Skruples has posted a good idea on troubleshooting so I think I should follow up and expand it further with a more in-depth and easy to understand guide.
So you run into some hardware trouble but don't know where to start? Welp, this guide is intended to help you go in the right direction and will better help us, the Geeks, Nerds, Nutcases, Wackos, or Doofus, understand what your computer problem may be and find you a solution that may or may not work. Let us start with some of the basics by giving you a check list of things to look through prior to posting.
1) Ensure power is plugged in to all of the necessary components: Motherboard, hard drive(s), optical drives, and possibly floppy drive.
2) Ensure all of the components are installed correctly. This means checking to make sure your RAM is inserted and locked in, the CPU and heatsink are secured and fastened correctly, the video card is inserted completely and also fastened down.
3) Check all data cables: IDE, Serial ATA, or floppy
4) Check keyboard & mouse are connected and working
5) Check your BIOS (if you know what you're doing) and ensure that EVERYTHING is running at either A) at default settings or B) at default speed. For (B), it is best to run your CPU and RAM at the manufacturer's designed settings. This is crucial and important if you have overclocked before or plan to overclock.
6) Lastly, check your Dust Bunny population. Sometimes the problem might be due to heat. If you haven't taken a look inside of your computer, do so now to see if you got little dusty critters in there. It may be time to serve those dust bunnies an eviction notice.
If everything checked out okay, then we can rule out hardware as a problem. But, this is not to say that it is not going to be a hardware problem in the end. It's part of the step to initially rule out that it may be a hardware problem.
Let's start by gathering information as to what you have. Here are the things we'd like to know so that we can help troubleshoot your problem.
1) CPU make and model/speed (ie. Intel Pentium D 820 or AMD Athlon64 X2 4800+)
2) Motherboard make & model (ie. MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum)
3) RAM make & speed (ie. OCZ PC3200 Premier)
4) Video card make & model (ie. ATi X1900XT or BFG GeForce 7800GTX 512MB)
5) Hard drive make, interface, and size (optional)
6) OS and version/type (ie. Windows XP Professional w/ SP2, or *gasp* Windows Vista Business/Home Premium/Ultimate)
7) Driver versions (video and optionally chipset)
8) Steps to reproduce the problem or a thorough description of it
Most of these are known if you have built your own computer or have had someone did it for you. But if you have something like a Dell or a HP computer, then it becomes harder to figure out, as they use components that we know little to nothing about. At the very least, it is handy to download CPU-Z and run the program to check what's inside (mostly). This handy program will tell you the CPU make, model, speed, details of your cache, your motherboard, as well as your RAM. You can then use this information to post so that we'll know what we're dealing with.
To find out what video driver version you're using, it'll depend on whether you are running ATi or nVIDIA hardware. However, if you have something else other than those two, it becomes harder for both of us as we do not know how to obtain driver versions for other lesser-known chips/cards.
nVIDIA Drivers: Right-click on your desktop, hit Properties. This'll bring up the Display Properties window. Go to "Settings" tab and click on the "Advanced" button. This will bring up another separate window. Then click on the tab associated to your video card. The below image shows what driver version is currently installed and will give you an idea on where to look.
If you have newer drivers and nTune installed, here's how to get your driver version: Right-click on your desktop, and select NVIDIA Control Panel. If you disabled the context menu for that, then go to Start : All Programs : NVIDIA Corporation : NVIDIA Control Panel : Control Panel. The below link will give you an idea on where to look for this piece of information.
ATi Drivers: Start up Catalyst Control Center. From the tree view, go to Information Center and to Graphics Software. The below image shows what driver version is currently installed and will give you an idea on where to look.
Now that we have the video drivers, collect all the info together, put it into Notepad or something, and save it. We may need to use it again in the future. The next step is also crucial. At the top of this page is a large bolted text labeled 'Search'. Click there and type in keywords that relate to your problem. The keywords can be anything, such as 'crash' to find out if you're getting random crashes or 'reboot' or 'restart' to find out if anyone else has encountered random reboots. Another different take on searching is to look up according to what hardware you have, such as possible problems on the GeForce 6600GT or Radeon X1800. Use simple keywords to maximize your results. Sometimes being too specific isn't good and you may never find the information you're looking for.
If all else fails, start up a new topic and look over your data. Check that everything is correct and describe the problem as best as you can. Remember, the more we know about your hardware, the better the geeks can help out in solving your problem. And if you're not tech-savvy or know absolutely nothing about computers, let us know beforehand so that we can try to be as patient as we can to dealing with Frequently Asked Questions. And lastly, look over your post using the Preview button and double-check for any typos or mistakes that need correcting. When you're done, finally hit the 'Submit' button and wait patiently for our response. It may take days or it may take minutes, depending on who is on at the moment and what the problem entails.
This guide may be edited to add more information or make corrections based on feedback, comments, and suggestions from other readers.
ChangeLog: Aug 10, 2007 -- Added Vista blurb (karma to leetkyle) and nVIDIA's nTune CP screenshot.
