Chapter Three Introduction to Computer Troubleshooting Welcome to the Machine Introduction to Computer Troubleshooting What are the three steps in the computer troubleshooting process? What do you do if the three steps does not solve your problem? DON’T PANIC!” When things go wrong remain calm, as most computer problems are a simple fix. Even if it is the rare serious problem, usually your data is still there waiting for you. The computer troubleshooting process at its most basic is gathering information about what is going on, drawing conclusions about the information gathered, and acting on those conclusions to solve the problem. If that does not solve the problem, then we return to the gathering information stage and go through the steps again. You might think of it as a loop which we exit when the problem is solved. At the top of the paragraph, I said that most computer problems are a simple fix and I would like you to keep that in mind as we go through this chapter. Important Words in this Chapter Cables Memory Simple-to-Complex Connectors Monitor Surge Protector CPU Motherboard System HD (Hard Drive) NIC (Network Card) Troubleshooting Input Devices Power Supply Video Card Main Troubleshooting Principle What is the principle on which we base all efficient and effective troubleshooting? All efficient and effective troubleshooting is based on the principle of proceeding from the simple-to-the- complex. Why is this true? Starting with complex items first, can cause you to draw the wrong conclusions. The complex parts of a computer depend on the simpler things. Drawing wrong conclusions means that you waste time trying to fix and troubleshoot something that is not even the problem. Troubleshooting in a haphazard (i.e. a random, unplanned approach) way often creates additional problems. You can forget what you have examined and what remains to be checked. What is Simple? When troubleshooting, what is the simplest or most basic level in a computer? Read the green sidebar. Has something similar ever happened to you? What two concerns do you have when using a Surge Protector? When should you replace a surge protector? What is a simple and safe way to check, or verify, that an electrical outlet is providing power? Simple means starting at the most basic level in troubleshooting the system with which you are experiencing problems. The most basic level is cables, connectors, and electrical power. Check to make sure that all cables (i.e. power, Ethernet, printer, mouse, keyboard, and any other external devices) are plugged securely into their respective ports. Don’t just look at the cables; push on them to make sure that they are pushed completely into the proper jack or socket. Once when I was still troubleshooting and repairing computers for the RC school system, a teacher had me come to look at her printer, which had quit working. It would have been easy to go into the printer settings on the computer to try to solve the problem; however, I started at the simple end of things. I checked the printer and power cables. I found the printer cable connected at both ends; however, the power cable was unplugged. I plugged it in and the printer began to work again. The teacher was plugging several things into a power strip run to the center of the room via an extension cord. Due to a full power strip, she had unplugged the printer and plugged in an overhead projector. When she finished with the overhead projector, she forgot to plug the printer back into the power strip. With respect to Figure 1 Surge Protector/Power Strip electricity, there are some other considerations. If you plug your computer into a surge protector, “Is the surge protector on?” Remember too, that surge protectors, by design, protect your computer by sacrificing themselves. After protecting your computer from one or more surges, the surge protector will cease to work. Many surge protectors have a light in the switch to indicate if they are working. If checking a surge protector that has an indicator light, “Is the indicator light working?” When the light ceases to work (telling you that it is no longer providing surge protection), you should replace the surge protector to continue providing protection to your computer. When troubleshooting at the local grade schools, the counter on which computers were placed would have stuff stored underneath. Sometimes you needed to know if a computer or monitor was getting power, or if it was just dead. Faced with moving all the stuff under the counter and stirring up dust, I came up with a shortcut. You have a computer tower and monitor setting on the counter. Plugged into each one is a computer power cable. Suppose the monitor is getting power (i.e. power light works) and the computer is doing nothing. I would shut the monitor off and exchange the power cables. Unplug the power cable from the back of the computer, unplug the power cable from the back of the monitor, plug the monitor power cable into the computer, and press the computer’s power button. If the computer did come on, I knew that the problem was with power and not the computer itself. That meant I had to move stuff to get to the power outlet or surge protector under the counter. If changing the cables didn’t make any difference, then you know you have something more than a simple problem. Note that sometimes you may Figure 2 Wall Power Outlet have a bad power outlet. It can be worthwhile to find something easily movable, for example an electric pencil sharpener or a plug-in calculator, to plug into the wall outlet and insure that the outlet is getting power. An Introduction to Computer Hardware What are the four categories, or types, or computer hardware? Computer hardware is everything that is not software. You might think of hardware as the things that you can physically touch. In this chapter, we break computer hardware into four categories: cabling, input devices, monitors, and the system itself. We discussed cabling earlier in this chapter. 1. Input Devices – What are the most common computer input devices? Modern keyboards are all based upon the typewriter. How old is the typewriter? For whom are punched cards named? The most common input devices are keyboards and mice. The idea of a keyboard dates to the time of the American Civil War (i.e. 1860) with the creation of the typewriter. Keyboards were adapted to computer use from the teletype machines used with the telegraph. Around 1930, IBM adapted the Figure 3 Old-Style keyboard to control a keypunch to punch the cards (See Mechanical Typewriter Figure 4, next page) used as input for early computers. In the 1960s, computers began to appear that could have more than one user at a time. VDTs (i.e. Video Display Terminals), combining a monochrome monitor and a keyboard, were developed to act as an interface with these computers. There have been many Figure 4 Hollerith Punched Card unsuccessful attempts to replace the keyboard as an input device. I have trouble envisioning a successful replacement for the keyboard or mouse. As we developed graphically orientated operating systems, the mouse replaced some of the functions of the keyboard. The trackball is actually older than the mouse. It dates back to the early 1950s, developed as part of a top- secret Canadian Navy project. The first trackball used a five-pin bowling ball as the ball! In a sense, a trackball is just a mouse turned on its back. The mouse came along in the early 1960s, in the form of a block of wood with two gear wheels perpendicular to one another. (Douglas Engelbart, the creator of the computer mouse died in July 2013.) It is thought that the name mouse came from the size and the tail (i.e. cable) connecting it to the computer. Xerox refined the mouse and began offering it with their 8010 Information System in 1981. However, this system had few buyers as it sold for over $20,000. Apple adopted the mouse for its 1983 Lisa computer and computers have Figure 5 Keyboard and Mice Controllers never been the same. There are other, alternate, input devices; however, we will not cover them. If you are interested in knowing more about alternative input devices, ask your teacher or google it. 2. Monitor – What is a monitor? What do users sometimes call their monitor? Figure 6 Flat Screen Monitor If your computer is an all-in-one or a laptop, then your display is built-in. However, even with the laptop, you usually have the option to add an external monitor. Just as a television displays a signal obtained from satellite, cable, or a I have heard people refer to the monitor as a television. That is not far from the truth. Early personal computers, using a RF modulator as an interface, connected to a television and used it as a monitor. Even now, there are people using a flat-screen television as their monitor. DVD/VHS player, a computer monitor displays the signal output by a computer’s graphic card. How much you need to spend for a monitor depends upon your intended use. It is possible to spend over $5,000 for a monitor, but most of us are just fine with something under $300. 3. System - What does a computer power supply do? What are the three common voltages output by a computer power supply? What is a NIC? What does it do? What does a graphics card do? Who might want to replace their graphics card with a better one? What does the motherboard do? How long does the information found in computer memory (RAM) remain there? How long does the information found in a HDD (Hard Disk Drive) remain there? Why does your teacher think the DVD/CD drive will cease to be used? What is the CPU, what does it do, and why might gamers plan to replace them every couple of years? a.