KB0101 - PC Hardware & Software Troubleshooting & Repair w/ OJT

Chapter 1 - Introduction

1.1       Common PC errors

1.2       Types of Personal computers

Branded PC

Cloned PC

1.3        Identifying key parts of a Personal Computer

1.4        Basic Software components

BIOS

Device drivers

CONFIG.SYS & AUTOEXEC.BAT

1.5       Overview of PC Operations

POST Process

Boot Process

1.6        Operating Systems (OS)

Role of the Operating System

Versions of OS

(Win95/Win98/WinMe/WinXP

Win2kPro/linux)

Basic OS loading

Fundamental operations of

Microsoft Windows

1.7        Disk Operating System (DOS) How DOS works

Chapter 2 - CPU CASE AND POWER SUPPLY

                2.1 Types of PC case

                                Desktop casing

                                Mini, Mid and full tower casing

                2.2 Functions of a CPU Case

2.3 Front Panel connectors

2.4 Removing CPU Case

                2.5 Cleaning the PC case

                2.6 PC Cooling System

                2.7 PC Cooling system maintenance

                2.8 Power Supply

                                ATX/AT Power Supply

Removing Power Supply

                                Cleaning Power Supply

                                Power Supply connectors

                                Power Supply output

                                Testing Power Supply

                2.9 Common Power Supply problems

Chapter 3 -   The PROCESSOR 

                3.1 Types of CPU x86, Celeron, Pentium I-IV, Itanium, Duron, Sempron, Athlon

                3.2 CPU speed

                3.3 CPU socket/slot types

3.4 Comparing different types of CPU

                3.5 How to identify CPUs physically

                3.6 Physical installation of CPU

                3.7 Installing CPU fan

                3.8 CPU Benchmarking

                3.9 CPU Overclocking

3.10 Upgrading CPU

3.11 CPU maintenance

3.12 CPU cleaning procedures          

3.13 Troubleshooting & testing CPU using

        processor diagnostic test

Chapter 4 - The MOTHERBOARD

                4.1 Types of motherboards

                4.2 Motherboard layout, form factors

                4.3 Motherboard Identification

                4.4 Motherboard components

                                ROM BIOS

                                CMOS

                                Backup battery

                                RAM sockets

                                CPU socket/slots

                                Jumpers

                                Integrated ports

                                Internal Expansion Busses

                                External Expansion Busses

                                Common Expansion Devices

                                Power connections

                                Front Panel Connections

                                Chipsets

                4.6 Motherboard BUSSES

                                ISA, EISA, PCI, AGP, USB and Firewire

                4.5 Configuring motherboard jumper settings

                                Clear CMOS jumper

                                CPU Clock jumper

                                DDR Voltage jumper

                                DDR and SDRAM type selector

                                BIOS protect

                4.6 Upgrading motherboards

                4.7 Signs of trouble with the motherboard

                4.7 Common motherboard problems

                4.8 Motherboard Maintenance

                4.9 Motherboard Cleaning procedures

                4.8 Troubleshooting and testing motherboards

Chapter 5 -   The MEMORY

                5.1 Types of Memory

                                EDO RAM

                                SDRAM

                                RDRAM

                                DDR-SDRAM

                5.2 Comparing different types of memory

                5.3 Memory identification

                5.4 Adding and Removing Memory

5.5 Memory packaging

5.6 Memory upgrading

5.7 Memory Maintenance

5.8 Memory cleaning procedures

5.9 Determine failed memory devices using

      memory diagnostics test

5.10 Troubleshooting RAM errors

Chapter 6 - STORAGE DEVICES

The HARD DRIVES

                6.1 Types of hard drives

                                EIDE drive

                                Serial ATA

                                SCSI drive

                                Ultra-SCSI            

6.2 Hard drive manufacturers

6.3 Hard Drive Identification

                6.4 Identifying drive capacity

                6.5 Hard drive controllers

                                IDE controller

                                SCSI controller 

                6.6 IDE/SCSI cables

6.7 Hard drive configuration (Master/Slave

      layout)

