1. Module 4 / unit 1
Troubleshooting and Maintenance
Fundamentals
By kenneth Ayebazibwe
kynaye@gmail.com
256774185458 / 256702555890

2. 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

3. Troubleshooting Perspectives
• PC support technician
• PC service technician
• Bench technician
• Help-desk technician

4. Essential Troubleshooting Tools
• Bootable rescue disk for any OS you might
work on (may need several)
• Ground bracelet and/or ground mat
• Screwdrivers (flat-head, Phillips-head or cross-
head, Torx set, particularly size T15)
• Tweezers, preferable insulated
• Chip extractor and a spring-loaded extractor

5. Useful Troubleshooting Tools
• Multimeter • Pen and paper
• Needle-nose pliers • Diagnostic cards and
• Flashlight software
• AC outlet ground • Utility software
tester • Virus detection
• Small cups or bags software on disks
• Antistatic bags

6. Bootable Rescue Disk
• Can boot the PC even when the hard drive
fails
• Ensures cleanest boot possible

7. Diagnostic Cards and Software
• POST diagnostic cards
• Diagnostic software
• General-purpose utility software

8. POST Diagnostic Cards
• Discover and report computer errors and conflicts at
POST
• Examples:
– Amber Debug Card (Phoenix Technologies)
– PCI Error Testing/Debug Card (Trigen Industries)
– POSTcard V3 (Unicore Software, Inc.)
– Post Code Master (MSD, Inc.)
– POSTmortem Diagnostics Card (System Optimization, Inc.)

9. Diagnostic Software
• Identifies hardware problems
• Examples:
– PC-Technician (Windsor Technologies, Inc.)
– PC-Diagnosys (Windsor Technologies, Inc.)

10. 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
• Downloads software updates from Internet

11. General-Purpose Utility Software

12. Fundamental Rules for
Troubleshooting
• Make backups before making changes
• Approach the problem systematically
• Isolate the problem; eliminate unnecessary
hardware and software
• Don’t overlook the obvious
• Check simple things first
• Make no assumptions
continued…

13. Fundamental Rules for
Troubleshooting
• Become a researcher
• Write things down
• Reboot and start over
• Establish priorities
• Keep your cool and don’t rush
• Don’t assume the worst
• Know your starting point

14. Gathering Information
• Interacting with the user
• Investigating the problem on the computer
• Isolating the problem
• Intermittent problems

15. Interacting with the User
• Ask questions with diplomacy
• Find out exactly what happened when the
computer stopped working
• Consider yourself a guest when working at the
user’s desk

16. Guidelines for Working
with a User
• Don’t take drastic action before asking the user
about data that may not be backed up
• Provide alternatives before making decisions for the
user
• Protect confidentiality of data on the PC
• Don’t disparage user’s choice of hardware or
software
• If you make a mistake or must pass the problem on
to someone with more expertise, be honest

17. Investigating the Problem
on the Computer
• 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 – occur
before or after boot? Any error messages?
Does the system hang?
• Can you duplicate the problem?

18. Isolating the Problem
• Consider the possibilities
• Eliminate simple things first
• Eliminate the unnecessary
• Trade good for suspected bad
• Trade suspected bad for good

19. Intermittent Problems
• More challenging
• Look for patterns or clues
• Keep a log of when problems occur and
exactly what error messages appear

20. Preventive Maintenance
• Goals
– Reduce likelihood that events that cause PC failures will
occur
– Lessen the damage if they do occur
• Make and implement a preventive maintenance plan
to help prevent failures and reduce repair costs and
downtime
• Develop a disaster recovery plan to manage failures
when they occur

21. When a PC Is Your Permanent
Responsibility
• Organize hard drive boot directory
• Create rescue disks
• Document all setup changes, problems, and solutions
• Record setup data
• Take practical precautions to protect software and
data
– Back up original software
– Back up data on the hard drive

22. A Preventive Maintenance Plan
continued…

23. A Preventive Maintenance Plan

24. 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
• Coil all cords and secure them
• Pack in original shipping cartons
• Purchase insurance

25. Disposing of Used Equipment

26. Disposing of Used Equipment

27. Fire Extinguishers
• Mount a fire extinguisher for Class C fires
(ignited and heated by electricity) near your
workbench, but not directly over it
• Know how to use the fire extinguisher

28. Chapter 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