BASIC COMPUTER ISSUES

We talked about the basics when you are getting good internet signal but can not pull up a web site. We also talked what browsers are and how you could determine what browser you are using.

When I was a newbie in computer troubleshooting field, there was a point when my customer had been having issues with her internet but not related with her internet provider. I encountered a lot of issues like that. I had this customer with the previous account I worked with. She thought she have no internet connection because every time she pulled up a web page, she was getting this error message:

“This file does not have a program associated with it for performing this action. Create an action of the folder of the control panel”.

The above error message simply means an application in your computer is not available. Perhaps an outlook express.

The above error message had been popping out every time she surf so she told me “I have no internet connection”. As I mentioned in my earlier entries, not being able to pull up a web page is not conclusive that you do not have internet signal from your internet provider. There are a lot of reasons why you can not surf to the internet. It could be your browser, your security application, your computer or the internet provider. In this case, because the issue at hand is her inability to surf to the internet, it is just a matter of changing her default browser. How do you that?

1. Click on Start

2. Click on Control Panel

3. Click on “Add/Remove Programs”

4. Choose and click on “Set Programs Access and Defaults”

5. Choose Custom

6. One of the option you will see is “Set Default Browser”. If you want Internet Explorer, click on the radio button beside internet explorer. Bottom line, choose the browser you want. Personally, my friend, I would rather have Mozilla firefox. There had been a lot of issues with IE now. If you do not have Mozilla browser. You may download it for free. Just go to http://www.Mozilla.com.

7. Click Apply and/or OK

That should do it. In my case, it took re-starting the computer for the system to read my command. It is easy, right? By the way, this is for Windows OS.

I hope I am able to share something to you today.

By the way, the picture is taken from images.search. yahoo.

Have a great week and as I always say, take care.

TROUBLESHOOTING III

On one of my previous entries, we spoke about the basics when you are getting good internet signal but can not pull up a web site. Now, Let me talk about your browser.

Your browser works like a middle person between your computer and your internet. The end result, of course, is surfing to the internet. Your browser is how your computer recognizes the signal from your internet provider. This is one of the applications included in your computer. Example of browser is Internet Explorer. It has different versions. We have Internet Explorer version 6 (IE6) and Version 7 (IE7) and Version 8 (IE8) : Windows Vista is defaulted to IE7. Another example of a browser is Mozilla Firefox. The most recent version of Mozilla is Mozilla 3.5: You may download this browser in your computer by going to www.mozilla.com. It is free and user friendly. How do you check what browser you are using? If you are curious you can check this out;

You can just check what icon are you clicking when you go to the internet. This is the easiest way to determine what browser you are using. Is it a letter “e” icon? You are using Internet Explorer. Are you clicking a rounder orange icon? You are using Mozilla Firefox: Would you like to know what version you have? If you are curious you may;

1. Pull up a web page
2. Click on Help Tab
3. Click on “About Internet Explorer” or “ About Mozilla Firefox”, which ever
you see. You will now determine what version of browser you have.

This is what you will see when you check the version of your Internet Explorer:
This is your icon if you are using Internet Explorer: (very similar to this)


This is what your web page would look like if you are using Mozilla Firefox:



This is your icon if you are using Mozilla Firefox;

Do you know what browser you have? Have a great day!!






Source Of Pictures:

http://i.zdnet.com/blogs/internet_explorer.png
http://www.geckoandfly.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/10
http://broadcast.oreilly.com/upload/2008/09/mozilla-firefox.jpg
http://www.filebuzz.com/software_screenshot/full/mozilla_firefox_3_0_alpha-56142.png

BASIC TROUBLESHOOTING PART II

Yesterday I mentioned that if the lights of your modem are good but you are getting “Page can not be displayed”, the solution is power cycle and once done, you should be able to connect to the Internet. That is very true. However, that truth is on the side of your internet provider. That simply means your internet provider is giving you what you are paying for, which is internet connection. Good lights on the modem indicates strong internet signal from your server or your internet provider. So, by logic, if you have strong internet signal, you should have an internet connection. The answer is “No!” I hope I am not confusing you now!

Let me clarify my self, if there is nothing wrong with the computer and you have good lights on your modem, powercycle should solve the problem..in general!!

Troubleshooting is isolating the problem. It is the process of detecting the real cause of your problem basing on the signs and information given by your network devices. Good lights on your modem means good internet signal. Hence, if we have strong Internet signal but you still get “Page Can not be displayed”, it indicates of a very strong probability that you have to isolate your internet provider as the root cause of your inability to surf to the internet. Now, what are some and/or the common causes of inability of our computer to surf to the internet? Let us name at least two or three common causes on the next part of this entry..

Have a nice day to every one.

Note: Above definition of troubleshooting is not taken in any textbook. It is an expression of how I interpret the act of troubleshooting based on my job as a technical support.

Source Of Picture: weblogs.asp.net/infinitiesloop/archive/2006/1

BASIC TROUBLESHOOTING

During my day off I had computer issues. As soon as my computer problem had been fixed by re-formatting every thing, I had to face internet issues! I know that I have to call my internet provider simply by checking the lights of my modem. If we have a wired connection, it is important that we know what each lights of our modem corresponds into. If we have good lights on the modem, power cycle normally solves the problem. You may ask, what Is power cycle? What does it mean when we say good lights on the modem.

For example, if you are using a modem with the following lights;

1) Power light – If it is solid green, that is a good light

2) Dsl light - If it is solid green, that is a good light. If it blinks..check
physical or network connection. If it turned red- call your internet provider or manufacturer of your modem

3) Ethernet light – should be green. If light is off but you are using an Ethernet cord, means the direction of finding the solution will be on your Ethernet cord or the nic card of your computer thru your device manager;

4) Usb light – If green, then good! If off and you are using an Ethernet cord, no issue: but if you are using usb and light is off, check driver, you may need to install usb driver. Direction will finding the solution will be on the driver of your computer. .

5) Internet light: should be green. If off- check with your internet provider.

That is just an example. Every modem have different lights. Like on my case, that is not the light of my modem. I am using Motorola. Last day off, my Activity light was sold orange- it should be blinking orange. I checked with my internet provider, we worked with the ip address. Release/renew but it had been futile. The good thing is i had been a technical support so I had my share with computers and internet connectivity so we were fast over the phone. No detailed instruction anymore on the agents' part.

The bottom line is, know the lights of your modem. If You have good lights, power cycle should solve the problem. Basically it means refreshing your device but turning it off. But you don’t turn it off just like that. Start with the computer, then the modem. Turn it off, unplug for a number of minutes. Afterwards, turn it back on and there.. you should be getting a good internet connectivity. Standard time frame is 30 seconds but sometimes it would need a full minute to fully turn off your internet set-up. On my case, I power cycle for 5 minutes.

If and when you can already pull up a web page, please pull up at least three web sites. This ensures that what you see is the real internet and not the cookie stored in your computer.

Finally, if lights are not good, power cycle will not solve the problem. Call your internet provider. If you are not sure, troubleshoot with a technician, dont do it yourself!

Hope it helps even a little and do have a nice afternoon, my dear reader