What’s Wrong with Your PC – A Detective Story

Computer Troubleshooting 101

Troubleshooting is really a kind of detective work. Like Sherlock Holmes, you have to use a bit of deduction, a smidgen of specialized knowledge with just plain old “mother wit” or common sense. Troubleshooting is an easy skill to pick up and learn. As a matter of fact, you probably use some troubleshooting skills already.

It was a dark and stormy night…a bedtime story of troubleshooting… Ahh, you sit down at your computer after dinner to check out your email and pay some bills online. You pop open the CD player beside your desk. You slip in your favorite disc and push play. It seems to be spinning but no sound comes out.

You first check the volume control. Hmmm…it’s turned all the way up. You pop out the CD, examine it and pop it back in. Still spins but no sound. Huh?

You hunt down another CD, one you have only played a few times. Drop it in and push….still no sound. What the…? You foolishly check to make sure the player is really plugged in. AH-HA! The power plug is loose. You smile and reseat it back into the outlet. You push the button…

DANG IT! still no sound! You grab up the player and give it a good hard shake! Agggh! The sound comes blasting out of the speaker. @^&%**! You hastily turn down the volume and that’s when you hear it.

The ominous rattle of “something broken”! You unplug the box, paw in your desk for a screwdriver and pry open the back. That’s when you see the villain; one of the speakers is dangling by its’ wires. The little plastic holder thingy is broken and the metal screw doobie has come loose.

Now the question is; do you try and fix the speaker (Duct Tape? is cheap) or buy a new CD player? It boils down to just two things: You must either repair something or replace something. See…I told you, troubleshooting is not hard. You do it all the time. With the CD player, you followed a series of steps to “discover” what was wrong.

That’s all…and that’s all you ever really have to do with your computer problems. Figure out what is wrong with your PC (troubleshooting) and either reinstall it (for bad software) or replace it (for broken PC parts).

And you now come back to the same question that stumps most people: “Do I try and fix it by myself (i.e. spend my time; save my money) “OR” do I let someone else fit it (i.e. spend my money; but save my time)?

Read on because the FixComputerProblemsGuide.com website will give all the information you need to make this decision.

What Happens When You Start’er UP? -

The Power-On-Self-Test (POST)

Now that you know about the 10…or 11 main parts of a modern computer system, you need to know how they work together.

When any computer first boots up, it performs a POST (Power On Self Test) or system check. Basically, a POST check allows a computer to count all its “fingers and toes” and make sure all the ten parts listed earlier are online and active.

If anything goes wrong during the POST check, the computer will signal an error (a possible part failure) via a series of “beeping” sounds or with a text message on the monitor if the video/graphic card is working.

The Power on Self Test (POST)

1. The Power Supply is turned on via the power-on button on the case.
2. The BIOS is triggered. The BIOS (basic input/output system) is pronounced “bye-ose”. It is a very basic software program (most are mutations from the first IBM BIOS from 1981) and it is installed at the factory on chip on the motherboard.
3. Imagine if you will, the BIOS as a traffic cop manually directing how each device comes up and making sure that all the other chips, drives, ports and CPU all flow together without crashing.
4. The BIOS tests itself. (If this fails the game is pretty much over).
5. The BIOS tests the Power Supply Unit and makes sure it’s online and able to send a steady energy signal to the rest of the motherboard.
6. The CPU is powered on and made active.
7. Next, the CMOS is started and “read”. Pronounced “see-moss”, these CMOS chips store the date, time, any system passwords and other system settings. They are powered by a battery when the computer is turned off.
8. The BIOS tests all memory chips and RAM sticks. If the first 64K of RAM is bad or unreadable, the BIOS will create an error message and the POST will stop with an error beep.
9. Find, initialize and organize all devices that are available for boot up. The BIOS signals that all is well internally with a final “All Systems Go” beep.
10. The BIOS then turns on the video card. This displays the motherboard & memory test information on screen. You may also see a manufacturer’s logo flash on the screen.
11. It then does a keyboard and mouse test. This is one test where you can watch as your keyboard’s lights blink on or off. A keyboard failure will be shown on screen.
12. Next the hard drive, floppy and CD/DVDs are tested and booted up. You will hear and see the drive lights wink on and off. A hardware (hard drive or CD/DVD) failure will be shown on screen.
13. The POST check is complete and the BIOS hands everything off the main Operating System software.

