Troubleshooting Computer Hardware Problems Maryland

If your computer is acting up, the first things to check when you suspect hardware problems are the connections, cables, and whatnot that link all the various pieces and parts of your computer:

• Is everything properly plugged in and receiving power? (Are the power strip on-off switches in the On position, for example?)

• Are cables snuggly plugged into their sockets?

• Are cables snuggly plugged into the proper sockets? (The Line In and Microphone jacks look identical on every computer, but there is a difference!)

• Are both ends of the cable connected?

Listen!

Is the computer making noise? All computers have internal fans designed to regulate the temperature inside the box. If the fan goes, the computer gets too hot and fails.

Do you hear the fan? Poke your head around the back to see whether the fan is spinning, just to be sure. If not, you have hardware trouble.

• Not all personal computers have a fan. The Apple iMac computer comes without a fan, and some older microcomputers and laptops come without internal fans.

• Some PCs can get hot even with their fans spinning. For such systems, you can get fan "upgrades" by adding a second fan to the PC's case.

Laptops have internal fans, but they still run notoriously hot. To help keep your laptop cool, consider an external cooling pad. The pad contains several fans, and you set your laptop atop the thing. The result is a cooler-running and much happier laptop.

• Sometimes, the fan is integrated into the power supply. In that case, you need to buy a new power supply to replace the fan.

Touch!

Is the computer hot? Electronics do get hot, but they're designed to dissipate the heat. Heat is a Bad Thing for electronics. It causes errors. In fact, your computer manual probably has a "recommended operating temperature" guide somewhere — maybe even on the console's back panel.

• If the computer is hot, turn it off. Get it fixed.

• Check a peripheral's power brick to see whether it gets too hot. Power bricks (more properly, transformers) get warm but should never be hot. If they're hot, they need to be replaced.

Check the monitor

To do a quick check of the monitor, first ensure that it's properly connected and turned on: A monitor plugs into both a power source and the computer. A CRT, or "glass," monitor plugs directly into a socket. An LCD monitor typically plugs into a power brick (transformer) and then into the wall socket.

The monitor may look dead, but the brightness may just be turned down all the way. Fiddle with the knobs to try to get a reaction.

Modern monitors are quite smart. If yours doesn't receive a signal from the computer, it displays a message telling you so. It says No input or No signal or something equally cryptic or obtuse, but conveys the general meaning of "I'm not connected to anything sending me a signal."

Some monitors have more than one input. You might see an A-B switch for viewing output from more than one source. Some high-end monitors have both VGA and BNC connectors for the signal, plus corresponding buttons on the panel to choose either input.

• It's quite common for the power light on a monitor to turn green when the monitor is up and running. When the monitor isn't receiving a signal, the light turns yellow or flashes.

• The light also turns yellow when the computer is in Sleep, Stand By, or Hibernate mode.

Tap the Ctrl or Enter key on the keyboard to see if the computer is just sleeping and has shut down the monitor.

• On some computers, you have to punch the Power/Sleep button to wake it up.