With the economic downturn last year resulting in a higher cost of commodities, consumers nowadays are trying to find ways on how to save money. A simple black out on your computer can make you hundreds to a thousand dollars poorer by just paying for the technician to fix computer problems.

In the past, a consumer would usually pay $1,000 dollars to fix computer errors for an actual cost of $300 or even less! It will usually take an average user the whole day figuring out what to do and only minutes for the technician to troubleshoot the problem. In addition, the cost of repairs usually matches the actual price of buying a new computer.

However, the problem is the saved data in your broken computer. You will not have a choice but to have it repaired so you can retrieve your important files. Then you will be in the predicament where you pay twice, once for paying to fix the computer problems and second for paying for the new computer.

The solution is to learn how to fix computer problems. Computer problems may seem enormously difficult at first look, but most are quite simple to fix. Here are the some of the ‘how to’ fix computer problems.

Power Supply Troubleshooting. The first thing to do is to check if the power supply is working properly. Power supplies that come from affordable computers usually have a substandard power supply. The usual symptoms of a broken power supply are the computer reboots by itself and the computer not turning on. You can check if this part is not working by opening the CPU case without unplugging the computer and use a multi-tester. Although this is not an easy fix computer problem, it can save you money because you can already get people from the computer shops to install the power supply for you. It will save you money rather than paying for the services of a technician.

Fix computer problems with Video Card Failure. This usually starts from freezing to no picture on the computer monitor. Video card failure is a common problem because this computer part can lose contact with the main board. Freezing images usually caused by software that has higher demand for video bytes, either you upgrade your video card or try to minimize video usage. On the other hand, no picture in the computer is usually caused by a broken video card and usually gives an annoying sound when computer is turned on. Replacing a video card is a very simple ‘fix computer problems’ that when ranged from 1 – 10 for difficulty, it only registers as 2 or 3.

Virus and Malwares attack. Buying anti-virus and anti-malwares is the best thing to do. It cleans and protects your computer files and programs. Most shops will charge you approximately $300 just to clean your computer from viruses and malwares.

There are other ways to fix computer problems that can be researched. It is timely to start learning to fix computer problems because the computer is already part of our lives and not knowing could really be heavy on your pocket.

source: http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Importance-of-Learning-To-Fix-Computer-Problems&id=5916818

Computer hardware problems can range from being harmless to catastrophic. A hard disk failure is one of the most serious hardware problems. It’s something that cannot be taken lightly because the data on the disk could be lost forever depending on the severity of the damage. Hard disk failure can occur instantly without notice and other times it can happen over time. Usually there are warning signs when a hard disk is failing over time.

I’m going to show you some warnings signs that your hard disk may be on its way out. It’s always good practice to back up your data to secondary storage before your hard disk crashes.

Warning Sign #1: Clicking or tapping noise coming from the hard drive

A computer hardware problem is imminent if you start hearing a clicking or tapping noise coming from your hard drive especially when first turning on your pc or retrieving a file. This is a really bad sign that your hard drive is dying. When you hear such unusual noises you should immediately back up your data.

Warning Sign #2: Computer is running unusually slow

Hard disk failure is a possibility if your computer is running slow and the slowness cannot be resolved through general maintenance tasks. If you already tried the following: scanned for viruses, remove temporary files and unused programs, check for software problems, defragment your disk and your computer is still slow it’s possible that the hard drive is failing.

Warning Sign #3: Files mysteriously disappeared

If you are missing some files that you know for sure the files were there and nobody deleted them, it’s possible that your disk may have some bad sectors. Your missing files may be sitting on the bad sectors. When your disk has bad sectors this is a sure sign of malfunction.

source: http://ezinearticles.com/?Computer-Hardware-Problem—Top-3-Warning-Signs-of-Hard-Disk-Failure&id=5646495

Your hard drive contains all of your important data, like the Windows Operating System, pictures, music, and other data you do not want to lose. Keeping track of the health of your hdd is a dubious chore. Unfortunately, most people do not realize there is a problem before it’s too late and they lose all of their data.

