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At this point in the course, I've taught you almost everything you need to know about PC troubleshooting. You know about RAM, hard drives, Windows, the Internet, and so much more. What more can I tell you?
The final pieces of wisdom I want to tell you about share a lot in common with what you learned at the beginning of the course. Remember the computing process and troubleshooting theory? Let's take a look at these two principles again, this time with the full knowledge of how to handle a lot of PC problems. I also want to talk about opportunities available to you in the world of information technology careers.
You've spent a lot of time going through this course, reading about technologies and components in great detail. In Lesson 7, you learned about fixing Internet connection issues, sharing files, and working with wired and wireless networks. In Lesson 10, you learned how to handle the physical components of your PC. With each lesson, you added more information about the pieces that make up the personal computer today.
Now I want you to distill that knowledge, so you can think about the computer as a coherent machine. Each PC component works together to enable people to produce amazing things.
To master the art of troubleshooting as a PC tech, you need to approach a technical problem and answer one question: "What can it be? What can be causing this problem?" (Okay, that was two questions, but you get the idea.)
Because every process involves multiple components, you must understand the interconnectedness of those components. If Jane can't print, for example, what could it be? Connectivity? Drivers? Paper jam? Slow network connection? Frozen application? Solar flares?
Way back in Lesson 1, you learned about the four parts of the computing process. Let's take a moment to review the computing process, this time to see how you can use it to help you fix computers.
When you run a program, your computer goes through three of the four stages: input, processing, and output. Input requires specific devices (such as the keyboard and mouse), which enable you to tell the computer to do something (such as open a program or type a word). The operating system provides an interface and tools so that the microprocessor and other chips can process your request. The image on the monitor or sound from the speakers effectively tells you that the computer has interpreted your command and spit out the result. The fourth stage, storage, comes into play when you want to save a document and when you first open programs and other files.
Making this process work requires the complex interaction of many components, including multiple pieces of hardware and layers of software. As a tech, you need to understand all the components and how they work together so that when something doesn't work right, you can track down the source and fix it. A look at a modern program reveals that even a seemingly simple action or change on the screen requires many things to happen within the computer.
Games such as World of Warcraft (an online, massively multiplayer game) 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.
In World of Warcraft, you move through the online world in a series of more or less seamlessly connected areas. Walking down a tree-lined path, you can see only so far in front of you. As you move through the world, the Internet server holding the game sends information about what lies ahead of you to your PC, so you won't be out of the action, and the illusion of being in the game world remains intact.
Here's what happens when you press the W key on your keyboard: 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. 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. If nothing happens at this point, the problem could be anything—unplugged keyboard, not enough RAM, a bad Internet connection. You can only know for sure by following the computing process and checking for issues at each step along the way.
Let's continue.
The CPU and the application determine what should happen in the game. On discovering that your character wants to move, they trigger a whole series of actions. The application sends the signal to the OS that it needs a specific area loaded into RAM. (If the game begins to stutter, loading areas in pieces rather than all together, you might not have enough RAM.)
The OS sends a signal to the CPU that it needs data stored on the hard drive plus information stored on the World of Warcraft servers. (You either have enough room on your hard drive or you don't—the hard drive isn't likely to be an issue.)
Then 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. (Any problem now might indicate an Internet connection issue.)
The hard drive controller tells the hard drive to cough up the data—megabytes worth. Then the data goes through the motherboard to the memory controller, which puts it into RAM and communicates with the CPU when it's finished. The network card and network operating system communicate with the World of Warcraft servers and download the necessary updated information.
The CPU then 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. (Slowness now might also indicate a slow CPU or an out-of-date video or sound card.)
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.
What do you see or hear with all these electrons zipping all over the place? Out of a seemingly blank vista, a castle begins to appear. It builds itself piece by piece as your computer processes the new information and updates the video screen. Music begins to play from your speakers. Within a few seconds, with the data describing the new area fully downloaded and processed, the world on your monitor looks very different.
That's when all goes well. Many megabytes of data have flowed from your hard drive and across the Internet, have gone through multiple processors, and have been sent to the monitor and the speakers.
Anytime you have a problem on a computer that's not obvious (such as not powering up due to not having a power cord plugged in), use the computing process to help you zero in on the problem.
The computing process probably makes a lot more sense now that you know more about how your PC's components work.
In Chapter 3, we'll cover some troubleshooting scenarios. I'll show you how the computing process and troubleshooting theory can help you solve PC problems.
You've learned a lot over the last 12 lessons. But before you step out into the wild world of PC troubleshooting, I want to walk you through a few scenarios to help you practice your new skills.
You might be thinking, "Haven't we been doing this all along?" Yes, but now we need to combine what you've learned about hardware, software, and networking and see how some problems can affect multiple domains. I also want to show you how common sense and unexpected results can affect your results.
