The Art of Troubleshooting...

You bought a new Laptop and have been using it without any hitches. Weeks have passed and suddenly you feel your new baby is not performing as it used to.

Your computer has been running fine for months, when


Dealing with machines in general leads to frustration and often is time consuming. However, following a few guideline can help you to become proficient in Troubleshooting problems. From my little experience with Computers, I have found out that the best way to approach a computer related problem(s), you have to think like a Doctor.

A good Doctor will proceed with his/her patient with an open mind. Meaning he will not come to conclusions
without a diagnosis, first. The same process can be applied for a Computer or a Laptop which is not doing what it is supposed to be doing best.


I will be introducing you to a  Troubleshooting Theory Model which is just a set of mental steps to help us fix the problem. This Model includes talking to yourself (no, I am not asking you to become mad.) to determine how and when the problem took place, determining a cause, verification, and documentation.

• Identify the problem

 If you are reading this, that means your computer is not working properly in the first place. Look out for the symptoms of the problem.

Is it a degradation in the performance of the computer/laptop in question?
Is it an error message that popped up?
Is something not accessible?

I should add, that at this stage it is recommended, if not critical, to backup! Get those important documents, project works on a thumb drive or an external hard disk.

• Establish a theory of probable cause (question the obvious)

 Time to analyse the issue in question and come up with a theory as to what might be wrong. In simple terms, at this stage you are playing a "Guessing" game! And keep it simple.

Do not overlook the obvious things that might have cause the problem. Things such as a loose power cord, preventing the machine to power up properly. A dimmed monitor may cause a person to think that his monitor is dead.

• Test the theory to determine the cause

 At this stage you already have an idea of what is causing the problem and you need to confirme this idea.
Sometimes the theroy you have formed and the fix for the theory, pretty much prove themselves at the same time.

For instance, lets say the power plug is not plugged in properly in. You notice no life from the PC when the power button is pressed

• Once theory is confirmed determine next steps to resolve problem

• If theory is not confirmed re-establish new theory or escalate

• Establish a plan of action to resolve the problem and implement the solution

• Verify full  system functionality and if applicable implement preventive mesaures

• Document findings, actions and outcomes.

Four Seasons of a Tree

There was a man who had four sons. He wanted his sons to learn not to judge things too quickly. So he sent them each on a quest, in turn, to go and look at a pear tree that was a great distance away. The first son went in the winter, the second in the spring, the third in the summer, and the youngest son in the fall.

When they had all gone and come back, he called them together to describe what they had seen. The first son said that the tree was ugly, bent, and twisted. The second son said no-- it was covered with gree buds and full of promise. The thrid son disagreed, he said it was laden with blossoms that smelled so sweet and looked so beautiful, it was the most graceful thing he had ever seen. The last son disagreed with all of them; the said it was ripe and drooping with fruit, full of life and fulfullment.

The man then explained to his sons that they were all right, because they had each seen but ONLY one season in the tree's life. He told them that you cannot judge a tree, or a person, by only one season, and that the essence of who they are-- and the pleasure, joy, and love that come from the life-- can only be measure at the end, when all the seasons are up.

If you give up when it's winter, you will miss the promise of your spring, the beauty of your summer, fulfillment of your fall. Don't let the pain of one season destroy the joy of all the rest. Don't judge life by one difficult season. Persevere through the difficult patches and better times are sure to come some time or later.

You follow the wrong path... And I follow the right one.

In the Name of Allah, the Most Kind, the Most Merciful.

The topic I wanted to share with you, my brothers, is very sensitive to so many of us. We, including me, have fought each other, labelled each others with various names, categorise and divided ourselves because of it. We have even declared our own brothers as being out of the fold of Islam due to it.

Before really going into deep into the subject of this small note, I would like to tell you my own story. So please bear with me, even if it is boring. The story I am going to tell you is not extraordinary but an ordinary one, one which may or may not be similar to yours.

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"During my earliest childhood, I remember my mum used to take me to the local Masjid in order for me to get used to Prayers.

Needless to say, I was alike so many boys at the age of 5 or 6. You are innocent at this age, not aware of the importance and seriousness of prayers, let alone knowing the etiquettes of the Masjid!

