Slow
If the computer acts slower than before, it’s clogged with too many programs or too much data. Here are three possible reasons:
1. The hard disk is nearly full.
2. You have too many programs running in the RAM simultaneously.
3. You’ve left the computer on for too many hours, so fragments of programs you ran and abandoned are still in the RAM (because Windows and DOS are imperfect at erasing them from RAM).
Cure:
Shut down the computer, then turn it back on. That usually makes the computer faster (since you’ve eliminated cause #3).
If the computer is still too slow, do the software-cleaning procedure, which helps eliminate causes #1 and #2.
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Non-System Disk
Non-system disk
If the computer says “Non-system disk or disk error”, the computer is having trouble finding the hidden system files. (In MS-DOS and modern Windows, the hidden system files are called IO.SYS and MSDOS.SYS. In PC-DOS, the hidden system files are called IBMIO.COM and IBMDOS.COM.)
Those hidden system files are supposed to be on your hard disk. You can get that error message if those hidden system files are missing from your hard disk — because you accidentally erased those files, or a virus erased them, or your hard disk is new and not yet formatted, or when you formatted the disk you forgot to put “/s” at the end of DOS’s format command (or forgot to put a check mark in Windows format’s “Copy system files” box).
A more common reason for getting that error message is:
you accidentally put a floppy disk into drive A! When the computer boots, it looks at that floppy disk instead of your hard disk, and gripes because it can’t find those system files on your floppy disk.
Cure:
Remove any disk from drive A. Turn the computer off, wait until the computer quiets down, then turn the computer back on. If the computer still says “Non-system disk or disk error”, find the floppy disks that DOS or Windows came on and try again to install DOS or Windows onto your hard disk.
Command interpreter If the computer says “Bad or missing command interpreter”, the computer is having trouble finding and using your COMMAND.COM file. That file is supposed to be in your hard disk’s root directory — unless your CONFIG.SYS file contains a “shell=” line that tells the computer to look elsewhere.
Probably you accidentally erased COMMAND.COM, or a virus erased it, or you tried to edit it, or your COMMAND.COM file came from a different version of DOS or Windows than your hidden files, or you accidentally put a floppy disk in drive A (which makes the computer look for COMMAND.COM on your floppy disk instead of your hard disk).
Cure:
Remove any disk from drive A then try again to boot. If you get the same error, put into drive A the main floppy disk that DOS or Windows came on, and reboot again. (Make sure you use the original floppy, not a copy. Make sure you use the same version of DOS or Windows as before; don’t switch versions. For DOS 4, insert the disk labeled “install”; for DOS 5 or 6, insert the disk labeled “setup”; for modern Windows, use whatever combination of floppy disks and CD-ROM disks your manufacturer gave you for “recovery” or “setup” or “boot”; if a disk says “upgrade”, that disk isn’t bootable and you must find a different disk instead.)
Then try to copy DOS or Windows onto your hard disk again.
If you accidentally erased COMMAND.COM from your hard disk, you might have also erased CONFIG.SYS & AUTOEXEC.BAT and need to reconstruct them.
If the computer says “Non-system disk or disk error”, the computer is having trouble finding the hidden system files. (In MS-DOS and modern Windows, the hidden system files are called IO.SYS and MSDOS.SYS. In PC-DOS, the hidden system files are called IBMIO.COM and IBMDOS.COM.)
Those hidden system files are supposed to be on your hard disk. You can get that error message if those hidden system files are missing from your hard disk — because you accidentally erased those files, or a virus erased them, or your hard disk is new and not yet formatted, or when you formatted the disk you forgot to put “/s” at the end of DOS’s format command (or forgot to put a check mark in Windows format’s “Copy system files” box).
A more common reason for getting that error message is:
you accidentally put a floppy disk into drive A! When the computer boots, it looks at that floppy disk instead of your hard disk, and gripes because it can’t find those system files on your floppy disk.
Cure:
Remove any disk from drive A. Turn the computer off, wait until the computer quiets down, then turn the computer back on. If the computer still says “Non-system disk or disk error”, find the floppy disks that DOS or Windows came on and try again to install DOS or Windows onto your hard disk.
Command interpreter If the computer says “Bad or missing command interpreter”, the computer is having trouble finding and using your COMMAND.COM file. That file is supposed to be in your hard disk’s root directory — unless your CONFIG.SYS file contains a “shell=” line that tells the computer to look elsewhere.
