Monday, April 15, 2002		Article

Don't touch hardware with bare hands
Vipul Verma

TROUBLESHOOTING is one of the most important parts of the computer learning. There is no computer in the world that has never faced any problem. Most of the computer users find it difficult to tackle even basic computer-related problems and it often leads to a lot of trouble. Therefore it is essential for every computer user to be able to solve at least the basic problems related to the computers.

The task of troubleshooting begins with understanding the computer first. The basic step of troubleshooting is to know the hardware installed in your computer and its specifications. Thorough knowledge of the hardware is in itself half solution of the problem. Normally, over a period of time with the installation and uninstallation of programs sometimes the drivers of the basic hardware gets corrupt or deleted. This causes great difficulty and trouble for the computer user as the hardware ceases to work and starts giving some kind of problem.

Now if you know your hardware properly, then you can figure out the problem yourself and can immediately solve it by reinstalling the driver. Here one must take care of two important points. First, you should first uninstall the particular hardware, which is giving you problems and for which the driver has become corrupt. Then you should restart the computer and let Windows detect the hardware automatically. Here the Windows may ask you to provide location where the driver is stored or may automatically install the best driver of the hardware. This is the correct way of installing the driver for the hardware. However, if the Windows does not detect the hardware automatically, then one should detect it manually.

The second point, which is important, is to upgrade the hardware driver if available. Installing or upgrading the newer version of driver is in itself a preventive measure for avoiding any kind of problems. One may think, why should one upgrade the driver if the previous or the older diver is working properly. The simple answer to this question is that over a period of time new technologies are being evolved, which works only with specific settings, which may or may not be available in the previous version of driver. So using the old driver you may sometimes not be able to work with some latest software.

Also there could be a case, where the installation of any software could cause conflicts with the older version of driver that also creates problems by either destabilising the system or by destabilising the particular hardware. Therefore it is always better to upgrade the driver either periodically or whenever the need arises. It is essential to note here that you must keep all your driver CDs and floppies intact as long as you use the particular hardware because if you do not use the exact driver and use any substitute for it then also you may not get a desired performance or it may cause errors. This is a common case with the VGA cards and internal modems.

Normally the computer users miss the original driver CDs, which comes along with the hardware and use the Windows default settings. This restricts the use of the hardware to its bare minimum and thus besides limiting the performance of the computer it also causes a lot of trouble for computer users. The best example is if you're not using the specific graphic adapter in the display properties of the Windows for which the hardware is installed, you'll never be able to get the desired performance from your computer. Similarly, though your modem will also work with the default Windows drivers and without installing the appropriate driver, but you will not be able to get the desired performance from your modem.

The next important part of the basic troubleshooting is to make sure that you are using the right settings of your hardware. Normally, too much accelerated settings of the hardware also cause trouble in the computer. For example if you use a very high refresh rate frequency in the display properties of the graphic adapter, then it can cause some problems like slowing down of the performance of your PC or even instability of the system. But the optimal settings on the hardware can give the desired performance. Here the optimal settings do not mean too much accelerated settings. Here you can take help of the manual of the hardware and can set your hardware accordingly. It is worth mentioning here that using the correct settings of the hardware is most important for getting the desired performance.

The next important part of troubleshooting the hardware is the handling of hardware. The handling of hardware is the most critical task. You should not touch any hardware by bare hands because human body has static electricity, which can cause extensive damage to your hardware. First of all, you should not open your system unnecessarily. If you have to open your system, then you should take care that without proper earthing and grounding, you should not that any components of your computer, which includes motherboard, cards, RAM etc. Always wear a static electricity wrist band while handing your hardware. Normally computer users touch the hardware components with bare hands and without proper taking care of static electricity, which eventually reflects in some type of problems later on in the computers.

The next important step in troubleshooting the hardware is to make sure that all hardware components including those cards, RAM and the motherboard are fixed properly. Over a period of time, that cards and the RAM installed in your computer may get loose, which can cause serious trouble for the computer users. Therefore if you're facing problems like sudden rebooting of the system, constant beep like sound, VGA/AGP are not working are any other unusual problem, which is not been reported by any error message can be solved simply by checking your hardware components and fixing them properly.