DOWNLOAD PDF HARDWARE TROUBLESHOOTING

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1 Chapter 1 : How to Use the Windows Device Manager for Troubleshooting Hardware troubleshooting is the process of reviewing, diagnosing and identifying operational or technical problems within a hardware device or equipment. It aims to resolve physical and/or logical problems and issues within a computing hardware. This can actually be a bit tricky to figure out. Hardware problems and software problems can lead to the same symptoms â for example, frequent blue screens of death may be caused by either software or hardware problems. If a computer is slowing down, it has a software problem that can be fixed. Blue screens could also be caused by badly programmed hardware drivers, however. If you just installed or upgraded hardware drivers and blue screens start, try uninstalling the drivers or using system restore â there may be something wrong with the drivers. Is Windows attempting to boot and failing part-way through the boot process, or does the computer no longer recognize its hard drive or not power on at all? Consult our guide to troubleshooting boot problems for more information. When Hardware Starts to Failâ Here are some common components that can fail and the problems their failures may cause: If your hard drive starts failing, files on your hard drive may become corrupted. You may see long delays when you attempt to access files or save to the hard drive. Windows may stop booting entirely. A failing CPU may result in your computer not booting at all. Applications write data to your RAM and use it for short-term storage. If your RAM starts failing, an application may write data to part of the RAM, then later read it back and get an incorrect value. This can result in application crashes, blue screens, and file corruption. Graphics card problems may result in graphical errors while rendering 3D content or even just while displaying your desktop. If the graphics card is overheating, it may crash your graphics driver or cause your computer to freeze while under load â for example, when playing demanding 3D games. If any of the fans fail in your computer, components may overheat and you may see the above CPU or graphics card problems. Motherboard problems can be extremely tough to diagnose. You may see occasional blue screens or similar problems. A malfunctioning power supply is also tough to diagnose â it may deliver too much power to a component, damaging it and causing it to malfunction. Other common problems â for example, a computer slowing down â are likely to be software problems. This is especially true if you have an intermittent problem, such as your computer blue-screening a few times a week. That means reinstalling Windows or using the Refresh or reset feature on Windows 8. See whether the problem still persists after you restore its operating system to its default state. If you still see the same problem â for example, if your computer is blue-screening and continues to blue-screen after reinstalling Windows â you know you have a hardware problem and need to have your computer fixed or replaced. If the computer crashes or freezes while reinstalling Windows, you definitely have a hardware problem. If the hardware drivers are badly programmed, the blue-screens may continue. Most blue screens you encounter will likely be caused by hardware issues. When in doubt, back up your files and reinstall Windows. Page 1

2 Chapter 2 : Basic computer troubleshooting steps The Hardware and Devices Troubleshooter will try to fix the problems for you. If you are using Windows Vista, go here to download and run the Hardware and Devices Troubleshooter for Windows Vista. The test results are saved across power cycles and provide an indication of which components passed and which components failed POST or OpenBoot Diagnostics tests. Be sure to check any network port LEDs for activity as you examine the system. Any information about the state of the system from the LEDs is lost when the system is reset. The system controller also provides you access to boot log information from the latest system reset. For more information about the system console, refer to the Netra Server System Administration Guide. See The Core Dump Process for more information. Recording Information About the System As part of your standard operating procedures, it is important to have the following information about your system readily available: Current patch levels for the system firmware and operating system Solaris OS version Optional equipment and driver information Recent service records Having all of this information available and verified makes it easier for you to recognize any problems already identified by others. This information is also required if you contact Sun support or your authorized support provider. Problems often occur after changes have been made to the system. Some errors are caused by hardware and software incompatibilities and interactions. Knowing about recent upgrades or component replacements might help you avoid replacing components that are not faulty. System Error States When troubleshooting, it is important to understand what kind of error has occurred, to distinguish between real and apparent system hangs, and to respond appropriately to error conditions so as to preserve valuable information. Responding to System Error States Depending on the severity of a system error, a Netra server might or might not respond to commands you