OS FEATURES & TROUBLE SHOOTING:

 Identify the problem in PC which does not boot due to improper assembly or defective peripherals, fix it toget the computer back to working condition.

AIM: Hardware troubleshooting Troubleshoot:-

1. If you hit the power button & nothing happened.

 Check all power connections.

 Check for power on motherboard.

2. If the system turns on but does not beep or begin to bootup.

 Remove all components except motherboard/ cpu / mother check by giving

power to them Computer error beeps codes:

No beep: short, no power, bad CPU/ MD, :loose peripherals.

One beep: everything is normal & computer posted tax.

Two beeps: post / CMOS error.

One long beep One short beep: Motherboard problem.

One long beep two short beep: video problem.

One long beep 3 short beeps: video problem. 3

long beeps: keyboarderror.

Repeated long beep: memory error.

Continuous high- low beeps: CPU overheating Experiment no: 1

Basic troubleshooting:

Sometimes things do not work exactly as planned at this point. Sometimes the system will not power

on at all. Sometimes it will power on, but you get no video. Sometimes you will get beep codes.

Sometimes you hear the fans, but the rest of the PC just sits there and does nothing. If things didn't go according to plan, troubleshoot the system. Walk mentally through the boot process and check all

hardware as it goes. Think like the computer thinks, if you know what I mean. Here is a list of some

of the more commonproblems.

 

 

1. The power does not even turn on. This sometimes happens on ATX machines and it usually

tracks down to the fact that the power switch is not properly connected to the motherboard or

it is not connected at all. Find the power switch lead and make sure it is connected to the

motherboard.It’sapossibilitythatsimplyreversingtheleadwilldothetrick.Ifthisisthenot

the case, then make sure the motherboard is not grounded somehow. Make sure that the board

is not touching the case (this is what the spacers are for). Make sure that none of the screws

that hold the board in place is touching anything metal or any of the electrical pathways on the

motherboard. If you have any doubt on this, you can remove each screw one at a time and

place a washer on them. You do not need to remove the motherboard to do this.

 

2. The PC boots, but it is giving beep codes. This is actually better than having to track

everything down on your own, because at least the PC is giving you a hint as to what is

wrong. You can also use the PC Mechanic Beep Codes E-book available on the PC Mechanic

CD to track it down for other BIOS versions. Often, these beep codes will not tell you exactly

what the problem is, but will point you at the trouble device. This information will then get

you pointed in the correctdirection.

 

3. The fans come on, but you get no video or beeps. Sometimes, this is because some key

component may not be plugged in well or may not be operational. Check the memory modules

and the processor to be sure they are firmly installed. You might want to make sure the

processor is actually working. One way that I have used to see if a processor is working is to

remove or unplug the CPU fan and place your fingers on the CPU to see if it heats up real fast.

If it does, its OK and don’t let it run this way for long. If it remains at room temperature for

awhile, then there is no juice going through the processor and it may need replacing. The

keyboard doesn’t seem to work. This one doesn’t happen too often, but if it does, your two

trouble sources will be the keyboard itself or the keyboard controller on the motherboard.

Hope it isn’t the secondone.

 

AIM: Software troubleshooting

PROCEDURE:

Error messages encountered during boot before Windows loads

Ensure that your computer BIOS settings are correctly configured to the hardware that is installed in

your computer Error messages while windows loading

1.If you have recently installed or changed something that could have caused normal windows to stop

loading , try loading the last known good configuration

2.If you are unable to get into Normal windows and believe that removing or uninstalling a program

or changing a setting may help enable you to get into windows , boot the computer into windows XP

safemode.

3.If your computer has worked fine in the past but recently has been experiencing the issue you are

encountering run the system restore option to restore the computer to an earlierdate

Other error messages that occur while windows is loading or after windows is loaded

1.If error occur but windows still loads , verify no issues or conflict exits in device manager

2.Ensure that if programs are loading automatically that these errors are not associated with these

programs

3.Make sure Windows XP is up to date by checking Microsoft windows updatepage

4.If your computer has virus protection installed make sure that it is up to date and that no virus are

Being detected

5. If your computer has worked fine in the past but recently has been experiencing the issue you

are encountering run the system restore option to restore the computer to an earlierdate.

