1. A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining Your PC, 7e
Chapter 16
Fixing Windows Problems

2. Concepts
What to do when a hardware device, application, or Windows component gives a problem
What to do when Windows Vista won’t boot or boots with errors
Strategies that you can use to solve problems with Windows 2000/XP startup
A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining Your PC, 7e

3. Fixing Problems Caused By Hardware
Steps to determine device causing a problem
Research an error messages
Use the Vista Problem Reports and Solutions window or the XP Error Reporting window
Check logs in Event Viewer
Check the Reliability and Performance Monitor
Consider recent changes
A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining Your PC, 7e

4. Fixing Problems Caused By Hardware (cont’d.)
Steps to discover the problem source
Check simple things first
Ensure Device Manager recognizes device with no errors or warnings
Verify BIOS setup recognizes device with no errors
A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining Your PC, 7e

5. Fixing Problems Caused By Hardware (cont’d.)
Solving a problem with a device driver or service
Update device drivers
Update Windows
Try moving device to a different port or connector
Try reinstalling device
Try moving device to a different computer
Use System Restore
A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining Your PC, 7e

6. Fixing Problems Caused By Hardware (cont’d.)
Solving a problem with a device driver or service (cont’d.)
Check manufacturer’s documentation
Search the Internet for help
Boot into Safe Mode
Use System File Checker
Consider application using the device
Replace device
A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining Your PC, 7e

7. Fixing Problems Caused By Applications
Steps to find the problem source and fix it
Interview user and back up data
Ask user to reproduce problem while you watch
Use Task Manager to end a process not responding
Try a reboot
Suspect a virus causing a problem
Allow Windows to provide a solution
A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining Your PC, 7e

8. Fixing Problems Caused By Applications (cont’d.)
Steps to find the problem source and fix it (cont’d.)
Windows update might solve the problem
Download updates or patches for the application
Use the application setup to repair the installation
Consider data corruption
Try restoring default settings
Uninstall and reinstall application
Use System Restore
A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining Your PC, 7e

9. Fixing Problems Caused By Applications (cont’d.)
Steps to take if application never worked
Run application as administrator
Install application as administrator
Consider whether an older application having compatibility problems with Vista
Windows Vista Compatibility Center
Try running application in compatibility mode
Verify application digitally signed
A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining Your PC, 7e

10. Fixing Problems Caused By Applications (cont’d.)
Considerations to determine if problem is caused by other applications, services, Windows, or hardware
Another application might be interfering
Use the Services console
Might be low on system resources
Verify Windows system files
Problem might be bad memory
Use Event Viewer to look for clues
A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining Your PC, 7e

11. Fixing Problems Caused By Applications (cont’d.)
Considerations to determine if problem is caused by other applications, services, Windows, or hardware (cont’d.)
Use the Reliability Monitor to look for clues
Use the Chkdsk command to check hard drive
Run application in Safe Mode with Networking
A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining Your PC, 7e

12. Troubleshooting Vista Startup
Three startup stages of the boot
Stage 1: Before the progress bar
Stage 2: After the progress bar and before logon
Stage 3: After logon
A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining Your PC, 7e

13. Problems at Stage 1: Before the Progress Bar Appears
Check with user
Verify important data location
Verify data backed up
Attempt to copy data to safe location if possible
Progress bar not showing
Portions of Vista kernel, critical drivers, and services not yet started
Indicates problem with hardware or startup files
Failing hardware may include: power supply, motherboard, CPU, memory, hard drive, video, or keyboard
A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining Your PC, 7e

14. Problems at Stage 1: Before the Progress Bar Appears (cont’d.)
Is the screen blank?
Absolutely nothing on the screen
Verify system power, monitor is plugged in and on
Suspect no power to system
Verify system not in standby mode or hibernation
Monitor totally without lights
Check monitor power
Monitor LED light lit
Reboot, check monitor power, and that it is on
Trade monitor for a good one
A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining Your PC, 7e

