Once you've gathered information on the problem, you can start
looking for a solution.
There are a lot of resources available for you to trace the cause
of a problem. Tools can be downloaded and websites searched.
First and easiest step is to search the internet for common problems
that match yours. Also search news groups as these are invaluable
resources for up to date banter on current issues and various other
topics.
Try different search strings, ie if Outlook Express crashed when
you selected the preview pane, try searching for " Outlook
Express preview pane crash". Try different descriptions, or
in a different order to get a broader list of results.
 |
| www.google.com |
| Google for a while now has had the reputation for being
the best search engine on the Internet. It's great to
search for official documents on a particular issue or
topic. |
| |
| groups.google.com |
| Google newsgroups search is an ideal way to search current
topics of discussion. Often this is more relevant to searches
relating to a crash or error. This information is live
information, where as web sites have a lag time before
pages are published. Newsgroups are great for reading
about what people think, and their experiences while web
sites are generally the formal information or opinions
from companies or individuals. |
|
Other areas to look for more information are the software or hardware
manufacturer's own web site. Who better to have an answer to a particular
problem than those who probably already know about it. Most manufacturer
or software companies have an online knowledgebase or user area
to solve specific problems with their products. Here are a few examples.
|
| Microsoft
Knowledgebase |
| Great resource for looking for known issues with all
their products. |
| |
| Microsoft
DLL Help Database |
| This search will help determine what a particular DLL
file is, and how it might have got onto your computer.
This is great to identifying DLLs which are not compatible
with your operating system. |
| |
| Microsoft
Technet |
| This is a more technical resource for finding solutions
to particular issues. This is what the professionals usually
refer to. |
| |
| Event
ID |
| This is a resource for identifying what an Event log
error means. There is a free and a paid service here,
the free one has always been sufficient for me. |
|
In order to use a lot of these online resources, you may need to
gather more information from the PC with the problem. The error
message may not have given you enough information. There are several
tools which can be downloaded to help you trace a problem when an
application is run.
As mentioned on an earlier page, problem solving is also a process
of elimination. Eliminate what is not causing the problem, and you
will eventually end up with more specific information on what is
causing the problem. This includes configuration issues, hardware
issues and software issues. These tools below can help with the
software issues..
|
| |
| This application allows you to determine all the files
which an application depends on. There is also the ability
to profile the application as it is run. This will identify
the point of failure, therefore help track the problem
to a certain file. |
| |
| Filemon |
| This tools will list every file that is being accessed
as the PC is being used. |
| |
| Regmon |
| This tool will list every registry request as the PC
is being used. |
| |
| |
| Ad-Aware is not necessarily a tools used to trace problems,
but more a tools to identify troublesome malware and adware
installed on the PC from various applications and web
sites. This is very handy and can often root out and solve
problems relating to your internet experience. |
|
It is important to note that the results from using these tools
must not be taken literally as identifying a problem, only help
tracing the cause as a failure entry in the result log may be normal.
Remember these tools allow direct access to the output of the programs
code, therefore has to account for many possible configurations.
There are also free online technical support web sites such as
Onlinehelp
if you are in need of advice.
|
