It doesn’t happen very often but when it does, what a PAIN !!
My Desktop PC is having a bad couple of days, , , and that means, “I’m having a bad day.” Troubleshooting PC issues is not what we are supposed to spend our time on as managers, , , but when you are a small business like me, , , I’m the one who usually must troubleshoot technical issues.
When I have PC problems, they always seem to occur when updating software. In this case, I updated my virus and spyware prevention software with new definitions and I discover there is now a conflict with a sound card driver on my old but proven XP system. I finally learn what the issue is after several reboots, , , Google searches, , , and vendor software support research to narrow down and isolate the issue.
Initially, you aren’t sure what’s going on, so you start back tracking to try and identify “What has changed?”
Yep, , , it apparently a software update. Interesting, , , I’ve made these same type of updates many times before with no problem, , , but all of a sudden my system is partially paralyzed. The good news is that I can do some things like get to the Internet and send email but not the things I really need to do to troubleshoot this issue further like opening Windows Explorer, , , removing a piece of software, etc. These tasks lock up my system.
OK, I think I’ve resolved the issue, , , but now I need to replace my virus software, , , or fix the incompatibility issue I learned about with the problematic software, , , but now I’m a bit reluctant to continue using it.
You see, they have lost my confidence. What worked so well for several years has cost me time and money, , , and I don’t like it.
An important lesson here
The reason I bring this problem up is that when your IT team releases software and you have compatibility issues or something doesn’t work quite right, , , it causes a lot of frustration for your users.
A LOT of frustration!!!
Don’t lose your client’s confidence in you by releasing software changes that don’t work. Test, test, and re-test, , , and if possible get the client to participate in the testing so they have some skin in the game. Reducing problems saves everyone a lot of pain and makes life better.
Back to my PC situation. I know, , , it’s time for me to trade this one in, but I hate to spend the time and effort required to reload all my software and update a new system. Still, , , a newer system will be more up to date, faster, , , and offer some advantages over what I have today. It would also have probably avoided yesterday’s problem so no one to blame but me.
I can’t complain really. This Dell system I have is 10 years old and it has been a true workhorse because I work all hours of the day and night and this system is constantly running.
Guess I need to start looking to see what options I have for replacing this one, , , need to give it some thought so it’s a good long term solution.
ITLever™ 