                                     Software Troubleshooting:

                                    BIOS SETUP & DISK FORMATTING

What Is BIOS?

BIOS is an acronym for Basic Input Output System.

 Why BIOS?

To run any system, there must be default settings so that the system can load those settings when it is started or restarted. For a computer system the basic I/O settings and boot process details are

necessary to start a system.

All these default, predefined settings will be loaded in the BIOS and whenever we start the system,

these settings will be loaded.

How to view BIOS?

Whenever we start the system, we can enter into the BIOS Setup Utility by pressing Del Key.

Sometimes an F1 or F8 key has to be instead of DEL key, depending on the type of BIOS.

When we enter in to this utility we get these following menus/services, depending upon our mother

board.

In main Menu, we can view the details such as BIOS Version, Processor Type, and Speed, RAM

Size and the system bus speed and memory speed.

We can change the settings like language system time and date. We can even change the hyper threading facility if the processor supports this technology.

We must be very careful when we change these settings otherwise it may cause our system to

malfunction.

Here, we can change the settings of PCI devices, Floppy Drives configuration and chipset, USB

peripheral devices and even monitoring the Hardware.

Security

We can set the supervisor password, to restrict unauthorized users to enter the BIOS setup utility.

User password can also be set to restrict the unauthorized persons to boot or use the system.

How to type a Password?

We can even set the Chassis Intrusion to protect the system devices from removing the components of the system.

Power

The power settings protect the system from power failures by configuring the ACPI.

For example, after power failure we can stay off the system or Power on the system or else we can

even make the system to restore its previous state by selecting the appropriate options.

Boot

Silent boot : If this option is enabled it displays only the OEM logo and in the background

POST (Power on Self Test) completes. If this is disabled, instead of LOGO, we can view POST

messages

Rapid BIOS Boot: By enabling this option it will decrease the time needed to boot the by skipping

some unnecessary tests.

Here, we can also set the boot sequence from the available devices by selecting Boot Device Priority.

We can even view the Hard Drives and any removable devices and attached to the system.

Exit :

By selecting the appropriate options we can exit from the BIOS setup like exiting the setup by saving

or discarding the changes or even by loading optimal or default values.

Disassembling And Assembling a PC

 

Given a computer in working condition, disassemble and assemble it back to Working condition.

Procedure:

 

List of Computer Parts are: Cabinet, MotherBoard, Processor, Hard Disk, RAM, SMPS, Floppy Drive, DVD R/W Drive, AGP Card, and VGA Card etc…

 

Materials required:

 

¨                  Philips head Screwdriver (also known as Star Screwdriver)

 

¨                  Flat head Screwdriver

 

¨                  Forceps (for pulling out jumpers and screws)

 

¨                  Magnetized Screwdriver

 

¨                  Multi meter (Testing)

 

 

 Disassemble:

 

^Ø  Disassembling means removing part by part in a system or removing the partsseparately.

 

Steps to Disassemble a PC:-

 

¨                  Remove the Power Supply from wall socket and remove all the connections.

 

¨                  Remove all the screws of the cabinet with a star headed screw driver and open the cabinet doors.

 

¨                  Remove the connections to the processor from SMPS.

 

¨                  Remove the SMPS

 

¨                  Remove the Heat Sink fan which is placed on the top of the processor.

 

¨                  Remove the Processor by raising the lift lever.

 

¨                  Remove the RAM from the RAM Slots.

 

¨                  Remove the AGP Cards if any.Also Remove VGA Cards if any.

 

¨                  Remove the Network Cards if any.

 

¨                  Remove the Connections to the Hard Disk from motherboard.

 

¨                  Remove the Connections to the CD/DVD/Floppy Disk from motherboard.

 

¨                  Remove the Motherboard from the cabinet.

