Chapter 13

Troubleshooting and Maintenance Fundamentals

You Will Learn…• About your role as a PC technician in

troubleshooting and maintenance, and tools available to help you in those roles

• How to approach a troubleshooting problem

• How to develop a preventive maintenance plan and what to include in it

Troubleshooting Perspectives• PC support technician

• PC service technician

• Bench technician

• Help-desk technician

Essential Troubleshooting Tools• Bootable rescue disk

Can boot the PC even when hard drive fails Ensures cleanest boot possible

• Ground bracelet and/ground mat

• Screwdrivers (flat-head, Phillips-head or cross-head, Torx set, particularly size T15)

• Tweezers, preferable insulated

• Chip extractor and extractor

Useful Troubleshooting Tools• Multimeter

• Needle-nose pliers

• Flashlight

• AC outlet ground tester

• Small cups or bags

• Antistatic bags

• Pen and paper

• Diagnostic cards and software

• Utility software

• Virus detection software on disks

Diagnostic Hardware and Software• POST diagnostic cards

• Diagnostic software

• General-purpose utility software

POST Diagnostic Cards• Discover and report computer errors and

conflicts at POST

• Examples: POSTcard V3 by Unicore Software, Inc. Post Code Master by MSD, Inc. POSTmortem Diagnostics Card by System

Optimization

Diagnostic Software• Identifies hardware problems

• Examples: PC-Technician by Windsor Technologies, Inc. PC-Diagnosys by Windsor Technologies, Inc.

General-Purpose Utility Software• Diagnoses problems

• Repairs and maintains software on a PC

• Recovers corrupted or deleted data on hard drive or floppy disks

• Provides security

• Monitors system performance

• Downloads software updates from Internet

Fundamental Rules of Troubleshooting

• Make backups before making changes

• Approach the problem systematically

• Isolate the problem; eliminate unnecessary hardware and software

• Don’t overlook the obvious

• Check simple things first

• Make no assumptions

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Fundamental Rules of Troubleshooting

• Become a researcher

• Write things down

• Reboot and start over

• Establish priorities

• Keep your cool and don’t rush

• Don’t assume the worst

• Know your starting point

Gathering Information• Ask the user good questions with diplomacy

• Investigate the problem on the computer What OS is installed? What physical components are installed – processor,

expansion cards, drives, peripheral devices? PC connected to network?

What is the nature of the problem – before or after boot, error message, etc?

Can you duplicate the problem?

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Gathering Information• Isolate the source of the problem

Consider the possibilities Eliminate simple things first Eliminate the unnecessary Trade good for suspected bad Trade suspected bad for good

• Intermittent problems – more challenging Look for patterns or clues Keep a log of when problems occur and exactly what error

messages appear

Preventive Maintenance• Make and implement a preventive maintenance plan

to help prevent failures and reduce repair costs and downtime What can you do to prevent each cause of PC failure? If it does occur,how can you solve the problem? What can you do now to prepare for that event?

• Develop a disaster recovery plan to manage failures when they occur

Goals of Preventive Maintenance• Reduce likelihood that events that cause PC

failures will occur

• Lessen the damage if they do occur

When a PC Is Your Permanent Responsibility

• Organize hard drive boot directory

• Create rescue disks

• Document all setup changes, problems, and solutions

• Record setup data

• Take practical precautions to protect software and data Back up original software Back up data on the hard drive

Preventive Maintenance Plan

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Preventive Maintenance Plan

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Preventive Maintenance Plan

When Moving or Shipping Equipment

• Back up hard drive• Remove removable disks, tape cartridges, or CDs from

drives• Turn off power to PC and devices• Disconnect power cords and external devices• Label cable connections• Coil all cords and secure them• Pack in original shipping cartons• Purchase insurance

Disposing of Used Equipment

Disposing of Used Equipment

Fire Extinguishers• Mount a fire extinguisher for Class C fires

(ignited and heated by electricity) near your workbench, but not directly over it

Chapter Summary• Common-sense guidelines to solving

computer problems Avoid making situation worse by damaging

equipment, software, or data, or by placing undue stress on users

Follow safety precautions