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3.3 Troubleshooting and Getting Help

You will be happy to know that you have 24-hours-
a-day, 7-days-a-week technical support at Ashford
University, so you are never completely on your
own. However, if you try to find the answer to the
problem first, you may have the satisfaction of solv-
ing it and may learn more in the process. Here are
some suggestions you may consider for solving
technical issues that might arise during your Ash-
ford courses:

1. Ask your classmates. Don’t be afraid to reach out to
Pashalgnatov/iStock/Thinkstock
fellow students for assistance with technical prob-
Become familiar with your resources
lems. Others may be having the same problem and
for solving technical issues before a
may benefit from your questions and answers. The
problem occurs, so you know where to
Ashford Café and its links to social media sites are
go for help.
great ways to share computer technical knowledge
with others.
2. Use your software Help menu. In most software programs, you will notice a question mark
enclosed in a circle at the top of the page. Click this question mark to open the software pro-
gram’s Help menu. You will generally see a search box where you can type a word or phrase
that describes your problem, such as “indenting a paragraph in Microsoft Word.” Press the
Enter key, and the software will provide suggestions or topics that may help you solve the
problem.

3. Review software tutorials. Open your browser and search the web using the name of the
software program and the word “tutorial.” For example, you may type “PowerPoint tutorial”
and find step-by-step guides for how to navigate through a software program with which you
are unfamiliar.

4. Search the web for help. Again, open your browser and, on your home page, describe the
problem you are facing. You can type words, phrases, complete sentences, or questions. For
example, you might type: “Internet Explorer keeps giving me the message 404 file not found.
What does this mean?” Try typing these sentences on your browser home page now, and see
what happens. You should see links to websites with lists of answers and explanations from
various individuals and companies for what the problem means and how to solve it. Try their
suggestions to see if one works.

5. Use Windows Task Manager. Sometimes too many software programs or screens open on
your computer use a lot of memory, which can cause your computer to slow down, freeze, or
lock up completely, so you cannot continue to work. Use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Alt+Del.
A menu should appear. Click “Start Task Manager,” and the Windows Task Manager window
will open and display all the software programs that are currently running on your computer.
Right-click on the name of any program you recognize but are not using at this time, and
a drop-down menu will appear. Then, click “End Task.” Repeat this process until you have

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