Computer club discussion

Troubleshooting computer problems can be time consuming if you don’t follow a plan. You need to have some idea of what you are troubleshooting for if you have any hope of discovering what the problem is!

Computer failure comes in many shapes and sizes. There are the fairly easy ones and there are the very difficult ones. Learning to know which type it is likely to be will save you time and make troubleshooting problems a whole lot easier.

The most serious of problems are probably those concerning hardware. When you hear the ominous repeating click sound of a hard disk in the throes of death, it’s too late to panic; the damage has already been done.

Power supply units can often be the cause of problems in computers. You don’t need a lot of experience to conclude that your power supply is no longer supplying power. Even if it is still supplying power, it may be underpowered and causing problems because of that.

Computers create heat. That’s why they have a cooling fan as part of the assembly. Should the fan fail, or if it is inadequate because the manufacturer doesn’t care, or if the under ventilation is inadequately provided for, you will experience all kinds of problems.

When a computer overheats it will often suddenly shut down. It does this to protect itself from over heating any more. However, it doesn’t tell you that there is a problem beforehand, and that it has to shut down. It just does it. If your computer is doing this regularly, it could be an overheating problem.

Troubleshooting these kind of computer problems will require you to make an educated guess at what kind of problem it is likely to be. Pursuing that line of thinking will lead you on to other related components, and eventually you should be able to track down the real problem. For example, a problem with the sound card will exhibit itself through a sound problem and a video card problem will make itself obvious through the monitor.

Don’t forget to check all the cabling and plugs first! Many a technician has been embarrassed after spending time checking everything only to finally notice a loose connection. Check the most obvious first when troubleshooting computer problems, if only to eliminate them as the source of the problem.

Sometimes troubleshooting your computer problems will lead you to a software cause. Perhaps there is a software conflict. This would likely show up soon after you installed a new program. In fact, if your problem is noticed immediately after installing a program, then that is the likely cause.

Try uninstalling the program. If that fixes the problem then you need to find out why before re-installing the program. Make sure all the software drivers are up to date before trying any more software installs.

Troubleshooting computer problems is usually never easy. It takes time and the simple plan of doing one thing at a time and checking to see what the effect is. If you do several things and suddenly everything is fine again, you’ll never know what the cause was.

Always make one change, check, and if it doesn’t work to improve matters, make another change, and so on. Being methodical will make troubleshooting computer problems a lot easier.

Why buy ‘new’ computer equipment when you can get the same refurbished computer at up to 80% savings and there is no difference in the quality or warranty? Statistics show that people who have already bought a factory refurbished computer will never buy ‘new’ computer again! Manufacturers are so sure about their refurbished computer equipment that they offer the original warranties.

Exactly what is considered factory refurbished computer equipment?

A lot of things can be labeled factory refurbished. So frivolous are some that it’s silly enough to make you laugh! Consumer laws prevent manufacturers from selling anything considered factory refurbished as new, so the second consumer gets the best deal and it’s just like a new computer!

For example, most major retail stores offer a 30 day money back guarantee on their computer equipment and some consumers take advantage of this. So when the new computer is returned, the manufacturer inspects the product and repackages it like new. But it can’t be sold as new now so you get a great price with the original warranty, now it’s considered a refurbished computer. Other reasons may be the box was damaged in shipment and so it was returned, a slight defect, the defective part is replaced by the manufacturer, tested and then repackaged just like new. Maybe a minor cosmetic blemish on the casing that was corrected. Demonstration units are also considered factory refurbished computers. They are also inspected, tested and repackaged. The box was simply opened or brand new items that have been overstocked are also labeled factory refurbished.

It’s hard to tell the history of each and every refurbished computer item but whatever the reason for the refurbished label you can be sure that the computer equipment has been inspected and serviced by the manufacturer then tested and repackaged to meet original product specifications, just like a new computer. And like I said before, all computer equipment merchandise is warranted by the original manufacturer unless otherwise specified.

Why buy a refurbished computer?

Well, to save MONEY! Why not get the best value while getting the exact same computer equipment? Also, you get the original manufacturer’s warranty and get a much, much lower price on your new computer.

Now with refurbished computer equipment you can afford that item which has been just out of your reach because it cost too much. And you will get the same performance! Actually refurbished items have a much lower defect rate than new ones. Only one in ten units that come back for repair is usually a factory refurb! That is because they are closely tested before they are sold. The only difference you may notice is a little label on the outside of the box or simply a brown box. So think hard before your purchase, are you shopping smart?