Probably you accidentally erased COMMAND.COM, or a virus erased it, or you tried to edit it, or your COMMAND.COM file came from a different version of DOS or Windows than your hidden files, or you accidentally put a floppy disk in drive A (which makes the computer look for COMMAND.COM on your floppy disk instead of your hard disk).
Cure:
Remove any disk from drive A then try again to boot. If you get the same error, put into drive A the main floppy disk that DOS or Windows came on, and reboot again. (Make sure you use the original floppy, not a copy. Make sure you use the same version of DOS or Windows as before; don’t switch versions. For DOS 4, insert the disk labeled “install”; for DOS 5 or 6, insert the disk labeled “setup”; for modern Windows, use whatever combination of floppy disks and CD-ROM disks your manufacturer gave you for “recovery” or “setup” or “boot”; if a disk says “upgrade”, that disk isn’t bootable and you must find a different disk instead.)
Then try to copy DOS or Windows onto your hard disk again.
If you accidentally erased COMMAND.COM from your hard disk, you might have also erased CONFIG.SYS & AUTOEXEC.BAT and need to reconstruct them.
Setup
SETUP
Each modern computer (286, 386, 486, or Pentium) contains CMOS RAM, which tries to remember the date, time, how many megabytes of RAM you’ve bought, how you want the RAM used, what kind of video you bought, and what kind of disk drives you bought. A battery feeds power to the CMOS RAM, so that the CMOS RAM keeps remembering the answers even while the main power switch is off. If the computer says “Invalid configuration specification: run SETUP” (or a similar error message), your computer’s CMOS RAM contains wrong info — probably because the battery died and needs to be replaced or recharged. In most computers, the battery is rechargeable; it recharges itself automatically if you leave the computer turned on for several hours.
To react to the error message, try running the CMOS SETUP program, which asks you questions and then stores your answers to the CMOS RAM.
If your computer’s CPU is an old 286, the CMOS SETUP program comes on a floppy disk. That disk is not in the set of MS-DOS disks; instead, the CMOS SETUP program comes on a separate utility disk. You probably got that disk when you bought the computer. If you lost that disk, borrow one from a friend that has a similar old computer, or get it from your dealer or at any computer store’s repair department.
If your computer is a newer 286 or a 386 or 486, the CMOS SETUP program does not come on a floppy disk. Instead, the CMOS SETUP program hides in a ROM chip inside your computer and is run when you hit a “special key” during the bootup’s RAM test. That “special key” is usually either the DELETE key or the Esc key or the F1 key; to find out what the “special key” is on your computer, read your computer’s manual or ask your dealer.
Once the CMOS SETUP program starts running, it asks you lots of questions. For each question, it also shows you what it guesses the answer is. (The computer’s guesses are based on what information the computer was fed before.)
On a sheet of paper, jot down what the computer’s guesses are. That sheet of paper will turn out to be very useful!
Some of those questions are easy to answer (such as the date and time).
A harder question is when the computer asks you to input your hard-drive type number. If your BIOS chip is modern and your hard drive is modern (IDE), you can make the computer automatically figure out the hard-drive type number: just choose “auto-detect hard drive” from a menu. Otherwise, you must type the hard-drive type number, as follows:
The answer is a code number from 1 to 47. If your hard drive is modern (IDE), choose 47 or “user”; if your hard drive is older, you must choose a lower number, which you must get from your dealer. (If your dealer doesn’t know the answer, phone the computer’s manufacturer. If the manufacturer doesn’t know the answer, look inside the computer at the hard drive; stamped on the drive, you’ll see the drive’s manufacturer and model number; then phone the drive’s manufacturer, tell the manufacturer which model number you bought, and ask for the corresponding hard-drive type number.)
If you say 47 or “user”, the computer will ask you technical questions about your drive. Get the answers from your dealer (or drive’s manufacturer or by looking at what’s stamped on the drive).
If you don’t know how to answer a question and can’t reach your dealer for help, just move ahead to the next question. Leave intact the answer that the computer guessed.
After you’ve finished the questionnaire, the computer will automatically reboot. If the computer gripes again, either you answered the questions wrong or else the battery ran out — so that the computer forgot your answers!
