Tips And Suggestions 
Gathering Diagnostic Information

No matter which computer repair service you require, you may need the following information. The more details, the better. 

If the computer produced an error message, what did it say? 

Does the problem occur when you turn the computer on or off?

Does the problem occur when you are using a particular device such as the printer?

Does the problem occur when you are using a particular program such as a game, spreadsheet, or word processor? 

Did you have more than one program running when problem occurred? If so, what were the programs? 

Did you recently install software, hardware, or both? If so, what? 

What is the make and model number of the suspect hardware?

What is the version number of the software? (Look under Help then About, on the program's toolbar) 

Can you recreate the problem? If so, what are the steps? 

Who is the manufacturer of your computer, and what is the model? 

How much memory does your computer have, such as 256MB, 512MB, 1GB, etc? 

What size is the hard disk and how much space is available? 

What type of processor, such as Pentium, Celeron, or Athlon, and what is its speed (1.1GHz, 3.0GHz)? 

What operating system does it use (Windows 98, Windows XP, Vista)?