Start networking and exchanging professional insights

Register now or log in to join your professional community.

Follow

What is first thing to do to Diagnosed a computer?

Check the POST. POST stands for Power On Self Test. This is generally the first or second thing that appears on a computer after turning on the power. This appears before the operating system begins to load. The POST will display any problems found with hardware that makes the computer unable to boot, POST may also display problems with hardware that allow the computer to boot, but not operate at its full capacity during operation.

 

Notice the load time of the OS (operating system). A longer than usual load time may indicate seek errors (or other errors) in the hard drive.

 

Notice any graphics problems once the OS has loaded. Reduced graphics may indicate driver failures or hardware failures with graphic cards.

Perform an auditory test. An auditory test is an unorthodox, but still effective way of judging how hard a computer is working. With the computer on and running, play any decent length audio file (usually above30 secs). If the audio is choppy or slow, it usually means that the processor is working at an elevated level, or there is not enough RAM to run all programs loading. Changing the startup sound is a great way to apply this test. Another issue associated with choppy sounds is PIO (Programmed Input/Output) Mode. This affects how the hard drive reads and writes data from a drive. Switching to DMA allows for faster reads and writes, and can sometimes repair choppy audio.Check any newly installed hardware. Many operating systems, especially Windows, can conflict with new drivers. The driver may be badly written, or it may conflict with another process. Windows will usually notify you about devices that are causing a problem, or have a problem. To check this use the Device Manager, this can be accessed by entering the Control Panel, clicking the System icon, clicking theHardware tab, and clicking on Device Manager. Use this to check and arrange the properties of hardware.Check any newly installed software. Software may require more resources than the system can provide. Chances are that if a problem begins after software starts, the software is causing it. If the problem appears directly upon startup, it may be caused by software that starts automatically on boot.Check RAM and CPU consumption. A common problem is a choppy or sluggish system. If a system is choppy it is good practice to see if a program is consuming more resources than the computer can provide. An easy way to check this is to use the Task Manager, right click on the taskbar select Task Manager, and click the Processestab. The CPU column contains a number that indicates the percentage of CPU the process is consuming. The Memory Usage column indicates how much memory a process is consuming.Listen to the computer, if the hard drive is scratching or making loud noises, shut off the computer and have a professional diagnose the hard drive. Listen to the CPU fan, this comes on a high speed when the CPU is working hard, and can tell you when the computer is working beyond its capacity.Run a virus and malware scan. Performance problems can be caused by malware on the computer. Running a virus scan can unearth any problems. Use a commonly updated virus scanner (such as Norton Antivirus or Avast! Antivirus) and a commonly updated malware scanner (such as Spybot Search & Destroy).  

Check for the problem in safe mode. As a last ditch effort, check the problem in safe mode. To enter safe mode, tap F8 repeatedly during POST (this works on most systems). If the problem persists in safe mode, it is a fair bet that the operating system itself is to blame.

user-image
Question added by Regidor Pabuaya , Pipe Fitter , EEI CORPORATION
Date Posted: 2015/08/07
NAJMAL THARAKAN
by NAJMAL THARAKAN , system administrator , kallat builders

first chck the power cable,smps and connections

The first thing you do to diagnose a computer is by trobleshooting to know if the computer operating system is working properly

MuhammadBilal Butt
by MuhammadBilal Butt , Accounts & Admin officer , The Aaryan Institute

First of all Try to On the system if system is not on and giving the any beep than follow the some step for diagnose the fault. 

Akram Naeem
by Akram Naeem , Technical Support , AMSI

to troubleshoot network connectivity and computer failure  you need to start with the physical layer .the wires I mean and the power source.

Amelito Gamao
by Amelito Gamao , Computer Technician / It Support Engineer , Innodata knowledge Services Inc.

The First thing to do to diagnose a computer to check if it is alive or not responding.

Mohamed Arshad
by Mohamed Arshad , Store Coordinator and Supervisor , Saudi Airlines Catering Services

Try to identify the causes on my own experience and trying the possible ways that can actually fix

Mahmoud Edress
by Mahmoud Edress , IT Manager , Protection For Contracting & Design

What is first thing to do to Diagnose a computer? we have 2 situation of diagnose the computer one of them for Hardwear maintenance, and one for softweare maintenance now we will talk for hardwear maintenance situation.First thing you will do as the follows:-1- Check for all your wire connectivity and all plugs.2- Check all component inside the computer case by using visual looking as first step and be sure all component are correctly installed.3- Switch on the computer and watching and listening to alarm sound and self diagnose of computer Accordingly locate faults and start repairing malfunctions.

Salah Abu Donia
by Salah Abu Donia , Executive Director , BARATECHS

power in ,alarm sounds , internal connections and prephirals conections, OS startup . hardware drivers  , system files and recovery or restore, scan for viruses and removal.

Deejay Rayz Daddycool
by Deejay Rayz Daddycool , IT Manager , African crest Radio station (Three rivers,Vereeniging)

Check the POST. POST stands for Power On Self Test. This is generally the first or second thing that appears on a computer after turning on the power

rishi kumar
by rishi kumar , CUSTOMER SUPPORT ENGINEER , CMS IT SERVICES PVT LTD

Device Manager to check which drives are malfunctioning

- Clean System Files

- Defragmentation to realign disturbed system files

- Windows Update

Dan Wenry Santa Maria
by Dan Wenry Santa Maria , Design Developer – Acting Senior Design Developer , Tetra Pak (Philippines) Inc.

the process listed are very good steps to diagnose a pc.these are also helpful basic tools found in windows:

- Device Manager to check which drives are malfunctioning

- Clean System Files

- Defragmentation to realign disturbed system files

- Windows Update

More Questions Like This

Do you need help in adding the right keywords to your CV? Let our CV writing experts help you.