In fact, the most popular reason why the computer asks you to run the CMOS SETUP program is that the battery ran out. (The battery usually lasts 1-4 years.)
To solve the problem, first make sure you’ve jotted down the computer’s guesses, then replace the battery, which is usually just to the left of the big power supply inside the computer. If you’re lucky, the “battery” is actually a bunch of four AA flashlight batteries that you can buy in any hardware store. If you’re unlucky, the battery is a round silver disk, made of lithium, like the battery in a digital watch: to get a replacement, see your dealer.
After replacing the battery, run the CMOS SETUP program again, and feed it the data that you jotted down.
That’s the procedure. If you’re ambitious, try it. If you’re a beginner, save yourself the agony by just taking the whole computer to your dealer: let the dealer diddle with the CMOS SETUP program and batteries for you.
Whenever you upgrade your computer with a better disk drive or video card or extra RAM, you must run the CMOS SETUP program again to tell the computer what you bought.
In many computers, the ROM BIOS chip is designed by American Megatrends Inc. (AMI). AMI’s design is called the AMIBIOS (pronounced “Amy buy us”). Here’s how to use the 4/4/93 version of AMIBIOS. (Other versions are similar.)
When you turn the computer on, the screen briefly shows this message:
AMIBIOS (C)1993 American Megatrends Inc.
000000 KB OK
Hit if you want to run SETUP
Then the number “000000 KB” increases, as the computer checks your RAM chips. While that number increases, try pressing your keyboard’s DEL or DELETE key.
That makes the computer run the AMIBIOS CMOS SETUP program. The top of the screen will say:
AMIBIOS SETUP PROGRAM - BIOS SETUP UTILITIES
Underneath, you’ll see this main menu:
STANDARD CMOS SETUP
ADVANCED CMOS SETUP
ADVANCED CHIPSET SETUP
AUTO CONFIGURATION WITH BIOS DEFAULTS
AUTO CONFIGURATION WITH POWER-ON DEFAULTS
CHANGE PASSWORD
AUTO DETECT HARD DISK
HARD DISK UTILITY
WRITE TO CMOS AND EXIT
DO NOT WRITE TO CMOS AND EXIT
The first and most popular choice, “STANDARD CMOS SETUP”, is highlighted. Choose it (by pressing ENTER).
The computer will warn you by saying:
Improper use of Setup may cause problems!!!
Press ENTER again.
The computer will show you the info stored in the CMOS about the date, time, base memory, extended memory, hard drives, floppy drives, video card, and keyboard.
If that stored info is wrong, fix it! Here’s how:
By using the arrow keys on the keyboard, move the white box to the info that you want to fix. (Exception: you can’t move the white box to the “base memory” or “extended memory”.) Then change that info, by pressing the keyboard’s PAGE UP or PAGE DOWN key several times, until the info is what you wish.
When you’ve finished examining and fixing that info, press the Esc key. You’ll see the main menu again.
If you’re having trouble with a modern (IDE) hard drive, choose “AUTO DETECT HARD DISK” from the main menu (by pressing the down-arrow key six times, then pressing ENTER). The computer will try to detect what kind of drive C you have, then it will say:
Accept Parameters for C: (Y/N) ?
Press the Y key then ENTER.
Then the computer will try to detect what kind of drive D you have and say:
Accept Parameters for D: (Y/N) ?
Press Y again then ENTER. You’ll see the main menu again.
When you’ve finished using the main menu, you have two choices:
If you’re unsure of yourself and wish you hadn’t fiddled with the SETUP program, just turn off the computer’s power! All your fiddling will be ignored, and the computer will act the same as before you fiddled.
On the other hand, if you’re sure of yourself and want the computer to take your fiddling seriously, press the F10 key then Y then ENTER. The computer will copy your desires to the CMOS and reboot.
Each modern computer (286, 386, 486, or Pentium) contains CMOS RAM, which tries to remember the date, time, how many megabytes of RAM you’ve bought, how you want the RAM used, what kind of video you bought, and what kind of disk drives you bought. A battery feeds power to the CMOS RAM, so that the CMOS RAM keeps remembering the answers even while the main power switch is off. If the computer says “Invalid configuration specification: run SETUP” (or a similar error message), your computer’s CMOS RAM contains wrong info — probably because the battery died and needs to be replaced or recharged. In most computers, the battery is rechargeable; it recharges itself automatically if you leave the computer turned on for several hours.
