Comments on: When "Calling Tech Support" Involves Looking in the Mirror

By: Web Worker Daily » Archive Open Thread: What Support Services Do You Miss? «

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 15:47:44 +0000

[...] employed people can look into virtual assistant services such as Longer Days. For IT support, you can rely upon your own skills or call Geek [...]

By: Free Daily Horoscope

Free Daily Horoscope — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 17:29:18 +0000

Free Daily Horoscope

Great info here – I publish a free daily Horosocope podcast relevant for all zodiac signs – at this URL

By: Toby Treacher

Toby Treacher — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 23:01:35 +0000

Great little list. We have set up a business to offer exactly this type IT support – a mix of genuine knowledge and common sense. Many customers “just want it to work” and are not interested in becoming even a little bit more expert, for them the ability to rely on a 3rd party is important.

As mentioned by Neal Watzman, a reliable network includes attorney’s, accountants etc… however, none of these provide services for free and you are not likely to try and do these things yourself.

Some things are worth paying for and some are not. Depending on how self sufficient you are in the IT department, it may be worth seeking some professional advise, as long as you can find one.

By: Jack Brewster

Jack Brewster — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 04:27:15 +0000

To expand a bit on Neal’s suggestion, don’t forget to get the IM of your geeky friends. That’s probably one of my primary support routes – both helping and being helped.

By: Nathan Gilliatt

Nathan Gilliatt — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 16:03:01 +0000

Those small screwdrivers are an important part of your set, now. Size 0 and smaller philips-head screws are standard on electronics, and they’re not forgiving of using the wrong size driver (ever try to use a #1 driver in a #2 screw? That doesn’t work, either). I like the Wiha set, with the rotating tip that lets you press down with one finger while turning the tool. They’re not particularly expensive, and they’ll be useful forever.

By: Neal Watzman

Neal Watzman — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 13:04:28 +0000

Top notch suggestions for keeping our SOHO office equipment going and those of us in that situation sane. I can’t emphasize enough the importance of doing backup, and then some more backup, and then some more after that. I build databases for my clients and over the years, I’ve seen my share of lost data. All I can do is say “I’m sorry”.

The best thing people can do when working solo is to build a strong network of resources. People you can call on for knowledge and information when you’re stuck. Mine ranges from my accountant, my attorney, a couple network guys that I have collaborated with over the years, and colleagues in my field of FileMaker development. As consultants and solo practitioners of our trade we need to know our limits and when to call the consultant, just like we hope our clients do.

By: LG

LG — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 10:10:35 +0000

Judi,

I know it’s not a complete solution when some piece of hardware carks it on the spot, or you need an urgent upgrade, but most of the pain can be avoided by ordering the stuff online – And many Mac RAM suppliers will ship it with the right screwdriver for taking the cover off for free.

There’s definitely added overhead to being a web-worker, I keep a backup power supply for my desktop PC, a homebrew NAS box with RAID 5 and a couple of 6 volt batteries for emergency power.

By: Neil

Neil — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 03:11:38 +0000

If you reach a point of frustration, then walk away from the problem for awhile. Maybe an hour, maybe a day, or even a week. You’d be amazed at how a possible solution just ‘comes to you’ when you stop trying so intently to solve it. You’ll be driving somewhere, thinking about what to have for dinner, when suddenly it pops into your head: ‘it has to be a problem with the cable itself’ and voila, you try it and it works.

Oh, and one other thing: say the problem you’re having outloud to yourself. Its amazing how often this works. ‘The OS is not even seeing the hard drive.’ Then your brain autopilots into possible causes: 1) its not getting power 2) the cable is not seated properly 3)…. etc….You start trying to rule out these things and very often the root cause is found.

Makes you want to believe in telekenesis and astrology too ;)

By: Anne Zelenka

Anne Zelenka — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 23:05:00 +0000

You know what I hate? When the wi fi network acts up, I repair it, and it says “if you continue having problems, contact your network administrator.” Errr, I am the friggin’ network administrator! There’s no one else to go to! And the extent of my knowledge of fixing the wi fi network is selecting “repair wireless network.”