Hardware Troubleshooting Guide
Important notice: before you continue, check if your hard disk does not show signs of dying. If your PC does not start, you are probably most worried about saving your data. If your hard disk shows signs of dying you have to immediately skip to the backup section to save your data before your hard disk is completely dead.
If you suspect a hardware problem, disconnect all external hardware from your PC, except keyboard, mouse and monitor. Start your PC and check if the problem is gone. Test drive it for a while to be sure. If the problem is gone, reconnect all devices one by one and if the problem is back, you have identified the faulty device.
If you still have the problem after disconnecting all external hardware, you must now open the computer and internally disconnect everything from the mainboard except the power supply obviously, the CPU, the RAM and the hard disk. These are the core components of your PC. If you start your PC with this minimal hardware configuration and you still have the problem, you already have eliminated a lot. If the problem is gone, reconnect the devices one by one and check if the problem returns to find the faulty device.
If the problem remains you have to look at one of the core components. You can run diagnostic software to test the RAM, CPU and Hard Disk for errors. As your PC does not start anymore, you will need to run the diagnostic software from a CD. (For almost two decades, this was done with floppy disks, however very few computers have a floppy drive these days but most have a CD-ROM)
There is one awesome free product out there to diagnose your core hardware. The website is www.ultimatebootcd.com You can download the ISO image from their website. They have consolidated many diagnostic tools on one boot disk, easily accessible with a menu. For example, they provide many Hard Disk diagnostics tools for many manufacturers (some of those companies have merged).
• IBM
• Hitachi
• Fujitsu
• Seagate
• Maxtor
• Samsung
• Western Digital
• Maxtor
• Quantum
• Gateway
• ExcelStor
Again be sure that before testing your hard disk, read “how to recognize a dying hard disk” because in that case you might want to try to backup your data first before stressing the hard disk with diagnostic tools.
If your memory, CPU and Hard disk are fine and you are absolutely sure your software is not the cause either, you most probably have a problem with your motherboard. If your PC is still under warranty, have it replaced by your supplier. If the PC is no longer under warranty, the you can either buy an identical motherboard or a new one that is compatible with your current housing, internal and external hardware. Motherboards evolve just as fast as any pc component and internal and external connectors change over time.
If you have two bars of memory, it is very easy to test if your memory is the problem. Just remove one bar and check if the problem is still there. If it is still there, swap the bars, taking out the one you left in there, replacing it with the one you took out. If the problem is still there, your RAM is most likely not the root cause of the problem. Chances are very slim that both of your RAM modules have been broken at the same time. Usually one is broken.
Excellent guide on troubleshooting memory: http://www.kingston.com/tools/umg/umg08.asp
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