I’m sitting in front of my laptop with a tepid cup of coffee that was heated by Sterno.  According to the battery meter on my Lenovo netbook, I have approximately two hours to write today’s article then e-mail it to the publisher.  Shame on me for procrastinating, but it gave me a great idea for this week’s piece.

I’ve written my articles in cabins five miles from the Canadian border in Maine.  I’ve even written an article in the front seat of a car while in traffic.  I’ve always had access to power; however, this week I have neither access to power or ready access to internet.  I’ve been creative before, now it’s time for me to be really imaginative.

Last night when I was putting together the outline, I never anticipated I’d be without power.  Curiously enough, I chose a topic that somehow fits with having no power.  Even if it’s a stretch I think I’m going to bring it together.  Verbatim to my scratch notes:  “Creative workarounds such as when a program freezes.”  OK, this may be a stretch but I’ll make it work.

We all have times when something doesn’t go right; perhaps, Microsoft Office doesn’t run correctly or accounting software doesn’t start.  Jam ups seem to happen at the worst possible time and we can either contact a professional (hopefully I won’t have to do that) or try and work around the issue.  But how do we figure out where to start?  Follow my lead, you’ll find it’s easy and may save you some time.

Microsoft has developed a whole suite of FixIt utilities designed to alleviate and repair common issues with both Windows and other Microsoft products.  Generally, most problems from this company are addressed on their website with these simple to use tools.  Finding fixes is somewhat easy; simply type the issue followed by the term “FixIt.”  If a FixIt tool was made you’ll be pointed to the download.

Many times, however, these easy fixes aren’t readily available and you’ll have to do some more digging to find a solution.  Even the computer nerds sometimes rely on the top secret method of Googling answers to problems we’ve never run across.  Searches using simple definitions of the problems should yield some valid results.  Rather than trying to use technical terms, try simplifying your query.

There are those issues that stretch beyond simple Google searches.  Maybe because your internet connection is simply nonexistent so you can’t find an answer.  In these cases it takes some background experience to push the envelope and try a few tricks.  Many times internet connectivity is caused from corrupt virus software.  Removing the software may allow you to access the network.

Unfortunately there are times when even panache, Google, or individual repair utilities don’t exist.  I’ve had a chance to work with a lot of different technicians through the years and have witnessed different procedures for creating solutions.  Albeit, sometimes they work and sometimes they don’t.  The simple concept is that you can’t break something that’s already broken.

Don’t be scared to try fixing an issue yourself.  Most of the simple issues customers bring to us could have been repaired by trying a few of the techniques listed above.   Even if some of these steps don’t fix the problem you’ll gain a better understanding of how to tackle issues in the future.  You never know, you may just fix a problem you didn’t know you had.  I’m looking at my battery meter and it says I have forty minutes to finish and e-mail my article.  Not too bad for a procrastinator.

(Jeromy Patriquin is the President of Laptop & Computer Repair, Inc. located at 509 Main St. in Gardner.  You can text him at (978) 413-2840 or call him directly at (978) 919-8059.)