Problems
TRANSFERRING PHOTOS
1 I used to have trouble loading up my photos.
EDITING PHOTOS
2 Then editing them.
FROZEN LAPTOP
3 Later my laptop froze. Nothing was happening. (Glossary at end for basics.)
Reasons
1TRANSFERRING PHOTOS
If the laptop has been carried about and has only just been plugged in, you may need to wait a short while for both the laptop and the mobile phone to be moderately powered before they start talking to each other and downloading photos from the phone to the laptop.
FROZEN LAPTOP
Is my laptop on? First check the plug is secure in the socket, the switch is on, the multiple extension socket is plugged into the wall. (Somebody could have plugged in a table lamp or coffee maker or vacuum cleaner or another laptop and disconnected the extension.
If the green light is on, the power is getting through to the laptop.
If something is on the laptop is on screen but nothing is moving, that is good sign(s); it's not dead, just in a coma.
1 Try re-starting.
2 If that doesn't work, turn it off. Hold down the power (circle with a line pointing through 12) for several seconds until the screen goes blank.
Wait a minute.
Press power on again.
You should hear the whirring, the start up tune or warning, then on comes a symbol, then a useful screen.
You might need a password.
With luck, you get back to the menu.
Routers
Is the problem my router?
Mobiles
Is my mobile on?
If the screen has something showing, probably on.
Laptops
Laptop
1 You are in the middle of an activity and you need to close that before starting anything else. Check all over your screen. Shut everything else down.
If all else fails, go to the brand sign top left of the screen (the apple for a MacBook Air or Pro) and click on it. Try restart. If it says this will shut in 57 seconds, and you are impatient, there's probably a sign in effect saying click here to do it now.
2 Your laptop is asleep although it is connected because the power is not yet firing it up. (Just like somebody coming into the room and shouting a question at you first thing in the morning. You may have your eyes open but you are not yet awake.)
Phone Fails
You cannot use your phone whilst it is attached to the socket soaking up the power to recharge its battery. (Like you when you are drinking water.)
You have to disconnect the mobile from the cable linking it to the power supply and then it will work.)
The phone keeps asking me for my pin number. Why is it doing this?
Because you have been busy doing something else. Just in case you put your phone down on the table in a restaurant, ignored it for a while, and somebody else picked it up, your phone is set to switch off automatically when not used and ask for the PIN (personal identity number) before it starts. In 'Settings' you can decide how long you want it to wait before asking for your pin number.
Solutions
First check if the blue or green lights are flashing.
If the lights are on, like the saying goes, that usually means somebody is at home or the machine is working.
No lights? Once I unplugged the router, not knowing what it was, when I was vacuuming. Somebody else in the family checked the router, saw it was disconnected and plugged it back in.
Re-setting the router.
Like everything else electrical and with a cable, sometimes you need to unplug and re-plug and that is all it takes to get the machine going again. Note how many things are being unplugged and where they connect. You might like to take a photo before unplugging.
If you have only one circular piece and one circular hole, that's easy. Pull it out, wait a minute, then plug in again. (Unplug everything at the same time and then re-plug everything, to be sure and not get in a muddle or forget to re-plug, or forget to unplug and replug one cable. But disconnect each one by one if you are checking which connection is faulty.)
If you have several sockets, all identical, maybe it doesn't matter which one you use. If all else fails, just in case a socket is faulty, plug the cable back into a different socket later. (Just in case the socket is faulty or you damaged it when yanking, you could try another one later.)
Router Pin Number Needed
Now you may be asked for the pin number for the router. This is usually on the back of the router. However, it tells you how to re-set the pin number.
If the pin number is not working, maybe somebody in your home or office has re-set the number.
You could have a piece of concealed paper with the information, or have it on a pinboard which cannot be seen from a window. Or turn the router around and photograph it (I tried that but my picture was out of focus). Or write it down in a password book, or write it on a piece of paper which you later shred.
Settings on Your Mobile Phone
Settings - Changing how your mobile phone works. Click on settings and various options come up, including times and dates, sounds for the ringtone. You can choose from the options of ringtones, or import your own unique tune so when you are in a supermarket or public place you know it's your phone, not somebody else with the same ringtone. If you have two phones, you can have different ringtones, so you know immediately if its work related or personal, your home country phone meaning it's the family, or the one you use overseas.