issue to the system. Once you have gathered all available information, you can begin taking action. Your actions depend on the information you have already gathered and the state of the system. Avoid power cycling the system until you have gathered all the information you can. Error information might be lost when power cycling the system. If your system appears to be hung, attempt multiple approaches to get the system to respond. See Responding to System Hang States. Responding to System Hang States Troubleshooting a hanging system can be a difficult process because the root cause of the hang might be masked by false error indications from another part of the system. Therefore, it is important that you carefully examine all the information sources available to you before you attempt any remedy. Also, it is helpful to understand the type of hang the system is experiencing. This hang state information is especially important to Sun support services engineers, should you contact them. A system soft hang can be characterized by any of the following symptoms: Usability or performance of the system gradually decreases. New attempts to access the system fail. Some parts of the system appear to stop responding. You can drop the system into the OpenBoot ok prompt level. Some soft hangs might dissipate on their own, while others will require that the system be interrupted to gather information at the OpenBoot prompt level. A soft hang should respond to a break signal that is sent through the system console. A system hard hang leaves the system unresponsive to a system break sequence. You will know that a system is in a hard hang state when you have attempted all the soft hang remedies with no success. Hardware Fatal Reset errors are the result of an "illegal" hardware state that is detected by the system. A hardware Fatal Reset error can either be a transient error or a hard error. A transient error causes intermittent failures. A hard error causes persistent failures that occur in the same way each time. Page 2

3 Chapter 3 : What is Hardware Troubleshooting? - Definition from Techopedia Community College of Rhode Island is the largest community college in New England and has been a leader in education and training since Faculty and staff are committed to ensuring student success. It displays all your installed hardware devices and allows you to view which ones have problems, manage their drivers, and even disable specific pieces of hardware. On Windows 8, you can also right-click in the bottom-left corner of your screen and select Device Manager. Viewing Your Installed Hardware By default, the Device Manager displays a list of your installed hardware, sorted by category. You can expand these categories to view which hardware you have installed in your computer. If you ever forget the exact model number of your video card or even your hard drive or DVD drive, you can quickly find that information in the device manager. You can view them by clicking View and selecting Show hidden devices. Windows does not display certain types of hidden devices, even when you enable the Show hidden devices option. First, open a Command Prompt window. Run the following commands in it: You can use this trick to remove drivers associated with your old, disconnected hardware. Right-click the device and select Properties to view more information about the problem. The problem could be a driver issue, a system resource conflict, or something else. Whatever your reason, you can disable individual hardware devices from the Device Manager. To disable them, click the View menu and select Show hidden devices. Click the Driver tab and set the Startup Type to Disabled. Note that, for most types of hardware devices, you can generally right-click them and select Disable to quickly disable them. This setting just affects Windows, so you may hear a beep while booting up. This is a troubleshooting feature that allows your motherboard to beep at you if problems occur. The settings that matter most for troubleshooting are the Driver settings. After right-clicking a device and selecting Properties, click the Driver tab. View details about the exact location of the driver files being used by the device on your system. Install an updated driver. Windows allows you to search online for an updated driver or manually choose a driver that has been downloaded to your system, just as you can when installing devices normally. Searching for an updated driver may help if the driver is old and outdated. Revert to the driver the device was previously using. You could hunt down the old driver and manually install it, but this button provides a quick way to downgrade your driver. Disable the device, preventing it from working in Windows until you re-enable it. Uninstall the drivers associated with the device from your system. Note that this may not remove all driver files, so uninstalling the drivers from your Control Panel is a better idea, if this is possible. You may have to reboot your computer after doing this. This should only be necessary if you want to purge certain drivers from your system and try setting up the device and its drivers from scratch. The Device Manager also warns you about resource conflicts, but you should see resource conflicts very rarely on modern systems. The above information should cover just about everything you would want to do with the Windows Device Manager. Page 3

