Posts Tagged ‘Basic Computer Troubleshooting’
Computer Troubleshooting
Tags: Basic Computer Troubleshooting, Computer Troubleshooting, Basic Troubleshooting, Computer Hardware Problems, Basic Computer Problems, Solve Computer Problems, Troubleshooting Computer, Computer Problems, Troubleshoot Problem
Basic Computer Troubleshooting
Though they tend to cause some of the nastiest symptoms—computers that won’t boot, scary and/or confusing error messages, etc.—computer hardware problems are usually the easiest type of problems to solve. The trick, as with all troubleshooting ventures, is to figure out where to start and then focus your efforts.
First, of course, you need to check the stupid stuff. You’d probably be amazed how many “problems” are solved by connecting the cables, or turning on the power switch that you swear you just did. Beyond that, double-check the snugness of your connections—jiggling in a new add-in card or screwing in a cable connection can (and often does) make a difference.
PC Troubleshooting: Driver Dilemmas
- Once you’re past the basics, it’s on to step two. As long as your computer boots, then there’s a good chance the problem is related to missing, damaged, incompatible or improperly installed driver software, otherwise known simply as drivers.
- Virtually every piece of hardware located inside or connected externally to your PC requires a driver to communicate and function with the operating system, applications, and other hardware components in your machine.
- Drivers essentially translate messages back and forth between the hardware in question and the operating system, thereby allowing your computer system to work as a unified whole.
Computer Troubleshooting:The Device Manager is Your Friend
If you’re running Windows 95, 98, or ME, your first stop after the computer finishes the startup process should be the Device Manager, a piece of operating system software that helps you manage the various pieces of your PC.
- My Computer icon on your desktop and selecting Properties
- Start menu, going up to Settings, selecting Control Panel from the list of choices and then double-clicking on the System control panel.
The first thing to look for is a yellow exclamation point or red international no sign.
- Disable
- Remove/Un-install
- Update the Driver
Computer Troubleshooting: IRQs
- The general principle with IRQ troubleshooting is that two devices cannot typically share an IRQ (an important exception is with some PCI-based add-in cards), and if they try to, one or sometimes neither of the devices will work properly.
- If you find that you have an IRQ conflict, where two ISA cards or other non-PCI devices are trying to use the same IRQ, you’ll need to change the settings on one of the devices to an open IRQ.
- The problem is, not every device is able to use every IRQ, so even though you have other IRQs available, the problem device may be incapable of using one of the open IRQs.
Computer Troubleshooting: TIPS!
These tips won’t solve all the hardware problems you may run into, but they should solve a good number of them. The important thing to remember when doing any troubleshooting is that computers really are logical devices and there’s always a logical reason for why something isn’t working. Discovering what that reason is and then applying the right solution isn’t always easy (or intuitive), but if you think about the problem logically and work through it step-by-step, there’s a good chance you’ll be able to solve it on your own. And, if worse comes to worse, you can always just nuke everything and start over again!
