A+ Guide to Managing

and Maintaining Your PC

Fifth Edition

Chapter 24

Troubleshooting and
Maintenance Fundamentals

You Will Learn

About your role as a PC technician in

troubleshooting and maintenance, and tools
available to help you in those roles

How to approach a troubleshooting problem

How to develop a preventive maintenance plan

and what to include in it
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Troubleshooting Perspectives

PC support technician

PC service technician

Bench technician

Help-desk technician

Essential Troubleshooting Tools

Bootable rescue disks

Ground bracelet and/ground mat

Screwdrivers (flat-head, Phillips-head or crosshead, Torx set, particularly size T15)

Tweezers, preferably insulated

Chip extractor and extractor

4

Useful Troubleshooting Tools

Multimeter

Needle-nose pliers

Flashlight

AC outlet ground tester

Small cups or bags

5

Useful Troubleshooting Tools

(continued)

Antistatic bags

Pen and paper

Diagnostic cards and software

Utility software, virus detection, and

diagnostic software on disks
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Bootable Rescue Disk

Enables booting of PC even when hard drive

fails

Ensures cleanest boot possible

POST Diagnostic Cards

Monitor boot process and report errors and

conflicts at POST, usually as coded numbers
on an LED panel on the card

Examples of POST Diagnostic

Cards

Amber Debug Card by Phoenix Technologies

PCI Error Testing/Debug Card by Trigen

Industries

POSTcard V3 by Unicore Software, Inc.

Diagnostic Software

Identifies hardware problems

Most effective diagnostic software does not

run from the Windows OS

Windows might mask a hardware problem

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Examples of Diagnostic
Software

PC-Technician by Windsor Technologies, Inc.

PC-Diagnosys by Windsor Technologies, Inc.

Data Lifeguard Tools by Western Digital

Programs that test memory

Memtest 86 by Chris Brady

Windows Memory Diagnostic by Microsoft

DocMemory by CST Inc.

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General-Purpose Utility
Software

Diagnoses problems

Repairs and maintains software on a PC

Recovers corrupted or deleted data on hard

drive or floppy disks

Provides security

Monitors system performance

12

General-Purpose Utility
Software (continued)

Downloads software updates from Internet

Might use installed OS or provide its own

Do not run it continuously in the background

Slows down system

13

Examples of General-Purpose
Utility Software

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Examples of General-Purpose
Utility Software (continued)

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Fundamental Rules of
Troubleshooting

Make backups before making changes

Approach problem systematically

Isolate problem

Remove memory-resident programs

Boot from disk to eliminate the OS and startup

files on the hard drive

Remove unnecessary hardware devices

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Fundamental Rules of
Troubleshooting (continued)

Dont overlook the obvious

Check simple things first

Make no assumptions

Become a researcher

Write things down

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Fundamental Rules of
Troubleshooting (continued)

Reboot and start over

Establish priorities

Keep your cool and dont rush

Dont assume the worst

Know your starting point

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Gathering Information

Interact with user

Investigate problem on computer

Isolate the problem

19

Interacting with the User

Use good manners and diplomacy
Dont take drastic action before asking about
important data that may not be backed up
Provide alternatives before making decisions
for users
Protect confidentiality of data
Dont disparage users choice of hardware or
software

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Investigating the Problem

What OS is installed?

What physical components are installed

processor, expansion cards, drives, peripheral
devices? PC connected to network?

What is the nature of the problem before or

after boot, error message, etc?

Can you duplicate the problem? Intermittent or

consistent problem?
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Isolating the Problem

Consider the possibilities

Eliminate simple things first

Eliminate the unnecessary

Trade good for suspected bad

Trade suspected bad for good

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Intermittent Problems

Hardest to solve

Look for patterns or clues

Ask user to keep a log of when problems occur

and exactly what error messages appear

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Goals of Preventive
Maintenance

Reduce likelihood that events that cause PC

failures will occur

Preventive maintenance plan

Lessen the damage if they do occur

Disaster recovery plan

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When a PC Is Your Permanent

Responsibility

Organize hard drive boot directory

Create rescue disks

Document setup changes, problems, and

solutions

Record setup data

Take practical precautions to protect software

and data (eg, back up original software and back
up data on the hard drive)
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Preventive Maintenance Plan

Guidelines

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Preventive Maintenance Plan

Guidelines (continued)

27

Preventive Maintenance Plan

Guidelines (continued)

28

Preventive Maintenance Plan

Guidelines (continued)

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Preventive Maintenance Plan

Guidelines (continued)

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Guidelines for Moving

Equipment

Back up hard drive

Remove removable disks, tape cartridges, or

CDs from drives

Turn off power to PC and devices

Disconnect power cords and external devices

Label cable connections

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Guidelines for Moving

Equipment (continued)

Coil all cords and secure them

Pack in original shipping cartons

Purchase insurance

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Disposing of Used Equipment

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Disposing of Used Equipment

(continued)

34

Fire Extinguishers

Mount a fire extinguisher for Class C fires

(ignited and heated by electricity) near but
not directly over the workbench

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Summary

Common-sense guidelines to solving

computer problems

Avoid making situation worse by damaging

equipment, software, or data, or by placing undue
stress on users

Follow safety precautions

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