IT ASSIGNMENT

Identifying Problems
1. Explain the ff common hardware
problems and their solutions.
 Power supply problem-It may
cause inadequate electrical power to
vital components. It is most failure-
prone item in a personal computer.
Typically, a stalled cooling fan is a
predictor of a power supply failure due
to subsequent overheated components.
All devices in a PC receives their DC
power via power supply.
SYMPTOMS
  The power light is off and/or the
device won’t turn.
 The power supply fan does not
turn when the computer is powered
on.
 The computers sound a
continuous beep.
 Power supply fan is noisy and to
hot too touch.
 The computer emits a burning
smell.
Solutions
 Unplug the line-voltage power cord,
open the computer case, and unplug
all low-voltage cables from all drives
and the motherboard.
  Remove any peripheral cards that
might be obstructing power supply.
 Remove the screws holding the
power supply to the case.
 Video Adapter and PC
Display Problem-It affect the
computer performance, spoil game
performance, hamper the movie time
experience, or slowdown 3D graphics-
intensive tasks.
It is the problems result of number
culprits; include electrical & cabling
issues, interference, a problem with
computer’s video adapter or drivers or a
problem with the monitor itself.
Symptoms
  The screen is black, color fade,
fuzzy, blurry, distorted, stretched,
geometric, distortion, light leakage
or bleeding.
 Change the divers
SOLUTIONS
FOR Video Adapter
 Install the latest motherboard
chipset drivers
 Uninstall your old display drivers and
then install the latest display drivers
 Disable your sound system
 Slow down your AGP port
 Rig a disk fan to blow into your
computer
 Under clock your video card
 Do physical checks
  Test your CPU and RAM
 Check your power supply
FOR Computer display problem
 Check for loose electrical and VGA
cables.
 Remove the electrical cord from back
of the monitor, and then put it back in
place.
 Remove the VGA cable from the
computer and monitor put in back in
place.
 Make sure the connection is tight. If
you’re using a cable extender, remove it.
 If the cable is damaged replace it
 Plug the monitor’s electric into a
different outlet. If you’re using a UPS or
surge protector, plug it directly into a
 wall outlet. If the power adapter is
failed, try replacing it.
 Attach the monitor to a different
computer. If the monitor still doesn’t
work, replace the monitor’s cable. Make
sure the cable is less than 5 feet long. If
it still doesn’t work, the monitor will
need to be replaced or repaired. If it
works no problem on the other
computer troubleshoot your video card.
 Unplug your computer from the
monitor and power outlet. Remove the
cover. Pull the video card out of the slot
on the system board push it back into a
place. Be sure the connection secure.
 Reinstall video card drivers.
Download a new version of the drivers
 from the manufacturer’s website if
necessary.
 Right-click a blank area of your
desktop. Choose ‘’properties’’ from the
display menu. Click the ‘’settings’’ tab.
Try different screen resolutions to
resolve the problem.
 Determine whether the problem is
caused by electrical interference.
Electrical interference will make the
monitor appear jumpy and wavy. Move
any speakers, radios, and fan.
 CPU problem-It is a problem when
your computer systems shows a number
of systems affecting system
performance, such as freezing during
 routine operations and giving windows
‘’blue screen’’ errors.
SYMPTOMS
 Computer powers on, but turns
off immediately.
 Screen freeze during load screen
of the operating system.
 Power supply failed
SOLUTIONS
 Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc to launch task
manager
 Click the processes tab and choose
‘’show processes from all users’’. You
should now see everything running on
your pc at the moment.
  Click the CPU column header to sort
by CPU usage and look for the process
that’s most demanding.
Motherboard problem-It is a
problem that occurs the system does not
display anything or completely the system is
dead. It may cause spin up fans, drivers and
other peripherals.
SYMPTOMS
 Computer screen is blue
 Computer starts randomly
 Burning smell
Solutions
 Power up computer and wait for
short beep
  Remove the RAM and third party
video card and power up computer
 Reset RAM in other slots
 Try another working RAM if possible
 Check the motherboard
 RAM problem-It is a problem that
occurs memory sticks have no moving
parts.
