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A bakers dozen of troubleshooting
tips
Most people have heard some of these tips at some
point but there should be information here that
will help in many different troubleshooting situations.
As always, make sure the system is off when removing
or installing components inside the computer. These
are in no particular order.
- There are four basic rules of troubleshooting
Identify the problem; What exactly is the undesired
behavior.
Isolate the problem; Where does the fault lie.
What component is defective or not performing
properly.
Implement a solution; Repair or replace defective
components. Repair or reload corrupted software.
Test the solution; Ensure that the solution corrected
the fault and the problem does not continue.
- The old stand by ? Is it plugged in correctly?
Is it turned on? Keyboard and mouse cables can
work their way loose. It is easy to plug the speakers
into the speakerphone port on the modem instead
of the speaker port on the soundcard. Check to
make sure that everything is securely connected
in the correct place. Make sure that the power
cable is secure at the power supply and at the
surge protector. Make sure the surge protector
is plugged in to the wall outlet or UPS and is
turned on.
- Grinding or growling noises coming from the
computer case are often a sign of a cooling fan
failing. Try to isolate where the noise is coming
from. IF it is at the back of the case near the
top it is probably a power supply fan that is failing.
Otherwise, it is most likely a CPU fan failing.
Cooling fans are very important to the overall
health of your system. Get them replaced at the
first sign of trouble.
- If the light on the floppy drive or CD drive stays on all
the time and you can?t access any floppy disks,
most likely the data cable from the controller
to the floppy drive is connected backwards at one
end. Check the orientation of pin 1.
- Periodically run a thorough scan of the hard
drive. If the hard drive has bad sectors, replace
it. This can catch minor problems before they become
major ones and may help you prevent loss of your
data.
- Use the online help. Many problems encountered
in Windows are covered in the online troubleshooter
in the Windows help. Using the troubleshooter to
eliminate software problems can help save money
on unnecessary hardware repairs.
- Identify ALL the details of the problem. Does
the error only occur in one program or all of them?
Does it only happen after the system has been running
for a while or only after first turning the system
on? Does it happen only when certain peripherals
are connected? Knowing all the details will usually
highlight the source of the fault.
- Does the system not work correctly (or at all)
after moving it? Double check you cables. If that
doesn?t solve the problem, check to make sure that
no cards or memory have come unseated.
- Does the system lock up after running for a
while? Check the condition of the fans and heat
sinks. Dust, pet hair, carpet fibers etc. can become
lodged in the heat sink and fan and greatly reduce
their effectiveness. Use a can of compressed air
to clean out the heat sink. (Don?t use a household
air compressor ? oil and moisture can severely
damage the system.)
- Remember the old axiom ? if all else fails,
read the manual.
- When troubleshooting, only make one change at
a time. If that change has no effect on the problem,
change it back. Changing several things at once
can make it nearly impossible to find the faulty
component.
- Use any resources available. Check the forum
at www.pcclub.com to see if anyone has encountered
the problem before. Check manufacturers web sites
for fixes or known bugs.
- Check the device manager for resource conflicts.
In the device manager, double click on Computer.
This will allow you to check the actual resources.
Windows allows PCI cards to share some resources
and some cards may not function properly when sharing
IRQs.
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