So you run into some hardware trouble but don't know where to start? Welp, this guide is intended to help you go in the right direction and will better help us, the Geeks, Nerds, Nutcases, Wackos, or Doofus, understand what your computer problem may be and find you a solution that may or may not work. Let us start with some of the basics by giving you a check list of things to look through prior to posting.
1) Ensure power is plugged in to all of the necessary components: Motherboard, hard drive(s), optical drives, and possibly floppy drive.
2) Ensure all of the components are installed correctly. This means checking to make sure your RAM is inserted and locked in, the CPU and heatsink are secured and fastened correctly, the video card is inserted completely and also fastened down.
3) Check all data cables: IDE, Serial ATA, or floppy
4) Check keyboard & mouse are connected and working
5) Check your BIOS (if you know what you're doing) and ensure that EVERYTHING is running at either A) at default settings or B) at default speed. For (B), it is best to run your CPU and RAM at the manufacturer's designed settings. This is crucial and important if you have overclocked before or plan to overclock.
6) Lastly, check your Dust Bunny population. Sometimes the problem might be due to heat. If you haven't taken a look inside of your computer, do so now to see if you got little dusty critters in there. It may be time to serve those dust bunnies an eviction notice.
If everything checked out okay, then we can rule out hardware as a problem. But, this is not to say that it is not going to be a hardware problem in the end. It's part of the step to initially rule out that it may be a hardware problem.
Let's start by gathering information as to what you have. Here are the things we'd like to know so that we can help troubleshoot your problem.
1) CPU make and model/speed (ie. Intel Pentium D 820 or AMD Athlon64 X2 4800+)
2) Motherboard make & model (ie. MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum)
3) RAM make & speed (ie. OCZ PC3200 Premier)
4) Video card make & model (ie. ATi X1900XT or BFG GeForce 7800GTX 512MB)
5) Hard drive make, interface, and size (optional)
6) OS and version/type (ie. Windows XP Professional w/ SP2, or *gasp* Windows Vista Business/Home Premium/Ultimate)
7) Driver versions (video and optionally chipset)
8) Steps to reproduce the problem or a thorough description of it
Most of these are known if you have built your own computer or have had someone did it for you. But if you have something like a Dell or a HP computer, then it becomes harder to figure out, as they use components that we know little to nothing about. At the very least, it is handy to download CPU-Z and run the program to check what's inside (mostly). This handy program will tell you the CPU make, model, speed, details of your cache, your motherboard, as well as your RAM. You can then use this information to post so that we'll know what we're dealing with.
To find out what video driver version you're using, it'll depend on whether you are running ATi or nVIDIA hardware. However, if you have something else other than those two, it becomes harder for both of us as we do not know how to obtain driver versions for other lesser-known chips/cards.
nVIDIA Drivers: Right-click on your desktop, hit Properties. This'll bring up the Display Properties window. Go to "Settings" tab and click on the "Advanced" button. This will bring up another separate window. Then click on the tab associated to your video card. The below image shows what driver version is currently installed and will give you an idea on where to look.
If you have newer drivers and nTune installed, here's how to get your driver version: Right-click on your desktop, and select NVIDIA Control Panel. If you disabled the context menu for that, then go to Start : All Programs : NVIDIA Corporation : NVIDIA Control Panel : Control Panel. The below link will give you an idea on where to look for this piece of information.
ATi Drivers: Start up Catalyst Control Center. From the tree view, go to Information Center and to Graphics Software. The below image shows what driver version is currently installed and will give you an idea on where to look.
Now that we have the video drivers, collect all the info together, put it into Notepad or something, and save it. We may need to use it again in the future. The next step is also crucial. At the top of this page is a large bolted text labeled 'Search'. Click there and type in keywords that relate to your problem. The keywords can be anything, such as 'crash' to find out if you're getting random crashes or 'reboot' or 'restart' to find out if anyone else has encountered random reboots. Another different take on searching is to look up according to what hardware you have, such as possible problems on the GeForce 6600GT or Radeon X1800. Use simple keywords to maximize your results. Sometimes being too specific isn't good and you may never find the information you're looking for.
If all else fails, start up a new topic and look over your data. Check that everything is correct and describe the problem as best as you can. Remember, the more we know about your hardware, the better the geeks can help out in solving your problem. And if you're not tech-savvy or know absolutely nothing about computers, let us know beforehand so that we can try to be as patient as we can to dealing with Frequently Asked Questions. And lastly, look over your post using the Preview button and double-check for any typos or mistakes that need correcting. When you're done, finally hit the 'Submit' button and wait patiently for our response. It may take days or it may take minutes, depending on who is on at the moment and what the problem entails.
This guide may be edited to add more information or make corrections based on feedback, comments, and suggestions from other readers.
ChangeLog: Aug 10, 2007 -- Added Vista blurb (karma to leetkyle) and nVIDIA's nTune CP screenshot.
Last edited by sixshot (2007-08-10 16:08:53)