4 Chapter 4 : The technologistâ s guide to troubleshooting hardware Ars Technica Basic computer troubleshooting Updated: 05/21/ by Computer Hope Below is a listing of commonly asked computer questions and answers and basic troubleshooting steps for operating systems, software programs, and computer hardware. Network cable to computer and wall Blue Check to see if the monitor goes black just as Windows is loaded. This could indicate a problem with the video card driver or settings in Windows. Symptom The screen is not synchronized Diagnosis Check to make sure the signal cable is firmly connected in the socket. Check that the output level matches the input level of your computer. Make sure the signal timing of the computer system is within the specification of the monitor. Symptom The screen is too bright or too dark Diagnosis Check if the Brightness or contrast control is at the appropriate position, not at the maximum or minimum. Check if the specified voltage is applied Check if the signal timing of the computer system is within the specification of the monitor. Especially, check the horizontal frequency. Symptom The screen is shaking Diagnosis Move all objects that emit a magnetic field, such as a motor or transformer, away from the monitor. Check if the specified voltage is applied. Check if the signal timing of the computer system is within the specification of the monitor. Printer Troubleshooting The Printer is not printing Diagnosis Check to see if the printer getting power If there are no lights or no display on the front of the printer, the printer is not getting electricity or power. Check to make sure the power cord is plugged in both to the wall or power strip and to the back of the printer. Wiggle the power cord where it plugs into the back of the printer to make sure it is not loose. Some models of desk jets have a two part power cord. In this case, check along the length of the power cord to make sure both parts are plugged in together. If the printer is still not getting power, plug the power cord into a different outlet on the power strip. If this does not work, try plugging the printer into a different wall outlet. Check to see if you can print a Windows test page The windows test page is a basic communication test between your computer and the printer. To print a Windows test page: Left mouse-click on the Start button. Go to Settings and then select Printers. Inside the printer window, you should see a small printer icon with the name of printer you are trying to print to. Place your mouse arrow on the small printer icon and right mouse-click. A small gray window should appear and the last choice in the box is Properties. Left mouse-click on Properties. A printer window with several tabs should appear. On the General tab, there is a Print Test Page button in the lower right corner. Left mouse-click on the button. You may click on the "Yes" button on your screen, but the real question is: Did anything print from the printer? If the answer is no, please call or the Help Desk at x If you can print a Windows test page, try to print from a different program. If the document does not print from that program, the printing problem has to do with that program. Check to see if there is paper in printer. Is their a paper jam? If the printer has paper in the paper tray, the paper may be jammed or not feeding properly. Take the paper out of the paper tray and check to see that the top piece of paper is not crinkled or bent. If the printer is a DeskJet, lift open the front cover and look to see if a piece of paper is halfway fed through. If it is, remove paper gently from the top and close. If the printer is a LaserJet, open the top of the printer and check for paper underneath the toner cartridge. If there is paper there, gently remove it, and replace the toner cartridge. Check to see if the computer getting a signal from the printer. The computer and the printer must be communicating before the printer will print. When you send a document to print, does a small printer appear on the Windows taskbar down by the time? If this printer appears on the taskbar, the computer thinks the printer is receiving communication. At this point, the printer should blink lights if a DeskJet or says "printing" or "receiving" on the display if a laser printer. If the printer is not receiving the communication from the computer, try restarting the computer. After you have logged in, see if you can print now. Check to see if Printer offline or Paused. If the printer is off-line or paused, the print jobs will just stack up in the print queue but nothing prints. Place your mouse arrow on the printer you are checking and right mouse click. A dialog box should open. If the printer is paused or offline you will see a black check mark next to the words "Pause Printing" or "Printer Offline. Then repeat steps 1 through 7 again. If the printer is still not printing, please contact the Help Desk at x Check to see if there multiple jobs in the Print queue. If the printer Page 4

