PC Troubleshooting Richmond R-XVI Training

Outline Session I OMG – What Just Happened? Session II Minor Issues & Annoyances Session III Preventive Maintenance Session IV Tech Support?

Going to your Doctor / Mechanic 1.Prevent 2.Diagnose 3.Treat 4.Prognosis 5.Return to step 1

OMG!!! What Happened? Something Happened – People tend to blame themselves “what did I do?” – Why it may NOT be your Fault! Programming Error – (Possible but unikely) Program/Application error – Conflict – Hardware/Configuration Error – Virus, Malware et al… – Social Networking/engineering

Know Your Computer A quick look “Under The Hood”

A typical Personal Computer

Innerds of a CPU

Motherboard

What goes Where? 1. PURPLE – keyboard. 2. GREEN – mouse 3. BLUE – monitor 4. USB ports (USB mouse, keyboard, printer, digital camera) 5. firewire port (similar to USB) 6. Ethernet (modem/network) 7. Green – speakers Microphone etc. 8. There may be other components in this area. These components, can be a dial-up modem, a new Ethernet card, video, (graphics card), sound card or even an extra USB five (5) port card.

Other Stuff Wireless WIFI (USB) USB Mouse Wireless Keyboard (USB) External Hard-drive (USB) USB Drives (Flash-Drives) Camera (USB) Printer / Scanner / Copier (all in one)(USB)

Minor Issues and Annoyances Messy and Really Messy

What will go FIRST?? HD Mouse Keyboard Monitor Who knows???

Hard Drive Issues How it works Odd effects System crashes Programs Crash Noises Backup Contact Tech ASAP

Hard Drives Partition MBR - Master Boot Record FAT (File Allocation Table) – Fat32 works like a book – NTFS works like a bigger book Sectors & Segments

Preventive Maintenance / PEBKAC Problem Exists Between Keyboard And Chair YOU Installed something – You did something different/New – Installed software/virus/malware/etc Installed hardware… (adding Hardware installs Software – Or uninstalled hardware/software Location/heat/environment - Etc… – There could be an incompatibility – win 9x, win XP, win ME, Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8?? Software – updates Always make a note of what you do…. (use notepad) Research the software/hardware BEFORE you install Restoring your machine…

More “Your Fault” Stuff Did you Delete something… – Only delete files that you create Use the Application’s uninstall routine Use the Control Panel’s Add/Remove option To Recover…. ‘tech-speak’ “May have to reinstall the OS” LAST RESORT “Restore the Partition” Did you NOT do something… Updates???

What you can Delete! All Files in My Documents – on network All files that YOU create – USB? Create a folder called Download files Internet files Cookies & Temporary Internet files Temp Files, Wall paper, media, old programs (using the Add / Remove)

Backup

Popup Problems Users fail to distinguish between genuine pop-up warning messages and false ones, a study at North Carolina State University has found. A study examined the responses of undergraduates to messages which popped up while they did other tasks on a PC. Seeing the pop-ups as a mere annoyance, the majority clicked 'OK'. Fake pop-ups are a well-known vehicle for cyber-criminals to install harmful software on PCs. "This demonstrates how easy it is to fool people on the web," said Michael Wogalter, professor of psychology at North Carolina State University. "Be suspicious when things pop up. Don't click OK - close the box instead," said Dr Wogalter.“

Things to do first: SIMPLE Precautions Use IE7 and enable all features – Do not Disable options Use protection Software – Scan for: SpyWare/AdWare Windows Defender AVG-Spyware – Viruses AVG Symantec or McAfee or Kasperski AntiVirus Microsoft Online Help

Things to try: Hardware Check all connections - including Wireless Be at one with your machine – Listen to it Check the keyboard Restart – Fixes MANY issues Shut Down – save all open files If mouse is dead - CTRL+ESC Power off – 5 sec (last resort) – When you restart you may get: – Windows did not shut down correctly – Check Disk – May start in Safe Mode**

Things to Try #2 Software – Control Z – undo – ESC – Document what you did – Saving to a USB “FLASH DRIVE” – Control C – copy – Control V - paste

Things to Try #3 Depending on the problem: Software – Update – Make sure you are updating ALL your apps – Antivirus – Microsoft Critical Updates – Driver Updates Hardware – Check all connections – Moisture – Dust – Blocked Vents – Heat – Fans – Environment - Bugs

Things to Try #4 Drive Properties – Right Click on Drive C – Click “Properties” Task Manager – What’s going on NOW – Control + Alt + Delete – Used when computer locks up the program – Lots of information

Tech Support? Know when to call for help… Who owns the problem? Ask around – try some things Can you replicate the issue? Collect info – lots of it – document Then Look for and/or Get Help

More Ideas Troubleshooting Minor Annoyances What’s Slowing My Machine? Install & Uninstalling Stuff Correctly Too many Icons on your Desktop Too many things happening on Start-up CLEAN UP YOUR MESS!!

The End