Anything you want to change, look at settings. Every now and then, when you are doing nothing else, have a look at settings. Maybe something you never used before will be useful.
Alarms
On holiday or a business trip, maybe the alarm you set at home is waking you up too early on a holiday and you can change it. Maybe you need a new alarm to catch a plane or remember an important meeting.
On Planes
Settings is also the first place to look to shut down your mobile on a plane, turn your phone on again or turn on the wifi or roaming, cancel roaming so you don't get charged, and so on.
Recording Instructions
If you are a bit blank about phones and keep forgetting, and somebody else has the same phone, record them instructing you. Re-play the instructions until you remember them or get the lightbulb moment when you see the logic.
Calling Applecare in the UK
Have you Applecare helpline number for the laptop in your mobile phone so you can call them when your laptop fails.
You get a recorded message asking which device you are calling about. Is it a mobile phone, which model, a laptop, the Pro or The Air. (Why? They probably have one person dealing with and trained in each product.)
How To Find The Model Number
Next, they want the model number. You can find this by clicking on the apple symbol and going into the about my Mac section.
If your screen is blank, you cannot do this! They tell you that alternatively, look at the box the machine came in.
Or you or a colleague or family member might have written down the number in a password book, on a pinboard, a file on your possessions, your tax and invoices file, somewhere else.
Don't panic. Stay calm. Finally, they offer you the option to go ahead without the information, warning you that the first thing the company will want to do is learn the model number. They will also want to check your name and address or other details to confirm it's really your machine.
Online Help
After you have spoken to Apple, you will get a follow-up case number, later a question asking how your session went and was your problem solved.
Other Laptops And Phones
Most problems can be solved by a process of elimination. If you have the instructions for one type of phone or laptop, you can probably work out what to do with another. is somebody else can't help with your machine, ask what they do when theirs goes wrong.
I shall deal with another brand of phone next month.
Glossary
PC Personal computer.
Router - a little box like a switchboard which connects your laptop(s) to the outside world.
Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, speaker and author. Please share links to your favourite posts.
TRANSFERRING PHOTOS
1 I used to have trouble loading up my photos.
EDITING PHOTOS
2 Then editing them.
FROZEN LAPTOP
3 Later my laptop froze. Nothing was happening. (Glossary at end for basics.)
Reasons
1TRANSFERRING PHOTOS
If the laptop has been carried about and has only just been plugged in, you may need to wait a short while for both the laptop and the mobile phone to be moderately powered before they start talking to each other and downloading photos from the phone to the laptop.
2 EDITING
If you are in the middle of editing, that stops other functions. For example, if you have a window open for Information and change the title of a photo, on my system you cannot do anything else until you have shut that window.
Is my laptop on? First check the plug is secure in the socket, the switch is on, the multiple extension socket is plugged into the wall. (Somebody could have plugged in a table lamp or coffee maker or vacuum cleaner or another laptop and disconnected the extension.
If the green light is on, the power is getting through to the laptop.
If something is on the laptop is on screen but nothing is moving, that is good sign(s); it's not dead, just in a coma.
1 Try re-starting.
2 If that doesn't work, turn it off. Hold down the power (circle with a line pointing through 12) for several seconds until the screen goes blank.
Wait a minute.
Press power on again.
You should hear the whirring, the start up tune or warning, then on comes a symbol, then a useful screen.
You might need a password.
With luck, you get back to the menu.
Routers
Is the problem my router?
Mobiles
Is my mobile on?
If the screen has something showing, probably on.
Laptops
Laptop
1 You are in the middle of an activity and you need to close that before starting anything else. Check all over your screen. Shut everything else down.
If all else fails, go to the brand sign top left of the screen (the apple for a MacBook Air or Pro) and click on it. Try restart. If it says this will shut in 57 seconds, and you are impatient, there's probably a sign in effect saying click here to do it now.
2 Your laptop is asleep although it is connected because the power is not yet firing it up. (Just like somebody coming into the room and shouting a question at you first thing in the morning. You may have your eyes open but you are not yet awake.)
Phone Fails
You cannot use your phone whilst it is attached to the socket soaking up the power to recharge its battery. (Like you when you are drinking water.)
You have to disconnect the mobile from the cable linking it to the power supply and then it will work.)
The phone keeps asking me for my pin number. Why is it doing this?