5 is a local printer i. Sometimes this will allow the printer to start printing again. Choose the "Clean the Print Cartridges" option. If this does not work, try replacing the ink cartridge. If the new cartridge does not help the streaking, place the cartridge back inside the original packaging and save it until the other cartridge has been used up. This just tests to see if the ink cartridge is defective. If the printer is a LaserJet, try changing the toner cartridge. If the new toner cartridge does not improve the streaking problem, return old cartridge to the printer and place the new toner cartridge back in its original packaging for later use. If neither option works, please visit the printer maintenance vendor list to schedule printer service. The printer in spite of everything is not printing? Turn the PC off. If the printer is a local printer, i. After 30 seconds, turn the PC and the printer back on again. Try to print a Windows test page. If the printer still does not print, please contact the Help Desk x Try cleaning the drive with a standard audio CD player cleaning kit. After cleaning the drive, try to read the CD again. If the CD is dirty, you can clean the CD using a CD Cleaning kit or you can also use a mild detergent, like dish soap, and warm water, wash the CD and dry with a soft cloth. Try using a different CD-R disk with a different dye under the reflective layer. You will have noticed that some CD-R disks are blue, gold, green, or even silver colored. Some of the colors have a lower light reflectivity value and an older CD Rom drive may have difficulty reading that brand of CD-R media. Try unplugging it and re-plugging it again. If there is no response, check the indicator light on the keyboard. Do the lights respond when you press the caps lock or the num lock key? If not, maybe your keyboard is broken. Check to see if there a key stuck Gently pry off the cover and clean it with alcohol. Make sure it is not connected to your machine when you are cleaning it. The space bar frequently comes off track. Gently pry it off, noting which way the bar lies in your particular keyboard so you can replace it properly. Mouse Troubleshooting The mouse is not working Symptom The mouse is acting erratic Diagnosis Reboot the computer and see if that corrects the problem. If not check to see if there is insufficient memory. Symptom The mouse will only move one way, either vertically or horizontally Diagnosis Clean the mouse Shut down your machine and unplug your mouse from the computer. Open the underside of the mouse and remove the ball. If the ball is a rubber ball, do not clean it with alcohol. Clean it with a soft cloth. There should be no lubricant placed on a mouse ball. Clean the roller in the body of the mouse with a cotton swab that is slightly damp with alcohol. Replace the ball when the rollers are dry and replace the bottom portion. Networking Troubleshooting My PC is not working on the Network Diagnosis Programs that require network drives to run or operate properly: You would also need a network connection to print to the network laser or color laser printers within CCRI. Page 5

6 Chapter 5 : Windows Hardware and Devices Troubleshooter Troubleshooting hardware and devices prompts me to restart my PC to finish installing drivers and updates but nothing happens after that, big the message keeps on flashing whenever i troubleshoot. POST card Software Diagnostic Packages Several commercially available disk-based diagnostic routines can check the system by running predetermined tests on different areas of its hardware. You can find utilities for performing low-level formats on older hard drive types and for managing small computer system interface SCSI devices through this menu. In addition, options to print or show test results are available here, as is the exit point from the program. They can prove especially helpful when trying to track down non-heat-related intermittent problems. If a diagnostic program indicates that multiple items should be replaced, replace the units one at a time until the unit starts up. Then replace any units removed prior to the one that caused the system to start. This process ensures that there are not multiple bad parts. If you have replaced all the parts, and the unit still does not function properly, the diagnostic software is suspect. Using a Multimeter in a PC A number of test instruments can help you isolate computer hardware problems. One of the most basic pieces of electronic troubleshooting equipment is the multimeter. These test instruments are available in both analog and digital readout form and can be used to directly measure electrical values of voltage V, current in milliamperes ma or amperes A, and resistance in ohms. Therefore, these devices are referred to as VOMs volt-ohm-milliammeters for analog types, or DMMs digital multimeters for digital types. With a little finesse, you can use this device to check diodes, transistors, capacitors, motor windings, relays, and coils. This particular DMM contains facilities built in to the meter to test transistors and diodes. These facilities are in addition to its standard functions of current, voltage, and resistance measurement; however, in computer repair work, only the voltage and resistance functions are used extensively. The first step in using the multimeter to perform tests is to select the proper function. For the most part, you never need to use the current function of the multimeter when working with computer systems; however, the voltage and resistance functions can be very valuable tools. In computer troubleshooting, most of the tests are DC voltage readings. These measurements usually involve checking the DC side of the power-supply unit. You can make these readings between ground and one of the expansion-slot pins, or at the system board power-supply connector. It is also common to check the voltage level across a system board capacitor to verify that the system is receiving power. The voltage across most of the capacitors on the system board is 5V DC. CAUTION It is