Let's start with something simple: an Internet connection.
You arrive home, turn on your desktop PC, and open your favorite Web browser, hoping to see the latest crazy cat picture the Internet has to offer. You just installed a new broadband cable modem, and everything worked fine the last time you used it. Now, though, you get a message saying the computer can't find the site.
Your first instinct tells you to click the Reload button, but that doesn't work either. You try a different site (like Google or Bing) to see if it works instead. Nope—you get the same error.
What should you do next? Choose one option.
Each option could tell you something helpful about the current state of your Internet connection. But remember the Troubleshooting theory from Lesson 1: You want to go about your troubleshooting in an ordered, step-by-step manner.
You need to make an educated guess about what the problem might be, and then go about fixing that single possibility before moving on to anything else. With something like an Internet connection, you need to look in a lot of places to find the problem, but you can still apply some common sense—you don't need to reinstall Windows just yet!
I like to start with the easiest fixes and move on to more complicated ones. In the case of an Internet connection, you know that several cables connect the PC to the hub, the modem, and the wall outlet. Make sure they're all still plugged in. Make sure the hub and modem still have power.
Let's assume that the cables work properly and are all plugged in. Where do you go from here? The PC? The hub? The modem?
Remember the greatest Internet-fixing trick I taught you? Unplug the hub, router, or central network device and plug it back in. Do the same for the modem too.
Why does this work? Computers aren't perfect. They do a lot of unexpected things. Just because you think something should work one way doesn't mean it will work that way—don't discount odd or random behavior. It happens all the time.
After plugging the hub or router and the modem back in, you see that you still can't access the Internet. Since all the networking components seem to be in order, you need to think about software and hardware elements. Which should you check first?
Remember the path of least resistance I mentioned earlier? It's much easier to poke around Windows for a few minutes than to crack open your PC case hunting for . . . something.
So what can you find out in Windows?
Check the Control Panel's Network and Sharing Center. It provides you a nice little diagram of your network and shows you what it can connect to. This clearly shows you what Windows can see.
Today, for the sake of an interesting scenario, Windows doesn't see the hub or the cable modem. You already checked the cables. You can quickly check if Windows sees a network interface card by using the Device Manager. Everything looks fine there, too. If all the software checks lead nowhere, you'll need to look for hardware issues.
Because modern motherboards almost always include an Ethernet port (or two), you need to think a little differently to troubleshoot them. If, say, the Ethernet port were damaged, you wouldn't replace an entire motherboard. You'd just buy a new network interface expansion card, attach it to your motherboard, and plug the Ethernet cord into that card instead of the port on the motherboard. Use known good parts to see if you have bad hardware in your PC.
In our scenario, you pop in a new Ethernet card and find that it works great! The problem was in the original Ethernet port on the motherboard.
What exactly was the problem? On a certain level, it doesn't really matter because you already fixed it. Of course, you want to determine the exact cause whenever possible, but you don't need to let it keep you up at night. (In this scenario, the physical connecter itself might be damaged, or maybe the "Ethernet card" built into the motherboard went bad somehow.)
After a week of happily browsing the Internet, you come across another problem. This time, your computer has been steadily slowing down. Opening applications takes forever. Using applications isn't pretty either.
What could be causing the problem?
You need to think about this problem a little differently than the last one. With the first scenario, you knew exactly what the problem was: no Internet connection. With something like a slow computer, everything works . . . just not as well as it used to. Finding the "broken" piece of the puzzle becomes more difficult.
Fortunately, you can rule out a lot of networking issues, especially network hardware—most won't slow down your computer, only your connection speeds. That leaves your hardware and software.
Note
Don't forget the golden rule of fixing computers: reboot. Anytime something weird happens, reboot first and panic later.
First, think about how you've been using the computer lately and exactly when things started to slow down. Slowdowns, especially extreme ones, rarely happen by themselves. You might have done something that seemed perfectly innocent that, in fact, changed how your computer worked.
You recently deleted a lot of files to make room for a big movie you downloaded. You also asked a friend to help you upgrade your PC from Windows Vista to Windows 7 (the 64-bit version, because your processor could handle it). Either of these events could have caused a slowdown.
To tackle this problem in an organized manner, let's take it event by event and piece by piece.
Don't forget about the computing process. Which components does the PC use when it goes slowly? A slowly saving file, for example, points to storage—your hard drive.
With the installation of a new OS, you need to make sure you have enough RAM. That isn't the same thing as meeting the system requirements, though. The amount of RAM you need depends on how you use the computer, not what it says on the Windows 7 software box. If your PC has 2 gigabytes of RAM, it exceeded the Vista system requirements but only meets the Windows 7 requirements. That means that anything you do beyond just using Windows normally needs more RAM.
Let's assume that your PC uses 4 GB of RAM. RAM shouldn't be an issue, then (unless the hardware itself went bad).