15. Problems at Stage 1: Before the Progress Bar Appears (cont’d.)
Does the computer appear to have power?
Can’t hear spinning drive or see lights on case front
Suspect electrical system
Check power connections and switches
May have bad power supply
Loose connections inside case
A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining Your PC, 7e

16. Problems at Stage 1: Before the Progress Bar Appears (cont’d.)
Does an error message appear before Vista starts?
BIOS displays error message on-screen if problems
Uses beeps if video not working
On-screen messages for nonessential hardware
Try to bypass error by pressing a key and moving forward in the boot
On-screen messages for essential hardware
Focus attention on the error message, beep code, and voice message describing problem
A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining Your PC, 7e

17. Figure 16-10 This error message at POST indicates a hardware problem
Courtesy: Course Technology/Cengage Learning
A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining Your PC, 7e

18. Problems at Stage 1: Before the Progress Bar Appears (cont’d.)
Can startup BIOS access the hard drive?
Possible messages
Hard drive not found
Fixed disk error
Disk boot failure, insert system disk and press enter
No boot device available
Check for physical problem
Drive, data cable, power, motherboard
Verify BIOS detected drive correctly
Turn on autodetection and reboot
Power down system, unplug it, and physically inspect
A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining Your PC, 7e

19. Problems at Stage 1: Before the Progress Bar Appears (cont’d.)
Can startup BIOS access the hard drive? (cont’d.)
BIOS found hard drive, but could not read drive or find what it needed
Invalid boot disk
Inaccessible boot device
Invalid drive specification
Invalid partition table
No operating system found, missing operating system, or error loading operating system
Could not find bootmgr or bootmgr missing
Boot from Windows Vista setup DVD
A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining Your PC, 7e

20. Problems at Stage 1: Before the Progress Bar Appears (cont’d.)
Use BIOS setup to set the boot sequence
Access BIOS setup utility
Find screen to change boot sequence
Make sure DVD drive listed before hard drive
Force system to boot from Windows Vista setup DVD
Save settings and exit BIOS setup
A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining Your PC, 7e

21. Courtesy: Course Technology/Cengage Learning
Figure Verify that the boot sequence looks to the DVD drive before it checks the hard drive for an operating system
Courtesy: Course Technology/Cengage Learning
A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining Your PC, 7e

22. Problems at Stage 1: Before the Progress Bar Appears (cont’d.)
Can you boot from the Vista setup DVD?
If not then study error messages, and solve immediate hardware problem
Hard drive and optical drive might have failed
Try floppy drive with DOS or Windows 9x floppy disk
Successful boot from floppy indicates problem with both the hard drive and DVD drive
If able to boot from Vista DVD
Windows logon screen appears
Problem isolated to the hard drive
A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining Your PC, 7e

23. Figure 16-12 Select your language preference
Courtesy: Course Technology/Cengage Learning
A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining Your PC, 7e

24. Problems at Stage 1: Before the Progress Bar Appears (cont’d.)
Can Windows RE find the Vista installation?
Launch Windows RE
Windows RE attempts to locate Vista installation on the hard drive
If Windows RE cannot locate the installation, but BIOS setup recognizes the drive
Drive partitions and file systems might be corrupted
If Windows RE does locate the installation
Problem likely limited to corrupted or missing system files or drivers
Attempt fixes: restart system after each step
A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining Your PC, 7e

25. Problems at Stage 1: Before the Progress Bar Appears (cont’d.)
Can Windows RE find the Vista installation? (cont’d.)
Run Startup Repair
Sometimes fixes drastic problems with system files, boot records
Run System Restore
Process won’t help if file system corrupted
Restart system and launch Advanced Boot Options menu
No boot menu: problem may be corrupted boot sector
Boot menu appears: probable BCD file or other startup file problem
A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining Your PC, 7e

26. Problems at Stage 1: Before the Progress Bar Appears (cont’d.)
Can Windows RE find the Vista installation? (cont’d.)
Restart system, launch Advanced Boot Options menu (cont’d.)
If boot menu appears: enable boot logging and reboot
Check boot log (\Windows\ntbtlog.txt) for the last entry
Might indicate which system file missing or corrupt
If boot menu does not appear:
Return to Windows RE, launch command prompt window, and attempt to repair boot sector
A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining Your PC, 7e

