Computer Repairing Essays - BIOS, Computer Storage Media

Computer Repairing There's nothing worst than when a machine that you depend on so much, just decides it doesn't want to work anymore. If you run a business and your computer stops working, most of the time you do too. If this happens, your problems could range from small , something you can handle yourself, or they can be very big. In this case a professional can help. To help reduce the cost, identify the problem before you have it serviced if you can. According to some hardware and software manufactures, many people call customer service for some rather common and annoying problems. Technicians have pointed out that , people tend to overlook the obvious when diagnosing computer problems. Some of the most common questions asked are as follows: Why won't my system boot? The first thing you should check is the power cord and all other connections to make sure they are attached securely. A lot of things happen when you turn on your computer. It begins by running a diagnostic routine to make sure all system components are working properly. If your computer beeps a few times and stops working before it displays a message on your monitor, there's a chance that a critical piece of hardware has failed. It may be a good idea to seek professional help at this time. Also, you could have a dead battery if nothing happens after you hear the floppy drive whir. Your computer depends on a battery to preserve important system settings when it is cut off. Batteries can die as often as every two years. Why is my system so slow? Even if you have the fastest CPU money can buy, it won't do much good if you 're running short on memory. Today's computer should have at least 8MB of RAM to work effectively. If you can afford 16MBs, it will pay for itself with added productivity. An inefficient hard drive can also slow down your system. This can be solved by upgrading your hard drive. Fragmented files may be another reason for a slow drive. When you save files their contents get spread out over the physical surface of the disk. DOS can find the file, but your disk drive spends a lot of time jumping around to collect the various parts of the fragmented file. Why is my computer out of memory? An insufficient memory message can mean different things. To check and see if your system is about to crash, switch to Window's Program Manager, pull down the Help menu, and select About Program Manager. The last line of the dialog box includes information about the amount of memory that is available. When the level of available memory drops to less than 50 percent, you risk crashing. How do I get my data from a crashed hard drive? When your hard disk crashes, it may not be the disk that's the problem. A controller card may have gone bad, this can be replaced and this will completely restores all the data on your hard drive. If the actual disk is damaged, there are companies that can recover information from the damaged disk and rebuild whatever files they can. The best way to get data back from a crashed hard drive is to always back up all your files. Why is my display blank / distorted? Inspect your power cord and video cable. Then make sure your brightness control is not turned down. If the picture is distorted, try adjusting your monitor's vertical or horizontal controls. If these things do not work you may have a bad video card. Your solution to this problem, buy a new monitor. Why can't I print a document? Check all printer cables. Check to see if it's out of paper, or if your printer may be jammed. If you have installed a new printer, you may have a port mismatched. You will have to tell the computer which port has the printer. If all these checks fail, you could have a bad electronics board. Call in the professionals for this problem. Why did my peripherals stop working when I installed a new card? Computers have to be told how it should communicate with a specific peripheral without interfering with equipment that's already installed. Your computer communicates with each peripheral using individual ports, interrupts (IRQs), and DMA channels. Before you add a new card, use the Norton Utilities to find out which of these are free and print out the report for reference. If the card has already