You can spot early warning signs of imminent failure if your hard drive has SMART technology. SMART stands for Self-monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology and will often give you a notice if the drive is experiencing problems. If you see a warning like that at boot, be sure to backup you data and buy a new drive.

Using Third Party Software to Monitor Your Drive

You can use applications that help keep an eye on your drive. HDD Health is one of those aplications. It can give you valuable info about the the disk’s temperature and overall health. It can also give you all of its SMART statistics.

It also shows valuable hdd information, such as the model number, partitions and remaining space.

But unless there is a glaring problem with the drive, there is no way to tell if it is about to fail. In fact, hard drives can fail suddenly and without warning. These tools should be used in addition to the SMART technology built into the drive.

How to Diagnose Problems With Your Hard Drive

Generally speaking, if you begin getting errors or blue screens that you cannot recover from, or if you occasionally cannot boot into Normal Mode or Safe Mode, then your hard drive might be on the way out. Problems will start intermittently and gradually grow worse. If you start experiencing these problems, you can try running chkdsk. Chkdsk will repair errors (if you specify that) and make sure data is no longer written to those areas of the disk. To run a chkdsk, right click the hard drive and select Properties. Under the Tools tab, click Check Now in the Error Checking area. A box will pop up. Choose Automatically Fix Errors and Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors. You will likely need to reboot before the check begins and it could take quite a while.

Make sure the size of the hard drive appears correctly in the BIOS and in My Computer. For instance, if the drive once reported it was 20 Gigs and now reports as 13 Gigs, there could be a problem.

Listen for strange noises from the hard drive. You have been using your PC for a long time, if the hard drive begins making scraping, churning or any other sounds out of the ordinary, then it could mean the drive’s actuator arm is damaged or perhaps the ball bearings on the spindle are starting to go.

source: http://www.pctechbytes.com/troubleshooting/hard-drive-troubleshooting-2

Computer sound problems are often difficult to troubleshoot. There are a lot of components that can affect the playback of sounds on your PC. These can be either hardware or software related. So diagnosing the source of the problem is the first step in repairing your computer’s sound capabilities. If you have a major brand name PC, such as a Dell, HP, Acer or similar, you should should be able to quickly find troubleshooting information of those respective websites. The tips you’ll find below might require the installation of drivers, which you can also find on those sites.

Steps to Troubleshoot Sound Cards

It’s easy to accidentally turn off or mute your sound. If you have a laptop, check for any function keys (FN) that might be used to disable sound. For laptops and PCs, be sure to check the speaker icon in the system tray by your clock. Double-click the icon and make sure all levels are up and not on Mute. It’s also possible to turn off the sound card altogether. To confirm this is not the case, press the Windows key on your keyboard along with the Pause key in the upper left. This will open the system properties screen. Click the Hardware tab, then Device Manager. Scroll down and find your sound card and make sure there are no red “X”s or error messages associated with the sound device. If the device has an “X” over it, right-click to enable it. If there is an error, click through and read the error message for more details.

You should also rule out problems with the speakers. If you have powered speakers, make sure they are turned on and properly connected to your PC. Generally, computers will use a green connector, but your PC may vary. You should also connect a spare set of speakers or even a set of headphones to the back to make sure there is not a problem with the speakers themselves.

If everything checks out so far, try going to Start>Run and in the dialogue box type dxdiag and hit return. Next, click the Sound tab and then click the Test DirectSound. You may not hear anything or you may see error messages displayed. This diagnostic displays the sound device and the driver version for your computer. Write down this information, then visit the manufacturer of the computer or the sound card and look for an newer driver version. The driver can then be updated through the Device Manager.

