Sometimes it's easier to just start over

I saw three problems today that, in one form or another, the best solution was to just start over.

My first client was having trouble printing one specific Excel file. All of his other Excel files worked fine, but this one particular file would not print. He could open it and view it and even change it, but it would only print blank sheets of paper.

Rather than try to figure out where the culprit formula or cell was, I decided it would be faster to just start over. So, I highlighted all of this information on the offending spreadsheet and copied it to the clipboard (Edit-Copy). Next, I started a new blank file and pasted the contents in (Edit-Paste). Then, all I had to do was save the new file under a similar name. Whatever had caused the problem in the original document didn’t exist in the new document.

Later I had a client who had two all-in-one scanner/printer/fax combos. They were both HP, but only one of them would scan – it claimed that the sheet feeder was empty. I uninstalled all HP software and restarted the computer. I reinstalled the software but the problem didn’t go away. As it turns out the unit is defective.

As soon as I finished with that client, I received an emergency phone call from a client with a laptop that would not boot up into Windows at all even in safe mode. I talked to her son who had attempted to fix a smaller problem, but it had evolved into a much bigger problem.

I told my client about the two ways to fix such system problems with Windows XP. You can either, troubleshoot the problem for hours on end and perhaps never get it fixed, or you can reformat it and know that the problem will be solved in a few hours. She chose the latter. So, now I will reformat a laptop this weekend after the show.

Starting over is not the first solution you should attempt on most computer problems, but in the end, it is often the most thorough solution and the only way to know that the problem is fixed completely.

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