27. Problems at Stage 1: Before the Progress Bar Appears (cont’d.)
Can Windows RE find the Vista installation? (cont’d.)
If boot menu does appear:
Return to Windows RE, launch command prompt window, and attempt to repair the BCD file
Try to repair corrupted file system
Use command prompt window and chkdsk c: /r command
When startup files missing or corrupt
Vista may display an error message
A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining Your PC, 7e

28. Problems at Stage 1: Before the Progress Bar Appears (cont’d.)
Can Windows RE find the Vista installation? (cont’d.)
Use command prompt window to access drive C
Get to C prompt: use DIR command to list folders and files
Good list: check log file for clues
Not a good list: most likely Vista installation destroyed beyond repair
Make every effort to copy data to another media
A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining Your PC, 7e

29. Problems at Stage 1: Before the Progress Bar Appears (cont’d.)
Options to recover from a corrupted Vista installation
Option 1: Complete PC backup available
Restore system to last backup
Option 2: Complete PC backup not available and data backups available on hard drive
Install Windows Vista, format hard drive during installation, install all applications again, restore data
Option 3: Complete PC backup and data backup not available
Try to copy data to removable device and reinstall Windows Vista
A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining Your PC, 7e

30. Problems at Stage 1: Before the Progress Bar Appears (cont’d.)
Steps to reinstall Windows Vista when OS refuses to boot and important data on the drive
Boot from Vista DVD, select language, select Install now from opening menu
Follow directions on-screen to install the OS
Enter product key and accept license agreement
Select Custom (advanced) installation
When asked where to install the OS select partition on which Vista installed
A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining Your PC, 7e

31. Problems at Stage 1: Before the Progress Bar Appears (cont’d.)
Steps to reinstall Windows Vista (cont’d.)
Vista setup moves old installation folders into \Windows.Old folder
Clean Vista installation goes in the \Windows folder
Suspect hard drive failing
Copy all data and reinstall Vista again
Healthy hard drive
Run Chkdsk to fix errors
Install all applications and device drivers
Create all user accounts and customize Vista settings
Delete the \Windows.Old folder
A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining Your PC, 7e

32. Figure 16-16 Free up disk space by deleting the Windows.Old folder
Courtesy: Course Technology/Cengage Learning
A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining Your PC, 7e

33. Problems at Stage 1: Before the Progress Bar Appears (cont’d.)
Reinstall Vista on a laptop or brand-name computer
Use hidden partition on hard drive to recover the Windows installation
During startup, press appropriate key for access
Menu should appear with two options:
One option repairs the Windows installation, saving user data
Other options reformats drive C and restores system to purchased setup
If neither method works use recovery CD or DVD
A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining Your PC, 7e

34. Problems at Stage 2: After the Progress Bar Appears and Before Logon
Microsoft progress bar appears during the boot
Windows kernel loaded successfully
Critical drivers and services configured to be started by the kernel running
Session Manager (Smss.exe) running in user mode started the Win32 subsystem
If logon screen not displayed:
Probable corrupted driver or service started after kernel finished its part of the boot
Fix by isolating and disabling Windows component, service, or application causing trouble
A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining Your PC, 7e

35. Problems at Stage 2: After the Progress Bar Appears and Before Logon
Back up data before focusing on the problem
Follow these steps:
Launch Windows RE from Vista setup DVD
Run Startup Repair from Recovery Environment menu
Reboot, launch the Advanced Boot Options menu
Select the Last Known Good Configuration
In Windows RE, run System Restore
A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining Your PC, 7e

36. Problems at Stage 2: After the Progress Bar Appears and Before Logon
Steps (cont’d.)
Try booting into Safe Mode
Immediately run antivirus software
Run Chkdsk c: /r
Examine all logs in Event Viewer
Use Software Explorer, MSconfig to stop applications just installed, then uninstall and reinstall
Use Device Manager to check for hardware errors
Use the System File Checker (SFC) tool
Rename the \Windows\Ntbtlog.txt file
A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining Your PC, 7e

