| Troubleshooting is a form of art. There is a specific order to follow. The good news is that when your computer boots up it tests its hardware with the power on self-test. We already discussed that in the hardware section. Take a look at the error and see if it's a particular piece of hardware? If so the problem may be hardware related. Unless it's a driver file that is giving symptoms of a hardware problem the hardware section should be the place to look for answers. |
| The next logical course is to start diagnosing a software problem. We start by asking the question can I make the problem happen again? If not its probably a soft memory error. This kind of a problem dose not repeat and it's OK to ignore them. When the problem repeats it is an indication of something more serious and could be fixed by installing software or hardware. |
| Any new changes in the configuration of the computer could lead to errors. A new program could have over written files of an older program. This is easy to fix. Remove the new program and reinstall the old program. Even a new hardware upgrade could be at the root of the problem because most hardware requires drivers. Drivers are the software that tells the hardware what to do. |
| Look for a time line in the errors. An example would be the errors started after I installed the new program or made this configuration change. And do not forget the simple stuff. Is it plugged in? Did I turn it on? Is the computer ready? When the mouse pointer is present window is usually ready. Sometimes a reboot will be the fix other times something wacky could be wrong. |
| There is a condition called chip creep. It's rare nowadays but its when the boards and chips start working there way out of there sockets. I recommend before you open your computer case to check you warranty. Sometimes opening the case voids the warranty. And special precautions need to be taken for this. Electrostatic damage destroys chips. |