PC TROUBLESHOOTING BASICS

Today i'm going to give you several ways of troubleshooting your personal Pc:
CREATING A BOOTABLE/STARTUP DISKETTE

A Startup diskette contains the basic MS DOS command start up files i.e. IO.sys, MSDOS.sys and Command.com.



When to use a Startup disk
1. When a computer fails to boot.
2. When you have faulty hard disk.
3. When the Hard disk startup files are infected by a virus or corrupted.
4. When the hard disk lacks basic start up files.

To create a Startup disk;
Method 1:
a) Switch to C:\Windows\Command
b) Type Bootdisk: This format allows the bootable Disk to have RAM drive, CD-ROM drivers.

Method 2:
Format drive A:, then transfer system files into it.
At C:\ prompt, type;
Format A: /S/Q

Method 3:
You can also use a bootable CD ROM.

STARTUP PROCESS

BIOS (Basic Input/Output System).

The BIOS controls the operation of the computer system when it is switched on, i.e., it determines the system configuration together with the CMOS.
It also performs the Power-On-Self-Test (POST).

VIRUSES

A Virus is a program that is designed to destroy and affect the operation of another program.

Types of viruses

1. Harmless viruses – they have no effect on a computer except occupying disk space.
2. Dangerous Viruses – they corrupt programs within the computer.
3. Very dangerous – Leads to loss of data, and also affect the boot sector.

Symptoms of viruses
- Frequent system reboots
- Crashing of Application programs.
- Hard disk not able to boot
- Corrupt files.
- Strange messages.

Cleaning of viruses

1. Use of clean boot diskette.
2. Use of Rescue Disk
3. Regular updating and scanning of the disk.
ERROR MESSAGES

1. Invalid Command Interpreter.
This means that the Command.com (Command Interpreter) may be corrupt, missing or affected by virus.

Solution: - Boot the hard disk with a clean boot diskette, format it, then copy system files to it.

At A:/> type; SYS C: -Or- FORMAT C:/S
2. Hard disk Controller failure.

The hard disk has not been detected.

3. Hard disk Initialization failure.

The computer has detected the Hard Disk, but it has failed to initialize.

4. Invalid System disk.

The hard disk or floppy disk has been detected, but it has no system files.

5. Error loading.

The hard drive is installed but it lacks the Master Boot Record (MBR).

Solution: - Boot the computer with a bootable disk, format the hard disk, then transfer system files to C.

6. Imminent Hard disk failure.

The hard disk drive is working but it can crash after sometime.

Solution: - Scan the disk.

7. Missing Operating System.

The Hard Disk has been detected but the parameter in the set up varies.

Solution: - Use a bootable disk, and format the hard disk.

IDE SETUP
IDE stands for Internal Device Enhancer. It is mostly used in plug-n-play devices, e.g., floppy drives, Hard disk drives, CD-ROM drives, DVD drives, etc.

It uses the ‘Pin in the hole’ technology in all the “add on” devices.

Setting of Jumpers
A Jumper is a device used to block or allow information to pass in computer devices. They are found in Hard disk drives, CD-ROM drives, and DVD-ROMs.

Jumpers enable the computer to “see” the storage devices. They can also be used to clear CMOS information by removing the cap on the motherboard.

To SHORT is to connect the jumper to the Pin, whereas to OPEN is to remove a jumper cap from the pin.

The motherboard has a port for IDE cable that can support one or two IDE devices.

Before setting the jumpers:

1) Know whether the CMOS is properly working.
2) Know how and when to use jumpers, i.e., on IDE and IDE1 ports.









E.g., If you connect two devices to a single cable, you must configure one of the drives to read as Master and the other drive to read as Slave.

If the Hard disk is sharing a cable with the CD-ROM;
­ Connect the cable to IDE1 port on the motherboard.
­ Connect the Hard disk to the end of the cable/bus & the other end to the CD-ROM.
­ Configure one device (Hard disk) to read as Master & the CD-ROM to read as Slave. The jumper should be on the Master.