normal practice to first set the meter to its highest voltage range to be certain that the voltage level being measured does not damage the meter. The DC voltage function is used to take measurements in live DC circuits. It should be connected in parallel with the device being checked. This could mean connecting the reference lead black lead to a ground point and the measuring lead red lead to a test point to take a measurement, as illustrated in Figure 3. As an approximate value is detected, you can decrease the range setting to achieve a more accurate reading. Most meters allow for overvoltage protection; however, it is still a good safety practice to decrease the range of the meter after you have achieved an initial value. The second most popular test is the resistance, or continuity test. Failure to turn off the power when making resistance checks can cause serious damage to the meter and can pose a potential risk to the technician. Resistance checks require that you electrically isolate the component being tested from the system. For most circuit components, this means desoldering at least one end from the board. The resistance check is very useful in isolating some types of problems in the system. One of the main uses of the resistance function is to test fuses. You must disconnect at least one end of the fuse from the system. You should set the meter on the 1k ohm resistance setting. If the fuse is good, the meter should read near 0 ohms. If it is bad, the meter reads infinite. The resistance function also is useful in checking for cables and connectors. To check the speaker, simply disconnect the speaker from the system and connect a meter lead to each end. If the speaker is good, the meter should read near 8 ohms although a smaller speaker might be 4 ohms. If the speaker is defective, the resistance reading should be 0 for shorts or infinite for opens. Only a couple of situations involve using the AC voltage function for checking microcomputer systems. The primary use of this function is to check the commercial power being applied to Page 6

7 the power-supply unit. As with any measurement, it is important to select the correct measurement range; however, the lethal voltage levels associated with the power supply call for additional caution when making such measurements. The second application for the AC voltage function is to measure ripple voltage from the DC output side of the power-supply unit. This particular operation is very rarely performed in field-service situations. Cable Testers The most frequent hardware-related cause of network problems involves bad cabling and connectors. Several specialized, handheld devices designed for testing the various types of data communication cabling are available. These devices range from inexpensive continuity testers, to moderately priced data cabling testers, to somewhat expensive time domain reflectometers TDR. Although inexpensive continuity testers can be used to check for broken cables, data cabling testers are designed to perform a number of different types of tests on twisted-pair and coaxial cables. The master unit is attached to one end of the cable and the load unit is attached to the other. The master unit sends patterns of test signals through the cable and reads them back from the load unit. When testing twisted-pair cabling, these devices can normally detect such problems as broken wires, crossed-over wiring, shorted connections, and improperly paired connections. TDRs are sophisticated testers that can be used to pinpoint the distance to a break in a cable. These devices send signals along the cable and wait for them to be reflected. The time between sending the signal and receiving it back is converted into a distance measurement. The TDR function is normally packaged along with the other cable testing functions just described. These cards can be as simple as interrupt and direct memory access DMA channel monitors, or as complex as full-fledged ROM BIOS diagnostic packages that carry out extensive tests on the system. POST cards are normally used when the system appears to be dead, or when the system cannot read from a floppy or hard drive. The firmware tests on the card replace the normal BIOS functions and send the system into a set of tests. The value of the card lies in the fact that the tests can be carried out without the system resorting to software diagnostics located on the hard disk or in a floppy drive. If the POST encounters a fatal error, it stops the system. The error code posted on the indicator corresponds to the defective operation. If the POST card encounters a nonfatal error, however, it notes the error and continues through the initialization routine to activate as many additional system resources as possible. When these types of errors are encountered, the POST card must be observed carefully because the error code on its indicator must be coordinated with the timing of the error message or beep code produced by the BIOS routines. Simple POST cards come with a set of light-emitting diodes LEDs on them that produce coded error signals when a problem is encountered. Other cards produce beep codes and seven-segment LED readouts of the error code. Page 7