Okay so how does this POST cycle help you?

During any part of the testing cycle (which takes only a couple of seconds by the way) if something doesn’t work, the computer will give you an audible error signal. In other words, if something bad happens your computer will “beep” at you.

The original BIOS or POST beep codes were first developed by IBM. Today most beep codes are installed by each motherboard manufacturer. While each manufacturer may modify codes for their own testing purposes, most vendors maintain a fairly standard set of codes.

Here are some of the most common PC beep codes:

• 1 short beep – Normal POST – No problems detected
• No beep – no power, power supply, motherboard problem, disconnected CPU, loose card or disconnected speaker
• Continuous beep – Power supply, motherboard, or keyboard problem
• Repeating short beeps – Power supply or motherboard or keyboard
• Repeating long beeps – RAM (memory stick) is unseated
• 1 long, 1 short beep – Motherboard problem
• 1 long, 2 short beeps – Video Card, Video Card Slot
• 1 long, 3 short beeps – Video Card, Video Card Slot
• 3 long Beeps – keyboard or keyboard port (motherboard problem)
• 1 beep, Blank or Incorrect Display – Monitor, Video Card, Video Card Slot

See by watching and “listening” to what your computer is telling you, you will have a jump on any major hardware problems just by powering on your PC.

How to Get Started

Now that you have determined that this website is right for you we can move on.

How this Website Works

One of the hardest parts of repairing computers is learning where to begin. Non-technical people get all tangled up in the “hardware vs. software” thing and waste hours searching online trying to piece together odd-n-end bits of information and figure out went wrong with their machine.

And then more importantly, waste their hard-earned bucks on junk, when they do finally know which part has gone bad.

To eliminate this merry-go-round of misinformation, wasted money and lost hours, the meat of this website has been broken down into sections.  I will go over each section in detail and explain how it can help you with your computer issues.

Computer Components
Under the Hood – The Ten “Moving” Parts: An illustrated summary of the main components inside a standard computer, their names and what they do.

Computer Processes
What Happens When You Start’er Up? – The Power-On-Self-Test (POST): explains in plain English the processes that a computer must complete before it becomes ready for use. This section also explains some the error codes and messages your computer sends to you when something goes wrong.

Computer Troubleshooting Made Easy
You don’t have to be smart or take lots of time to learn how to quickly determine which part of a computer is causing a problem.

A Growing Library of Free Computer Problem Tips and How-To Articles

Now the next area you should visit is my general computer problem solving or “Free Tips” section. These are basically my free gifts to you. 

Here I share with you all the knowledge and experience I have collected in my 18+ years of messing with and working on personal computers. You will get solid, practical instruction on personal technology via my articles, video tutorials (coming soon) and tech tip cheatsheets.

Take time to read the ones that interest you now and bookmark the rest, so you can come back and browse later when you need to.

Specific Repair Mini-Guides
Theses are my growing library of “how-to-do-it-right” mini guides. Each mini guide is designed to solve one special set of problems and nothing else. Every guide is crammed full of “by-the-numbers” detailed instructions and full color illustrations for those tricky bits words just can’t describe properly.

“Why Do It Yourself?”

Okay, you’re not sure if you should be monkeying around inside your computer. You still have a warranty, a long term service contract and everything, right? Yes, I understand. But what you don’t know if that the PC support industry is slowly dying out.

Hands-on technical service is expensive to provide long term. Hint: Dell, HP and eMachine are investing millions in low-cost “over the phone” help desk support. They are not hiring as many “boots on the ground” technicians as before.

This means that when you do get a problem that requires a little hands-on work, you go on a long waiting list.

Even worst yet, is that the “Big Boys” are quietly slipping into the fine print of all their newest support and service warranties the concept of “Consumer Replaceable Parts”.

What are “Consumer Replaceable Parts”?

