Monday, November 12, 2007

Troubleshooting via Email

Have you ever troubleshooted a problem via email? These days most people treat email not as a letter, but as an instant messenger or a telephone. Granted, using email, I can usually work on multiple problems simultaneously. But it can be very frustrating the lack of information email can provide.

The following is an actual email exchange. Remember, it takes about two or three minutes for the messages to go back and forth.

User> I've got an error message on my screen.
GTG> What does it say?
User> Something about a password... I'm not sure.
GTG> Is it still on the screen?
User> It keeps disappearing.
GTG> Can I remote control to your machine?
User> Sure.
It turns out the "error message" was "Your password will expire in 14 days." The reason the error message was disappearing was because other windows like the emails back and forth are popping up over the top of it. I had the user change her password and the error message went away.

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