Windows also has a troubleshooter included in the Operating System. To run through it, click Start>Help and Support and then look for Fixing a Problem. You then need to find Games, Sound and Video Problems. This will walk you through several things to try with your PC.

source: http://www.pctechbytes.com/troubleshooting/computer-sound-problems

If your computer monitor is blank, you need to determine if the problem is the monitor or the PC. But it can also be caused by bad power and video cables, or even a bad power source. So if your monitor is blank, these steps should help you determine isolate the problem. Keep in mind there are a lot of factors that can contribute to a blank monitor, such as a bad video card, motherboard or power supply in the PC. On the monitor side, you could have issues with its power supply, cables or the LCD backlight itself.

Troubleshooting Computer Monitors

The first thing you should determine is if the monitor is a CRT or a flat panel. CRTs are older and prone to fail with buzzing sounds, such as a TV would. Flat panels can have a backlight go, which means it needs to be replaced. You should check to make sure the monitor is getting power, then play with the buttons on the front to confirm the brightness is turned all the way up. If you still see nothing, disconnect the video cable from the computer and see if a monitor disgnostic image comes up on the screen. Most newer monitors will display this image when there is no power to the monitor. It is a way to easily tell users that the monitor is okay but that there is no signal coming from the PC. If you recall seeing this diagnostic in the past but it does not show now the monitor is probably bad. Try it on another PC if you can to confirm.

You should also go directly into an outlet and by-pass any power strips you might be using. Plugging into an electrical outlet you know works can help narrow your power issues. You should also check any external power supply the monitor might have. Depending on the model, some have the power supply located in the cable, just as a laptop would. If this is the case, there should be a light on the power supply indicating it is OK. If you have a standard power plug, try replacing that with another.

Troubleshooting The Computer

If you have determined the problem is with the computer, you should make sure all connections are secure. Remove both ends of the VGA cable and inspect the entire cable for damage. Confirm the pins are not bent and then reconnect the cable. If the computer has a second video input, try the second one. Occasionally, a computer will have an on-board graphics adapter as well as a card that was later added by the user. Try going back to the original and see if this helps. If so, you may need to tell the BIOS which output to use. If the monitor comes on when the PC first boots but then shuts off when Windows loads, you probably have a bad video driver. Try tapping the F8 key at boot to get into Safe Mode. From here, you can download a new graphics driver from the manufacturer or roll-back the old driver from within the Device Manager. If the monitor is blank from the instant you turn on the computer, you have a computer hardware problem that could be the graphics card, motherboard or even the power supply.

source: http://www.pctechbytes.com/troubleshooting/computer-monitor-is-blank

One of the most difficult computer problems for a home user is troubleshooting a dead computer. When we mean “dead” we mean no signs of life at all. Where do you even begin? The average user doesn’t know the internal workings of their computer–and they shouldn’t have to. So when things go wrong, they do not know where to begin to diagnose and either fix the problem or make arrangements to have the problem corrected. The following steps will help give you some general knowledge of what could be wrong with your PC and give you some ideas on how to fix it or provide you with enough knowledge to prevent you getting ripped off at the computer repair shop.

For starters, if the computer is still under warranty, do not open the case, as this will void your warranty. HP, Dell and any other major manufacturer will respond quickly to your problems and arrange for you to send the computer in, or they might opt to send a technician out to work on the computer. If you bought the PC at a shop around the corner, send emails and begin a paper trail on the issue.

With that said, a completely dead computer will usually have either a bad motherboard, bad power supply, or a faulty case. The following steps will help you find out which is the culprit. Well start with the easiest and work our way down to the hardest. One of the first things you’ll want to do is unplug the computer and take it to a table where you can lay it flat. Open the case and check the connections to see if you notice anything blatantly wrong, then proceed with the steps below.

Diagnosing A Bad Power Supply

Power supplies can fail without warning. The worse part is, they can partially fail. This means you might be getting power to the motherboard, the fans and other components, but you do not have the correct voltages to start the motherboard.The power supply is located at the back of the case, and is where the power cable plugs into the PC.