I’m glad you asked that. There are basically only ten to twelve essential hardware parts inside a modern computer. And most of the larger PC manufacturers have now made sure at least half of them are no longer covered under their warranties or service contracts.

For example, one of the largest PC makers, Dell admits they no longer warrenty CD-ROMs, DVDs, floppy drives, power supply units (your PC’s power plant), or the motherboard (that’s the circuit board that contains your video, sound, modem or network modules).

They publish this in their “CompleteCare?” agreement for consumers (the home office market). The “CompleteCare?” is not “free” by the way.

And if they do cover a bad part, they state further down in the agreement that,” At our discretion, the (helpdesk) technician will either send you a replacement part to for you to install on the computer device or give you directions to ship the computer device to our repair facility.”

Got that?

That’s right. Even with a service agreement, they will send the part to you so YOU can put it in or YOU can ship it back to them for repair. See what I mean by “Consumer Replaceable”?

Oh, yeah by the way the parts they send out for you (to install all by yourself) will probably be “refurbished”. Nope, you don’t even get a new one.

Now I don’t want to pick on Dell. I like them alot; they are indeed one of the good guys when it comes to tech support. But all of the PC makers are doing this, “Consumer Replaceable Part” thing.

You can either install your own “consumer replaceable part” with a little help from our very affordable mini guides or lug your machine down to that expensive computer repair store and let their geek-to-go replace it for you.
It’s your choice, your time, and your wallet.

To learn more on how to care for your computer yourself and save, view “Getting Started”

How to Use This Website…

Have you ever had any of these problems?

You have a strange problem with your hard drive…

You are not sure what is wrong but when you boot up your hard drive simply takes forever to bring Windows up. You keep hearing funny sounds but you don’t know what to do.

Your computer is so slow…

The darn thing is running slower than molasses in Alaska. Every time you boot up it seems to take forever and it keeps getting worst. Now you are getting Window “Blue Screen of Deaths” error messages.

Your computer will not turn on…

It was acting funny yesterday but you just didn’t have time to fool with it but now the darn time won’t even turn on.

Your computer is full of viruses and spyware…

You have “porn-pops” every time you go online now and you notice that files keep disappearing. You have done everything the “gamer guy” at work told you to do but things keep getting worst.

Your computer keeps restarting…

You just simply cut if off because it would work for a little while then just cut off and restart all by itself…over and over again.

If you have had any problem similar to these then I can help you. You are here because your computer is about to drive your crazy. You are sick and tired of dealing with computer headaches. You just want to find a way to fix the issues and get things back to normal. Everyone says you should take your machine into the computer shop but times are hard right now and you just don’t have that kind of cash anymore.

But “Damnit Jim”, you’re an ordinary person, not a computer guy! So what should you do?

What the computer repair guy doesn’t want you to know is…

You don’t have to be a certified support tech to repair your home computer. In fact, it’s fairly simple to learn how to fix common PC problems yourself and save money.

Hey, basic computer maintenance and repair isn’t rocket science. I know, I have been messing around with computers for over 18 years now and my friends can tell you, I’m not all that smart!

Anyone with a decent set of hand tools, some technical know-how (which you will pick up if you keep reading this website) and an hour or two; can learn to troubleshoot and repair their Windows-based PC.

Fix Computer Problems Guide was developed to help non-technical people to learn how-to:

• Find out what is really wrong with their computers
• Decide if they want to fix or repair the problem themselves
• Gain the technical information they need to made the proper repairs quickly
• And locate affordable computer hardware and software they may need

In order to get the most out of Fix Computer Problems Guide, you should:

Be comfortable with Windows-based computers While I have taken every effort to make sure this website is as simple and straight forward as I can, this is NOT a beginner’s resource. If all you can really do is check your email then this is not the place for you. Sorry. But if you consider yourself to be an “intermediate” computer user and enjoy learning new things we can work together.

Be capable of installing software programs A good many of the how-to articles on this site involve downloading, installing and running hardware utilities or other diagnostic programs. If you have installed as least one or two programs on your own then you can easily learn how to use the utility programs I recommend.