 

 

 

Assembling:

 

^Ø  After buying all the computer components they must be put together. This process is called assembling.

 

 

Steps to Assemble a PC:-

 

1)                 Install the Motherboard to the cabinet using the star headed screw driver.

 

2)                Install the Processor by raising the lift lever on the CPU Socket.

 

3)                 Install the Heat Sink fan.

 

4)                Install the SMPS (Switch Mode Power Supply)

 

5)                 Give the connections to the processor from the SMPS.

 

6)                Install the RAM in to the RAM Slots.

7)                Install the VGA Cards. (VGA ^à Video Graphic Adapter)

 

8)                Install the AGP Cards. (AGP ^à Accelerated Graphics Port)

 

9)                Install the Network Cards.

 

10)             Install the Hard Disk.

 

11)              Install the CD/DVD/Floppy Disk to the motherboard.

 

12)             Screw the doors of the cabinet using the star headed screw driver.

 

13)              Finally give all the connections including the power supply from the wall socket.

 

Note: Be sure to handle all the components with great care. If a screw is dropped on the Motherboard;it can damage the delicate circuitry.

IDENTIFICATION OF PARTS OF A COMPUTER & MOTHERBOARD

 

IDENTIFICATION OF PARTS OF A COMPUTER

A Computer is a high speed electronic device which accepts the given data, processes it and gives required information to the user.

It generally comprises of the following parts:

·         Motherboard

·         Processor

·         RAM

·         Heat Sink

·         Cabinet

·         Hard Disk Drive (HDD)

·         Floppy Disk Drive (FDD)

·         CD ROM Drive

·         CD Writer

·         Different Screws Used

·         AGP Card

·         LAN Card

·         PCI & PCI Express Cards

·         Power Supply(SMPS)

·         Input Devices

·         Output Devices

 

MOTHERBOARD:

It is the main system board on which all the operations are done. It is a platform used for connecting and interacting with several devices to perform operations

Motherboard contains the following parts:

Processor Socket:

In general a processor is inserted in the motherboard through a socket called ‘Socket XXX Connector’.

RAM Slots:

RAM is generally connected in these slots. They are referred as DDR DIMM Memory Slot

IDE Slots:

IDE stands for ‘Integrated Drive Electronics’. It is used for connecting Hard Disk Drives, CD Drives and Floppy Drives. They are generally referred as HDD Header and FDD Header.

North Bridge:

It is also called Heat Sink of Motherboard. A chip where the RAM, Processor and IDE devices exchange data among themselves is called North Bridge. It acts as the ‘Heart’ of Motherboard. It is generally termed as “CHIPSET”.

 

 

SATA Headers(Serial ATA):

These are called Serial ATA(Advanced Technology Attachments) headers used for connecting Hard Disk Drives and CD/DVD Writer

PCI Slots:

PCI stands for “Peripheral Component Interconnect” used for the expansion of the board. Through these devices we can connect Modems, TV tuner cards Sound Cards, LAN cards etc,.

AGP Slots:

AGP stands for “Accelerated Graphics Port” used for connecting Graphic Cards which enhance the performance of a Game. General speeds of AGP slots are 1x, 2x, 4x, and 8x. These numbers denote the amount of bandwidth required by the cards.

PCI Express Slot:

The 16x AGP slots are generally termed as PCI Express slots. An SLI Motherboard consists of two PCI Express Slots. These are used for enhancing Graphic Performance.

South Bridge:

A chip where the data between RAM, PCI/AGP Slots and IDE Devices are exchanged is called Southbridge chipset.

ROM:

It is  a non volatile memory means permanent storage device it is used to store BIOS

BIOS :

(Basic Input Output System): BIOS is an interface between hardware and the software .FIRMWARE is the technical term for BIOS.

CMOS (Complementary  Metal Oxide Semiconductor) :

motherboard includes a separate block of memory which needs very less power called CMOS . This chip is always on  by using a battery even when the power is off.

