Lately, I feel as if the programs I support, primarily billing systems and practice management systems, are getting blamed for problems they aren’t causing.

By their nature, databases place different strains on office networks. In effect, they act like the proverbial canary in the coalmine, providing an early warning of an issue in the firm’s network infrastructure. Additionally, the environments where these programs are used are more complex than ever, and even minor variations within the same office result in differing scenarios for different computers and their operators.

While I certainly don’t want to imply that commercial software is flawless, I’ve often seen that what at first may seem like a problem with a particular software program could, in fact, be caused by something else entirely. The other common scenario is a recent change causing or exposing problems that had been lurking beneath the surface.

There are days when my service to clients is a cross between being a doctor and a detective. A client will say, “Everything was fine yesterday but today we can’t do some function or even open the program without an error message.” That’s like telling the doctor, “I don’t feel good” without even a hint that the problem is a headache, stomachache, fever, rash or something else.

Similarly, when you either call a company’s technical support line or its local authorized consultant, it helps to have as much specific information about when the problem started and the exact symptoms — in this case, whether new software or patches were installed, details of error messages or other observations that may be helpful.

Before seeking outside help, collect all the information possible, starting with what operating system is running on your server and workstations. An easy way to do this is rightclick on My Computer, leftclick on Properties and note the version information on the General Tab. While there, compile a document that lists the office computers, their operating systems and, on the Identification tab, their computer name. This document also can be used to record the network logins and passwords for each user as well as their login information for specific applications. Obviously, this document belongs in a secure place so a disgruntled employee can’t get it.

Along the same lines, list all the firm’s software along with the version and latest service releases. This will be helpful when verifying all computers have been updated or when an upgrade is ordered and you must know the number of existing licenses. Vendors have their own rules about licensing when it comes to upgrading or replacing computers.

Useful info

Let your tech support source know exactly what the error or problem is. Among the helpful pieces of information are the detailed error message, whether the error is limited to one workstation, one user or is firm wide. A problem that affects all users generally escalates into a higher priority since it means no one in the office can use that software; a problem limited to one person or one computer tends to point to a machine or connection based malfunction. Details about when the problem began and what else was occurring often can be helpful. For example, forgetting to mention your office experienced a power failure or that someone recently installed new software can prolong a resolution.

People don’t realize that installing service releases or patches sometimes can wreak havoc on other applications. Vendors of legal software programs rarely have the resources to test all the various complex environments in which their software is run. However, their law firm clients are quick to blame these manufacturers for problems often caused by factors outside manufacturers’ control.

Classic problem

A recent example may be helpful when you think there’s a software problem, but it’s actually something else. A client, who’s been running a timeandbilling program on a Linux server, an environment never supported by the software manufacturer and that’s so old it’s no longer supported by the vendor, called recently complaining the firm’s billing clerk was getting an error message when she logged into the program as herself. We determined quickly that if she logged in as another user, she could function. When we resolved that problem (a locked file on the server), the firm started experiencing serious performance problems. The specific symptoms were that the first person to open the billing program was able to do so without issue but it could take up to five minutes for each additional person to fully open it. Additionally, the file that had been locking up continued to do so despite being cleared several times.

Although the client swore up and down that nothing had changed, several changes had indeed taken place recently. For starters, several Windows 2000 workstations were replaced by Windows XP units. The Linux server, however, predated Windows XP and did not coexist happily with the XP computers added to the network. After some investigation, we determined there was a software setting on the Linux server that mimics Windows NT (called Samba) that essentially closed the billing software once the first person logged into it.

According to Microsoft, it turns Opportunistic Locking on as the default for workstations and servers to improve performance. However, almost every database — and this includes all the popular legal time and billing programs as well as many of the practice management programs — slow to a crawl when Opportunistic Locking is on. While the firm functioned for years with this setting, when the Windows XP stations were added, the files stayed open and excluded other employees from getting into the billing program in a timely manner.

Detective work

Problems like this can take a lot of time and detective work to determine the cause and devise a solution. Before we determined the culprit was the Opportunistic Locking setting, we considered a wide range of possible causes. We considered excessive numbers of temporary files since the firm rarely did routine maintenance on its workstations.

It’s a good idea for someone in a firm to regularly clean out temporary files in the Windows\Temp folder (either C:\Windows\Temp for Windows XP computers or Winnt\Temp for Windows 2000 computers as well as the Temp folder under Local Settings. For whatever reason, Microsoft hides these files by default. To display them, open Windows Explorer or My Computer, choose Tools, then Folder Options, then under the View tab, change the setting from Do Not Show Hidden Files or Folders to Show Hidden Files or Folders.

While on this screen, you also may want to select the options to display the full path in the Address and the Title bars. These options put your full computer path in the title bar of your screens so if you have similar folder names on your local drive and on your network, you’ll know which one you’re viewing. Another helpful setting here is to uncheck the Hide Extensions for known file types, especially if you have older documents done before Windows. For some reason, Microsoft has chosen to hide from users file extensions commonly used under DOS and even in early versions of Windows. If you want to see the full file names, showing the extensions may help.

We also considered virus software settings (specifically, the need to exclude the billing program from the constant virus scanning), spyware or adware as well as the possibility of a hardwarerelated cause. Antivirus software is intended to protect your computer from viruses, trojans and worms. Unfortunately, with databases such as billing programs or case management applications, antivirus software tends to see the frequent requests for information from workstations to the server as possible opportunities for infection. Often, excluding the program and data files from constant antivirus scanning can resolve performance or memory related issues. Similarly, adware or spyware can interfere with the proper functioning of software, so run regular systems checks with shareware programs like Spybot and Adaware.

Surf for answers

An incredibly helpful technique is using the internet to help troubleshoot problems. If there’s a specific software error, go to that vendor’s knowledge base, type in the error and look for recommended resolutions. If you have an internet browser that seems possessed, do a Google search for the name of the site where you’re being directed, along with the word “removal” and you’ll probably find suggestions for eliminating the problem.

Finally, even though the symptoms appear to be a software problem, don’t overlook the possibility of a hardware failure somewhere in the infrastructure. While hard drive crashes occur less frequently than in the past, they’re not impossible. More likely causes of problems can be cabling failures, bad network cards or other parts of the network “plumbing.” We’ve seen many situations where a bad network card has caused problems that looked like software issues.

While in some ways computers have become simpler and more uniform than 20 years ago, there now are myriad permutations and variations that can wreak havoc. One firm can have Blackberries synching to their system while another uses the latest Palm based telephone. Change a printer or add a service release, and a delicately balanced system can seemingly go berserk overnight.
With more causes than solutions, it’s helpful to know how to resolve your problems so you can get back to work for your clients.

Carol L. Schlein is president of Law Office Systems in Montclair, a training and consulting firm specializing in law firm automation. Copies of previous columns are on her company website, www.losinc.com. For information about her quarterly meetings for Time Matters users, check the website or email info@losinc.com. Schlein formerly chaired the Computer and Technology Division of the ABA Law Practice Management Section.

Questions for Carol L. Schlein on law office technology may be faxed to New Jersey Lawyer at (732) 650-7010, e-mailed to news@njlnews.com or mailed to “Law Technology Questions,” New Jersey Lawyer, Edison Square, 2035 Lincoln Highway, Suite 3005, Edison, N.J. 08817.