troubleshooting hardware 5.1

POST

Power on self test.

Post may check

Major system components before booting OS. (CPU, BIOS, video memory)

Failures in post

Send beeps or codes and you should check documentation to see what they mean.

Black screen on boot w/ beeping

Bad video, Ram, CPU, or BIOS config issue.

Wrong time?

CMOS battery issue.

Attempting to boot incorrect device

May be that BIOS boot order misconfigured, there isn’t a valid OS, or possible no media in startup device.

BSOD

Blue screen of death.

BSOD is a

Crash screen or windows stop error.

BSOD gives

Important information as to why and how to fix the error.

BSOD is likely related to

Something the OS can’t recover from like bad hardware, drivers, or bad app.

After BSOD if changes were just made

You may be able to run last known good, system restore, or rollback driver.

If BSOD at start of computer…

Try starting computers in safe mode.

If BSOD is after hardware install

Reseat or remove hardware.

If everything was checked and you think it’s hardware

Run hardware diagnostics which may be in BIOS.

BSOD is specific to

Windows OS.

Apps running on os…

May have their own proprietary crash screens.

Document or ask for images of all crash screens to…

Provide Information on proprietary app crash screens to help solve problems.

Black or black screen?

Check if monitor is connected.

If monitor is blank or black while connected?

Check input selection. Ex: If monitor is meant to show HDMI 1 make sure it’s set to HDMI 1.

Image is dim…

Check brightness

If you think monitor is bad after troubleshooting?

Swap the monitor for a known good one.

See screen during boot but after windows starts the screen is black?

Might be the video configuration inside Windows Os. Use VGA mode.

How to use VGA mode

F8 key during boot to choose as boot option.

No power?

Check outlet, check power supply, use a multimeter.

Some devices have power but no power to other devices?

Check where they connect (power supply directly or motherboard).

Fans spin but no video?

Possibly POST error which means motherboard or video card is bad.

Fans only?

Voltage issue from power supply. (Fans are low voltage others are not)

For sluggish or slow performance?

Check task manager for high CPU utilization and I/O.

Sluggish performance step 2?

Check for windows update.

Sluggish performance step 3?

Check disk space for available space and defrag.

Laptop sluggish performance?

Power saving mode could be enabled and throttles CPU.

Last step to ID sluggish performance?

Run Anti-Virus and Anti malware scan.