Exam practice

1. Say exactly what is wrong (what you expected, what happened, where, since when, what changed): it narrows the search and gives a helper what they need.
2. Try a restart: it empties memory and starts everything in a clean state, which fixes many problems.
3. Read the error: it often says what failed and why, and gives a code to search for.
4. Find where it is (isolate): tests that swap parts or try from elsewhere rule out the parts that work.
5. Search the error: others have usually had the same problem and written how they fixed it.
6. Change one thing and test: so you know what fixed it, and undo what didn’t help, so you don’t cause new problems.

If it still isn’t fixed, ask for help, saying exactly what you have tried.

A device that has run for a long time can get into a bad state in its memory: a job stuck waiting, memory filled and not given back, a half-changed setting. A restart empties memory (RAM is cleared when the power goes off), and everything loads fresh from storage in a clean state, as it was tested by its makers.
But if the problem comes back, something keeps causing it: an app with a bug, a failing part, too little storage, heat. The restart only cleared the effect for a while. The cause has to be found and fixed, by noting when it happens and troubleshooting.

• Open another website on the laptop. If others open, the problem is the one website; if none open, it is the laptop or the connection.
• Open the same website on a phone using mobile data. If it doesn’t open there either, the website itself is down. If it opens, the website is fine.
• Open any website on a phone using the home Wi-Fi. If it opens, the router and the line are working, so the problem is in the laptop (its Wi-Fi or its browser). If nothing opens, the problem is the router or the line: look at the router’s lights, restart it, and if the line’s light is red, call the internet provider.

A good search: photo editor "The disk is full" 0x80070070 (with the program’s real name in place of “photo editor”, and the operating system’s name if there are too many results).
Left out: the folder and file name C:\Users\Kiran\Desktop\Tihar photos\IMG_2041.jpg, because nobody else has that file, so it would only hide useful pages, and it shows Kiran’s name. Kept: the exact message in quotes and the error code, which thousands of others have seen. (The message itself already tells him the fix: free space on the disk.)

Any four, for example:

• Too little memory for the apps in use: use fewer heavy apps at once, use lite versions, uninstall apps that run in the background.
• Storage almost full: free space safely (clear caches, delete forwarded videos and old downloads, move photos to a computer or the cloud after checking the copy).
• An app busy in the background (stuck, or malware): find it in the battery usage list; update it, force stop it, or uninstall it.
• Heat: let it cool, out of the sun and its case; don’t play heavy games while charging.
• A worn battery: have the battery replaced at a good repair shop.
• Old software with bugs: install the updates.
• Nothing else helps: back up, check the backup, and reset it to its factory settings.

Any five, for example:

1. Get it from its source: the computer’s app store, the maker’s own website (address typed yourself or from its Wikipedia article), or a package manager.
2. Don’t trust adverts at the top of search results, pop-ups, links in chats, or download sites full of buttons.
3. Check the publisher named when the installer asks for permission; “Unknown publisher” on a famous program is a warning.
4. Give administrator permission only to installers you trust.
5. Choose the custom install and untick extras (toolbars, other programs, home-page changes).
6. Compare the file’s checksum with the one on the maker’s site, when one is published.

Cracked software is a program changed by a stranger to get round its license. Changing a program is exactly how malware is put in, and an installer runs with administrator permission, so harmful code in it can do anything to the computer. It is also against the law, and free, legal programs do most of the same jobs.

pwdcd school/class10lsmkdir oldcd ~

At the start, pwd prints /home/asha. At the end, after cd ~ (or cd, or cd ../..), she is in her home folder again, so pwd would print /home/asha again. (In class10, it would have printed /home/asha/school/class10.)

An absolute path starts from the root of the tree, /, and names every folder down to the file, so it means the same thing wherever you are: /home/asha/school/class10/marks.csv.
A relative path starts from the working directory, the folder you are in: class10/marks.csv, or ../Downloads.
A relative path is followed from wherever you are, so it reaches the file only from the right starting folder. class10/marks.csv works from /home/asha/school but not from /home/asha, where there is no class10 folder. That is also why a program that opens "marks.csv" works only when it is run from the folder that has marks.csv.

python3: can't open file '/home/rojina/results.py' comes from Python itself: it couldn’t find the program file, because results.py isn’t in her home folder.
The FileNotFoundError comes from the program: Python found results.py (she gave its path) and started it, but the program opens marks.csv from the working directory, her home folder, where there is no marks.csv. The traceback shows the line of the program that failed.
Fix for both: go to the folder that has the program and its data, cd school/class10, then run python3 results.py. (Or the program could be changed to open the file from its own folder.)

• A small, real task: for example, cut the best two minutes from the event’s rehearsal video and add a title.
• Built-in help and the makers’ getting-started guide, for the version I have: to learn the program’s own ideas (the timeline, clips, cutting, exporting).
• One tutorial, done step by step on the real program, pausing to do each part, and checking it is for my version.
• An AI assistant: I tell it the program, its version and my device, and ask for the steps of my task or to explain what I don’t understand. I try every step on a copy of the video; when a menu or option it names isn’t there, I tell it, and check the official help instead.
• Practice on a copy of the video, so mistakes cost nothing.
• Checking: a few days later I do the whole task again without the tutorial or the assistant, then teach a friend to do it. If I can do both, I have learned it. I note the shortcuts I used on a cheat sheet.