Sooner or later, all hard drives crash. It is only a matter of when. When it happens, the degree of sweat and tears you experience is directly related to how prepared you were for it to begin with. Backing up your data is important. I even have two computers which are set up almost identically so that if the drive on one of my machines dies, I don’t lose...

One of our readers named Mike submitted the following problem to us: Basically, I seem to have an issue where my sound will skip/distort any time my processor is busy. And it doesn’t have to be anything significant, this can happen just when I’m opening up Firefox. Now, I can understand something like this happening on an old PC, but I don’t...

This is my video answer to the following submitted question: A while back our tower randomly did not turn on when the power strip was turned on and the power button was pushed. We got a new power supply cord and it came right on. It stayed on for about a week but once it got shut down it didn’t come back on. I had the power supply itself tested at Best...

This is our first video answer to a question submitted via the Ask a Question feature on PCMech.com. For information on the hack for allowing 3 gigabytes of RAM to be recognized by Windows XP 32-bit, check out the article called Practical Problems With 32bit Addressing In Windows on AnandTech for more info. You can also check out this page from...

Many of us have had the joy of trying to help somebody with some basic computer issue over the phone. If you don’t have the patience for it, it’s a great way to end up hairless and bitter by the age of 40. I recently helped a member of my family with the simple concept of moving a file from a CD-ROM to the hard drive. It took me 25 minutes to walk...

Overview of the Ultimate Troubleshooter v.4.21...

IntroductionMost of us, at one point or another, have had to modify the insides of our computers.  Whether it was adding a new memory stick, fixing a cable, or even more advanced stuff like actually building the computer.  Every time you open your computer case, new risks arise.  There is always the danger of you doing something wrong (knowingly...

If you’re going to be building computers, adding devices to your computer, altering BIOS settings, or just installing and deleting programs on your computer, then you’ll want to learn the basics of troubleshooting. You might notice that I didn’t say computer troubleshooting. That is because troubleshooting is an independent skill. I learned to...

Note: This article is geared towards “power users” of Windows, and if you are confused on something mentioned here, look it up on Google or find more information about it other wise. Anyway, this is a guide to some REAL network troubleshooting issues that truly occur on a day-to-day basis. Whenever I had these problems, I was never able to find them...

Whether one is doing some PC repair or assembly work at home or does mobile repair work for clients, there are some basic tools that everyone must have. Obviously, those who do such work away from the house or office are going to need to put some more attention on their toolbox than others, and we will address that, too. But, our site is entitled “PC...

There\’s nothing like a command prompt tool for getting down and dirty with Windows 2000 troubleshooting. While many of these same functions can be provided in a GUI, some people still prefer the command prompt. Most of these command prompt tools are related to networking, however some potential disaster recovery areas are covered as well. What I will be...

Attempt to isolate the problem This is an exercise in thinking like a computer. Take whatever problem you have and try to pin it down or rule out possibilities. If you are having problems with a component, begin by ruling out everything related to it. If there are any vias on the line, remove them. For example, if you are having printer problems but the printer...

Win95 won’t start and says “Protection Error…System Halted” This message could indicate a configuration problem or just a minor glitch in Windows thinking. If the error repeats after restarting, then you’ll have to dig for it. To track it down, hit F8 during bootup and select “Logged...

128K NOT OK, PARITY DISABLED The first 128K of your RAM has failed the POST. First, reboot. If the error is still there, you likely have a problem with your RAM. Try switching banks of memory. Move your second bank to your first bank, and vice versa. If you really want to fix the problem, replace the SIMM that is located...

Beep codes are the beeps you hear from the PC speaker when you turn on your computer. They are your computer’s way of letting you know what’s going on when there is no video signal. These codes are programmed into the BIOS of the PC. There is no official standard for these codes due to the many brands of BIOS...