The truth was that I did not go to the Mosque to attend prayers. I loved to play wherever I could. In fact, my imagination knew no limits, I used to run between the pillars of the Mosque believing I was a thief and an invisible cop was chasing behind me. Other times, I used to bring my car toys to play inside the mosque! Yes, you too remember those moments, don't you? As a young boy, being mischievous!

Like most of you, my mum would take me to a madrassah, even though some of us did not like to go, for the reason mentioned further.

Some of us knew, while others did not know exactly why we had to go to this madrassah, but still we did go, since mum would scold us if we did not!

We were made seated behind large desks, and an 'Ustadh/Janaab or an 'Ustadha would teach us the Urdu/Arabic alphabets. Alif, bé, té, thé... Alif, ba, ta, tha.. remember those times...?

Personally I remember mostly the scolding and punishments afflicted by my Janaab. I was made to wait in queue to receive my "gift". Just when I thought that my Janaab would give me sweets!

Afterwards I had to go to another Madrassah, as the one in my neighbourhood was closed down. I was in my colledge days, each Tuesdays and Thursday afternoon, I remember going there; my brother in law riding his motorcycle with me behind grabbing whatever I could!

I learnt few verses of the Qur'an, some commond Duahs, the manner of prayers and then the time came when I had to quit the Madrassah (with the excuse of having to take accademic tuitions, thus being too tired to spend time for my spiritual learning).

During my college days I formed many friendships, some were muslims, some were not. While I had not so many close friends, I remained friendly though to all other schoolmates."

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I am going to stop the story now, to tell you the reason behind why I am relating you this boring story:

My purpose here is to make a connection with you, with this story, before really going further. It may be that some portion of this story is part of your own experience as a child.

When I was a child, I do not remember that anyone look at me, judge me, categorise me, labelled me according to my what I believe in?

If I liked Batman for instance, and a friend of mine liked Superman instead,  I do not recall there was there a Circle/Group of Batman followers and a Circle/Group of Superman followers?

I did however, like you brother, played with that friend of mine, irrespective of what he believed in?

When, I grew up, brother. I went to the college, like most of you. Before making friends, I did note make it a criteria that my friend had to have the same "belief" as mine in order to "call" him my friend?

Or did you simply like him because he had a certain personality or hobbies that you liked and automatically without you realising it, you became best of friends. (For instance, you and your friend might have like to play soccer!)

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Unfortunately this is not the case when I attained adulthood. I was influenced, was told not to approach certain people or fear what specific people say, even though they are my brothers.

I am talking about "Aqeedah". This same word that makes some people agitate. Notice that the moment I write the word "Aqeedah" some people reading this might immediately think:

"And here goes again.. Another kid trying to prove that HIS Aqeedah is better than ours."

I remember once, a friend of mine was driving some of  his relatives from a party to their house. They were discussing about lots of things, when the discussion reached on a specific topic.

A relative of his said: "Tariq Ramadan, wants to modernise Islam! Would you believe it!"

The brother of mine (my friend) decided to share his view to this person, and said: "Personally, I believe that we should take all the good from each and everyone, irrespective if he is from such and such group, even if he is saying 99% that I do not agree with, I take with me the 1% I agree."

The relative, replied, before stepping out of my brother's car," What you have said, now you do it..."

I then contemplate on this situation and then thought to myself: "No one like being given advice to, before he witness by himself, you are doing what you advised.."

That brother of mine, from that same day, made a promise to himself to do what he advised. And indeed, by the grace of Allah, practised what he preached.

He attended various lectures from different mosques, different person of different beliefs. He had an open mind instead of the previous closed minded he had.

Talking about mind, I recall a close friend of mine, share his wisdom with me:

"One should not follow a single road, he should at least cast a glance at the other roads to see what good he can obtain from them..."

SubhanAllah!

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When I look at what we, in general, fight about is mainly about the details and optional aspect of this Deen.

You will agree with me brother, that we all pray to One God, we single Him out, by saying the Shahada, by offering our Salahs to Him, our belief is that He is the Only God. <-- On a side note, this is the defnition of Tawheed.