6.8 Hard drive installation

6.9 Upgrading to large Hard-disks

6.10 Optimizing hard disk performance

6.11 Hard drive maintenance

6.12 Hard drives problems troubleshooting and

        repairing

The FLOPPY DRIVES

                6.12 Types of diskettes

                       3.1/2 1.66MB, ZIP

                6.13 Floppy drive identification

                6.14 Floppy drive controller

                6.15 Setting drives and cable orientation

                6.16 Replacing a floppy drive

                6.17 Floppy disk and drive Care

                6.18 Floppy drive maintenance

                6.18 Floppy drive cleaning procedures

                6.18 Floppy drive problems and solutions

Chapter 7 - OTHER DATA  STORAGE DEVICES

                7.1 CDROM drive

                7.2 DVD/DVD+R/RW drive

                7.3 CD-R drive

                7.4 CD-RW drive

                7.5 CD/DVD controllers

                7.6 CD/DVD configuration (Master/Slave layout)

                7.7 CD/DVD installation and upgrading

                7.8 Transfer Speed

                7.9 Device Data throughput

                7.10 CDROM maintenance

                7.11 CDROM cleaning procedures

                7.10 Trouble shooting and repairing common

                        CDROM drive problems

                7.11 REMOVABLE DRIVES

                                ZIP drives

                                DITTO drives

                                Bernoulli drives   

                                Syquest drives

                7.12 Troubleshooting External Storage device

Chapter 8 - I/O DEVICES &  DISPLAYS

                8.1 PC MONITOR

                                VGA/SVGA

Monitor resolutions/pixels

                                Interlaced/Non-interlaced

                                Refresh rate

                                PC monitor identification

                                Connecting PC monitor

                8.2 Keyboards

                                Soft touch keyboard

                                Spring keyboard

                                Keyboard interfaces (PS2, Serial, USB

                               and wireless)

                                Connecting keyboards

                                Keyboard maintenance

Keyboard cleaning procedure

                                Troubleshooting and Repairing

                                common keyboard errors

                8.3 Joysticks

                                Hooking up a joystick

                                Joysticks maintenance

                8.4 Web Cams

                                Connecting a Web Cam

                                Maintenance of a Web Cam

                8.5 Speakers

                                Connecting Speakers

                                Maintenance of speakers

                8.6 Printers

                                Types of printers

Dot Matrix

                                                Inkjet

                                                Laser     

                                Installing a printer

                                Diagnosing Printer problems

Solving common printer problems

                8.7 Mouse

                                Mechanical mouse

                                Optical ball mouse

                                Optical No-ball mouse

                                Mouse interfaces (PS2, Serial, USB and

                                wireless)

                                Mouse cleaning procedures

                                Troubleshooting and repairing common

                                mouse problems

Chapter 9 -   EXPANSION CARDS/PERIPHERAL DEVICES

                9.1 Expansion Slots

                                ISA (Industry Standard Architecture)

PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect)

                                AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port)

