PSGCNJ TECH TIP

Help!  Where Can I Get Technical Help?


If you need help with any tool or service technology used by or provided by PSGCNJ:

If a failure of a PC or similar technology has halted your job search work or PSGCNJ volunteering, here’s where we suggest you try:

  • REMINDER: Be sure your PC is protected with daily-updated antivirus and antispyware protection.
  • REMINDER: Back up your PC often! You’ll eventually regret it if you don’t!
    • Don’t just overwrite your latest backup copies – save a few “generations” of backups separately. (You don’t want to overwrite a good backup with a bad backup from a corrupted or infected PC.)
    • Monthly: Complete backup of your entire hard disk to external hard disk (or even CD-ROM once or twice a year).
      • Given PC’s rarely fail, the backup software that came with your PC will probably be an adequate tool for this. More advanced “image backup” backup software (which you’d buy separately and is more complicated to initially set up) can usually backup an entire disk faster and can restore from backup without having to re-install your operating system first.
    • Weekly or biweekly: Backup all changed files (“incremental backup”), or do a complete backup if that’s fast enough for you.
    • Daily: If your PC is starting to act flaky, back up essential files daily, esp. email files, password lists or programs, folders with latest resumes, cover letters or other work. A USB memory stick can be handy for this kind of daily backup.
  • For a major failure (hardware failure or corruption of key software on your PC so it won’t even start or crashes regularly):
    • First, contact the under-warranty Tech Support that you purchased with your PC.
    • If out-of-warranty, consider paying for repair services from a local PC repair depot such as Best Buy’s “Geek Squad.”
    • If very old, you might consider just buying a new PC.
    • For a failure of a PC workstation in the PSG Room of the OSCC, please ask the OSCC receptionist to either introduce you to someone who can help or to give you the DoL’s tech support phone number.
  • For an ordinary problem, such a mis-configuration, virus infection, or difficulty restoring from a backup copy (“image”) of your PC:
    • First, contact the under-warranty Tech Support that you purchased with your PC or the affected software if they cover that kind of issue.
      • If out of warranty, consider buying an extended support service contract from your retailer.
    • If you think a peer PSGCNJ member might be able to help, many members are tech-savvy and would be glad to help (esp. Technology Committee volunteers).
      • To reach them, announce your request at a meeting or send a broadcast email to our PSGCNJ Yahoo Group asking for help.
      • Note: Only members of our Yahoo Group can broadcast an email through psgcnj@yahoogroups.com, and only when sending it in from the email address they used to log into the Yahoo Group.  For cleaner message formatting, you can alternatively post your message to our PSGCNJ Yahoo Group (click on the “Start Topic” link) and it will automatically be broadcast to everyone.

Professional Service Group of Central New Jersey
at Somerville (PSGCNJ)
75 Veterans Memorial Drive East
Somerville, NJ 08876
For information/suggestions/questions regarding this website contact
the webmaster: webmaster@psgcnj.org