You will agree with me no the fact that we should follow the examples of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and Blessing of Allah upon him) in every aspects of our lives, be it the prayer, doing business, at home, with friends, in the toilet, while sleeping, while talking, while using our own eyes. <-- Just to refesh our memory, this is the definition of Sunnah or Sunnat as some of us call it.

You will agree with me, that the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) used to call the Qurayshi, his own people, to Islam. He used to make Da'wah. If someone is well versed in the History of Islam, he will find that Islam has spread across the globe...to even China! The work of Da'wah was done by people, travelling miles and miles away from their homeland, only to spread the true call to Islam. <-- Just a note, the word "Tabligh" means to work to call others to Allah.

Once a brother of mine, told me to come over a Sunday morning to a conference on Da'wah. I say to myself: "Why not, it is always an opportunity for me to learn something".

The orator of the conference was talking about how this institution he works in, tries to portray our Deen, Al-Islam, in a positive manner, to the non-muslims. They even participate in gatherings, where there are several preachers of other religions.

At one point, he recount to us an incident, whereby there was a non-muslim woman in her late fifties, wanted to accept the call of Islam, but hesitated.

Upon asking the person, why such hesitance. She explain that several persons came to her, telling her to accept Islam and form part of their Jamaat and beware of the other groups.

The woman knew nothing about Islam, except she heard beautiful things. Now, she became all confused! She remained in this state for more than 20 years!

Me, you, we fight! For what? To prove I am better than you in the religion? To prove that my path is the right one, and the one you follow is the wrong one?

But what to do when a brother of mine is doing something I know is wrong. I should advise. I should advise with a smile, I should share with my brother without calling him names, without judging him beforehand. If he accepts my advise, praise Allah, if he does not accept, then I should Pray to Allah for him and make him not my enemy.

No one will criticise me, if I do not criticise others. 

No one will point at me, if I do not point at others.

No one will write against me, if I do not write against others.

No one will fight me, if I do not fight against others.

...Except those people who loves to spread mischiefs in this Ummah.

If you desire does not happen, then desire that which does

 If you are obliged to do something or forced into a situation then you might as well enjoy it!. This is what I used to say to a young man who had diabetes. He used to drink tea without sugar and feel sorry for himself.

I would say to him, "When you feel sorry and sad while drinking you tea, does the bitterness turn into sweetness?"

"No", he replied.

I said,"Then, so long as you are forced in to a situation, enjoy it."

What i mean here is that the world is not always as we wish it to be, and this happens frequently in our lives. Perhaps your car is old, its air conditioner is not working and the seat covers are all torn. At present, you are not able to replace the car. What then is the solution? So long as you are bound by this situation, just continue to enjoy your life.

You apply for a seat in a particular department in the university, but your applicaiton is only accepted by a department in which you do not want to study. You try to change your predicament, but you cannot. You end up having to study for 3 years in a department that was not your choice. What should you do? Enjoy!

You propose to a girl but she refuses and marries someone else. What is the solution? This is a situation that cannot be changed so just enjoy it!

Many people think the solution is permanent depression, or grumbling over the situation, or excessive complaining to those they know and those they don't! This does not help them acquire the provision they have missed out on, or gain provision that is not meant to be for them. So what then is the solution? If what you desire does not happen, then desire that which has happened. The intelligent person is the one who readjusts himself in accordance with his situation, however it may be, seeing as he is not able to change it for the better.

One of my friends was supervising the construction of a mosque and during the process, its funds became restricted. So he went with his friends to some businessmen to as for a donation. When they visited one such man, the man opened the door for them, sat with them for a while, and gave them whatever he could. He then took some medicine out of his pocket to consume. One of those who were present said to him, "I hope everything is fine and this is nothing serious!"

He replied, "No. These are sleeping pills. For ten years I have not been able to sleep without them."

They prayed for him and left.

On their way home they came across excavations and road works on the exit for the city, along with which there was an extremely loud and noisy electricity generator. The strange thing though was that the man guarding the generator was a poor worker who was lying down asleep on pieces of newspaper...

Yes, live your life as there is no time to grieve. Deal with what you have in front of you.

