A definition in plain English (or American) is: finding out what is wrong with the computer! According to my desktop collegiate dictionary written by Merriam-Webster a diagnosis is defined as “the art or act of identifying a disease from its signs and symptoms…” which is further defined as “the decision reached by diagnosis…”
That definition sounds like it refers to a medical practitioner’s guide after having a few too many the night before, but it works for what you need to know about your user friendly Computer. Now for the sake of argument, lets all assume that we are talking about IBM compatible computers, because that is all I’ve ever used and that is the main computer used in the corporate world… and you wondered how Mr. Bill Gates got so rich so fast (he got the establishment hooked on his idea and they can’t kick the habit). Now this is relevant in the big picture in one very important way…”compatibility”!
Diagnosing problems with a modern computer (we all call the PC) is getting more and more complex as the years go by. It used to be, back in the early 1980’s, a relatively easy thing to do (that is to find out what is wrong with your PC). The computer system(s) were controlled by DOS only, but as I mentioned when Mr. Gates came up with a better, easier, fast, more efficient way to do office tasks he (along with his staff of programming wizards) single-handedly revolutionized the way a PC operates by creating “Windows”, which does use DOS, but you don’t have to do all the work in keying in every command you want to tell the computer, and that is exactly what Windows does for you… but really fast!
During the 1990’s, Microsoft (Mr. Gates’ Corporation, which developed and licensed Windows) came out with a version of Windows that was good (Windows ‘95) and is still good today. However, in an effort to earn a dollar, updates to Windows were created and introduced into the mainstream. This is where the problem starts and where diagnostics is both simplistic and complex.
Simplistic because the problem is obvious…lets say you bought a program and did not read the “system requirements” and your PC is old (lets say a Pentium II) with a version of Windows ’98. However, the program you want to install requires you to have Windows ’98 SE. After standing in the computer store staring and the box wondering if the “darn thing is going to’ work” on your PC you wonder up to the register and purchase the desired program. Driving home you can’t help but hope that the program works ok as you dream of all the nice stuff its going to do for you, because that’s what it said on the box and that picture is exactly the form I’m looking for… well you get it home and after six hours of calling customer service hotline (where the office is closed) and installing and uninstalling that program for so many times you lost count it dawns on you… “What does this SE stand for? I have Windows ’98… I wonder what this SE stands for”. Well you just figured out what the problem is, congratulations on a successful diagnosis, though you have no idea you found the answer… simple right.
Now that is a simple example, things do get complex, trust me. Let’s say you bought the same program and you have Windows ’98 SE. Same problem happens to you and now you are really upset! After twelve hours and a sleepless night, you finally get in touch with a live person on the line at customer service. The young guy asks you about thirty questions that sounds like he is reading a Star Trek script, he says. You follow along all you can, but retain none of it. He finally says, “ok sir give that a try, it should work now…” Sure enough, that geek was right! The problem could have been in the “configuration”, which for people like you and me is a mystery.
Now don’t get all down and out about this, as long as you remember a few key points: a) always read the package before you buy it; b) know what your PC has installed on it; c) all desired programs have what the geeks call “drivers” and you must have the drivers for any hardware you install on your PC; d) some program “driver” have an inherent conflict (for example, some TWAIN Drivers clash and cause your system to fail). If you keep that in mind, you just might keep yours when you are dealing with fatal errors!
