You are ready to start your day with energy and finish off all the pending reports you have to type. You sit in your chair with a cup of coffee at your desk. You press the power button on the computer CPU and you see an error message on your computer. What a frustrating start to your day! You call the computer guy in your office, only to know he will be arriving late. You either sit idle waiting for the computer guy to turn up or take matters into your hands. I am sure you must have come across a situation that is somewhat similar to this one and are trying to prepare yourself for troubleshooting computer problems. In this article, you shall learn how to troubleshoot computer problems that are very common as well as easy to solve.
How to Troubleshoot Computer Problems?
Every computer user faces some common computer hardware problems. One needs to recognize and locate the computer problems before calling for help. You may either have problems with power supply, computer monitor, mouse or speakers.
Troubleshooting Computer Monitor Problems
If you are having computer display problems, then you may have to try troubleshooting computer monitor problems and resolve the issue.
- First you need to check if you have turned on the monitor. You may have to switch on the power button or switch off your monitor to be able to see the display.
- You need to check if your monitor cable connection is loose or unplugged. If yes, make sure you plug it back in.
- Check the display settings of your monitor as your settings for brightness and contrast may be too dark to be visible.
- You can attach another monitor to your computer to check whether it is working fine. If not, means your computer is not able to send information to the monitor. Nothing is wrong with your original screen and you need to troubleshoot CPU problems.
- You can use a different monitor data cable to check if the cable is faulty and cannot send information from the PC to the monitor.
- If nothing helps, call for professional help.
Troubleshooting Computer Mouse Problems
A computer mouse may stop working due to several reasons. The following points will help in troubleshooting computer mouse problems.
- If you find your computer mouse is not working, you may have to check whether the connections are lose or if the mouse is unplugged completely.
- Suppose your mouse stops working suddenly, check if the connections are loose. If there is no connection problem, you may have to check if there is any residue inside the trackball chamber. You can clean the trackball using cotton dipped in alcohol.
- If your pointer seems funny, you may have to run an anti-virus scan using your antivirus software.
- If you find no virus in your computer, you may have to go to ‘Control Panel’ and open ‘System’. Here, go to ‘Device Driver Tab’ and find ‘Mouse’. You need to check if the driver is installed. If the icon has a yellow sign over it, means your mouse has problems. You need to uninstall the mouse and reboot your computer. Then reinstall the mouse driver and restart your PC.
Troubleshooting Computer Speaker Problems
If you are having problems with your computer speakers, do not worry. You can try troubleshooting computer speaker problems as explained in the following points and find quick solutions to your woes.
- You need to check if your speakers are plugged in properly. Make sure your speaker pins are plugged into the computer as well as power supply properly.
- You need to check if your sound card is working properly. You can check this by plugging in another set of speakers to your computer. You can even try plugging in a set of headphones. You can test your sound card by using a CD or a music file. If there is no sound from the new speakers or headphones, you may need to carry out troubleshooting computer sound card problems.
- Check if the volume of your computer speakers in turned down. Turn the speaker buttons from ‘Min’ to ‘Max’ and check for sound. You can even click on the sound icon on your desktop and click on it. Check if the volume is turned up and the ‘Mute All’ box is unchecked.
- You need to check the software of your sound card and see if you have set the correct volume settings.
- If another pair of speakers or headphones are working on your computer without any problem, it means that your speakers have problems. You may need to give them for servicing to a professional or replace them for new ones.
Troubleshooting Computer Sound Problems
You may not hear sound from your speakers due to different reasons. You may try troubleshooting computer sound problems by trying the following tips:
- Check if your speakers are connected to the computer properly. Also, check whether the power supply is on.
- You need to check the volume control on your speakers and see if the volume settings are not set on Mute.
- If you face a sudden loss of sound while listening to music, you may have to carry out System Restore. You can do this by clicking on ‘Start’ and then going to All Programs. Here go to ‘Accessories’ and ‘System Tools’. You will find ‘System Restore’ in System Tools. The wizard will guide you through the following steps for system restore.
- If this does not work, it may happen that the sound driver is corrupted or missing. You may have to uninstall and then reinstall the drivers to correct the problem.
- If nothing else works, you may have to update the BIOS for troubleshooting computer sound problems.
These were a few tips that you can use for troubleshooting. You can try these tips and see if your problem gets solved. If the problem persists, you need to seek professional help. Always carry out regular computer maintenance as it will help reduce the glitches you may face. I hope this article on how to troubleshoot computer problems has helped solved some of your computer troubles.