Once, the Prophet (SAW) went out with this Companions on an expedition where their food supply became scarce and they became tired. He ordered them to gather whatever food they had, and laid down his cloak. A man would come with a date or two, or a piece of bread and leave it on  the cloak. When all the food was collected on the cleak, they enjoyably ate. Perphaps none of them ate his fill, but at least they staved their hunger. One can only be generous with that he actually has.

A general view...

Not everything a man desires he achieves. Often the winds blow in unfavourable directions for the ships.

Allah's blessings are countless..

Prophet Muhammad (SAW) once told the story of a worshipper who lived in total isolation for 1000 years, doing nothing but worshipping Allah. When this man died, Allah ordered the angels to take him to Heaven by the Mercy of Allah. The man disagreed, stating that he should go to Heaven as a result of his own work, his 1000 years of worship. Allah then ordered His angels to settle the man's account.The angels put the worshipper's work on one scale of the balance and on the other they started by putting the blessing of eyesight. The scale carrying only the eyesight blessing was much heavier. The man then shouted, 'By your mercy, O Allah, by your mercy!'. Allah replied. 'Take my servant to Heaven by My Mercy.'

There is a Bank That Credits Your Account Each Morning with $86,400

There is a Bank than credits your account each morning with $86,400.
It carries over no balance from day to day.
Every evening deletes whatever part of the balance you failed to use during the day.
What would you do?
Draw out ALL of it, of course!!!!

Each of us has such a Bank.

It's name is TIME.

Every morning, it credits you with 86, 400 seconds.
Every night it writes off, as lost, whatever of this you have failed to invest to good purpose.
It carries over no balance.
It allows no overdraft.

Each day it opens a new account for you.
Each night it burns the remains of the day.
If you fail to use the day's deposits, the loss is yours.

There is no going back.
There is no drawing against the "tomorrow."
You must live in the present on today's deposits.
Invest it carefully with wisdom and knowledge.

Use your Time to do good and Charity;

To faithfully practice the Five Pillars and your Deen.
To faithfully give thanks to Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'alah;
To adhere to the teachings of the Sunnah of His Beloved Messenger Sallallahu alaihi wa Sallam (SAW).
In order that you may benefit the utmost in blessing and guidance in your life and live in peach, happiness, good health and success!

The clock is running.
Make the most of it everyday.

Star working on your 'Time'

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Surah Al 'Asr
(By the Token of TIME)

By (the Token of) Time (through the Ages), Verily Man Is in loss, Except such as have faith And do righteous deeds, in the mutual teaching of Truth, and of Patience and Constancy.

(Qur'an 103: 1-3)

Latest Rapidshare Revision

Latest Rapidshare Changes:

While admitting that they received mostly negative feedback from their customers, the folks at Rapidshare decided it was not confusing enough to change their policy AGAIN. Thus, making my previous post irrelevant.

So now, Rapidshare users will have only one uniform Package, guess what... It’s called RapidPro.

First things First.

Some of the new items which were introduced previously will remain unchanged. For instance:

• It is Free to create a new Premium account (which I forgot to mention in my previous note). Yes free! But once you discover that you need to buy Rapids later for the account to be of any use, you will see how this illusion fades away.

• As mentioned, your premium account will not be deleted once you are out of fuel
• Speaking of fuel, the Rapids will still be your main currency.
• And the pricing of the Rapids remains the same:

Onto the new changes here:

• No more RapidSmall, RapiMedium , RapiBig, RapidSupersize, RapidBusiness packages.
• Only one Package for all: RapidPro
• More details on the new Package below:

For heavy uploaders and downloaders:

• If this package does not suit your needs, RS provides you the flexibily to expand your storage (for uploaders) and your traffic (for downloaders) limit by using up Rapids.
• More details below:

Let’s say you’re a heavy uploader and you’ve consumed all of your 10GB in less than 30 days and you wish to upload more, the only way is to use your Rapids to purchase more storage.

1 GB of Additional storage for uploads = 2 Rapids per month
2 GB of Additional storage for uploads = 4 Rapids per month
And so on…

Now let’s say you love to download huge files (movies, video tutorial, and anime) and you’ve used up all of your 30GB in 1 single day! And you wish to download more. The only way is to use your Rapids and buy more traffic volume.

