When columnist Joy Schwabach's favourite game, Peggle, stopped working, another assistant sent her on a wild goose chase. Claude suggested a beta Windows Insider update was the likely cause and guided her to download an official Windows 11 file and run setup, which reinstalled Windows, kept her files and fixed the game, though she had to reinstall a few apps.
My [PROGRAM] stopped working on Windows [VERSION] after [RECENT CHANGE, E.G. AN UPDATE]. I've already tried [WHAT YOU TRIED]. What are the most likely causes, from simplest to most drastic fix? Walk me through each step in plain English, and before any step that could remove apps or files, tell me exactly what will be kept, what I should back up and how to undo it.
Replace the [PLACEHOLDERS] with your own details before you send it.
How to try it
- Tell Claude what stopped working, when it started and what you’ve tried.
- Work through its fixes from simplest to most drastic, backing up your files first.
- Only reinstall or repair Windows once you understand what will be kept and you have a backup.
More tech help use cases
Help a parent plan trips by talking to ChatGPT
After being shown ChatGPT's voice mode, one user's mum was amazed. She has since planned itineraries for two trips with it, and built some very well-argued cases for her opinions too.
I'm new to this, so please keep things simple and ask me one question at a time. I'd like help planning a trip to [DESTINATION] for [NUMBER] days in [MONTH]. I enjoy [INTERESTS] and prefer [PACE, E.G. NOT TOO MUCH WALKING]. At the end, give me a short day-by-day plan.
Fix a video call camera that won’t work by showing Claude a photo
One user's video wouldn't connect on a WhatsApp call, so she uploaded a photo of her screen to Claude. Within seconds it spotted the problem: her ThinkPad has a tiny privacy shutter slider above the screen, and she'd closed it by accident.
My camera isn't working on [APP, E.G. WHATSAPP OR ZOOM] on my [DEVICE MAKE AND MODEL]. Here's a photo of my screen and the top of the device. What could be wrong? Start with the simplest physical checks (shutters, covers, switches, keyboard shortcuts), then app and system permissions, and give me step-by-step instructions for each.
Talk through laptop problems with Gemini Live
One user leans on Gemini Live for computer jobs: after helping him upgrade his laptop, it helped fix a network driver problem, check all the drivers, run a disk check and move on to Windows' memory diagnostics.
My [LAPTOP MODEL, WINDOWS/MAC VERSION] has this problem: [DESCRIBE, E.G. WI-FI KEEPS DROPPING]. Talk me through fixing it one step at a time, starting with the safest checks. Wait for me to tell you the result of each step before moving on, and warn me before anything that could lose data.
Reference: X @oncomp