wanted to gain a better understanding of how to troubleshoot their computers. They came up with a list of technical questions that they had. The staff developer created answers on index cards which she distributed each meeting (like a word of the day calendar). This was a fun quick activity each day and was less overwhelming than learning it all at one time. Below are the questions from the teachers along with the answers. We decided to publish them on the web because we thought they would be helpful for others.
How do you unfreeze your computer? How do you find a file if you forget the name or location? How do you change a file name? Can you combine files into a larger one? Should you do this? Can you retrieve deleted items? Is there a time limit on this? What if you are cut off without saving yoru work? Can this be retrieved?
How do you unfreeze your computer? PC - Ctrl + Alt + Delete,
then End Task Mac -
You can run programs that "degrag" the computer like Disk Warrior. Defragging is just a fancy term for organizing all your data. Think about it as if you are trying to get through your child's room but it is all messy with toys haphazardly placed around the room. Defragging is like asking your child to clean up his room. Once it is straigthened, it is much easier to get around. The computer is the same way.
On the Mac, you can also try resetting the PRAM. To reset the PRAM, restart your computer and hold down the option + apple + R + P (make sure the caps lock is not engaged). Hold the keys down until you hear the start up sound a second time, then release the keys. This will reset any special setting you had in your control panel.
How do you find
a file if you forgot the name and/or location? On the Mac, click on the Apple in the upper left corner
and then scroll down to Sherlock. Type
in what you know about the file and click the magnifying glass. On the PC, click on the Start menu, then select find, then select
files or folders. Type
in what you know about the file and click Find Now. How do you change
a file name? On the Mac, click once on the file's name and just
start typing the new name. On the PC, in Window's Explorer or My Computer, click the file's
name and then select Rename from the File menu. Then type in the new name. Can you combine
files into one larger file? Should you do this? Do different programs
have different ways of doing word processing or are they similar, such
as Word and Clarisworks? Most word processing programs work very similarly.
Generally, once you know how to use one kind of program, many of the
skills can transfer to another.
Menu items may just be located in different places Yes, you can retrieve
deleted items as long as you don't empty the trash (on a Mac) or the
recycling bin (on a PC). To retrieve the deleted item, just
drag the item bag out of the trash or recycling bin. To delete the item permanently: On a Mac, click Special and then Empty
Trash On a PC, double-click the recycling bin
and then click File > Empty Trash Note: to make more space on your computer,
you must actually empty the trash or recycling bin because otherwise
it is not really deleted from your computer and still taking up space. What if you are
cut off without saving your work? Can this be retrieved? If you get cut off without saving, sometimes the computer
creates a recovered file. This
will automatically open the next time you open the software that you
were using. The best way to prevent losing your work is to set up the software
to automatically save every few minutes.
In Word, click Tools menu and select Preferences. Click the Save
tab. Check off "Save
Auto Recover Info" and then select how often you want it to save. |