5GB of traffic volume = 14 Rapids
10GB of traffic volume = 28 Rapids
… maximum traffic volume you can buy in one go is 100GB.

Some final points:

Under Premium Zone, after logging in. Expanding the Settings option, will reveal the following:

• Keep files forever

This option concerns the Uploaders.

1. After 60 days, your upload stuff will not be deleted if no one downloads them.
2. Plus if you decide to buy additional storage, you will be charged only for the additional storage you bought.
3. To illustrate this, I’ve draw a little diagram. Suppose that you’ve reached your upload limit of 10GB of storage and you decided to purchase an extra of 10GB of storage, you will be charged only on this extra 10GB you purchased:

• Automatic purchase of traffic

This option concerns the Downloaders:

If checked, this option automatically purchases more traffic volume once you’ve reach the limit (30GB) before 30 days by using your Rapids.

• Automatic RapidPro Extension

See Diagram below:

The Artificial Pearl

The cheerful little girl with bouncy golden curls was almost five. Waiting with her mother at the checkout stand, she saw them, a circle of glistening white pearls in a pink foil box.

"Oh mommy please, Mommy. Can I have them? Please, Mommy, please?"

Quickly the mother checked the back of the little foil box and then looked back into the pleading brown eyes of her little girl's upturned face. A dollar ninety-five. That's almost $2.00.

"If you really want them, I'll think of some extra chores for you and in no time you can save enough money to buy them for yourself. Your birthday's only a week away and you might get another crisp dollar bill from Grandma."

As soon as Fatima got home, she emptied her penny bank and counted out 17 pennies. After dinner, she did more than her share of chores and she went to the neighbour and asked Mrs. Patel if she could pick dandelions for ten cents. On her birthday, Grandma did give her another new dollar bill and at last she had enough money to buy the necklace.

Fatima loved her pearls. They made her feel dressed up and grown up. She wore them everywhere, weekends, kindergarten, even to bed. The only time she took them off was when she had a bubble bath. Mother said if they got wet, they might turn her neck green.

Fatima had a very loving daddy and every night when she was ready for bed, he would stop whatever he was doing and come upstairs to read her a story. One night as he finished the story, he asked Fatima:

"Do you love me?"

"Oh yes, daddy. You know that I love you."

"Then give me your pearls."

"Oh, daddy, not my pearls. But you can have Princess, the white horse from my collection, the one with the pink tail. Remember, daddy? The one you gave me. She's my favourite."

"That's okay, Honey, daddy loves you. Good night" and he brushed her cheek with a kiss."

About a week later, after the story time, Fatima's daddy asked again:

"Do you love me?"

"Daddy, you know I love you."

"Then give me your pearls."

"Oh, Daddy, not my pearls. But you can have my baby doll. The brand new one I got for my birthday. She is beautiful and you can have the yellow blanket that matches her sleeper."

"That's okay. Sleep well. Allah bless you, little one. Daddy loves you." And as always, he brushed her cheek with a gentle kiss."

A few nights later when her daddy came in, Fatima was sitting on her bed with her legs crossed Indian- style, as he came close, he noticed her chin was trembling and one silent tear rolled down her cheek.

"What is it, Fatima? What's the matter?"

Fatima didn't say anything but lifted her little hand up to her daddy. And when she opened it, there was her little pearl necklace. With a little quiver, she finally said:

"Here, daddy, those are for you."

With tears gathering in his own eyes, Fatima's daddy reached out with one hand to take the artificial necklace, and with the other hand he reached into his pocket and pulled out a blue velvet case with a strand of genuine pearls and gave them to Fatima.

He had them all the time. He was just waiting for her to give up the dime-store stuff so he could give her the genuine treasure...

So it is, with Allah, our Creator (Khaliq). He is waiting for us to give up the cheap things in our lives so that he can give us beautiful treasures.

Are you holding onto things that Allah wants you to let go of? Are you holding on to harmful or unnecessary partners, relationships, habits and activities that you have come so attached to that it seems impossible to let go? Sometimes it is so hard to see what is in the other hand but do believe this one thing.....

Allah will never take away something without giving you something better in its place.