What about that new file and the old ones you deleted? A lot of hard drive activity could expose either bad or fragmented hard drive clusters. Remember how to fix those? Run Error-checking and Disk Defragmenter (if you don't keep your computer on when Windows 7 automatically defragments your hard drive).
After the error-check and defragmentation, things still move like molasses.
You did recently download that movie file. If you found it on some shady corner of the Internet, you might have exposed your PC to some nasty malware. Run an antivirus program like Microsoft Security Essentials on your PC to see if you can sniff it out.
Bingo! A notification pops up while scanning the hard drive that indicates your system caught a virus from that video file. The antivirus program should take care of the rest!
I know it can seem a little random. You'll try a lot of things, and most of them won't work. Then you'll uninstall some program you forgot about and, for reasons no one understands, your problem goes away!
PC troubleshooting works through trial and error, but you need to be organized about it. Don't tear everything apart at the first sign of trouble. Form a plan of attack, move from one component to the next, and remember to think like a computer!
Now that I've shown you a few elaborate examples of how troubleshooting PCs really goes, we need to discuss your future as a troubleshooter. Chapter 4 discusses the kinds of jobs and certifications available to those with PC troubleshooting skills. Check it out when you're ready.
Your newfound status as a PC troubleshooter opens up a world of possibilities for you. Not only can you handle your own PC's problems, but also you can, if you'd like, start an entire career around repairing and troubleshooting computers and networks.
I know it sounds like a big step; you've only just begun your PC troubleshooting journey. But maybe the world of technology doesn't seem so scary anymore.
Let me show you how you can get a start as a PC technician.
The people who work with computers are the Information Technology (IT) workforce. They do such varied jobs as designing hardware, writing computer programs that enable people to do specific jobs on the PC, and creating small and large groupings of computers—networks—so people can share computer resources.
IT people built the Internet, one of the most phenomenal inventions of the 20th century. IT people maintain the millions of computers that make up the Internet. PC techs make up the core of the IT workforce. Without the techs, none of the other stuff works. Getting workers who are skilled in building, maintaining, troubleshooting, and fixing PCs is essential for every modern business.
Every profession requires specialized skills. For the most part, if you want to get or keep a job that requires those specialized skills, you need some type of certification or license. If you want a job fixing automobiles, for example, you get the Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) certification. If you want to perform companies' financial audits, you get your Certified Public Accountant (CPA) certification.
Nearly every profession has some criteria that you must meet to show your competence and ability to perform at a certain level. Although the way this works varies widely from one profession to another, all of them will at some point make you take an exam or a series of exams. Passing these proves that you have the necessary skills to work at a certain level in your profession, whether you're an aspiring plumber, teacher, barber, or lawyer.
If you pass these exams, the organization administering them grants you certification. You receive some piece of paper or pin or membership card that you can show to potential clients or employers. This certification gives those clients or employers a level of confidence that you can do what you say you can do. Without this certification, either you won't find suitable work in that profession, or no one will trust you to do the work.
Until relatively recently, PC technicians have been the exception to this rule.
Microcomputers came into being in the late 1970s, and for many years PC technicians didn't have a universally recognized way to show clients or employers that they knew what to do under the hood of a personal computer.
Sure, vendor-specific certifications existed, but the only way to get them was to get a job at an authorized warranty or repair facility first and then get the certification. Not that there's anything wrong with vendor-specific training; it's just that no single manufacturer has taken enough market share to make IBM training, for example, something that works for any job. (Then there's that little detail of getting the job first before you can be certified. . . .)
The software and networking side of our business hasn't suffered from the same lack of certifications. Due to the dominance of certain companies at one time or another (for example, Microsoft and Cisco), the vendor-specific certifications have provided a great way to get and keep a job. For example, Microsoft's Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE) and Cisco's Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE) have opened the doors for many.
But what about the person who runs around all day repairing printers, repartitioning hard drives, upgrading device drivers, and assembling systems? What about the PC hobbyists who want payment for their skills? What about the folks who, because they had the audacity to show that they knew the difference between CMOS and a command prompt, find themselves with a new title such as PC Support Technician or Electronic Services Specialist? And how about the worst title of them all: "The Person Who Doesn't Get a Nickel Extra but Who Fixes the Computers"?
The CompTIA A+ certification fills that need.
CompTIA A+ certification is an industry-wide, vendor-neutral certification program developed and sponsored by the Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA). The CompTIA A+ certification shows that you have a basic competence in supporting microcomputers. You achieve this certification by taking two computer-based, multiple-choice examinations. The tests cover what technicians should know after nine months of full-time PC support experience.
Many companies require CompTIA A+ certification for all their PC support technicians, and the CompTIA A+ certification is widely recognized both in the United States and internationally. Many other certifications recognize CompTIA A+ certification and use it as credit toward their certifications.
