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Monday, December 1, 2008

BASIC COMPUTER TROUBLE SHOOTING

The following are tips on things to try if your computer is not working properly.

If your system does not start or boot
1. Check to see if your computer is properly plugged into its power source.
2. If your computer is plugged into an UPS or surge protector, make sure that it is turned on.
3. Check to insure that all the different components (i.e., keyboard or monitor) are properly connected. Sometimes connections jiggle themselves loose.
4. Check to see if there is a non-bootable disk in the floppy disk drive.
5. Try booting from a system disk. The operating system files on your hard drive may be damaged or missing.
6. Unplug your system from it power source and then plug it back in. Sometimes a computer will get stuck in hibernation or sleep mode.


If nothing appears on your monitor
1. Check to see if the monitor is turned on and properly connected.
2. Make sure that the monitor is connected to a working outlet or that the UPS or surge protector is turned on.
3. Check to see if the screen brightness and contrast controls are in their normal position.
4. Check to see if the screen saver has been activated or the monitor is in sleep mode. Press any key on the keyboard to turn the display back on.
5. Is the monitor power light on? If you have done steps 1 through 4 and the power light is not on, chances are that you have a dead monitor.

If your mouse does not work, stops responding, or is jerky
1. Check to see if the mouse is plugged securely into the proper port.
2. Reboot your machine.
3. If the mouse was working and then stopped after adding new hardware or software, chances are that there is a resource (i.e., IRQ) conflict. You can fix the problem by changing the settings either for the mouse or for the new device.
4. Clean your mouse, it may be dirty. Turn your mouse upside down and clean the ball housing. Open the bottom of your mouse housed according to the directions printed on it's bottom (i.e., <>lock) and carefully clean the ball and the housing area. Pay special attention to the rollers.

If your printer does not work
1. Make sure that the printer is turned on and plugged in.
2. Check to see if the printer is connected properly to your computer. Be sure to check both ends of the connection cable.
3. Check to see that the printer has paper and ink/toner.
4. Check to insure the printer is on-line and that there are no error lights blinking.
5. Try turning it off, counting to thirty, and then turning it back on.
6. Test to determine if you are having trouble printing from DOS, Windows, or both? If you can print from one but not the other, it may be a printer driver or capture port problem.
7. If you are having trouble printing from DOS programs, you must go into your printer's property options and set your capture port to LPT1. If printing over a network, be sure to set the correct printer path when you select your capture port.

If your scanner does not work
1. Make sure that the scanner is turned on and properly plugged into its power source.
2. Check to see if the scanner is connected properly to your computer on both ends of the cable.
3. If using a flat bed scanner, check to insure that the scanner is not locked (lock switch is usually on the back or bottom).
4. Try turning the scanner off, counting to thirty, and then turning it back on.
5. Try shutting down your entire computer system, counting to thirty, turning the scanner on first, then turning on the rest of your computer as you normally would.

If Windows 9X or a program locks up
1. Try pressing the key three to four times.
2. Press the keys all at the same time (one time only) to list all the programs currently running. For Windows XP or 2000, you must click the Task Manager after doing a . Click on the one task that is not responding and click on End Task.
3. If step 2 does not work, press the keys all at the same time twice or press the RESET button on the CPU case in order to re-boot the system.
4. If you do not have a reset button, press the On/Off button in and hold it for five to ten seconds. Leave your computer off for thirty seconds and turn it back on.
5. If step 4 does not work, unplug your computer, count to thirty, plug it back in, and turn it back on.


If on a network and your computer cannot find a program or database file on the Server
1. Check to insure that you are properly mapped to the server.
a) Double click on the "My Computer" icon.
b) Check for the icon pointing to the server, i.e., "C on Server (E:)".
2. To map to the server. a) Right click on the "My Computer:" icon b) Left click on "Map Network Drive". c) Fill in the information to the server similar to below and press "Ok".

If your computer slows down
1. Close out all your running programs and delete all the *.TMP files from the C:\WINDOWS\TEMP directory.
2. Empty out the Recycle Bin.
3. Run Disk Cleanup (START-PROGRAMS-ACCESSORIES-SYSTEM TOOLS-DISK CLEANUP).
4. Run the Windows Defrag program (START-PROGRAMS-ACCESSORIES-SYSTEM TOOLS-DISK DEFRAGMENTOR).
5. If the problem is with only a database program, compact/re-index the database file(s).

Cannot find My Documents Folder on a machine with Windows 2000 or XP
Look for the folder in the Documents and Settings folder under the User's name. i.e., on a network machine called Server, the path is \\Server\c\Documents and Settings\Server\My Documents
On a local computer named MyComputer, the path is C:\Documents and Settings\MyComputer\My Documents

Backup Errors
1. Make sure all programs and files being backed up are closed
2. Check the report to see which file being backed up failed.
3. Try the backup again.
4. Reboot all the machines in the network.
5. Try the backup once again


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