How to ask help for your Mac problems-Tips and Tricks

How to document Mac Problems

If a search doesn’t reveal solutions, you can ask for help with a problem. The most productive places to ask for help are the manufacturers of the hardware or software with which you are having an issue. Typically, their websites contain a support area that enables you to contact customer support.

However, before you ask for help, you need to make sure you are able to ask for help effectively. You should be able to describe the problem you are having with some amount of detail. Otherwise, the person whom you are asking will probably not be able to help or will have to ask you questions to be able to help.

For example, an ineffective question would be something like, “Word quit. Please help.” Such messages provide no information that someone can use to help you solve a problem. At worst, an insufficiently detailed request might simply be ignored. At best, you get a reply in which you are asked to provide information that you should have provided with your inquiry.

When you ask for help, provide as much context and detail about the problem as you can. This should include the version of Mac OS X you are using; the versions of the applications that are giving you trouble; and what, specifically, you were doing when the problem happened. The more information you provide, the more likely it is that the person whom you are contacting will be able to offer help. Going back to the prior example, a more effective question might be something like, “I’m running MS Word
2011 with Mac OS v 10.7.1 on a MacBook Pro. When I open the File menu and choose Print, the print dialog box appears briefly, but then Word quits.”

If a specific error message appears on the screen when you have a problem, capturing a screenshot can make a request for help much more effective. For example, you can capture the screenshot and attach it to an email request for help.

To capture a screenshot, perform the following steps:

1. With the error message on the screen, open the Launchpad and click Utilities.

2. Click Grab. The Grab application opens. Because the application doesn’t have any windows when you first open it, the only change you’ll notice is in the menu bar.

3. Press Shift+cmd+Z, which is the keyboard shortcut for the Timed Screen option. The Time Screen Grab dialog box displays.

4. Click Start Timer. The 10-second timer starts.

5. Move back to the error message.

6. Wait for the timer to expire; when it does, the screen is captured and you hear the shutter sound. The screen capture opens in the Grab application.

7. Move into the Grab application.

8. Save the screenshot file. You can provide the file to someone you want to get help from.

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