Troubleshooting Tip: Don't Forget to Reboot

Don’t Forget to Reboot

There are a lot of fancy computer tips out there… complicated changes to your registry, 8 steps to increasing the number of maxrequests your web browser can process. This is not one of those tips. But this tip can save you time and money.

Here’s a secret that the company doing your tech support doesn’t want you to know: Knowing when to reboot your computer can save you thousands of dollars.

Seriously.

• Is your web browser getting stuck when you try to open it?
• Are you unable to see the printers on the network?
• Is your computer running slowly for no good reason?
• Are your fonts looking all strange when you compose an email?
• Has the sound stopped working?

Before you spend a half hour trying to troubleshoot WHY something broke…Before you call your tech support company…1. Reboot your computer.

You could call your tech support company. And listen to some lovely hold music. Or spend money on a “per incident” charge. Or you could 2. reboot your computer and get back up and running again.

Rebooting isn’t magic. It doesn’t always work. But it works a lot. I guarantee it is one of the first things that the person doing your tech support will try. Rebooting won’t help you know why your computer stopped working. And here’s another secret: The tech support person fixing your computer might never figure out the WHY either. You don’t really care, do you? You just want it working again. 3. Reboot your computer.