What To Do When Software Stops Working

The article in the following link is worth reading. As the author says, do not get carried away with the details of his specific problem. What is being shared is a process.
https://askleo.com/what-i-do-when-software-stops-working/

But what I see missing are the fundamental questions one should be asking themselves and others when a problem, any problem, arises.

  1. What can you see that causes you to think there's a problem?

  2. Where is it happening?

  3. How is it happening?

  4. When is it happening?

  5. With whom is it happening? (HINT: Don't jump to "Who is causing the problem?" When we're stressed, blaming is often one of our first reactions. To be an effective manager, you need to address issues more than people.)

  6. Why is it happening? (Now that’s an interesting question. If you knew, you might be able to solve the problem, right?)

  7. Write down a five-sentence description of the problem in terms of "The following should be happening, but isn't ..." or "The following is happening and should be: ..." As much as possible, be specific in your description, including what is happening, where, how, with whom and why. (It may be helpful at this point to use a variety of research methods.

To understand more about “Problem Solving and Decision Making,” see:

https://managementhelp.org/personalproductivity/problem-solving.htm

In addition, when asking others for help, the following information should be included:

  1. What I did (Include name of app: Finder, Safari, Mail, Notes, etc.)

  2. What happened

  3. What I expected to happen

  4. Error messages or a screenshot

  5. Current OS version

  6. Current app version

  7. Computer make/model

  8. Installed memory size

  9. Available storage space and type of storage (HD or SSD)


That information is especially important when asking Apple Support for help. And they will also want to know the serial number of your computer.


In some cases, it might require a detailed step-by-step notation of the actions involved, such as when attempting a complex set of actions that then results in the error condition. If you can successfully repeat the steps and always get the same result, then someone else should also be able to reproduce the problem.

John R. Carter, Sr.