Troubleshoot Computer Booting Problem

Friday, June 24, 2011 · 0 comments

During the life of your computer, you will probably experience problems with booting the operating system. These boot problems are often caused by newly installed hardware or software. Windows has many tools that can help you to troubleshoot boot problems, find and resolve device and driver conflicts and remove offending software. By using a process of elimination, you can often find the exact cause of the problem. Once you've done the necessary maintenance, you can attempt to reboot your computer normally.

Instructions:

1. Write down the exact error messages you receive while the computer is booting Windows. Click "Start > Run." Type "msconfig" in the field and click "OK." Click the BOOT.INI tab.

2. Check the box next to "/SAFEBOOT." Choose "MINIMAL" to reboot Windows in safe mode. Select "NETWORK" to reboot in safe mode with network support. Choose "DSREPAIR" to reboot in Directory Service restore mode.

3. Click "Start > Control Panel > Add or Remove Programs." Find the programs you installed most recently within the list and uninstall them. Keep the installation CDs or files handy in case you would like to reinstall the programs later.

4. Click "Performance and Maintenance" in Control Panel. Select "System." Select the "Hardware" tab. Click "Device Manager." Select the device that you added to your computer most recently. Right click the device and select "Properties." Click the "Troubleshoot" button and select the option that best describes the symptoms your device is experiencing.

5. Click on all of the plus signs next to the entries in Device Manager to expand all the devices. See if there are any black exclamation marks on a yellow triangle. This indicates a problem with your device. Also see if there are any red X marks near the devices. This indicates that the device is disabled.

6. Click "Start > Run." Type "msconfig" and select "OK." In the BOOT.INI tab, uncheck the /SAFEBOOT option. Reboot your computer. If the computer starts normally, you're finished. If it doesn't, reboot in safe mode and click "Start > Control Panel > Performance and Maintenance > System Restore." Select "Restore my computer to an earlier time." Choose a date on the calendar that is at least one day prior to the time that your computer began experiencing boot problems.


7. Reinstall any software programs or hardware you removed one at a time. Reboot the computer after each installation. Make careful notes of any error messages or boot problems you experience.

Source: http://goo.gl/kDs1h

Technical Support - Prevention is Better Than Cure

Wednesday, June 1, 2011 · 0 comments

The best way to deal with the sloppy service you are bound to receive if you resort to a technical support phone call is to avoid that phone call altogether. The blunt truth is that technical support service, with unwilling companies and logistical hurdles galore, is not going to get better in the near future. Instead of leaving your computer system to the winds of fate and time, it is better and a lot easier to take matters into your own hands. Eventually, all computer software and hardware must be replaced but by taking care of your computer, you can reduce the chances of your computer system failing and increase its longevity. Taking care of computer is easy and cheap as most of the tools are available bundled with the operating system itself. Additional software that you might need is readily available free or very cheap online.

1. Always, always use an antivirus. Your computer, particularly if it is connected to the internet continuously through a broadband connection, is at risk of being infected by over one million malicious computer viruses. Computer viruses are essentially little bits of code that have found ways to get past or manipulate your computer security system. Once they are in your computer, they can wreck havoc. An antivirus is a must for any computer that is connected to the Internet. Even if the computer you use is rarely connected to the internet, it is at risk of being infected by flash-drives, floppies or practically any other external media. Free antivirus software is readily available online if you do not feel like shelling out money on one.

2. House-cleaning. Computers and humans and human life have a great deal in common. Because they were invented and designed by humans, they reflect a lot of human concepts. Computers, like homes, can become cluttered, particularly the hard-drives. Through intensive use, hard-drives will generally get fragmented, which means that a single file may be written across multiple locations on the disk. Although this poses no problem per se to the operation of the computer, it slows it down considerably as to read one file the hard disk must scan to several locations instead of being able to read in one line continuously. Regular defragmentation (the process of joining these fragments of data together on the disk) is a must. Defragmentation software exists natively on your operating system and need not be bought separately.

3. Backup. Never put all your eggs in one basket, someone said, and that principle holds all the more true in the cyber world. Always keep a backup of your important data in a separate location (i.e. on another computer or online; keeping a backup on the same computer is pointless). This way, in the event that your system goes through a catastrophic software crash, all you simply need to do is format (erase) the entire computer, reinstall the operating system and load your vital data back on. In many cases, a clean installation is a lot easier and takes less time than trying to diagnose the problem with a technical support staff.

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Source: http://goo.gl/0ANT5