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Computer Maintenance Pointers

The document discusses computer maintenance and the role of computer technicians. It covers topics such as troubleshooting hardware and software issues, types of computer media, organizing computers, and the importance of documentation for technicians.

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Geraldine L. Gaddi
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© © All Rights Reserved
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69 views

Computer Maintenance Pointers

The document discusses computer maintenance and the role of computer technicians. It covers topics such as troubleshooting hardware and software issues, types of computer media, organizing computers, and the importance of documentation for technicians.

Uploaded by

Geraldine L. Gaddi
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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CIS-24 Home http://www.c-jump.com/CIS24/CIS24syllabus.

htm

Computer Maintenance

What is Computer Maintenance?


Today's Technology
The Role of Computer Technician
The Trained Technician
Types of Troubleshooting
Hardware
Computer Media
Computers
Text Data Files
System files
Images and Multimedia
Records/Logs
Remote Storage and Other Media
Data Volatility
Examples of Data
Organizing Computers
A Word On Software
Documentation

1. What is Computer Maintenance?

Operating system configuration

Software installations

Hardware upgrades

Data storage and preservation

Investigating and solving problems

Branches include

Computers (Workstations)

Network and Network servers

2. Today's Technology

Computers/Internet are the fastest growing technology tools

More than 580M Internet users worldwide


About 30% in North America

In U.S., 95% of schools, more than 50% of classrooms, and more than 80% of homes have
Internet access

There are more than 350M Web pages (no one really knows)

The technology is smaller, cheaper, faster, more mobile than ever!!

3. The Role of Computer Technician

Upgrades and Maintenance

Solving Problems:

Understand what happened, why, and apply knowledge to solve it

CompTIA preparation helps us learn from examining

OS

hosts

workstations

media

logs, and more

Network problems solved by examining

servers

log files

ISP records, and more

4. The Trained Technician

Helps the organization to determine their computer needs

Properly conducts daily operations


Correctly uses system tools

Explains all of the above aspects to peers, users, management, etc.

5. Types of Troubleshooting

Hardware

Software

Files

Records/Logs

Remote Storage/Other Media

6. Hardware

Hard disk drive (HDD)

Internal and external

Can be password-protected

Removable media

Tapes, floppy, ZIP, thumb drives

Peripherals

Routers, Wireless AP, flash memory, smart cards

PDAs, Cell Phones, Mobile Devices

PalmOS, WindowsCE, proprietary OS

7. Computer Media

All sorts of storage devices...

...Getting smaller
...Larger capacity

thumb drives hard drives CD removable drive smart card floppy

8. Computers

An increasing number of devices have embedded computers...

...with logs and memory

devices

9. Text Data Files

Documents, memos, papers

Spreadsheets, presentations, databases

E-mail

Address book

Calendar

Financial records (e.g., Quicken, Money)

10. System files

Windows Registry

Spool files (e.g., print spool)

Swap files

Installed application programs and their components

11. Images and Multimedia

Still images

Movies
Audio

Sound files may require a specialized codec.

The mere existence of a codec on a user's computer is evidence they use audio files...

A DVD burner software comes with digitization software

12. Records/Logs

Printouts and other printed materials

Written material

Logs

Application logs: E-mail, chat/IM/IRC, fax

Service logs: Web, FTP, Telnet

Operating system logs: Login/logoff, system changes

Network devices: Router

13. Remote Storage and Other Media

Corporate network

ISP storage

Web-based/Internet storage sites

For example, xdrive.com, driveway.com, mydocsonline.com

School storage

Neighbor computers

14. Data Volatility

Volatile data is data that will be lost if power is removed from the system
Non-volatile data will not be lost if the system is powered down

Non-volatile does not mean static

If volatile data is important or critical to solve a problem, you must not power down and work
on a live computer.

15. Examples of Data

Volatile data

System date/time

Current network connections

Open TCP/UDP ports

Executables using TCP/UDP

Cached NetBIOS name table

Current users

Internal routing table

Running processes

Running services

Scheduled jobs

Open files

Process memory dumps

Loaded kernel modules

Mounted file systems

Non-volatile data

System version/patch level

File system time/date stamps


Registry data

Auditing policy

Login history

System event logs

Web server logs

Suspicious files

File system MD5 checksums

Current users

Syslog logs

User accounts

User history files

16. Organizing Computers

Label computers

Label cables at both ends, as well as relevant connector

May also label unused connectors

Draw a diagram

Tip: Take photos of computer and all hardware prior to disassembly

17. A Word On Software

Understand Ethics Policy of the company.

Use properly licensed software.

Public domain/Open-Source

No payment required
Freeware

Copyright by author, no prepayment, donations accepted

Shareware

Copyright by author, free demo, payment expected

Licensed software

Copyright by author, payment prior to use

18. Documentation

Act professional, document everything.

If you do something, write it down...

...including errors!

If you don't write it down, you can not verify that you did something or how you did it

If your notes have errors or omissions, it may impact your credibility.

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