To react to the error message, try running the CMOS SETUP program, which asks you questions and then stores your answers to the CMOS RAM.
If your computer’s CPU is an old 286, the CMOS SETUP program comes on a floppy disk. That disk is not in the set of MS-DOS disks; instead, the CMOS SETUP program comes on a separate utility disk. You probably got that disk when you bought the computer. If you lost that disk, borrow one from a friend that has a similar old computer, or get it from your dealer or at any computer store’s repair department.
If your computer is a newer 286 or a 386 or 486, the CMOS SETUP program does not come on a floppy disk. Instead, the CMOS SETUP program hides in a ROM chip inside your computer and is run when you hit a “special key” during the bootup’s RAM test. That “special key” is usually either the DELETE key or the Esc key or the F1 key; to find out what the “special key” is on your computer, read your computer’s manual or ask your dealer.
Once the CMOS SETUP program starts running, it asks you lots of questions. For each question, it also shows you what it guesses the answer is. (The computer’s guesses are based on what information the computer was fed before.)
On a sheet of paper, jot down what the computer’s guesses are. That sheet of paper will turn out to be very useful!
Some of those questions are easy to answer (such as the date and time).
A harder question is when the computer asks you to input your hard-drive type number. If your BIOS chip is modern and your hard drive is modern (IDE), you can make the computer automatically figure out the hard-drive type number: just choose “auto-detect hard drive” from a menu. Otherwise, you must type the hard-drive type number, as follows:
The answer is a code number from 1 to 47. If your hard drive is modern (IDE), choose 47 or “user”; if your hard drive is older, you must choose a lower number, which you must get from your dealer. (If your dealer doesn’t know the answer, phone the computer’s manufacturer. If the manufacturer doesn’t know the answer, look inside the computer at the hard drive; stamped on the drive, you’ll see the drive’s manufacturer and model number; then phone the drive’s manufacturer, tell the manufacturer which model number you bought, and ask for the corresponding hard-drive type number.)
If you say 47 or “user”, the computer will ask you technical questions about your drive. Get the answers from your dealer (or drive’s manufacturer or by looking at what’s stamped on the drive).
If you don’t know how to answer a question and can’t reach your dealer for help, just move ahead to the next question. Leave intact the answer that the computer guessed.
After you’ve finished the questionnaire, the computer will automatically reboot. If the computer gripes again, either you answered the questions wrong or else the battery ran out — so that the computer forgot your answers!
In fact, the most popular reason why the computer asks you to run the CMOS SETUP program is that the battery ran out. (The battery usually lasts 1-4 years.)
To solve the problem, first make sure you’ve jotted down the computer’s guesses, then replace the battery, which is usually just to the left of the big power supply inside the computer. If you’re lucky, the “battery” is actually a bunch of four AA flashlight batteries that you can buy in any hardware store. If you’re unlucky, the battery is a round silver disk, made of lithium, like the battery in a digital watch: to get a replacement, see your dealer.
After replacing the battery, run the CMOS SETUP program again, and feed it the data that you jotted down.
That’s the procedure. If you’re ambitious, try it. If you’re a beginner, save yourself the agony by just taking the whole computer to your dealer: let the dealer diddle with the CMOS SETUP program and batteries for you.
Whenever you upgrade your computer with a better disk drive or video card or extra RAM, you must run the CMOS SETUP program again to tell the computer what you bought.
In many computers, the ROM BIOS chip is designed by American Megatrends Inc. (AMI). AMI’s design is called the AMIBIOS (pronounced “Amy buy us”). Here’s how to use the 4/4/93 version of AMIBIOS. (Other versions are similar.)
When you turn the computer on, the screen briefly shows this message:
AMIBIOS (C)1993 American Megatrends Inc.
000000 KB OK
Hit
Then the number “000000 KB” increases, as the computer checks your RAM chips. While that number increases, try pressing your keyboard’s DEL or DELETE key.