1. Your first step should be to plug the computer directly into the wall and bypass any power strips. You should also confirm the outlet is working properly.
2. Make sure the red voltage regulator switch on the back is set to 115 if you reside in the United States, people in some countries will need to set theirs to 230. With the power off and unplugged, try toggling the switch to 230, then back to 115 to make sure it is seated in the right position.
3. Next, buy a power supply tester. Computer techs will use a multimeter to test for proper voltages. Normal users can just buy a power supply tester. These are cheap and easy to use.
4. If your power supply is bad, buy one of equal or greater power. If your current power supply is 350WT, be sure to get one that’s 350WT or higher.

A power supply will tend to fail before anything else, as they take the most abuse. They are the front line when a power surge or brown out occurs. The good news is, they are extremely easy to replace should you find this is the problem.

Diagnosing A Bad Computer Case

While a dead PC will either normally be a bad power supply or bad motherboard, the next easiest thing to troubleshoot is the case. How can a case go bad? A case has minimal smarts, but it does have wires leading from the power button to the motherboard that can go bad, and some even have advanced I/O panels that can fail.

1. You can try bypassing the case switch. This means you are initiating the power-on sequence without using the button on the front of the case. For this, you will need a good set of eyes and a small, flat-head screw driver. The idea is to find the wire leading from the power button to the motherboard that’s marked something like POWER SW or POWER ON. It will cover two pins on the motherboard. Carefully, with the computer plugged in, touch tip of the flat head screwdriver to both of those pins at the same time, thus “shorting” them. You will not get shocked by doing this, but you need to be careful not to scratch the motherboard. Read more on bypassing the case switch here.
2. If you have a Dell computer, read how to test a Dell I/O panel here.

Diagnosing A Bad Motherboard

The motherboard is the hardest thing to diagnose and replace. If your motherboard is proven to be bad, it must be removed from the case and replaced. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of stuff plugged into the motherboard, such as the CPU, RAM, PCI cards, Video Cards, hard drives, CD / DVD drives, power supply and fans. There are also tricky connections that must be made to the case’s power and reset switches. So replacing a bad motherboard is a long process. A bad motherboard will be determined by the following:

1. If all of the above are not the problem, the motherboard is the problem by default.
2. A bad motherboard might have visual signs of damage, such as bulging or leaking capacitors. See below.
3. With the computer unplugged, try holding in on the power button for twenty seconds. This will drain the capacitors of any excess power. The computer might start up and work fine forever. If the computer starts, then fails again after doing this, then the motherboard is bad.
4. Try removing any non-essential cards and drives in the computer. You do not need modems, sound cards, hard drives, CD / DVD drives, or floppy drives connected to boot. Our goal is to get a clean power-up situation, not boot into windows. If you remove non-essential parts and you still have no power, then the motherboard is bad.

In Conclusion, technicians will have more advanced tools and diagnostic equipment to quickly find the problem with your PC. But it will usually be one of the above that is causing the problem in a no power scenario.

source: http://www.pctechbytes.com/troubleshooting/troubleshooting-a-dead-computer

The Run DLL Error

In the case of the RunDLL Error, a critical file (the rundll file) is missing or corrupted on your machine. Unfortunately, this is likely due to a virus or spyware. Fortunately, you can resolve the error by cleaning your computer and ridding yourself of the pesky malware causing the problem in the first place.

Step 1: Identify the problem.

Fortunately for those of us who can boast only moderate technical skills, Windows does a nice job telling us when something is wrong.

An error message telling you something can’t be loaded and that a.dll file is missing is your first clue. To confirm the problem, you can copy and paste the error message into Google to see the sort of issue you’re experiencing. If Google doesn’t show a direct link, you’ll probably see several websites that cater to identifying strange processes (.exe files) and.dll files.

Either way, the info you need is that part before the.dll. In the error message above, the offending program is called ctrlpan. It’s the control panel. For you, the particular program may be different.

Step 2: Reboot the machine.

The first choice of busy people everywhere, simply reboot the computer. Sometimes this is enough to cure what ails you. But sometimes it’s not. In which case there is a Step 3.

Step 3: Properly remove an offending program.

