Welcome to Tech Tip Corner! A recurring feature on the blog here to answer commonly asked questions about the technology in your room. If you have questions that you want to be answered, leave a comment below!

This week we discuss the most important skill any person using any sort of technology can have, basic trouble shooting. A basic checklist anyone can memorize with basic problem solving tricks to try to do quick fixes on a computer or device. This will help not only you in a pinch especially if something minor happens during class and you can fix it quickly, it can also help your IT department get down to the root of the problem quicker if it is more involved than what you can do immediately.

Not all problems have the same fix, but sometimes multiple problems can have the same fix. Turning your device off and on again might solve a whole slew of issues, changing browsers, etc. If you are having a technical issue, follow these steps first before you call technical support!

1. Close out your app or internet browser completely and go back in. Sometimes a quick restart of an app can solve a minor issue.
2. Clear your browsing history and internet cache.
3. Try another internet browser, surprisingly enough, not every web browser is created equal. Some play nicer with certain websites than others. If one doesn’t work, try another to see if that solves the issue.
4. Check to make sure that all of the cables going into your machine are plugged in tightly.
5. Shut your computer all the way down, count to 10 and restart it. We’ve all heard that tech support joke that restarting your computer fixes everything, a lot of time, it does.
6. Try to switch machines if you can, it might be a hardware problem.
7. If a website you are running is loading slow, head to a speed test like Fast.com. Anything below 10 Mbps is very slow. Try closing out any extra web tabs you might have open to try to speed things up a bit.
8. Make sure your programs and software are up to date. Having an operating system or software go too far out of date can cause some serious issues later on.
9. Try to find a status page or the social media page for a program you are having issues with. It might be down today and might not be you!
10. Run your virus software, you might have a rogue bug running around!

Try these ten basic trouble shooting tips before you call your IT or Tech support. Let them know your findings too. If these tips did not fix the issue the results will be a big help to them as they do some deeper trouble shooting!