Check your typing. If you have made a mistake, retype the command. If that wasn't the problem, try pressing Caps Lock down and typing your entry again.

You get the message SYNTAX ERROR on your screen.

This is a general-purpose error message that tells you the computer didn't understand your last instruction. Sometimes you get this message when you type something in lowercase letters and the application wants it in uppercase letters.

You can't get to desk Accessories by pressing Open-Apple-Control-Esc.

Your application uses a version of ProDOS earlier than 1.2, which doesn't give you access to desk accessories.

Have your authorized Apple dealer upgrade the application to ProDOS 1.2.

The Desk Accessories menu appears unexpectedly.

You tried to access desk accessories earlier from an application that didn't let you. The computer held on to your request and complied as soon as possible.

Choose Quit from the Desk Accessories menu. Have your authorized Apple dealer upgrade the version of ProDOS on your application disk so you can access desk accessories when you want to.

The application works on an Apple IIe but not on an Apple IIGS.

Fast speed might be interfering with the application.

Try setting System Speed in the Control Panel Program to Normal. If that doesn't help, ask your authorized Apple dealer if there is an Apple IIGS version of the application.

Every application has its own set of error messages geared to that application. In the best applications, error messages are self explanatory. They tell you what went wrong and how to fix it. But in other applications, the messages are cryptic, and you'll have to look up the meaning of the message in the manual that came with the application.

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Appendix B: Troubleshooting