8 Chapter 6 : C H A P T E R 7 - Troubleshooting Hardware Problems How to Troubleshoot Common PC Hardware Problems: Part 1 - select the contributor at the end of the page - When it comes to hardware, some techs may have trouble figuring out what steps to take to troubleshoot and repair the internal and external components of a computer system. Also, take note of the Major and Minor version of the report. Major versions increment every time a full sync or a re-sync is ran. Minor versions increment every time a delta sync is ran. If you scroll down some more you can also see that the report was successfully sent to the MP. Next we want to check the CcmMessaging. Do a search for the computername of the problem child PC. At this point the Management Point server has successfully received the report from the client and sent it over to the Site Server Noted by the Returned 0. Also take note of the. While in the dataldr. If something were wrong it will tell you here. Do another search for Mr problem child machine or even the. MIF because it is larger than the defined maximum allowable size of The Fix for that: On your SCCM server open regedit. You should go through the process flow and see if this time there are still more errors occurring. If everything was successful, the hardware inventory should show up in the SCCM console. Depending on the number of clients now showing up, it could take some time for SCCM to go through the backlogs. If you want to manually force a full hardware inventory cycle you can follow our guide on how to do that as well. Download CMTrace to view the logs. Check if the BITS service is running and on automatic startup. On client PC, open InventoryAgent. On client PC, open CcmMessaging. MIF to the Site Server. On Site Server, open dataldr. Trigger a manual hardware inventory cycle and go through inventory flow. Wait for SCCM go to through backlogs. So hopefully this was able to resolve your issue and help you troubleshooting hardware inventory in a much more efficient way. On another note, be sure to check us out on our Youtube Channel and subscribe for awesome sysadmin content. Join me as I document my trials and tribulations of the daily grind of System Administration. Page 8

9 Chapter 7 : HP PCs - Using Automated Troubleshooting (Windows 10, 8) HPÂ Customer Support Can you check with the Embroidery machine manufacturers and find out if their software is compatible with W10, I recently assisted another user with similar problem and unfortunately the software was not compatible. View more stories Anyone who has ever done desktop support in any capacity, whether it was for an office with hundreds of employees or just for your family, knows that calling to get warranty support can be one of the most frustrating aspects of the job. You can get bumped from department to department before you finally talk to someone who can help you, and often have to re-state your name and all of the pertinent information each time. That is, a power adapter, stick of memory, hard drive, or other component that has been plugged into another system and is known to be working properly. If you switch its power adapter for one that is known to work or if you use its power adapter with a laptop that will power on and charge, you can say with a fair degree of certainty that the power adapter is not the problem. This method does require you to have working spare parts available for testing. PC troubleshooting PCs are always getting simpler and more streamlined, but there are still a lot of different parts to most of them, which means that there is a lot more that can go wrong with them. Pay attention here, because many of these symptoms and procedures are also going to be useful when troubleshooting Macs, phones, and tablets. Some computer manufacturers may ship or make available for download special diagnostic tools intended to detect problems with particular components. As a first step, unplug the computer from power and remove any batteries, then press and hold the power button for 10 to 15 seconds. Start with the surge protector. Does the computer behave the same way if connected directly to the wall, or to another outlet that is known to be working normally? Most power bricks have two cords: If either of these cords can be detached from the brick, try again with a known good cord if you have one. Again, a known-good power supply will tell you exactly which is the problem, but be sure to check for things like the aforementioned motherboard status lightâ if it lights up when the computer is plugged in, it may point to a motherboard issue rather than a power issue. If the battery is less than a year old, you may be able to get a replacement. Most laptop manufacturers will insist you buy a first-party battery to avoid voiding the warranty on the rest of the computer. Blue screens or crashing applications, computer powers on but will not boot, other erratic behaviors. And you may even experience graphics corruption, since the integrated graphics processors used by many computers today use the same memory as the rest of the system. For more serious memory errors, the computer may power on and beep or make the power light flash a certain number of times without attempting to boot from the hard drive. Your first step in troubleshooting this problem is going to be a good memory diagnostic tool. But there are some good general-purpose alternatives if your computer shipped without one of these tools. Windows 7 comes with its own memory diagnostic, which can be run from within Windows 7 or from the Windows 7 install media. The tool will automatically start testing your memory and will keep making additional passes until you shut the computer off. This can help you isolate the issue to one of the RAM modules. Slow or