When was the last time your computer crashed when you really wish it wouldn’t have??
You know those time when you are working late into the night on a gigantic project that’s due the next day. Everything is almost finished and all you have to do is one final edit and then you’re done. Months of hard work will be showcased the next day when you turn your project in, but just as you are about to press save and take off for the night, you see your worst nightmare… The dreaded blue, black, or white screen of death. Quickly you try plugging your laptop in, turning it on and off, waking it a couple of time like a jukebox, and even shouting at it like it can hear you, but nothing works. You quickly realize that your computer has crashed!
What do you do? Well that’s what this Computer Crash Emergency Manual is for!!!
Steps to Deal with a Computer Crash
Step One: Make Sure It’s Not a Fluke
Try to turn it on again. Simple, but possibly effective. Sometimes our computers run out of battery or overheat. Plug the laptop in a few times or touch it to make sure it’s not too hot. If it’s on the warmer side, then place it on a cool surface and let it breathe for a few minutes.
If this works, then turn your computer back on; save everything you’ve done, and proceed with caution.
Step Two: Take a Deep Breath
Okay, so it is a real code red, but there is not a need to panic. Remember that things like this happen, and you shouldn’t stress yourself out too much; keeping your anxiety level up will only make the matter worse.
Calm down and assess the situation at hand so that you can deal with the problem in the most effective way possible.
Step Three: Check for Back-Up
Your computer may have crashed, but your documents may still be safe because just like we were taught in school, we (hopefully) saved all of our work.
Check everything you have: thumb drives, emails, the cloud, and maybe if you’re from the 90’s, a floppy disk. If you saved your work on any of these, or other forms, you can still finish your project.
Phew.
Step Four: Call for Back Up
Technical support will be your best friend for the next few hours of this ordeal. If it’s not too late, call your company’s IT support line because they might be able to help in some way by either figuring out how to fix your computer or simply setting you up with another one to keep you working.
Also contact any other group members on this project; they will probably have copies of the work you are doing and can help you complete your work. After all when one team member succeeds, the entire team succeeds.
You should also try calling technical support from your computer’s manufacturers.
Below, find the contact information for:
Step Five: Tell Your Boss
Now this might be the hardest and most shameful of all the steps, but it is one of the most important. Make sure to tell your boss exactly what happened right away to keep him or her in the look. While it may be hard to admit what has happened, you need to make sure you are vocal about your computer failure and hope for the best.
Your boss is there to help you and more than likely they’ve been through the same situation. They will most likely be understanding and maybe even give you an extension for your work.
Step Six: Avoid All The Drama with Priority Matrix!!!
Okay so your computer crashed. Priority Matrix probably can’t help with that.
But it can help with giving you all the tools you need to finish all your work and keep you from stressing yourself and everybody on your team out.
Priority Matrix is a prioritization app that allows you to communicate remotely with other team members and keep you organized. In the case of a crashing computer, Priority Matrix can save you because you are able to store files on it and you can access it not only from your computer, but on your smartphone or tablet.
Priority Matrix not only stores your work, but it keeps it safe. Your data is stored both locally (including your laptop, phone, and/or tablet), AND on the cloud, so even if you spilled a gallon of bleach on your computer, ALL of your info would still be in Priority Matrix – that’s right – files, videos, notes.
You won’t even need another computer to finish your work, with time to spare, when you have the life saver: Priority Matrix!
Try out Priority Matrix for free so that the next time your computer decides to crash, you’ll be prepared!