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Troubleshooting your PC

With all the safeguards we've taken like those in the "Keeping Your PC Healthy" article, it's possible to catch problems with your PC before they start getting really serious. However, even with all the best peripherals and software, your PC will eventually have problems. So, be prepared. While it is easier to just send your PC for repairs to professionals, there are times when we can't or don't want to. For example, your PC works just fine in your house, but when you bring it to a LAN party all kinds of problems occur. Or maybe you just want to install a new hard drive that you've bought yourself and stumble into a problem. Most times, we only need a quick, simple solution.

Some things you want to remember when troubleshooting:

• In most cases, hardware failures are not the cause of PC problems. Most errors happens because of misconfiguration. But hardware components do fail after a certain time and when they do, they can be difficult to troubleshoot, particularly if you don't have a spare component lying around. The ones most likely to fail are components with moving parts such as hard drives, CD / DVD-ROM drives and fans.
• Power supplies can also fail, since they rely on fans to cool their internal parts. Within a year, dust will build up and may obstruct airflow, so check them to be sure. These fans play an important role in cooling other parts, so we want them to run at their optimal efficiency. Fans are also used to cool down your processor and graphics card, remember to check them too.
  
• Hard drives and CD / DVD-ROM usually last for at least a year or two. They have built in features that lets you know how healthy they are. Monitoring software will let you know when this happens. It really pays to take necessary precautions against overheating and electrical problems (cooling them down and making sure your PC gets a clean, stable supply of electricity).
  
• Electrical parts and components, such as processor, graphics cards and memory can outlast other components since they don't have moving parts. However, they are still susceptible to damage from overheating and electrical problems. Overheating issues are usually related to fans (again check them out), while electrical problems are usually do to power supply issues or external factors.
  
• Before removing any parts and cables when you're troubleshooting, remember to take precautions so you won't cause accidental harm to yourself and your PC. This means troubleshooting your PC in a dry, safe, clean, well lit environment and grounding yourself properly to avoid electrostatic discharge.
  

Hopefully, this guide will be useful to you when troubleshooting problems with your PC. Of course, this guide assumes your PC is not overclocked. If it is, try running it with default settings first - some peripherals are more sensitive to errors when overclocked. Overclocked peripherals tend to produce more heat, so if you have overclocked your peripherals and components for a long time without proper cooling, they may have been damage during that time. This maybe the source of the problems. We're also assuming that your PC was fine when you start using it. The problems you're having happens several months after you've completed a Windows installation on your PC.

By following these troubleshooting guide, we've separated software and hardware related problems. We've also categorized the problems by their degree of severity, from light to heavy.

PC boots, enters Windows, applications runs normal for a while but then they crash (after some time).

• Check what triggers the problem: Is it opening a certain file or folder, running a certain application etc? Try reproducing the error then notice what was happening just before the crash happens. If you're opening a file, try to open it with a different application. If that works, then most probably the previous application is the culprit. If it doesn't, looks like the file is corrupted.
• If this happens when you're playing a game, run the game with the default settings and see if there's any difference. There may be bugs in the game or the graphics card driver. New games are especially prone to bugs, you might have to download a patch or a new driver to fix it. For now, try cycling through the settings and see which one causes the problem. Change one at a time and run the game - you're bound to find what settings are 'buggy'. If this is the case, looks like you've discovered a bug with the game or the graphics or sound card drivers.
• Check the manual and help file of the application and game to see whether or not this is a known bug. You might want to check the developer's website to see if there's a bug fix or an update concerning that particular problem.
• You may also want to check Microsoft's website for an update and also the hardware's manufacturer's website for an updated driver. This particularly concerns games, since some games requires you to use a certain driver version. Using newer drivers than what the game requires is OK, since they usually have a fix for that game. Check the readme file that came with the updated drivers for any issues with certain games.

PC boots, enters Windows, applications runs normal but while running processor or graphically intensive games and applications, the PC crashes. The crash occurs during the heaviest load (when the frame rates is low, choppy or when the applications is processing something for a long time).

• Check the temperature and voltage rails. See what they are when your PC is idle and what they are when you're running these games and applications. Voltage rails shouldn't fluctuate much. Temperature will rise when you're running heavy games and applications, but they shouldn't rise more than 5 to 10 degrees Celsius above the usual temperature. For the most part, if they are above 50 degrees Celsius, that's too much.
  