That makes the computer run the AMIBIOS CMOS SETUP program. The top of the screen will say:
AMIBIOS SETUP PROGRAM - BIOS SETUP UTILITIES
Underneath, you’ll see this main menu:
STANDARD CMOS SETUP
ADVANCED CMOS SETUP
ADVANCED CHIPSET SETUP
AUTO CONFIGURATION WITH BIOS DEFAULTS
AUTO CONFIGURATION WITH POWER-ON DEFAULTS
CHANGE PASSWORD
AUTO DETECT HARD DISK
HARD DISK UTILITY
WRITE TO CMOS AND EXIT
DO NOT WRITE TO CMOS AND EXIT
The first and most popular choice, “STANDARD CMOS SETUP”, is highlighted. Choose it (by pressing ENTER).
The computer will warn you by saying:
Improper use of Setup may cause problems!!!
Press ENTER again.
The computer will show you the info stored in the CMOS about the date, time, base memory, extended memory, hard drives, floppy drives, video card, and keyboard.
If that stored info is wrong, fix it! Here’s how:
By using the arrow keys on the keyboard, move the white box to the info that you want to fix. (Exception: you can’t move the white box to the “base memory” or “extended memory”.) Then change that info, by pressing the keyboard’s PAGE UP or PAGE DOWN key several times, until the info is what you wish.
When you’ve finished examining and fixing that info, press the Esc key. You’ll see the main menu again.
If you’re having trouble with a modern (IDE) hard drive, choose “AUTO DETECT HARD DISK” from the main menu (by pressing the down-arrow key six times, then pressing ENTER). The computer will try to detect what kind of drive C you have, then it will say:
Accept Parameters for C: (Y/N) ?
Press the Y key then ENTER.
Then the computer will try to detect what kind of drive D you have and say:
Accept Parameters for D: (Y/N) ?
Press Y again then ENTER. You’ll see the main menu again.
When you’ve finished using the main menu, you have two choices:
If you’re unsure of yourself and wish you hadn’t fiddled with the SETUP program, just turn off the computer’s power! All your fiddling will be ignored, and the computer will act the same as before you fiddled.
On the other hand, if you’re sure of yourself and want the computer to take your fiddling seriously, press the F10 key then Y then ENTER. The computer will copy your desires to the CMOS and reboot.
No Video
No video
When you turn the computer on, the screen is supposed to show you words, pictures, or marks, or at least a cursor (little line). If the screen stays completely black, probably your monitor is getting no electricity or no electrical signals.
Make sure the monitor is turned on. Make sure its two cables (to the power and to the computer’s video card) are both plugged in tight (since they can easily come loose.) Make sure the monitor’s contrast and brightness are turned up (by fiddling with the knobs or buttons on the monitor’s front, back, or sides).
If the monitor has a power-on light, check whether that light is glowing. (If the monitor doesn’t have a power-on light, peek through the monitor’s air vents and check whether anything inside glows). If you don’t see any glow, the monitor isn’t getting any power (because the on-off button is in the wrong position, or the power cable is loose, or the monitor is broken). If the monitor is indeed broken, do not open the monitor, which contains high voltages even when turned off; instead, return the monitor to your dealer.
If you’ve fiddled with the knobs and cables, and the power-on light (or inside light) is glowing but the screen is still blank, boot up the computer again, and look at the screen carefully: maybe a message did flash on the screen quickly?
If a message did appear, fix whatever problem the message talks about. (If the message was too fast for you to read, boot up again and quickly hit the PAUSE key as soon as the message appears, then press ENTER when you finish reading the message.)
If the message appears but does not mention a problem, you’re in the middle of a program that has crashed (stopped working), so the fault lies in software mentioned in CONFIG.SYS or AUTOEXEC.BAT or COMMAND.COM or some other software involved in booting; to explore further, put into drive A your DOS disk (or Windows emergency recovery start-up boot disk) and reboot.
If absolutely no message appears on the screen during the booting process, so that the screen is entirely blank, check the lights on the computer (maybe the computer is turned off or broken) and recheck the cables that go to the monitor.
If you still have no luck, the fault is probably in the video card inside the computer, though it might be on the motherboard or in the middle of the video cable that goes from the video card to the monitor.
At this point, before you run out and buy new hardware, try swapping with a friend whose computer has the same kind of video as yours (for example, you both have VGA): try swapping monitors, then video cables, then video cards, while making notes about which combinations work, until you finally discover which piece of hardware is causing the failure. Then replace that hardware, and you’re done!
