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attachment11_3.pptMike Meyers’ CompTIA A+® Guide to Managing and Troubleshooting PCs Fourth Edition
The Complete PC Tech
Chapter 32
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Mike Meyers’ CompTIA A+® Guide to Managing and Troubleshooting PCs Fourth Edition
Overview
- In this chapter, you will learn how to
- Describe how computers work
- Implement a troubleshooting methodology
- Describe a technician’s toolkit
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Instructor Tip
When gaining attention and establishing common ground, ask questions of the class such as, “How many of you have had to deal with frustrated customers?” or “Have any of you gone on a tech call where you were expected to identify a problem, troubleshoot, and solve it?”
For a WIIFM statement, say to the class, “Consider this. It’s your first full day on the job. Sally calls you up practically in tears because a key report that she’s been working on for the past week is no longer there. She’s due to present this report in an hour, but apparently, it’s gone. Do you know what to do?”
Mike Meyers’ CompTIA A+® Guide to Managing and Troubleshooting PCs Fourth Edition
How Computers Work
- Somewhat redundant at this point but recapped here
- Four key components when you run an application:
- Input
- Processing
- Output
- Storage
Figure 1: Input, processing, and output
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Mike Meyers’ CompTIA A+® Guide to Managing and Troubleshooting PCs Fourth Edition
- Same process in a game
- Input with keyboard or mouse
- Processed by OS, CPU, and servers
- Output by sound and video cards
Computing Process—
Game Example
Figure 2: The Second Life
virtual world
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Games such as Second Life (see Figure 2) are huge, taking up multiple gigabytes of space on an Internet server. They simply won’t fit into the RAM in most computers, so developers have figured out ways to minimize RAM usage.
Mike Meyers’ CompTIA A+® Guide to Managing and Troubleshooting PCs Fourth Edition
Computing Process—
Game Example (continued)
Figure 3: Keyboard to CPU
The keyboard controller reads the grid of your keyboard and, on discovering your input, sends the information to the CPU through the wires of the motherboard (see Figure 3). The CPU understands the keyboard controller because of a small program that was loaded into RAM from the ROM BIOS on the motherboard when the PC booted up.
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Mike Meyers’ CompTIA A+® Guide to Managing and Troubleshooting PCs Fourth Edition
Computing Process—
Game Example (continued)
Figure 4: CPU to hard drive and NIC
The CPU sends the commands to the hard drive controller for it to grab the proper stored data and send it to RAM, while at the same time sending a command to the NIC to download the updated information (see Figure 4).
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Mike Meyers’ CompTIA A+® Guide to Managing and Troubleshooting PCs Fourth Edition
Computing Process—
Game Example (continued)
Figure 5: CPU to video card and sound card
The CPU uses the application and OS to process the new data, sending video data to the video card and sound data to the sound card, again through the wires on the motherboard (see Figure 5).
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Mike Meyers’ CompTIA A+® Guide to Managing and Troubleshooting PCs Fourth Edition
Computing Process—
Game Example (continued)
Figure 6: Updating the screen and speakers
The video card processor puts the incoming data into its RAM, processes the data, and then sends out commands to the monitor to update the screen. The sound card processor likewise processes the data and sends out commands to the speakers to play a new sound (see Figure 6).
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Mike Meyers’ CompTIA A+® Guide to Managing and Troubleshooting PCs Fourth Edition
- Communicating with servers
Computing Process—
Game Example (continued)
Figure 7: PC to Second Life servers
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Finally, because Second Life is a network application, the OS has to send information through the NIC and onto the Internet to update everyone else’s computer. That way, the other characters in the game world see you move forward a step (see Figure 7).
Mike Meyers’ CompTIA A+® Guide to Managing and Troubleshooting PCs Fourth Edition
Computing Process—
Game Example (continued)
Figure 8: New area loading
Figure 9: Castle completed
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Out of a seemingly blank vista (see Figure 8), a castle begins to appear, building itself piece by piece as your computer processes the new information and updates the video screen. You hear music begin to play from your speakers. Within a few seconds, with the data describing the new island fully downloaded and processed, the world on your monitor looks very different (see Figure 9). That’s when all goes well. Many megabytes of data have flowed from your hard drive and across the Internet, been processed by multiple processors, and been sent to the monitor and the speakers.