If you recently removed a program, it might have fragments lingering on your machine causing this problem. Visit the Control Panel and select Add or Remove Programs. Needless to say, some programs can’t be removed, like the control panel itself. But if there’s a problematic application at fault and it can go, let it go. Most programs can either be re-installed without much hassle or re-downloaded with ease.

Select the program you tried to remove from the list and select Remove. Once it is completely gone, restart your machine while crossing your fingers. If that doesn’t work, try Step 4.

Step 4: Stop the Program from Running on Startup

If three reboots and malware protection haven’t helped, you can go into the executable files of your computer and manually delete the offending file. Go to Start and select Run. When the box pops up, type msconfig.

A new window will open up and you’ll see tabs at the top. Click on the tab that says startup.

You’re not actually deleting a program here. You’re removing the RUN command associated with a program. This prevents Windows from trying to run that application on startup. Since it won’t try to run it, it won’t fail to find the missing.dll file and subsequently return an error. Again, disabling a STARTUP entry doesn’t delete a program; it doesn’t even affect the way it behaves. I just tells Windows to not launch it when the computer starts. Since only non-essential functions are listed in this STARTUP Tab, you can actually disable all of the startup entries without enacting any damage to your system.

When you’ve disabled the entry, restart the computer.

Step 5: Run your Antispyware program.

It’s time to get a bit more serious about fixing the error. The last line of general defense is running AntiSpyware or Anti-Virus software. If a RunDLL error persists even after you’ve disabled startup items, then it could be a component of malware. Odds are – if this is the case – the error won’t be produced by the spyware itself, but as a side-effect of the malicious program running in your system.

If you don’t already have an antispyware program on your machine, do a bit of quick research and download a free program or a free trial of a program to investigate your machine and root out the problem. When the program has removed all spyware and other malware and has finished running, do one more restart to fully correct the problem.

source: http://ezinearticles.com/?Top-5-Steps-in-Fixing-a-RunDLL-Error&id=4953811

Computers that shut down randomly will be suffering from one of several possible problems. In order to fix this issue, it’s essential that you’re able to fix the problems that cause your Windows computer to shut down, and having used PCs for many years, we’ve found a very simple way to combat this problem for good.

The first and most probable cause of your computer’s random shutdown problem is from overheating. When computers run, they generate a lot of heat, which is why they have all sorts of fans inside. However, if your computer is not cooled enough, it can act in very strange ways, including shutting down randomly. If your system gets too hot, then it will just close down in an attempt to cool off.

Fixing the problem of overheating is actually very simple. If you have a laptop, make sure that it’s not hot underneath. If it is hot, then you should put it onto a desk or flat surface and allow the fans underneath to work. It’s often the case that people will smother the fans on their laps, causing laptops to overheat and shut down. If you have a desktop, simply take the side off the case and then get a desk fan and let it blow onto the inner-workings of your system. This will cool it down enough to let you see if the overheating problem is actually what’s causing your PC’s problems.

The other big cause of this problem is actually to do with Windows itself. Windows often shuts down your PC randomly if the settings that it needs to run are unavailable. The problem is that whenever you use Windows, it’s constantly reading 100′s of settings from the “registry database”, and if any of those settings are damaged or corrupted, Windows gets highly confused and can cause your PC to shut down.

The registry database is a central storage system for the files and settings of your PC. Basically, whenever Windows is being used, it needs to recall a large number of files and settings that make your computer run smoothly and effectively. The registry has been a central part of Windows since Windows ’98, but it’s one of the major reasons why computers will just shut down randomly. To fix this problem, you should look at using a “registry cleaner” to scan through the registry and fix any of the damaged settings or files that are inside it. Registry cleaners are software programs which scan through your system and allow it to quickly find and fix any number of issues inside your system. These programs are software tools and are very easy to use – you just need to download one from the Internet, install it and let it fix any of the issues on your PC. It will remove all the problems it finds and should make Windows run a lot more reliably again.

source: http://ezinearticles.com/?My-Computer-Keeps-Shutting-Down-Randomly&id=4210567

Normally Computers are built to be professional, reliable machines. There was the time when computers got collapse, and resulted in data loss and system shakiness. Your computer may hang; send error messages, or worse, no longer work at all. For computer users, troubleshooting problems can stop their work. If you know how to fix a computer, you can save hundreds or even thousands of dollars in repair jobs, professional fees, and even going so far as to buy a new one.

