Troubleshooting

Most PC users suffer from an acute fear of something going wrong with the hardware and not knowing what to do about it. Many of the problems that PCs develop are minor ones that can be fixed by the user. Some faults require the attention of a qualified engineer. Identifying the fault and being able to decide whether to call in the hardware engineer or attempt some troubleshooting yourself will go a long way into making you a complete PC user.

Some elementary troubleshooting techniques are listed here:-

• Troubleshooting the Mouse
• Troubleshooting the System Unit
• Troubleshooting the Keyboard
• Troubleshooting the Printer
• Troubleshooting the Visual Display Unit (VDU)

Troubleshooting the Mouse

Problem	Possible Causes	Remedies
Moving the mouse does not produce corresponding movement of the on-screen cursor	Ball is coated with dirt	Extract the ball by opening the cover underneath the mouse and wash in warm water with soap; dry and replace
The movement of the onscreen cursor is erratic	The mouse cable is knotted/twisted	Straighten the cable
The mouse is not responding at all to any movement	The mouse ball may be stuck	Clean the mouse ball
	The mouse cable may be broken	Replace the cable

Troubleshooting the Mouse

Troubleshooting the System Unit

Problem	Possible Causes	Remedies
The computer does not get powered on	Bad power supply	Use another power point and check if it works
	System problem	Call your customer support engineer
"Non-system disk or disk error"	Non-bootable floppy in the A drive	Remove floppy and boot again
	Corrupted system files	Boot from a new floppy; reinstall the OS if you know the procedure or call an engineer
	Virus Infection	Boot from a clean bootable diskette, scan hard disk and remove virus with anti-virus software

Troubleshooting the System Unit

Troubleshooting the Keyboard

Problem	Possible Causes	Remedies
Keyboard does not respond at all or prints wrong characters	Bad or loose cable	Re-connect cable
	Bad circuitry	Call engineer
One or more keys do not work	Bad key or chip	Call engineer and get key or chip replaced
Keyboard allows you to enter either upper-case or lower-case characters only	The Shift or Caps Lock key may be stuck	Loosen key
	Bad Shift or Caps Lock key	Call engineer and get key replaced

Troubleshooting the Keyboard

Troubleshooting the Printer

Problem	Possible Causes	Remedies
Printer does not power on.	Power supply not connected or switched on	Connect or switch on supply Check connection or change cable and test
	Bad cable or loose connection	Change power point and get supply checked
Carriage does not move after power on	Loose connections between components within the printer	Check connections if you are familiar with them or call engineer
	Internal problems	Call engineer
Does not print during self test	Loose connections between components within the printer	Check connections if you are familiar with them or call engineer
	Internal problems	Call engineer
Prints a blank line after each line	Switch is set to add a line after each line is printed	Change switch settings; refer to the printer manual for exact details

Troubleshooting the Printer

Troubleshooting the Visual Display Unit (VDU)

Problem	Possible Causes	Remedies
First line of display not on the top line of the screen	Alignment problem	Use the V-shift control to adjust the display
Display not covering the whole screen but is compressed in the center of the screen	Alignment problem	Use the H-shift control to adjust the display
Display not stable	Power supply fluctuations	Change power supply point
	Interference from other devices, such as an electric heater, vacuum cleaner, etc.	Shut off these devices or shift the computer to a different location
Display suddenly vanishes and reappears	Loose contact in VDU socket	Check and replace if necessary
	Bad connections within the system	Call engineer
No display	Bad cable	Change cable
	Brightness maladjustment	Adjust brightness to maximum
	Bad monitor or system problem	Call engineer
Bad or no color	Monitor maladjustment	Adjust monitor controls
	Color signals are not proper	Call engineer

Troubleshooting the Visual Display Unit (VDU)