CareerCup

1) check if the program is compatible with your OS
2) try to update the program
3) check for missing dlls( if you know what dlls or libs it should have)
4) uninstall and reboot the system and reinstall the program.
5) if problem persist then google the problem.
6) If no Solution found then ask your peers if they know any solution.
7) at last contact the vendor ( if you are lucky customer care people will resolve your problem )

You should start by looking at the error message which you get when you try to run the program.
1)If error message is missing dll or like you can find that dll and copy it at your installed location
2)Google it

are they really asking such lame questions for SDE position?

Guys, the question is how to debug the issue, not how to fix the issue. Delete and reinstall will not help you to find a root cause of the problem (and this is the main goal of debugging).
Hence, appropriate steps would be:
1. Try to find an installation log file and read for the error.
2. If error is there - try to find the root cause of the error. If not - keep digging.
3. See documentation for the program. Is your machine is good enough for the program?
4. Try to find OS memory dump file. Check if the error is there. If not - keep digging.
5. Try to install the same application on another machine with the same OS. Check if the error is there. If no - the problem is with that particular machine.
6. If no info is found - contact the support team. Maybe there are some hidden log files on your machine. Or they know how to fix it.

check for missing files (dll, libs etc)
worst case uninstall and install again and hope it works...

further, format the system (hoping somethign was wrong with the os) and then install the program again

still doesnt work...contact a vendor