Symptoms
 Computer randomly restarts
 On computer screen is blue and
white text flashes
 Computer performance diminishes
Solutions
  Remove RAM module. You need to
press the tiny levers on each end to
release it
 Test each your memory modules one
at a time to find which ones are bad
 If all memory modules appear bad,
then the problem is likely with the
memory slot itself.
 Hard Drive problem-It occurs
when a hard disk drive malfunctions and
stored information cannot be accessed
with a properly configured computer.
Symptoms
 Disappearing files and folders
 Repeated program crashes
 Frequent error messages while
running software
  Disk error
Solutions
 Use system file checker to fix hard
disk error. By using Cmd
 Run CHKDSK
 Use partition manager software to
check and repair hard drive
 PC Sound Card problem-It
occur with previously functioning sound
card when you have made no changes to
the system are usually caused by cable
problems (such as accidentally turning
the volume control down).
Symptoms
 Improper, defective & misconnected
cables
  Speakers gradually starts to crackle
Solutions
 Use a troubleshooter
 Check the sound card
 Look at the cables
 Check for updates
 See what playback device is selected
2. Explain the ff common software
problems and their solutions.
 Fixing Startup problems-It is a
problem
That occurs some elements of the systems
hardware has failed when you update the
driver for some piece of hardware or (BIOS)
for that matter & the system won’t boot
afterwards.
SYMPTOMS
 Overheating of computer
 Physical errors on hard drive
 Unneeded programs automatically
starting
Solutions
 By using “startup repair” tool to fix it.
Because, if windows isn’t starting
properly, you can often use the above
integrated tool.
This tool recover
 Scan your pc problems like missing
and damaged system files
 Fix related to windows 10 start up
with SFC command, to make it work, just
launch Cmd (as administrator) & type
the command “SFC scan now”.
  Recovery Console-It is a feature
of windows 2000, windows XP &
windows server 2003 operating systems.
It is a primary function to enable
administrators to recover from
situations where windows don’t boot as
far as presenting its graphical user
interface.
It enables users to recover their windows
computer from any serious issues.
Symptoms
 Blue screen of the computer
 Registry corrupt like system registry,
system store back up perform repair to
install
Solutons
 First, Install recovery console
 Boot into windows
 Insert windows CD in the hard drive
 Go to start & go to run
 Type the following Command, but
replace e: with your computers optical
drive letter:
e: \i386\winnt32.exe/ cmdcons
 Press enter
 Click yes at the windows start up
warning message
 Wait for the process to finish
 Fixing Hard disk
Configuration problems-It is a
problem that occurs when a hard disk
drive malfunctions & the stored
 information cannot be accessed with
properly configured computer.
Symptoms
 Disappearing files & folders
 Irregular crashes, specially while
booting up windows
 Frequent & cryptic error messages
while performing typical activities like
moving files
Solutons
 Restart the computer
 Open BIOS
 Go to Boot tab
 Change the order to position hard
disk as first option
 Save the settings
  Restart the computer, windows
detected a hard drive
 Right click on hard disk C , then click
properties
 On properties window, view on tools
pane
 Click check now then, on
automatically fix file system errors &
scan for & attempt
 Fixing Shutdown problems-It
is a problem that occurs when a
computer case or cpu temperature
reaches a critical level at which point of
the computer will automatically
shutdown to avoid permanent damage.
Symptoms
 Problem of hardware
  Battery problem
 Insufficient charger voltage
 Malware problem
Solutions
 Click drivers
 Turn off sleep mode
 Turn off fast start up
 Tweak advanced power setting
 Use windows shutdown assistant
 Check cpu temperature
 Update BIOS
 Check HDD state
 Using Device Manager-It is a
control panel applet in Microsoft
windows operating system. It allows
users to view & to control the hardware
attached to the computer.