Because you have been busy doing something else. Just in case you put your phone down on the table in a restaurant, ignored it for a while, and somebody else picked it up, your phone is set to switch off automatically when not used and ask for the PIN (personal identity number) before it starts. In 'Settings' you can decide how long you want it to wait before asking for your pin number.
Solutions
First check if the blue or green lights are flashing.
If the lights are on, like the saying goes, that usually means somebody is at home or the machine is working.
No lights? Once I unplugged the router, not knowing what it was, when I was vacuuming. Somebody else in the family checked the router, saw it was disconnected and plugged it back in.
Re-setting the router.
Like everything else electrical and with a cable, sometimes you need to unplug and re-plug and that is all it takes to get the machine going again. Note how many things are being unplugged and where they connect. You might like to take a photo before unplugging.
If you have only one circular piece and one circular hole, that's easy. Pull it out, wait a minute, then plug in again. (Unplug everything at the same time and then re-plug everything, to be sure and not get in a muddle or forget to re-plug, or forget to unplug and replug one cable. But disconnect each one by one if you are checking which connection is faulty.)
If you have several sockets, all identical, maybe it doesn't matter which one you use. If all else fails, just in case a socket is faulty, plug the cable back into a different socket later. (Just in case the socket is faulty or you damaged it when yanking, you could try another one later.)
Router Pin Number Needed
Now you may be asked for the pin number for the router. This is usually on the back of the router. However, it tells you how to re-set the pin number.
If the pin number is not working, maybe somebody in your home or office has re-set the number.
You could have a piece of concealed paper with the information, or have it on a pinboard which cannot be seen from a window. Or turn the router around and photograph it (I tried that but my picture was out of focus). Or write it down in a password book, or write it on a piece of paper which you later shred.
Settings on Your Mobile Phone
Settings - Changing how your mobile phone works. Click on settings and various options come up, including times and dates, sounds for the ringtone. You can choose from the options of ringtones, or import your own unique tune so when you are in a supermarket or public place you know it's your phone, not somebody else with the same ringtone. If you have two phones, you can have different ringtones, so you know immediately if its work related or personal, your home country phone meaning it's the family, or the one you use overseas.
Anything you want to change, look at settings. Every now and then, when you are doing nothing else, have a look at settings. Maybe something you never used before will be useful.
Alarms
On holiday or a business trip, maybe the alarm you set at home is waking you up too early on a holiday and you can change it. Maybe you need a new alarm to catch a plane or remember an important meeting.
On Planes
Settings is also the first place to look to shut down your mobile on a plane, turn your phone on again or turn on the wifi or roaming, cancel roaming so you don't get charged, and so on.
Recording Instructions
If you are a bit blank about phones and keep forgetting, and somebody else has the same phone, record them instructing you. Re-play the instructions until you remember them or get the lightbulb moment when you see the logic.
Calling Applecare in the UK
Have you Applecare helpline number for the laptop in your mobile phone so you can call them when your laptop fails.
You get a recorded message asking which device you are calling about. Is it a mobile phone, which model, a laptop, the Pro or The Air. (Why? They probably have one person dealing with and trained in each product.)
How To Find The Model Number
Next, they want the model number. You can find this by clicking on the apple symbol and going into the about my Mac section.
If your screen is blank, you cannot do this! They tell you that alternatively, look at the box the machine came in.
Or you or a colleague or family member might have written down the number in a password book, on a pinboard, a file on your possessions, your tax and invoices file, somewhere else.
Don't panic. Stay calm. Finally, they offer you the option to go ahead without the information, warning you that the first thing the company will want to do is learn the model number. They will also want to check your name and address or other details to confirm it's really your machine.
Online Help
After you have spoken to Apple, you will get a follow-up case number, later a question asking how your session went and was your problem solved.
Other Laptops And Phones
Most problems can be solved by a process of elimination. If you have the instructions for one type of phone or laptop, you can probably work out what to do with another. is somebody else can't help with your machine, ask what they do when theirs goes wrong.
I shall deal with another brand of phone next month.
Glossary
PC Personal computer.
Router - a little box like a switchboard which connects your laptop(s) to the outside world.
Settings - symbol on iphone looks like a circle with battlements. Lets you set the alarm, screen, sound, lots of other things.
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, speaker and author. Please share links to your favourite posts.
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