• If your ambient and processor temperature is high, your processor's heatsink may not be able to cool your processor effectively. Open the case to improve airflow, this should lower the ambient temperature. You might want to consider using more case fans or tidying up the cables inside your case.
• Check whether or not the graphics card is properly cooled. Blowing air across the graphics card should help.
  
• If your power supply rails seems fine at daytime and fluctuates at nighttime, the problems are likely caused by external factors - the quality of electricity provide by your power company. Use a UPS with an automatic voltage regulator and power surge protection for your PC. A UPS ensures your PC will always have clean, stable electricity.

Problematic components: fan / heatsink for the processor and graphics card or the power supply unit. Try cleaning the heatsinks, since dust can build up after a while and this affects it's effectiveness. If these problems persist, you might want to consider getting better cooling (bigger fan and / or heatsink) for the processor and graphics card or a more powerful power supply unit.

PC boots, enters Windows, application runs but after a short while then the PC crashes. This occurs randomly. Games and applications runs well without problems before.

• If it's an application, try booting into safe mode. Run the same application and look around your hard drive. Safe mode means Windows doesn't load start up programs when it boots and uses default drivers. If the problems persist, which is highly unlikely, your PC might be infected with a virus. Run your anti virus software to check.
• If everything runs fine under safe mode, the next step is to troubleshoot your drivers. Try running under normal mode, but deactivate all startup programs. You can deactivate them while in Safe Mode with the System Configuration Utility (msconfig). Run some games and see whether or not the problem occurs. If it does, either update your hardware drivers or the game. If you're already using updated drivers and game binaries, the memory modules might be faulty.

Problematic components: memory. Check your BIOS to see whether or not your memory timings and speed are configured properly. This means using SPD for both timings and clock. You might also want to check the option 'DRAM Command Rate' and set it to '2T'. If you've installed memory with different specifications and sizes, set the timing and clock to the slowest memory (larger capacity memory usually runs slower). On some chipsets, installing more than two memory modules might cause stability problems. If you're using double sided / banks modules, try lowering the speed - some chipsets must use a slower speed when double sided memory is used.

PC boots, doesn't enter Windows

• If the crash occurs during loading, Windows usually give you some idea why it crashes (the BSOD - blue screen of death - or an error message). If it is a blue screen, it's probably hardware related - usually memory. Read the previous item to troubleshoot memory problems.
  
• If it's a missing / corrupt file message, you're either using a too high FSB or voltage for your processor or the file is really corrupt / missing. Check the processor's FSB and voltage by looking it up in the BIOS (or checking the jumpers on your motherboard).
• With graphics card that require additional power (such as Radeon 9700 or GeForceFX 5900), fluctuations in the 12 volt rail may cause a crash. If you're seeing IRQ related problems and you don't have other peripherals and add-ons installed, this usually means your graphics card isn't getting enough electricity. Check the connectors and power supply.
  
• If a disk error message appears just right after the BIOS screen, check whether or not your hard drive is connected properly to the motherboard and power supply. Also check whether or not they are identified by the BIOS. If they are, check your BIOS boot up sequence and make sure you've configured the right drive.
• If the hard drive is correctly identified and the BIOS boot up sequence is correct but the same error appears, check whether or not the hard drive partition is available and the primary partition is set to active. You can use third party utilities such as Partition Magic or the DOS based 'fdisk' to check the status of your partition. You could also use the Windows Installer CD to troubleshoot NTFS partitions. Hopefully, the partition is still there and your data is still intact. Fixing the partition table should make the drive boot into Windows or at least give you access to the data. You might have to reinstall Windows, just don't format the drive - you'll lose the data in it if you do.

Problematic components: processor, memory, hard drive, hard drive data and power cable. Most of the time, problematic cables are the cause of the problems. However, if the cables are properly connected, the BIOS should be able to detect your hard drives. If it doesn't, then your hard drive most probably have failed. This might be caused by electrical and heat problems, that's why it's important to monitor your hard drives health. Hard drive failures usually don't occur suddenly, but progress slowly - the first signs is dropped performance and bad sectors. If your hard drive is beginning to develop these signs, backup your data! You can still use them for secondary and temporary storage. These bad sectors may cause file corruption and errors, making your Windows installation unable to load.

Another cause of the problem is hardware compatibility and bugs. Some chipsets may have certain bugs that can cause data corruption while writing data to your hard drive. They only occur under a certain setup. Check your hardware manufacturer's website whether or not this is the case. With these kinds of bugs, data corruption is not related to your hard drive's health, because you can see that the BIOS detects the hard drives and it's still healthy (with S.M.A.R.T), but nonetheless data corruption still occurs. The fix for this problem is usually an updated or a 'slower' (not enhanced) driver - such as using the default driver bundled with Windows. Fixes and updates for these problems are available from your hardware's manufacturer's website.