When you turn the computer on, the screen is supposed to show you words, pictures, or marks, or at least a cursor (little line). If the screen stays completely black, probably your monitor is getting no electricity or no electrical signals.
Make sure the monitor is turned on. Make sure its two cables (to the power and to the computer’s video card) are both plugged in tight (since they can easily come loose.) Make sure the monitor’s contrast and brightness are turned up (by fiddling with the knobs or buttons on the monitor’s front, back, or sides).
If the monitor has a power-on light, check whether that light is glowing. (If the monitor doesn’t have a power-on light, peek through the monitor’s air vents and check whether anything inside glows). If you don’t see any glow, the monitor isn’t getting any power (because the on-off button is in the wrong position, or the power cable is loose, or the monitor is broken). If the monitor is indeed broken, do not open the monitor, which contains high voltages even when turned off; instead, return the monitor to your dealer.
If you’ve fiddled with the knobs and cables, and the power-on light (or inside light) is glowing but the screen is still blank, boot up the computer again, and look at the screen carefully: maybe a message did flash on the screen quickly?
If a message did appear, fix whatever problem the message talks about. (If the message was too fast for you to read, boot up again and quickly hit the PAUSE key as soon as the message appears, then press ENTER when you finish reading the message.)
If the message appears but does not mention a problem, you’re in the middle of a program that has crashed (stopped working), so the fault lies in software mentioned in CONFIG.SYS or AUTOEXEC.BAT or COMMAND.COM or some other software involved in booting; to explore further, put into drive A your DOS disk (or Windows emergency recovery start-up boot disk) and reboot.
If absolutely no message appears on the screen during the booting process, so that the screen is entirely blank, check the lights on the computer (maybe the computer is turned off or broken) and recheck the cables that go to the monitor.
If you still have no luck, the fault is probably in the video card inside the computer, though it might be on the motherboard or in the middle of the video cable that goes from the video card to the monitor.
At this point, before you run out and buy new hardware, try swapping with a friend whose computer has the same kind of video as yours (for example, you both have VGA): try swapping monitors, then video cables, then video cards, while making notes about which combinations work, until you finally discover which piece of hardware is causing the failure. Then replace that hardware, and you’re done!
Booting Problems
Booting problems
Turning the computer on is called booting. When you turn the computer on, you might immediately experience one of these problems.
Unusual beeping When you turn the computer on, you’re supposed to hear a single short beep. If you hear unusual beeping (such as several short beeps or a long beep), your computer’s fundamental circuitry isn’t working right.
If you hear many short beeps or a very long beep, your computer is having an electrical problem, so do this:
Turn the computer off immediately. Perhaps the electrical problem was caused by a loose power cord: make sure the power cord is plugged in tight to the back of the computer and to the wall’s outlet (or surge protector), not dangling loose.
If the computer got damp recently (from a rainstorm or a spilled drink or dew caused by bringing the computer in from the cold), wait for the computer to dry thoroughly before turning it back on.
If you moved the computer recently, perhaps a part got loose in shipment; if you wish, open the computer and make sure nothing major is loose; for example, make sure the PC cards and chips are firmly in their sockets (but before you touch any chips, reduce any static electricity in your fingers by grounding yourself, such as by touching a big metal object or the computer’s power supply while it’s still plugged into a grounded wall socket).
By listening to the computer’s beeps, you can tell which part of the computer is ill. Read about “Beeps”.
Signal missing If the screen says “signal missing” or “no signal”, the monitor is not receiving any electrical signal from the computer. The monitor is complaining.
Look at the two cables coming out of the monitor’s rear. One of those cables is a power cord that plugs into the wall (or into a surge protector).
The other cable is the video cable, which is supposed to plug into the back of the computer, so the computer can send signals to the monitor. Probably, that video cable is loose. Tighten it. To make sure it’s tight, unplug it from the back of the computer and then shove it into the computer’s backside again, firmly.
If tightening the video cable doesn’t solve the problem, maybe the computer is turned off. Make sure the computer is turned on:
If the computer is turned on, lights should be glowing on the front of the computer and on the keyboard, and you should hear the fan inside the computer whir. If you don’t see and hear those things, the computer is turned off. Try turning the computer on, by pressing its ON switch or by turning on the surge protector that the computer’s plugged into.