37. Problems at Stage 2: After the Progress Bar Appears and Before Logon
Steps (cont’d.)
Boot to the Advanced Boot Options menu and select Enable Boot Logging
Compare the Ntbtlog.txt file to the one created in Safe Mode
Easiest way to view the logs is to boot into Safe Mode and view the files with Notepad
Problem service or device identified
Boot into Safe Mode and use Device Manager to disable
Use Services console to disable
A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining Your PC, 7e

38. Problems at Stage 2: After the Progress Bar Appears and Before Logon
Steps (cont’d.)
Cannot boot into Safe Mode
Open Recovery Environment command prompt window
Back up registry, find key that loads services and drivers
Disable service or driver by changing Start value to 0x4
Reboot, replace program file, and restart service or driver
A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining Your PC, 7e

39. Problems at Stage 3: After Windows Logon
Problems caused by applications or services configured to launch at startup
Shortcuts in startup folders, Scheduled Tasks, or software installation processes affecting registry entries
Error message at startup
Disable program using MSconfig
A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining Your PC, 7e

40. Table 16-1 Error messages during the Vista startup and what to do about them
A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining Your PC, 7e

41. How to Recover Lost Data
Use Windows tools, third party software, or commercial data recovery services
Recovering a deleted or corrupted data file
Look in the Recycle Bin
Use the Recover command
Use application manufacturer’s web site
Find third party software
A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining Your PC, 7e

42. How to Recover Lost Data (cont’d.)
Recover data from a computer that will not boot
Remove hard drive and install as a second nonbooting hard drive in another system
Use IDE to USB or a SATA to USB converter kit
Temporarily connect hard drive to a USB port on a working computer
Browse drive and copy data using Windows Explorer
Use a data recovery service
Google “data recovery”
Read up on reviews, understand warranty and guarantees, and get a recommendation
A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining Your PC, 7e

43. Troubleshooting Windows 2000/XP Startup
Steps:
Talk to the user
Recent changes, conditions right before error, new hardware or software, data backup location
Important data not backed up
Make every effort to copy data to another media before working on the Windows problem
Determine point in the boot where system fails
For problems related to hardware check simple things first
A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining Your PC, 7e

44. Troubleshooting Windows 2000/XP Startup (cont’d.)
Steps (cont’d.)
Error message displayed on-screen
Start by addressing it
Problem software related and cannot boot to desktop
Boot to the Advanced Options menu
Select the Last Known Good Configuration
Can boot load Windows desktop
If system giving many errors or is extremely slow, suspect a virus and run antivirus software
A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining Your PC, 7e

45. Table 16-2 Error messages during Windows 2000/XP startup and what to do about them
A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining Your PC, 7e

46. Troubleshooting Windows 2000/XP Startup (cont’d.)
Steps (cont’d.)
System recently changed
Assume installation is guilty until proven innocent
New application or utility program installed
Go to Control Panel Add or Remove Programs applet
Uninstall software and reboot
System will not start normally
Boot into Safe Mode and XP recognizes System Restore used
Launch System Restore Wizard
Choose a restore point
A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining Your PC, 7e

47. Courtesy: Course Technology/Cengage Learning
Figure Windows XP gives you the opportunity to launch System Restore before it loads Safe Mode
Courtesy: Course Technology/Cengage Learning
A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining Your PC, 7e

48. Troubleshooting Windows 2000/XP Startup (cont’d.)
Steps (cont’d.)
After boot into Safe Mode
Use SFC, Chkdsk, and Defrag commands
Cannot boot into Safe Mode
Try Safe Mode with Command Prompt
Cannot boot from hard drive
Create and use a Windows 2000/XP boot disk
A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining Your PC, 7e

49. Troubleshooting Windows 2000/XP Startup (cont’d.)
Steps (cont’d.)
Cannot boot from Windows 2000/XP boot disk
Load Recovery Console
Try to restore system files
Problem still not solved
Assume Windows installation corrupted
Need to restore Windows installation
Try various tools to restore
A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining Your PC, 7e