PC boots (fans are spinning, lights are on), but you could only see a blank screen or BIOS screen.

• Check whether or not your monitor is switched 'On' and that the power cable is connected to the wall socket or your UPS. Also check whether or not the monitor's cable is connected to the graphics card.
• If you could see the BIOS screen, they usually spit out some information regarding the error. Usually, there is a misconfiguration. Check the BIOS to see whether or not you have properly configured the processor (clock and voltage) and memory (clock and timing).
• To troubleshoot configuration problems, you may have to clear or bypass the CMOS. Do this by moving the clear CMOS jumpers into the 'clear' position or bypass the CMOS by pressing and holding the 'Ins' key on your keyboard when booting up.
• If you see a BIOS screen every time you power up your PC, the problem might be caused by a bad CMOS battery. Replaced the CMOS battery on your motherboard with a new one. You can still use your PC even with a bad CMOS battery, just choose to run your PC with the default settings (by pressing 'F1'). However, performance may be slower.
• If the monitor stays blank, unhook the power cable to your hard drive and CD / DVD-ROM drive. This will lighten the burden of your power supply, so only the motherboard, graphics card, memory and processor is drawing power from the power supply. If this fix the problem, you need a more powerful power supply.
• Some graphics cards such as the Radeon 9700 / 9800 / X800 series and GeForceFX 5900 / 5950 / 6800 series require additional power from your power supply. Usually, there's a message to connect your power cable to the power supply. Shutdown the PC and then connect the cables. Switch on your PC again to see whether or not it fix the problem.
• All boards come with a built in diagnostic utility which emits a series of beeps - these are knows as BIOS error codes. Some offer additional LED diagnostic tools that offers more information. If you hear beeps, it usually means your graphics card and / or memory is not properly installed - or the motherboard can't detect them. Check them to see if they're properly connected. Old PCs may have dirt or developed traces of oxidation on connectors and slots - clean them with a clean, dry soft cloth. Make sure the AGP and DIMM slot lock mechanism is set to the locking position when both components are installed.
• Most motherboard now comes with built in fan monitoring. These motherboards may be set to shutdown itself automatically if they don't detect the presence of a processor fan. Check whether or not the heatsink's fan for the processor is connected to the CPU fan header (usually called CPU1 or CPUFAN header). The fan's cable must have three cables (red, yellow and black), 2 for power and 1 for monitoring signal. Of course, automatic shutdown also occurs if your processor's fan have failed or running dangerously slow.

Problematic components: graphics card, memory, motherboard. If you have done all these troubleshooting steps and your PC still won't boot, chances are either the graphics card, memory or motherboard have failed. Unless you have a spare PC and components lying around, bring your PC to a repair service or the store you bought it from. Obviously, you have to replace the failed / damaged components.

PC won't boot at all (fans are not spinning, lights are off)

• Check whether or not the power cable from your PC is connected to the wall socket (or through the UPS)
• Check the power supply's switch and see whether it is set to the 'On' position. The same thing if you use a UPS. Check whether or not the power supply's voltage switch is correctly set to your locale (110 or 220 volts).
• Check whether or not the power supply cables from the PSU is properly connected to your motherboard. This means both the ATX power cables and the ATX 12 volts cable as well (if your motherboard requires it).
• Check whether or not the power switch's cable on your casing is properly connected to the power cable header on your motherboard. Try shorting the header to switch on your PC.

Problematic components: processor, power supply. Under these conditions, if your PC still won't boot its either the processor or the power supply that's at fault. Again, i recommend you to take your PC to a repair service or the store you bought it from. Obviously, you have to replace the failed / damaged components.

OK, that should be it. Remember, that this guide is only a general guide to troubleshooting. You may want to check your hardware manual for specific information and problems regarding your hardware. Information regarding BIOS configuration, CMOS jumper location, BIOS error codes and LED diagnostic codes can be found in your motherboard's manual. They will also contain explanation about BIOS settings such as memory timings, speed, FSB which you can use to troubleshoot misconfiguration problems.

While troubleshooting your PC, especially if you're dealing with hardware, it's important to take precautions to avoid harm to yourself and the components. Just like what we talked about in the "Building Your Own PC", be careful about electrical connections and electrostatic discharge. Make sure you're working in a clean, well lit environment and prepare the necessary tools for troubleshooting and disassembling your PC.

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