Mike Meyers’ CompTIA A+® Guide to Managing and Troubleshooting PCs Fourth Edition
Computing Process—
Game Example (continued)
Figure 10: The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker zoomed
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When done right, stream loading can do some amazing things. In the GameCube game The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker, for example, the game anticipates where you will go next and loads that new area into RAM before you take the step. You can be in one area and use a telescope to zoom in on another fully developed area (see Figure 10), making the experience amazingly seamless, just like real life.
Mike Meyers’ CompTIA A+® Guide to Managing and Troubleshooting PCs Fourth Edition
Troubleshooting Theory
- A good troubleshooting methodology follows six logical steps:
- Identify the problem.
- Establish a theory of probable cause (question
the obvious). - Test the theory.
- Establish plan and implement solution.
- Verify system works and implement preventive measures.
- Document findings, actions, and outcomes.
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Mike Meyers’ CompTIA A+® Guide to Managing and Troubleshooting PCs Fourth Edition
Identify the Problem
- Ask the user about recent changes and perform backups before “fixing” anything.
- Don’t be accusatory.
- Offer to perform a backup of all critical information.
Figure 11: Tech asking nicely
Mike Meyers’ CompTIA A+® Guide to Managing and Troubleshooting PCs Fourth Edition
Establish a Theory of Probable Cause
- Don’t overlook obvious solutions in favor of serious troubleshooting.
- Take a look outside the case:
- Damaged or mangled connectors
- Broken/disconnected cables or wires
- Is the system running hot?
- Strange sounds or vibrations
- Smell anything odd?
- Now look inside the case:
- Physical damage
- Bulging or ruptured capacitors
- Fans running
- Strange smells, sounds, or vibrations
Figure 12: Ford the Tech
misses the obvious.
Mike Meyers’ CompTIA A+® Guide to Managing and Troubleshooting PCs Fourth Edition
Test the Theory
- Usually means verifying something
is broken - If confirmed, develop the next steps to resolve the problem
- If not confirmed, develop a new theory
Mike Meyers’ CompTIA A+® Guide to Managing and Troubleshooting PCs Fourth Edition
Test the Theory (continued)
Figure 13: Ford the Tech is a hero!
Figure 14: Ford the Tech takes a chance!
Mike Meyers’ CompTIA A+® Guide to Managing and Troubleshooting PCs Fourth Edition
Establish Plan and Implement Solution
- Once you’ve identified the cause, determine how you can implement the corrective actions.
- If it’s beyond your skills, escalate the problem.
- Don’t be afraid to ask for help.
Figure 15: Ford the Tech asks
for help from Scott.
Mike Meyers’ CompTIA A+® Guide to Managing and Troubleshooting PCs Fourth Edition
Verify and Prevent
- Verifying makes sure the customer is happy.
- Watch the customer use the system for a few minutes.
- If applicable, educate the customer
on how to avoid this
problem again.
Figure 16: Ford the Tech sticks around and watches.
Mike Meyers’ CompTIA A+® Guide to Managing and Troubleshooting PCs Fourth Edition
Document Findings, Actions, and Outcomes
- Documenting problems allows you to track a machine’s history, enabling long-term decisions.
- Also helps fellow technicians if they have
to follow up.
Figure 17: Ford documents a successful fix.
Mike Meyers’ CompTIA A+® Guide to Managing and Troubleshooting PCs Fourth Edition
Tech Toolkit
- Be prepared with the
tools for the job. - Tech Toolkit (discussed
in Chapter 2) - Also bring FRUs
(spare parts) - Backup
- Ensure the user’s data is backed up before taking action that could compromise the data.
Figure 18: Typical technician toolkit
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Mike Meyers’ CompTIA A+® Guide to Managing and Troubleshooting PCs Fourth Edition
Utilities
- Many times, Windows utilities are not enough.
- Third-party vendors can supply outstanding tools for the most common issues:
- Malware cleaners (on a bootable optical disk/thumb drive)
- Anti-malware programs
- Boot tools
- Password clearer
- Zip file tool
- Backup
- Don’t forget your FRUs (spare parts)
- RAM, video cards, NICs, power supplies, etc.