Back Panel Connectors:

These are used for connecting the input and output devices. The Back panel connectors consists of PS/2 ports for Keyboard and Mouse , VGA port for connecting Monitor, Serial and Parallel ports for Communication, COM ports, a  Dummy port, Integrated USB and LAN Ports, and Speaker/Mic Line IN/OUT.

Power Connectors:

For running of any electronic device we need a power supply port. In motherboards there are two types of power supplies AT power supply and ATX power supply. In additional to it a 12V ATX Connector is needed for booting the Processor.

Front Panel Connector:

These are used for connecting the power switch, reset switch, Front Speakers, Power LED, HDD LED, and Front USB

A COMPLETE MOTHERBOARD WITH ALL COMPONENTS LABELED

 

 

  PROCESSOR

A processor is the logic circuitry that responds to and processes the basic instructions that drive a computer.The term processor has generally replaced the term central processing unit (CPU). The processor in a personal computer or embedded in small devices is often called a microprocessor.

 

 RAM:

Ram(Random Access Memory) is volatile memory that means temporary memory it requires power supply any thins that is stored in the ram is erased when the power is off For Main Memory   two types of memory chips are used

SIMM (Single Inline Memory Module):only pins on onside, less speed

DIMM(Dual  inline Memory Module) :pins on both side, high speed

There are two types of RAM ‘s

SDRAM (Synchronous Dynamic) : it contains two notches (DIMM Type) and it is of 64 bit and contains 168 pins and speed is 66MHz/100MHz/133MHz

DDR (Double Data Rate): it contains only one notch (DIMM Type)  . It is of 64 bit and contains 184 pins and speed is 166MHz/200MHz/233MHz/333MHz/400MHz

SD

DDR2

DDR3

DDR1

 

HEAT SINK:

Heat sinks function by efficiently transferring thermal energy ("heat") from an object at a relatively high temperature to a second object at a lower temperature with a much greater heat capacity. This rapid transfer of thermal energy quickly brings the first object into thermal equilibrium with the second, lowering the temperature of the first object, fulfilling the heat sink's role as a cooling device

 

CABINET

A  system case is a metal and plastic case that houses the main components of the computer. it protects the computer hardware from heat ,light ,temperature.

HARD DISK DRIVE(HDD):

A hard disk drive (HDD), commonly referred to as a hard drive, hard disk, or fixed disk drive, is a non-volatile storage device which stores digitally encoded data on rapidly rotating platters with magnetic surfaces..

FLOPPY DISK DRIVE (FDD):

A floppy disk is a data storage medium that is composed of a disk of thin, flexible ("floppy") magnetic storage medium encased in a square or rectangular plastic shell. Floppy disks are read and written by a floppy disk drive or FDD.

AGP Card:

The purpose of this card is to enhance the graphic performance of the system.

 

LAN(Local Area Network):

The purpose of this card is to connect the system to the network.

PCI & PCI Express CARDS:

PCI Local Bus (usually shortened to PCI), or Conventional PCI, specifies a computer bus for attaching peripheral devices to a computer motherboard. These devices can take either the form of an integrated circuit fitted onto the motherboard itself, called a planar device in the PCI specification or an expansion card that fits into a socket. The name PCI is initialism formed from Peripheral Component Interconnect.

POWER SUPPLY:

SMPS:The power supply / SMPS (Switch Mode Power Supply) is a transformer and a voltage control device in a computer . It transfers power  to all the electronic components by converting the AC (Alternating current /high power current)  to DC (Direct current / Low power) supply.The power supply also contains the main fan that controls the flow of air through the system case. This fan is major component in pc cooling system.

INPUT DEVICES:

The devices that are used for providing information to the system are called Input Devices. Some of the major input devices are Keyboard, Mouse, Tablet Pen, Joystick etc,.

KEY BOARD

JOYSTICK

 

 OUTPUT DEVICES:

PRINTER

The devices that are used for showing the result for the provided input are called Output devices. Some of the examples are Monitor, Projectors, Printers, etc, .

MONITOR