inconsistent performance, errors when attempting to access files, computer unable to boot, louder-than-usual drive clicking or activity noises for mechanical HDDs only. Losing the hard drive in a computer is one the most devastating failures you can experience, since the data is often the most valuable part of the computer. Even if all of the other components fail, the drive can still be pulled and the data transferred. Chkdsk is normally run in one of two ways, depending on whether you can get your computer to boot or not. If your computer can boot, you can initiate the scan from within Windows. Click Properties in the menu that pops up. The computer will then offer to schedule a disk check for the next time you start the computer; accept the prompt and restart the system. Running Chkdsk from the command line is actually a bit easier than using the GUI. The other way to run Chkdsk is from the Windows install mediaâ we showed you how to get this in a previous article. Page 9

10 Chapter 8 : Troubleshooting Hardware Inventory in SCCM Step By Step Guide Hardware problems shouldn't cause your computer to slow down. There are some rare exceptions to this â perhaps your CPU is overheating and it's downclocking itself, running slower to stay cooler â but most slowness is caused by software issues. Part 1 - select the contributor at the end of the page - When it comes to hardware, some techs may have trouble figuring out what steps to take to troubleshoot and repair the internal and external components of a computer system. Should you just replace the component? Should you try software troubleshooting first? Has the component gone bad, or the motherboard? This is a common problem with some interesting solutions. Often overlooked, some solutions can be the most simple. There are two main symptoms to take into account before going too far into the repair: Always take a second to try the most obvious things first. It could save you a lot of time. If the second monitor works, you are likely dealing with a bad monitor. Most of the time, it ends up cheaper to replace the monitor altogether than to try to get it repaired. A good test of this is to see if any lights turn on in the front or back of the tower. Some PSUs have a dedicated power switch, if it does, ensure that it is switched on. Next you can open up your tower and look at the motherboard, most motherboards have a small LED light built in to show if power is running to the motherboard. It is not uncommon for PSUs to go out, so this is most likely the problem and a replacement is in order. If you are able to see lights turn on and power is obviously flowing to the computer system and monitor, there may be a component issue. Whenever I deal with a computer "not turning on" or freezing up, I always like to follow a path running from the wall, to the monitor, and finally to the computer itself. One thing to note when you first turn on the computer and the power comes on, is do you hear or see anything? If you hear any beeps, that is a great way to figure out what the issue is. Steady, short beeps -- The power supply may be bad, this is a good one. Or if the voltages are wrong? This POST test helps us narrow the cause down to the power supply. A replacement would usually be necessary. Long continuous beep tone -- Memory failure. If there is more than one stick installed, try taking one out first to see if the computer boots, if it does not, try with the other one. Usually, this will tell you which stick has gone bad, and you can replace or upgrade accordingly. If there is only one stick installed, you will need to replace or upgrade to fix the problem. No Beep -- Not hearing a beep is also listed on the exam, and notes the most obvious resolution. This can also be a sign of the power supply being completely dead. No beep system turns on and runs fine -- This one is a bit elusive, but if you make sure to check every once in a while, you can save yourself some troubleshooting later on. If the system works fine, but does not beep once when you turn the machine on, your "beeper" may have actually died out. Under normal circumstances, most computer systems will beep one short beep. Your first action should be to try reseating the video card, if any. If reseating the video card does not work, it may need to be replaced. Again, once you get into smaller, more complex components, the resolution becomes cheaper to replace than to repair. More Troubleshooting Tips to Come Understanding how PCs heat and cool Get our content first. If this message remains, it may be due to cookies being disabled or to an ad blocker. Contributor Mike Rodriguez is a computer technician with over 8 years of experience in the IT field. Mike has experience working as a computer technician for two local school districts, as well as freelance computer repair work with AlisalTech. Using his technical experience, Mike promotes local musicians in Salinas California through his website SalinasRadio. Page 10