CompTIA A+ is definitely not the only route for learning about computers and having certifications to prove that knowledge. Several certifications cover computer literacy or digital literacy (meaning "what every person needs to know about computers to survive in the 21st century").
The most popular computer literacy certification is Certiport's IC3 certification, which tests on . . .
Most IT companies—big and small—see CompTIA A+ certification as the entry point to IT. From CompTIA A+, you have a number of certification options, depending on whether you want to focus more on hardware and operating systems or move into network administration (although these aren't mutually exclusive goals).
These three certifications are worth serious consideration:
CompTIA has a pre-CompTIA A+ exam—not a certification—that's geared a bit more to a user preparing to become a tech. It's called the CompTIA Strata IT Technology exam, and it checks basic knowledge levels for people getting into IT.
Just as CompTIA A+ certification shows you have solid competence as a PC technician, CompTIA Network+ certification demonstrates your skills as a network technician, including understanding of network hardware, installation, and troubleshooting. CompTIA's Network+ certification is a natural step for continuing toward your Microsoft or Cisco certifications. Take the CompTIA Network+: It's your obvious next certification.
Microsoft operating systems control a huge portion of all installed networks, and those networks need qualified support people to make them run. Microsoft's series of certifications for networking professionals are a natural next step after the CompTIA certifications. They offer a slew of tracks and exams, ranging from simple specializations in Windows Vista to numerous Microsoft Certified IT Professional (MCITP) certifications and beyond. You can find more details on Microsoft's learning site at Microsoft LearningOpens in new window.
Cisco routers pretty much run the Internet and most intranets in the world. Cisco provides five levels of certification, such as the Certified Cisco Network Associate (CCNA), plus numerous specialty certifications. See the Cisco certification site for details: CISCO Training and CertificationsOpens in new window.
Don't forget about nonprofit organizations and other charities. You can volunteer your time as a PC troubleshooter, help others, and gain valuable experience that'll help you in the work world and on certification exams.
The skills you've learned from this course can provide you with new opportunities and experiences. After basking in how amazing you are, check out Chapter 5 for a summary of what you learned in this lesson.
In this lesson, you saw how the computing process and the troubleshooting theory apply to real-world troubleshooting scenarios. I showed you how a single press of a button involves almost every aspect of your PC. I also showed you two scenarios where the troubleshooting theory (and common sense) can help you find the solution to a PC troubleshooting issue. Finally, you learned about the career and education opportunities available to those who want to continue learning about PC troubleshooting.
This brings us to the end of this course. I hope you've learned a lot about how your computer works and what you can do to fix any problems with it. You've taken your first step into a larger world. Good luck on your future troubleshooting adventures!
Final Steps
You still have a quiz and an assignment for this last lesson, so before diving into the final exam for the course, please allow some time to do those first. Also, if you haven't already checked out the book recommendations under the Resources link, I would encourage you to do that as well. One of the exciting things about computer troubleshooting is that there is always something more to learn!
When you feel you're ready to take the final exam, click the Completion link at the top or bottom of any page in this classroom. The exam is open-book, so feel free to print your notes or have the classroom open in another window for easy reference. Also, you may print the final exam before taking it for additional study. Please take your time, because you get only one chance at the final. When you finish, be sure to print your completion letter.
Last, I would appreciate it very much if you would take some time to evaluate this course. I pay close attention to my students' feedback; your input helps me tremendously as I continually fine-tune and improve this course material. So if you have any suggestions, comments, or concerns, please include those in your evaluation. If you'd like a response, please also post your comments or questions in the Discussion Area for this lesson.
Now that you've finished the last lesson, is there anything else to do? Yes, several things!
Other Courses
If you enjoyed this course, here are a few other online courses you might be interested in:
Basic CompTIA A+ Certification Prep
Start preparing for CompTIA A+ certification as you learn PC basics and troubleshoot in a real-world PC environment.
CompTIA Network+ Certification Prep
Prepare to take and pass the CompTIA Network+ exam and begin a career as a network tech.
PMP Certification Prep 1
Begin a well-paying career as a project manager by preparing to take—and pass—the PMP certification exam.
The Computing Technology Industry Association provides dozens of certifications that cover different corners of the IT industry. If you want a career in information technology, CompTIA's site can help you find the niche that interests you.
A: No one can fix everything. Even the best and brightest PC technicians run into a broken PC they can't fix. You have several resources available to you. Check the most knowledgeable resource of all: the Internet.
Find someone you know (such as a friend, family member, or coworker), and help that person fix his or her PC. If the person needs help upgrading components or purchasing new parts, be a guide through the process.
If no one's PC needs fixing or upgrading, just ask to poke around inside. Seeing other people's computers forces you to think outside the zone of your own PC. No two PCs look or work the same, so you'll need to adjust how you work and what you look for.
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