Expert System

[HaVoK-69]

I have been running a Computer Repair business as a side job where I live for some extra cash. I've been taking college classes for certifications and learned about expert system software and how it would benefit my business. What I want to know is can anyone recommend a good Expert System Software for a computer repair business?

[HaVoK-69]

Looks like not many people recognize what I mean by expert system software so let me clarify. Expert System Software is a computer software that works like a survey, one for a computer tech would ask questions such as, "Does a Blue Error Screen Appear on Screen?" with the option of choosing yes or no until you answer enough questions to formulate a possible solution for the problem. In my mind this would put more ease on the work, not having to struggle to remember a possible cause for the issue at hand. Anyone know of such a software?

[Darkmist!]

Looks like not many people recognize what I mean by expert system software so let me clarify. Expert System Software is a computer software that works like a survey, one for a computer tech would ask questions such as, "Does a Blue Error Screen Appear on Screen?" with the option of choosing yes or no until you answer enough questions to formulate a possible solution for the problem. In my mind this would put more ease on the work, not having to struggle to remember a possible cause for the issue at hand. Anyone know of such a software?

if your using this software you are not that good at diagnosing and repairing computers.

you have to understand the fundamentals of how they work. if you get a BSOD, does it have a file associated with it? or is it just a generic BSOD. using windows crash dump analysis you can get to the root cause of software BSOD's

a lot of BSODs are caused by either hardware issues such as bad HDD or bad RAM. if those check out fine then start looking at a virus infestation.

all of the programs that you are looking at basically take common sense and package it into a yes/no question system.

[HaVoK-69]

yes I understand how it works and I'm not going to claim I'm the best person ever at diagnosing issues with a computer because I know there is always room somewhere for improvement but I do know how to solve alot of the issues my reasoning behind looking for this software is having a short memory span and this looks like it would help organize my troubleshooting when I can't think it through in my head at the time. I think of it more as a web diagram. Diagnosing issues with PCs are similar to a doctors visit where in the doctor makes educated guesses on the cause of the symptom and moves from there deciding if the medication given contributed or not, in my opinion troubleshooting PC is similar but can be more accurately "guessed" if you will because the technology was man made to begin with opposed to the human body.

[slmagus]

I can't really recommend any expert system software. I made an expert system for a class once using VISIO. I thought it was a total waste of time. If you can't troubleshoot something than you have no business repairing it in the first place. If you want to use it for customers, I would advise against this because you will probably just end up confusing them, and wasting more of their time. I recommend troubleshooting what you can over the phone/email/remote assistance and eventually in person if you need to.

[odz2win]

These might help you:

http://xkcd.com/627/

&

http://tinyurl.com/22lf4yh

[Sprouty]

I like the tiny url one. That going up in the office

Cheers,

Sprouty

[Infiltrator]

I initially took a couple of computer courses, on how to build, repair and troubleshoot computer issues. I also read a lot of articles on hardware installation and troubleshooting.

That's one way to learn and gain experience as well. Another way would be to practice on your own or you could employ an experienced technician and learn from him or buy computer magazines that teaches how to troubleshoot issues.

Edited September 25, 2010 by Infiltrator

[oxley]

Something like that would be useful in a large support environment, maybe to keep track of common problems and solutions and predict trends, but I could not see it in a one man show.

When I worked at MS and the good old days of SP2 on NT 4.0 wiped everyone's IP stack, by the end of the first week everyone was aware of the issue and the solution and could bag and tag calls with minutes rather than having to go through any long diagnosis procedure.

Edited March 1, 2011 by oxley

[wh1t3 and n3rdy]

If I had to rely on others to repair my hardware and they used this, I would be very afraid.

As just a side business you might find the occasional odd issue but I still wouldn't think you would need something like this.

As a sysadmin and having worked in enterprise environments for some time, I would fire anyone under me who had to rely on this in any way to do their job, and would shred any job application that referred to its use.

[Infiltrator]

Having your own knowledge base database, its not bad but you got to have experience at hands as well. You can't always rely on this kind of system. In IT it doesn't always work like that, you go to be efficient and experienced.

Edited March 6, 2011 by Infiltrator

[wh1t3 and n3rdy]

Having knowledge bas is good, but that's not what this "expert system" is. It's pure hand holding. Knowledge bases are only effective if you already know where to start looking.

[Sitwon]

How about using mind-mapping software like Freemind to create your own map of symptoms to causes.