Troubleshooting Tips For Your PC

You can use following tips to make your pc trouble free.

((For basic information on different items you come across while working on a pc like hardware, software, operating system etc., refer my blog “ Talking about new hardware, new operating systems, new interfaces, new protocols, old dos and more.” Date 24/10/2011

url:https://blogs.siliconindia.com/Academics ))

1)Use vacuum cleaner for cleaning dust from your key board if few keys are not functioning correctly. (example: you are unable to use caps lock key for typing both lower and upper case)

2)Cover your computer while cleaning items kept near your computer (example: while cleaning air conditioner with a vacuum cleaner/duster.)

Keep the area surrounding your computer dirt and dust free. Avoid eating items which produce small particles near your computer. ( example: snacks like bread sandwich, chips-wafer etc.)

3)Check connections of all the components of the computer. A loose connection is a common cause of hardware problems.

4)Check the driver. Most computer components require software , called a driver , to operate. Ensure you are using the correct and most up-to-date driver for the component you think giving problem. For this select the hardware from device manager and select update drivers from the actions. (For details read para no.11 onwards. Depending on the operating system windows xp or vista in your computer you may find small differences in the procedures given here.)

5)Deleting unnecessary files. Your computer can pick up and store temporary files when you are looking at web pages and even when you are working on files in programs such as Microsoft word. Use disk cleanup utility to delete unnecessary files from your hard disk for better performance. For this use start menu – programs – accessories - system tools - disk cleanup. Then select the drive you want to clean up from the dialog box and click ok. Delete all temp files created and also remove from recycle bin regularly.

6) Use scan disk to check error on disk and fix it once in a week. For this follow start – program – accessories – system tools – scan disk – select drive. Close after completion. If this utility is not available on your computer ignore this point.

7) Use defragment disk if files take a long time to load. Clean and defragment your registry for quicker pc. Click start button, click all programs, click accessories, click system tools and then disk defragmenter. Select the drive you want to defragment, and then click analyze disk. Disk defragmenter will evaluate your disk and then make a recommendation as to whether a disk requires defragmentation. If yes click defragment disk.

8)Virus detection and removal. The increased use of networks, the internet and email has accelerated the spread of computer viruses. You should install an antivirus program to safeguard your computer from virus attacks, and update it regularly. Often an antivirus software package is provided with a new computer. Use it regularly.( examples: Norton antivirus, antivirus quick heal)

9)A device whose settings that do not work cause the device to be disabled. The disabling of a critical device can prevent the pc from starting.

If the cmos settings are wrong your computer may not boot properly at all. If you get a cmos error message and the screen is slow and blank for a long time take help of the keys delete, f2,f1 , f10 and esc keys. With these keys you can get into cmos setup. Read help on the topic.

10) Windows reports a missing dll file during boot up. You can search the file from system disk and copy into the registry. You can work without copying the missing dll files if you wish. Just type enter when you get the error message missing dll file while booting.

DLL(dynamic link library) is a library of programming code that other programs can use.The cause is often you deleted a program which may have been associated with a piece of hardware that you removed from your system.

11)Watch your pc with device manager to detect error. Device manager is the tool that gives us control over a pc’s devices and the resources they use.

Every peripheral, every system device is integrated into your pc by the window registry – a kind of encyclopaedia of hardware and software settings. These settings and their respective devices are managed through the device manager.

You can view and edit the registry by dos mode using commands like regedit. For this click start , click run, type the command in the text box, regedit and click ok. Regedit displays the keys and subkeys in the registry. You can use the standard explorer nevigation methods to select keys and to open and close subkeys in the list.

12)To access device manager right click my computer ,choose properties, select the hardware tab and click device manager.

13)To review a devices properties, click the plus sign(+) to expand its category. Right click the device and select properties. You will find a window with the piece of hardware settings.

14)Any device that is not working properly will be identified in the device manager.

Where settings are wrong can be known from the displayed icons in the file manager. 1) A bright yellow question mark with a black exclamation point superimposed. 2) A red x or 3) A white i in a blue circle.

Black exclamation means hardware installed but windows can not find a driver for it. You can use the device manager to instruct windows to search for and install a proper driver.

A red x means device is disabled because you or someone else has disabled it. Or windows xp has detected a serious conflict and has disabled the device automatically.

The solution (most reliable) is to use the device manager to try to update device driver files. From device mannager actions select update drivers (for this first select the hardware).

If not successful try through device manager – properties - general tab - troubleshooting(answer questions).

A white i in a blue circle means that someone has manually configured a device rather than let windows xp do the job automatically.

If you do not see any of these symbols fortunately then the system and its devices are working amicable.

Avoid manual configurations. Use plug and play where things are configured automatically. If some devices are found disabled that means someone has tried manual configurations.

15)Improve the performance of the computer through task manager. The Task Manager allows you to see running processes and applications. You can force non responsive applications to quit and can shut down rouge or misbehaving processes.

Perfect the performance by killing/ending tasks not responding. Poorly written software and viruses can give rouge processes. Pressing ctrl+alt+del should open the task manager. You can view running applications, active processes, cpu and network use and other system statistics. You can look to see which processes is using so much cpu time. If you find a process taking 90 percent of your processing time you are the victim of a rouge process. Click end now to force it quit.

16)Printer problems: Keep one set of old catridges ( 1) black 2) color). Sometime printer does not work due to problem with catridges. Remove one catridge and put the old one and see if it works.

Check paper quality. If you are using ordinary paper the movement of paper may not be smooth. And printer may not print. Use standard printer paper.

For other problems use printer trouble shooter, answer the questions asked by the software.

17)Plug and play Versus Manually working with resources.

Changes made to hardware settings in the device manager or in the hardware properties of a specific device might cause the device or windows itself to stop working properly. Microsoft xp makes all of hardware settings accessible through the various icons in control panel.

Modern plug and play devices work to make it completely automatic.