11 Chapter 9 : Troubleshooting Device and Driver Installations - Windows drivers Microsoft Docs Biz & IT â The technologist's guide to troubleshooting hardware Avoid vendor support hell with these tips for PC, Mac, smartphone, and tablet. This document pertains to HP and Compaq computers with Windows 10 or 8. Depending on your version of Windows, some graphics and information in this document might vary slightly. This document describes how to use the automated troubleshooting tools in Windows. These tools use a combination of installed and online applications made to detect and resolve many computer problems, such as problems with networking, system performance, and hardware devices. Although automated troubleshooting cannot find and correct every problem, it is a useful tool that can often save you time and effort. For business computers, automated troubleshooting tools might not not available. Opening automated troubleshooting In Windows, search for and open Troubleshooting. The Troubleshooting window opens. Troubleshooting window If this is the first time you have opened the troubleshooting tools, you might see the following question: Do you want the most up-to-date content available for troubleshooting? To get the most complete set of tools, click Yes. This connects you to the Windows Online Troubleshooting service. Selecting Yes If you select No, you can turn this service on later by checking the box for Get the most up-to-date troubleshooters from the Windows Online Troubleshooting service at the bottom of the Troubleshoot computer problems window. Troubleshooting tools The Troubleshoot computer problems window contains four categories of troubleshooting tools. Run the troubleshooting tool that matches the problem on your computer. Upon completion, a report is generated in the Action Center that lists any messages and resolved problems it found. It also lists problems that were automatically fixed for you. To run a troubleshooting tool: In Windows, search for and open Troubleshooting. From one of the Troubleshoot computer problems categories, click on the tool you want to run, and then follow the on-screen instructions. For example, to run a tool to check your Internet connection, select Programs, and then click Internet Connections. The troubleshooting tool automatically diagnoses any problem it finds. Some problems are fixed as the tool runs. In other cases, the tool instructs you to take corrective action. When the tool finishes you can close it, or run the troubleshooter again to verify the problem is fixed. If the problem continues, or the troubleshooter did not find a problem, try another troubleshooting tool, or go to Additional trouble shooting options for more help. The troubleshooting tools are divided into the following categories: Programs troubleshooting tool Use these tools to identify problems related to software applications, drivers, and utilities that are installed on your computer. Internet Connections - Checks network and internet connections. Web Browser - Checks that the web browser is functioning correctly, that the security settings are adequate, and that the web browser performance is maximized if available. Programs - Updates older programs to run with Windows. Printing - Verifies that printer drivers are installed, and that printers are functioning correctly. Sound - Checks audio hardware, plays sounds and music files, records sound from microphone or other recording device. Network - Checks networking hardware, such as Ethernet, wireless, or other network adapters. Printing - Troubleshoots printer hardware problems. Windows - Troubleshoots problems with Store apps, background downloads, and playing movies, television, and video. Troubleshoot problems - Hardware and Sound Network and Internet troubleshooting tool Use these tools to connect to a particular website, to access shared files and folders on other computers, to view a Homegroup, or to solve problems with networked printers. Internet Connections - Identifies Internet connection failures. Run the Network troubleshooter in Hardware and Sounds first, and then test your Internet connection. Shared Folders - Identifies shared files and folders on other computers on your network. HomeGroup - If a Homegroup has been setup on your network, use this tool to view computers in the group. Incoming Connections - Allows other computers to communicate with your computer through Windows Firewall. Printer - These tools help solve problems with printers that are connected to your network. Troubleshoot problems - Network and Internet System and Security troubleshooting tool Use these tools to make your computer safer by turning on pop-up blockers and malware filters, and by performing regular maintenance tasks, such as cleaning up old files and shortcuts. These tools also help improve system Page 11

12 performance and power utilization. Web Browser - Verifies that safety features, such as SmartScreen filter and pop-up blockers are turned on to help protect your computer from malware, unwanted Web sites, and pop-ups. System Maintenance - Performs common maintenance tasks, such as cleaning up unused files and shortcuts. Power - Verifies the sleep mode, timeout settings, and other power settings to conserve power and prolong computer battery life. Troubleshoot problems - System and Security Additional troubleshooting options Automated Troubleshooting provides you with additional features to manually select a troubleshooting tool, to view the troubleshooting history, or change the maintenance settings. In addition, if the troubleshooting tools have not helped fix the problem, you can use Remote Assistance to get help from a friend, or the Problem Steps Recorder to record the steps you take to recreate the problem. The left side pane of the Troubleshooting computer problems window shows a list of options: View all troubleshooting options View a list of all the installed troubleshooting tools. To run the Troubleshooting tool from this window, click the tool name. Page 12