The most common top 10 computer troubleshooting and their tips to fix that problem are as follows.

1  The computer is unable to start up If the computer does not turn on when you press the power button, the following suggestions may help you to determine why the computer will not start up: Check the computer is plugged into an AC outlet properly. Plug another electrical device into the outlet to be sure that the outlet is providing adequate power.

2  The computer screen is blank.If the screen is blank, the computer may not be set to display the image on the computer screen. First, check if the monitor plugged in to a power outlet and is connected to the computer securely and make sure the monitor power button is on. If the power light is not on, it means that the outlet is not delivering power to the monitor.

3   Trouble with video card. If the power light of the computer and monitor is on and nothing comes up on the screen when you start your computer then there must be something wrong with video card. You should take your computer to a repair shop or change its video card with the new one.

4  Software is functioning abnormally. If the software is unresponsive or responds abnormally, follow these tips. Restart your computer and run a virus scan. For this purpose you should have reliable antivirus software installed on the computer to fix this issue.

5   Windows do not boot properly. If windows do not boot properly then you should have reinstall windows with the windows recoverable CD.

6  The computer is on but not responding. If the computer is turned on but not responding to software or keyboard commands, then it must be freeze or halted. Press and hold the power button for at least 5 seconds, it will be turn off. Now restart your computer.

7  An external device is not working If an external device does not function as expected, turn it on according to Manufacturers instruction; be sure that all device connections are secure and receiving electrical power and compatible with the operating system. The correct drivers are installed and updated.

8  Slow working computer. You can improve your computer working performance by cleaning hard disk of unwanted files, run the disk defragmented utility, get rid of unneeded icons on your desktop, install a firewall, install antivirus and Anti spyware tools, schedule regular registry scans.

9   Slow working internet. To increase your browser performance, you must frequently clear cookies and internet temporary files.

10   Internet network problem. If your computer can not get connected to internet then check IP address, check network cables are connected properly, make sure that servers or gateways firewall application is not blocking http requests from your PC.

source: http://ezinearticles.com/?Top-10-Computer-Troubleshooting-Tips&id=4413569

Nowadays, computer is familiar high technology tool for people around the world. As you know, without using a computer, you may get difficulties to finish your work, task, and other duties. Computer gives the easiness and fast process for many people. Just imagine when you have to use manual method to finish your tasks or works. That’s wasting time!

However, the problem comes when your computer cannot work well. Long use is a common factor to make your computer run slowly and eventually get serious trouble. The most trouble in computer is about the poor maintenance that must be checked and fixed quickly. If it is ignored, the trouble will attack the other important components in your computer.

How to clean PC error, quickly? Do not know how to increase your computer performance? Make sure that you still keep reading on this page to know exactly how to clean PC Error…

Make sure that you have checked the registry. Use the best a registry cleaner or fixer that available in computer’s centre. Remember, registry has a big part in computer to eliminate trouble like slow down loading. Check your registry to clean PC error.

Check the disk errors out is one of the ways to clean PC error, effectively. Do not take any bad risk by neglecting the best maintenance. Just imagine when your computer gets a broken hard disk problem. You will get mad with your computer. Be careful!

Stop installing an unused program to clean PC error! Based on the computer journal and magazine, installing unused programs will give bad risk for computer. Just install used programs into your computer.

Find out the best antivirus to make your computer safe from trouble! You can use free antivirus like Avira, Ansav, or AVG to protect your computer from trouble. Apply these tips and say good-bye to computer troubles.

source: http://ezinearticles.com/?How-to-Eliminate-Computer-Error,-Quickly&id=4571484