To Format or To Troubleshoot

To format or not to format, that is the question.

Over the course of the years, yours truly have been fixing countless PCs and Laptops and so far there has not been a case where yours truly cannot fix. (Of course if the hardware is broken then that is a different story). And no, this is not a post to self brag mmmkay. =p

Just to express that the skills and knowledge if not updated will become obsolete and again the same old saying, "Learning continues until you are six feet under".

Back to the focus of this post. To format or not to format. To troubleshoot or not to troubleshoot. 

There are some so called "experts" who somehow thinks that only amateur or those who don;t know their stuff would resort to formatting PC or Laptop if there are any software related problems. These so called "experts" somehow have the mentality that the "expert" and "professional" way is to troubleshoot the software problem and find a solution to it rather than resort to formatting.

This somehow is misleading. 
The proper way is to diagnose the problem first to determine the severity of the problem on whether if it is software related or hardware related problem. If it is determined that it is software related problem, the next step would be to check whether the problem can be fixed in 3 hours or less or not. For "experts" this should not be a problem as they should be able to determine or estimate the length of time needed to fix the problem.

If it is diagnosed that within 3 hours the problem cannot be solved then the correct way is to just format the PC or laptop. This would save you much precious time rather than wasting time to troubleshoot and in the end still have to format. Normally it takes around 3 hours to backup, format and install all the software required. It would take even less time if the first fresh format and installation is "ghosted" or backup in a DVD (Or few DVDs) using Norton Ghost then using the ghosted DVD to format and reinstall all your previous format. For the uninitiated, Norton Ghost is a disk cloning software that clones your fresh installation after format for easy restore/format in the future. (Less time required)

There, knowing how to determine when to format and when to troubleshoot is very important. Don't just troubleshoot for the sake of troubleshooting to show "expertise" when it consumes a lot of precious time. Time is money you know. Sometimes it would be better to just format if it is diagnosed with intermittent problem that you know will consume more time to troubleshoot and fix compared to formatting. Mmmmmkay?

So, just format the god damn thing already. =p

Or not, if there is no serious problem or data corruption.

Ahem~~~~




Comments

Post a Comment

Leave Yer Revelations

Popular posts from this blog

Three Characters Classic - San Ji Zing Part 1

Yours Truly am still bitter about the stolen laptop . However he will stop whining about it and move on. There is no need to bore all of ya and thanks for all the wishes. (He will update on the matter as soon as there is a conclusion regardless good news or bad news) This post will revolve around the moral issue for obvious reasons. The Three Characters Classic or the San Ji Zing ( 三字經 ) is traditionally used to teach and instill moral values into children for the Chinese. It is based on Confucius school of thoughts. Here, free moral lesson. ***Note*** Chinese Writings Pin Yin Readings English Explanation .................................................... 人 之 初 ren zhi chu People at birth 性 本 善 xing ben shan Are naturally good 性 相 近 xing xiang jin Their natures are similar 習 相 遠 xi xiang yuan Their habits become different 苟 不 教 gou bu jiao If negligently or foolishly, not taught, 性 乃 遷 xing nai qian Their nature deteriorate/widely differ 教 之 道 jiao zhi dao The right w...
Read more

Three Characters Classic - San Ji Zing Part 2

Morale values are very important ok. So, please don't just go and steal stuff mmmkay. Part 1 Second part of the Three Characters Classic . ***Note*** Chinese Writings Pin Yin Readings English Explanation .................................................. 昔 孟 母 xi meng mu Previously, Mother of Mencius 擇 鄰 處 zhai lin chu Selects/choose a neighborhood 子 不 學 zi bu xue When her child won't learn 斷 機 杼 duan ji zhu She breaks shuttle from the loom 竇 燕 山 dou yan shan Dou Yan Shan (A name) 有 義 方 you yi fang Has the right method 教 五 子 jiao wu zi Teach 5 sons 名 俱 揚 ming ju yang Each raised the family reputation 養 不 教 yang bu jiao To feed without teaching 父 之 過 fu zhi guo Is the father's fault 教 不 嚴 jiao bu yan To teach without strictness 師 之 惰 shi zhi duo Is the teachers' laziness 子 不 學 zi bu xue If a child does not study 非 所 宜 fei suo yi It is not proper 幼 不 學 you bu xue If he does not study while young 老 何 為 lao he wei How will he act wh...
Read more

Left Or Right Brain Personality Test

Image
***Updates: I have just realized that I had posted similar post before. Thanks Katherine for pointing it out. (proves that you DO follow my posts eh. Thanks). Darn, I think the age factor is beginning to creep up to me. You know, the memory fades with age thingy. Noooo, I am still too young to be old... Nooooooo~~~~ However, the previous post doesn't have pictures as example. Yep, I am trying to justify my mistake.. =p)*** Brains again. Looks like I am fascinated with brains. Anyway, there is this Left Brain or Right Brain Test post previously to test whether you use more of the left side or the right side. (Some even commented that the picture is altered and that it is a trick to fool the eyes.) So, this is a personality test that determine which type of personality you have. It might be accurate and might be not but just give it a try for the fun of it. =p First of all, you will need to identify which side of the brain you use. This will be done in two parts and the combinati...
Read more