PC TROUBLESHOOTING

TIPS: To see whether Windows 95 supports a device. Open the control panel (Choose Start, Settings, Control Panel) and double-click the Add New Hardware icon. Click Next, then choose the No Option button and click Next. In the Hardware Types list, choose the type of device you are going to install and choose next. Windows 95 displays a list of manufacturers and devices.

The Ultimate Computer Components and Upgrades Website: Download a file of 150+ WEB SITES SOLELY DEDICATED TO PC UPGRADES, REPAIR, AND TROUBLESHOOTING. For example, get Acer Support and the Packard Bell support for Packard Bell Users. Remember that most these support sites only give support if you REGISTERED your computer when you purchased it.

Computer Repair and Upgrade Shareware: The PC Repair and Upgrade Guide is a multimedia demonstration program explaining and displaying the basics of computer basic repair, upgrades, maintenance, and troubleshooting. Special effects with the pc component photos makes this program fun to watch. Voice, wav, and MIDI files further enhances the user,knowledge

Once the files, PCPAIR3.ZIP, UNIT3.ZIP, and MBOARD.ZIP files have been down loaded, you will need PKUNZIP.EXE(you can download from the main page) to unzip the programs. Next type GO and the file will self extract. Delete the zip files and the v3.exe files to save disk space. Type PLAYSHOW to run the program.

To order either program, print the order form included within the program.Be sure to open your internet software and view the samples.htm for web sites soley dedicated to computers. These htm files alone are worth the low registration price of either programs.

Features:

• Pc Repair and Upgrade Guide for WINDOWS (2,885,354 kbs)
• The Motherboard Guide for WINDOWS (2,096,091 kbs)
• The System Unit Guide for WINDOWS (1,863,66 kbs) The PC MEMORY GUIDE (2,360.341 kbs)
• VBRUN300.DLL (398,416 kbs)

PC COMPONENTS

• Hardware Help

• Beginners Guide to Drivers: What is a driver? Drivers in action. Tweaking drivers. Updating drivers. Conflict and resolution.

• Wim's Bios Page: Identify your motherboard. Luckily each BIOS has a unique BIOS ID (= BIOS Number) which identifies the manufacturer, chipset,... of the board. The goal of this site is to create a list with BIOS numbers with their corresponding motherboards

• How to Build a PC. Motherboard HomeWorld. (detailed info)

  • BEFORE YOU BUILD: Case, Power, VRM, Case, Power, MMX, Motherboards, CPU, BIOS, chipsets, RAM, SIMM's, Hard disks, floppy disks, Video, Extras.

• Upgrading Your PC: A Comprehensive page of links to know the PC. Learning about PC parts. . . all the way to troubleshooting problems.

• Descriptions of all computer components. The Hand-Me-Down PC.

• Tom's Hardware: Motherboard, CPU, chipset, ram, hard disk, video, bios, overclocking guides. Comprehensive!

• MotherBoard HomeWorld: Information about chipsets, Chipset FAQ, Chip Manufacturers. Great Tips!

• CHIPLIST 9.9 by Aad Offerman, 14-04-97: This site lists nearly every CPU and processor under the planet, from AMD to Zilog.

• PCI Chipsets: Chipset specifications by computer model.

• sandpile.org: The world's leading source for pure technical 80X86 PC information.

PC INSTALLATION

• Drivers Headquarters: BIOS Updates, Video Adapters & Monitors, CD-ROM & Disk Drives, Tape & Other Drives, Printers. FaxModems & ISDN. Network Adapters, Sound & Multimedia, Image Scanners, IDE Controllers, SCSI Controllers, Input Devices, and Other Devices.

• WinDrivers.Com: The World's #1 Web Resource for Windows 3.1, 95, & NT drivers. Hard Drive Spec and Installation. Memory Upgrades.

• How to Build a PC. Motherboard HomeWorld. (detailed info)

  • ROLLING YOUR OWN: Installation Preliminaries, Acquiring and Preparing, CPU and memory, Motherboard, Final connections, Booting, Setup, Hard Disks Part One, Trouble-shooting, Hard Disks Part Two, Electrical problems, Final notes.

  • "How to Install an IDE Hard Disk". Motherboard HomeWorld.

  • "How to Install A CPU". Motherboard HomeWorld.

  • "How to install a motherboard, attach the motherboard and the power supply to the case". Motherboard HomeWorld.

  • "Booting and Setup". Motherboard HomeWorld.

• Setup Optimization Links at BIOS Companion: A BIOS web site.

• Build a Computer: A PC building tutorial.

• Build Your Own PC: PC Mechanic's build your own PC site.

TROUBLESHOOTING PC HARDWARE

• Guide for Troubleshooting and Repairing Clone PCs: The "Hand Me Down PC" Complete online. Power Supplies, Keyboards, Motherboards, Batteries, Internal Cache Memory, Cache Memory, Main Memory, Floppy Drives, Hard Drives, Video Cards, Monitors, Drive Controller with I/O, Network Cards, Network Cabling, Modems, and Multimedia upgrades.

• Understanding Buses, CPU Speeds and Bus Sizes, DMA, I/O Bus, Interrupts, Troubleshooting and Repairing A PC on Boot-Up - The CPU, Keyboard, Motherboard, Battery, Memory, Hard Drives, Floppy Drives, Video Adapters, Monitors, Network Adapters, and Cabling, Modems, System Start-Up Files. The Hand-Me-Down PC. (detailed info)

• The Bus Speed Guide: Complete guide to running different bus speeds. Tom's Hardware.

• The PC Tech Guide for Teoubleshooting

• "My Computer's keyboard doesn't work, What do I do now?"

• Error Codes: Scroll down to Error Codes Listing. A long comprehensive list.

• Error and Beep Codes with Problem Source Listings

• Troubleshooting IDE Hard Drive Problems: Hard drive problems can be caused by a number of things:
  • You may have added new software that corrupted MS-DOS.
  • The hard drive configuration may be incorrect in CMOS.
  • There may be a virus on the hard drive.
  • The cable on the hard drive may be poorly connected or defective.
  • The hard drive may be defective.
  • Newly added hardware may be conflicting with the hard drive.
  • The partition on the hard drive may be corrupted or deleted.
  • If you have a Pentium or PCI system, the boot sector may be write protected.

• Virus Information

• The OverClocking Guide: The term 'overclocking' describes the process of running your CPU at a clock and/or bus speed that the CPU hasn't been specified for - logically, that speed is usually higher. The tempting idea behind overclocking is to increase system performance at very little cost. Also Enhancing Performance: Download application programs to configure for higher CPU performance. Where to download a variety of benchmark tests. Also Tom's BIOS Guide for changing settings of BIOS. Tom's Hardware. (Extremely detailed. Not for the novice!)

• Tom's OverClocking Guide