Another possibility is that the video card (which is inside the computer) is loose (because you recently moved the computer) or got fried (from a power surge caused by a thunderstorm) or got damaged (because you were fiddling with the computer’s innards and you caused a shock or short or break).
Make sure the video card is in tight; if a tight video card doesn’t solve the problem, borrow a video card from a friend; if that still doesn’t give you any video, maybe your whole motherboard is damaged, so give up and take your computer to a repair shop.
Turning the computer on is called booting. When you turn the computer on, you might immediately experience one of these problems.
Unusual beeping When you turn the computer on, you’re supposed to hear a single short beep. If you hear unusual beeping (such as several short beeps or a long beep), your computer’s fundamental circuitry isn’t working right.
If you hear many short beeps or a very long beep, your computer is having an electrical problem, so do this:
Turn the computer off immediately. Perhaps the electrical problem was caused by a loose power cord: make sure the power cord is plugged in tight to the back of the computer and to the wall’s outlet (or surge protector), not dangling loose.
If the computer got damp recently (from a rainstorm or a spilled drink or dew caused by bringing the computer in from the cold), wait for the computer to dry thoroughly before turning it back on.
If you moved the computer recently, perhaps a part got loose in shipment; if you wish, open the computer and make sure nothing major is loose; for example, make sure the PC cards and chips are firmly in their sockets (but before you touch any chips, reduce any static electricity in your fingers by grounding yourself, such as by touching a big metal object or the computer’s power supply while it’s still plugged into a grounded wall socket).
By listening to the computer’s beeps, you can tell which part of the computer is ill. Read about “Beeps”.
Signal missing If the screen says “signal missing” or “no signal”, the monitor is not receiving any electrical signal from the computer. The monitor is complaining.
Look at the two cables coming out of the monitor’s rear. One of those cables is a power cord that plugs into the wall (or into a surge protector).
The other cable is the video cable, which is supposed to plug into the back of the computer, so the computer can send signals to the monitor. Probably, that video cable is loose. Tighten it. To make sure it’s tight, unplug it from the back of the computer and then shove it into the computer’s backside again, firmly.
If tightening the video cable doesn’t solve the problem, maybe the computer is turned off. Make sure the computer is turned on:
If the computer is turned on, lights should be glowing on the front of the computer and on the keyboard, and you should hear the fan inside the computer whir. If you don’t see and hear those things, the computer is turned off. Try turning the computer on, by pressing its ON switch or by turning on the surge protector that the computer’s plugged into.
Another possibility is that the video card (which is inside the computer) is loose (because you recently moved the computer) or got fried (from a power surge caused by a thunderstorm) or got damaged (because you were fiddling with the computer’s innards and you caused a shock or short or break).
Make sure the video card is in tight; if a tight video card doesn’t solve the problem, borrow a video card from a friend; if that still doesn’t give you any video, maybe your whole motherboard is damaged, so give up and take your computer to a repair shop.
Strip
Strip
When analyzing a hardware problem, run no software except the operating system and diagnostics. For example, if you’re experiencing a problem while using a word-processing program, spreadsheet, database, game, or some other software, exit from whatever software you’re in.
Turn off your printer, computer, and all your other equipment, so the RAM chips inside each device get erased and forget that software.
Then turn the computer back on.
If writing appears on your screen, and you can read it, your screen is working fine.
If you can make the hard disk show you what’s on it (by by double-clicking “My Computer” then “C:” in modern Windows, or by typing “dir” in DOS), your hard disk is working fine.
If you can print something simple on paper (by typing “I love you” in WordPad and then printing that 3-word document, or by typing “ “dir>prn” in DOS), your printer is working fine. (On some laser printers, such as the Hewlett-Packard Laserjet 2, you need to manually eject the paper: press the printer’s ON LINE button, then the FORM FEED button, then the ON LINE button again.)
If your computer, monitor, hard drive, and printer pass all those tests, your hardware is basically fine; and so the problem you were having was probably caused by software rather than hardware. For example, maybe you forgot to tell your software what kind of printer and monitor you bought.
When analyzing a hardware problem, run no software except the operating system and diagnostics. For example, if you’re experiencing a problem while using a word-processing program, spreadsheet, database, game, or some other software, exit from whatever software you’re in.