Be willing to open your computer case! Yes, often the hardware mini-guides do require that you pop the case on your computer. If just the idea of working inside your computer makes you queasy then you are better off taking your computer to a repair shop. But if you can use a screwdriver, and are not afraid of taking an up a challenge, then I can show you how to fix your own computer and save you some money.

While this is not an advanced, for “geeks-only” website by no means, Fix Computer Problems Guide is designed to be a how-to resource for intermediate or “power” computer users.

Now if you haven’t been frightened off, I invite you to explore this website and learn how to fix common computer problems the simple and easy way. Click on “Getting Started” if you want to get going now. But if you are still not sure about doing your own computer repairs, please read “Why Do It Yourself”…

Under The Hood – The 10 “Moving” Parts of a Computer

Despite what anyone tells you, troubleshooting a desktop computer is usually a very straightforward thing.

There are just 10 “moving” parts to a standard desktop or tower PC. A laptop has exactly the same parts (if you exclude the “built-in” screen, keyboard and glidepad)only miniaturized and squeezed into a much smaller case.

The Ten Parts

1. Motherboard, system or mainboard. This is a big circuit board with various “slots” and “sockets” that holds the rest of the parts.

2. CPU or “central processor unit” is the main “chip” inside. It’s the brain of the computer.

3. RAM or “Random Access Memory” comes in “sticks”. RAM acts data holding tanks for the CPU. The more RAM the a computer has; the faster it can operate. Is a view of the RAM installed in a computer.

Expansion Cards is any type of computer circuit card that inserted into the motherboard. This may include Video or Graphic, Sound, Network or Modem.

4. Audio or Sound card. Most modern units have an “onboard” system (see motherboard picture above) that is built into the motherboard. However, replacement and upgrade cards are available.

5. Video or Graphic card. Like sound cards, most computers have “onboard” systems that are built-in. But replacement and upgrade cards are available for special functions like high power video games or digitally record your favorite TV shows like a Tivo.

6. Modem cards (not to be confused with cable modems) are still used for dial-up Internet connections but are slowly being replaced with faster DSL and broadband connections.

7. Network cards are for all Ethernet(wired networks) or broadband and DSL Internet connections (either high-speed cable or phone lines). These cards are part of any wired network.

8. The Hard Drive is the central storage unit for computer. It holds operating systems, motherboard/card software (drivers), applications and other programs. Here is an image of a hard drive in a computer case.

9. CD/DVD Drives have become the primary “removable” storage devices replacing the venerable floppy drive.

10. Floppy Drives, while being phased out, have been the standard since the beginning of personal computers. Many models still use them as the secondary boot device.

Here is an image of floppy drives down thru history

From left to right:
• Qume D/T 8, 8 inch drive, 1.2 MB. Made in 1980.
• Tandon TM 100-2A , 5 1/4 inch drive, 360 KB. Made in 1983.
• Sony MPF920, 3 1/2 inch drive, 1.4 MB. Made in 2004.

11. Case and Power Supply Unit. So, I said ten, but from my point of view, a good power supply unit or PSU and case are some of the most important components in a computer.

A failing power supply unit the computer simply will not boot or run improperly damaging other devices. Your motherboard or CPU may burn out sooner than expected or suffer power fluctuations.

• a. You can see the Power Supply Unit at the back of the case: it’s the “fan” where the main power cord outlet is set. The PSU has two main jobs: provide juice to all the components inside the case and use its’ fan to keep things cool.
• b. The “Case” is usually the “white box” or “black box” or “grey box” everything sets in. Some cases are simple to open. Still others are like trying to untie a Gordian knot. And laptops should only be opened with instructions from repair professionals.
• c. Cables are the most often “forgotten” part in a PC. The multi-color power cables connect the power supply unit to the motherboard and other devices. And while the flat grey data cables run from the motherboard to the floppy, CD/DVD, hard drives

See, I told you, just ten simple, little parts. Well maybe a bit more than ten but most of which you already knew about or have used.

By understanding the basic functions of those parts and applying a little common sense with a wee bit of how-to knowledge, you can effectively uncover and fix most of the problems that are plaguing your PC.