Symptoms
 A device show a yellow circle with a
exclamation mark under other devices
 Device or drivers are not installed
properly
Solutions
 Uninstall the driver from device
manager & scan for hardware to install
the driver again
 In the device properties dialog box,
Click driver tab & click uninstall
 Restart your computer
 Open device manager, click action &
then, click scan for hardware changes
 Windows Update & Device
Drivers
 Windows Update problem-It
occurs the troubleshooter try to detect
& automatically resolve any problems &
control panel window will open
underneath system& security.
Symptoms
 Black screen of the computer
 Audio bugs
 Wiping contents of document folder
Solutions
 Press windows key + X
 Choose the control panel
 Select windows update
 Change settings for updates to auto
mode
 Choose ok
  Restart the device
Devices Drivers problem-Are small
chunks of software that windows uses to
contact & control (that is, “drive”) your
pc’s hardware.
Symptoms
 Poor sound quality
 Poor resolution
 Video flashing
Solutions
 Uninstall the driver from device
manager & scan for hardware to install
the driver again
 In the device properties dialog box,
Click driver tab & click uninstall
 Restart your computer
  Open device manager, click action &
then, click scan for hardware changes
 Using MS Config-MS Config
(officially called “System Configuration”
in windows 7, windows 8 or windows 10
& Microsoft configuration utility in
pervious operating systems. It is a
system utility to troubleshoot the
Microsoft windows start up process.
E.g-Operatng System: Microsoft Windows
Other Names: System Configuration;
Microsoft system configuration utility
Type: System Utility
Developer(s): Microsoft
It used to disable or re-enable software
device drivers or windows services that run
at startup & it can change boot parameters.
Symptoms
 Windows could not start
 Problem on hardware configuration
system
Solutions
 Click start, type missing in the start
search box & then, press enter
 On the general tab, click selective
start up, & then, click to select the load
system services check box
 Click ok & then, click restart
 Keeping Windows Healthy
With Service Packs &
Windows Update
A Service Pack (SP)-It is an orderable or
downloadable update to consumer’s
software that fixes existing problems.
Is a windows update, often combining
previously released updates that helps
make windows more reliable. They are
include security & performance
improvements & support for new types
of hardware.
Make sure you install the latest service
pack to help keep windows up to date.
It is important to support the operating
system when it has the proper service
pack.
E.g.- Windows 7 service pack 1(SP1)
 - Windows Vista service pack 2(SP2)
Windows Service Pack problem Symptoms
 Error message
 Failure of windows installation
Solutions
 Clean all temp files using disk
cleanup utility
 Restart your computer
 Turn off all anti-virus & anti spyware
programs that might run during the
startup process
 Try to install the service pack again
 Disk Defragmentation-It is a
utility in Microsoft windows designed to
increase access speed by rearranging
files stored on a disk to occupy
 contiguous storage locations this
technique called Defragmentation.
The word “disk defrag” is a typically
used to refer to the Microsoft windows
utility called disk defragmenter.
Symptoms
 Data corruption
 Hard drive failures
 Stuck computer activities
Solutions
 By using Sfc/scannow command
 Press windows key + X
 Choose the control panel
 Select windows update
 Change settings for updates to auto
mode
  Choose ok
 Restart the device
 The Disk Cleanup Utility-It is a
computer maintenance utility included
in Microsoft windows designed to free
up disk space on a computer’s hard
drive.
It is used to clean up the unused &
temporary files created by applications
during their operations.
Symptoms
 RAM counts to low
 Computer files are Corrupted
 Missing of system files
Solutions
 Go to Start & type %temp% in the
search menu >Hit enter
 Right-click on the temp files>select
delete
 Restart your computer & run disk
clean up again to check if this solved the
problem.
GROUP MEMBERS
1. Zinash
Desalegn
2. Medhanit
Kumsa
3. Surafel
Getawe
4. Birke Abera
5. Natnael
Assefa
6. Samuel Taye