Turn off your printer, computer, and all your other equipment, so the RAM chips inside each device get erased and forget that software.
Then turn the computer back on.
If writing appears on your screen, and you can read it, your screen is working fine.
If you can make the hard disk show you what’s on it (by by double-clicking “My Computer” then “C:” in modern Windows, or by typing “dir” in DOS), your hard disk is working fine.
If you can print something simple on paper (by typing “I love you” in WordPad and then printing that 3-word document, or by typing “ “dir>prn” in DOS), your printer is working fine. (On some laser printers, such as the Hewlett-Packard Laserjet 2, you need to manually eject the paper: press the printer’s ON LINE button, then the FORM FEED button, then the ON LINE button again.)
If your computer, monitor, hard drive, and printer pass all those tests, your hardware is basically fine; and so the problem you were having was probably caused by software rather than hardware. For example, maybe you forgot to tell your software what kind of printer and monitor you bought.
Observe
Observe
Read the screen. Often, the screen will display an error message that tells you what the problem is.
If the message flashes on the screen too briefly for you to read, try pressing the computer’s PAUSE key as soon as the message appears. The PAUSE key makes the message stay on the screen for you to read. When you finish reading the message, press the ENTER key.
If you’re having trouble with your printer, and your printer is modern enough to have a built-in screen, read the messages on that screen too.
Check the lights. Look at the blinking lights on the front of the computer and the front of the printer; see if the correct ones are glowing. Also notice whether the monitor’s POWER light is glowing.
Check the switches. Check the ON-OFF switches for the computer, monitor, and printer: make sure they’re all flipped on. If your computer equipment is plugged into a power strip, make sure the strip’s ON-OFF switch is turned on.
Check the monitor’s brightness and contrast knobs, to make sure they’re turned to the normal (middle) position.
If you have a dot-matrix printer, make sure the paper is feeding correctly, and make sure you’ve put into the correct position the lever that lets you choose between tractor feed and friction feed.
Check the cables that run out of the computer. They run to the monitor, printer, keyboard, mouse, and wall. Make sure they’re all plugged tightly into their sockets. To make sure they’re plugged in tight, unplug them and then plug them back in again. (To be safe, turn the computer equipment off before fiddling with the cables.) Many monitor and printer problems are caused just by loose cables.
Make sure each cable is plugged into the correct socket. Examine the back of your computer, printer, monitor, and modem: if you see two sockets that look identical, try plugging the cable into the other socket.
For example, the cable from your printer might fit into two identical sockets at the back of the computer (LPT1 and LPT2); the cable from your phone system might fit into two identical sockets at the back of your modem (LINE and PHONE).
Read the screen. Often, the screen will display an error message that tells you what the problem is.
If the message flashes on the screen too briefly for you to read, try pressing the computer’s PAUSE key as soon as the message appears. The PAUSE key makes the message stay on the screen for you to read. When you finish reading the message, press the ENTER key.
If you’re having trouble with your printer, and your printer is modern enough to have a built-in screen, read the messages on that screen too.
Check the lights. Look at the blinking lights on the front of the computer and the front of the printer; see if the correct ones are glowing. Also notice whether the monitor’s POWER light is glowing.
Check the switches. Check the ON-OFF switches for the computer, monitor, and printer: make sure they’re all flipped on. If your computer equipment is plugged into a power strip, make sure the strip’s ON-OFF switch is turned on.
Check the monitor’s brightness and contrast knobs, to make sure they’re turned to the normal (middle) position.
If you have a dot-matrix printer, make sure the paper is feeding correctly, and make sure you’ve put into the correct position the lever that lets you choose between tractor feed and friction feed.
Check the cables that run out of the computer. They run to the monitor, printer, keyboard, mouse, and wall. Make sure they’re all plugged tightly into their sockets. To make sure they’re plugged in tight, unplug them and then plug them back in again. (To be safe, turn the computer equipment off before fiddling with the cables.) Many monitor and printer problems are caused just by loose cables.
Make sure each cable is plugged into the correct socket. Examine the back of your computer, printer, monitor, and modem: if you see two sockets that look identical, try plugging the cable into the other socket.
For example, the cable from your printer might fit into two identical sockets at the back of the computer (LPT1 and LPT2); the cable from your phone system might fit into two identical sockets at the back of your modem (LINE and PHONE).
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