Troubleshooting computer hardware problems can be quite complicated especially if you don’t have enough knowledge on computer repair. There are various PC problems faced by users. New computers may work perfectly at first but old ones tend to show signs of wear and tear and experience plenty of troubles. If you want to do basic computer repair, you should read a lot of user repair guides and also read your computer’s user manual to learn about your PC’s specifications.
For computer problems related to the power supply, you should check it as soon as possible and determine if there are irregular voltages coming from the power supply. This may cause short circuit and overheating. Faulty power supplies may even lead to fire so it’s not something to be taken for granted. Symptoms include a burning smell and smoke coming from your computer, frequent hang ups and crashes. You might experience such problem if you have done any upgrade on your system and added new graphics card, disk drives, hard drives, or something else. The power supply tends to be overloaded with the hardware.
To diagnose the power supply, check the connectors first and ensure that all are plugged correctly to the motherboard. The power cable should also be plugged to the power supply. Also check if the power switch is turned on, just in case somebody accidentally turned it off. Examine if the fans are spinning at the right speed. If they are dirty, clean them using a can of compressed air. Next, assess if the cables give out appropriate voltage amounts by checking in the BIOS menu. Generally, normal power supplies provide the following voltages: +5 volts DC, -5 volts DC, +3.3 volts DC, +12 volts DC, and -12 volts DC.
If your RAM is defective, your computer system might be greatly affected. Some troublesome effects are memory error messages, frequent freezes, rebooting, crashes, and refusal to boot up. These are signs for other computer problems, but if you think that the memory is the main cause, you can check some programs to determine the memory’s performance and errors.
A good memory diagnostic program is Memtest86+ which you can download from their website. This memory check test is easy to run even if the operating system does not boot up. You can search for specific instructions on how to use this program with a floppy drive to test your computer’s memory. After performing the diagnostic tests, you will find out how many errors your PC has had. You can try your memory in another computer to check if it’s fine. If it passes the memory diagnostic tests, then it means that your PC is experiencing problems due to another reason.
Jack Wendalek
Computer Repair
Computer Support