General Troubleshooting Guidelines

Here are some general PC troubleshooting principles that always apply, in fact they apply in any troubleshooting domain. Keep these in mind if you wish to repair your laptop or computer.

• Make only one change at a time: if you make more than one change at a time, you won’t know which change solved the problem. If a change did not help, undo the change before trying the next one.
• Record or remember all changes: there is no sense in repeating changes and if you haven’t solved the problem, you can turn the machine over to another technician or service, the same as when you got it.
• If you receive an error message and want to research it on the internet, make sure you record the literally exact same message.
• Before starting, ask yourself if you made any changes in the hard- or software configuration just before the problem surfaced.

And last but not least: make sure you have the right mind set before repairing your PC, think positive, try to enjoy what you do and try not to be in a hurry, this will greatly improve your chances of success.