                                Proper insertion of expansion card

                                Replacing and removing expansion card

                9.2 Display /Video or Graphics card

                                On-board graphics adapter

                                Color Depths

                                AGP external graphics adapter

                                Graphics adapter installation

                                Adding ad Removing video card

Display card Maintenance

                                Display card cleaning

Symptoms of trouble with display

adapter

                                Common problems of graphics adapter

                9.3 TV Cards

                                Adding and Removing TV tuner card

                9.4 Sound Cards

                                Adding and Removing Sound card

                9.5 LAN Cards

                                Adding and Removing LAN card

                9.6 Modem

                                Adding and removing Internal modem

                                Adding and removing External modem

                9.7 Scanner

                                Hand-held

                                Flatbed

Chapter 10 -   PC PORTS

                10.1 Serial Port

                                Configuring Serial port

                                Symptoms of trouble with serial port

Repairing common serial ports problems

                                Adding and replacing serial ports

                10.2 Parallel Port

Configuring parallel port

                                Symptoms of trouble with parallel port

                                Repairing common parallel port errors

                                Adding parallel port

                10.3 USB Port

                                Symptoms of trouble with USB port

                                Repairing common USB errors

                10.4 Firewire Port

                                Symptoms of trouble with Firewire port

Chapter 11 -   PC Assembly/Disassembly

                11.1 Safety Concerns

                                Dangerous components

                                                Power supplies

                                                CRT

                11.2 Heat Factors

11.3 Static Electricity

11.4 Electro Static Discharge (ESD)

11.5 Radio Frequency Interference

11.6 AC Power

                Spikes, Brownouts, Blackouts

11.7 UPS

11.8 Common errors occurring after PC Assembly

 11.9 Properly assemble a Personal Computer

11.10 Properly disassemble a Personal Computer

Chapter 12 -   BIOS/CMOS Management

                12.1 BIOS

                12.2 Function of a BIOS

                12.3 Accessing CMOS Setup

                12.4 Navigating and Changing CMOS values

                12.5 Upgrading the BIOS

                12.6 Troubleshooting system faults using POST

12.7 BIOS and POST codes

                12.8 Using POST audio and Video error codes

12.9 Standard IBM POST error codes

12.10 Determining what POST can not test

                12.10 Upgrading the BIOS

Chapter 13 -   Advance PC HARDWARE Servicing

                13.1 PC Troubleshooting strategy

                13.2 Designing a troubleshooting methodology

                13.3 Establishing where to begin the testing

                13.4 Determining common causes of failures

                13.5 Finding and isolating the board with the

                        problem

                13.6 Utilizing advance diagnostic programs to

                        test for:

                                Motherboard failures

                                Memory failure    

                                CPU failure

                                Video Card failure

                13.7 Solving Interrupt (IRQ) and I/O conflicts

Chapter 1 - Introduction

1.1       Common Windows errors

1.2       Desktop Operating Systems

1.3       Network Operating Systems

1.4       Overview of Windows Operating System

1.5       Windows Boot Process

1.6       Windows configuration files

1.7       Windows core files

1.8       Windows System Directories

Chapter 2 - DOS Essentials

2.1       MS-DOS Overview

2.2       Function of DOS

2.3       DOS boot process

2.4       DOS system files

2.5       DOS interface (CLI)

2.6       Types of DOS commands

2.7       Common DOS commands

2.8       Common DOS errors

Chapter 3 - Windows File Systems

3.1       FAT (File Allocation Table)

3.2       Types of File Systems (FAT16, FAT32, VFAT,

3.3       NTFS4, NTFS5 & HPFS)

3.4       File System Care

3.5       Checking the drive for errors

3.6       Supported File Systems of different versions of

         Microsoft Windows

Chapter 4 - HARD DISK MANAGEMENT & CONFIGURATIONS

4.1      Hard disk configurations

4.2      Hard disk partition

4.3      Primary Partition

4.4      Extended Partition

4.5      Logical Drive

4.6      Volume

4.7      Preparing a brand new hard drive

4.8      Partitioning a Hard Drive

4.9      Formatting a Hard Drive

4.10   Deleting Hard Disk partitions

4.11   Hard Disk Diagnostic test

Repairing the Master Boot Record

     Fixing a damaged partition table

4.12  Repairing Hard Disk with Bad Sectors

4.13  Low-level Formatting a drive

Chapter 5 - Operating System Installations and upgrades

5.1      Hardware requirements

5.2      Hardware compatibility

5.3      Common errors during installation

5.4      Installing Windows 98

5.5      Upgrading Windows 98

5.6      Installing Windows XP

Chapter 6 - Hardware Device Driver Installation

6.1 What is a Device driver?

6.2 Function of a device driver

6.4 Determining hardware model & manufacturer

6.5 Where to find Hardware drivers

6.6 Searching for drivers in the internet

6.7 Installing device drivers (Video card, LAN card,

      Modem, printers etc..)

6.8 Post-install operations

Chapter 7 - Software Installation

7.1 Software compatibility

7.2 Hardware requirements

7.3 Dealing with failed installation

7.4 Installation methods (Control Panel, Installer)

7.5 Installing Software (MS-Office, Anti-Virus,

      Network games programs etc..)

7.6 Software updates and Service packs

7.7 Uninstalling Software

7.8 Dealing with failed uninstallation

7.9 Manual Removal of installed Software

Chapter 8 -   Virus Management: Detecting and Removing

                       Viruses

8.1 What is a virus?

8.2 Types of virus

8.3 Spyware, Adware, malware viruses

8.4 Preventing Virus infections

8.5 Protecting Key System files

8.6 Checking for Macro viruses missed by anti-

      virus programs

8.7 Protecting against script based virus.

8.8 Symptoms of an infected computer                          

8.9 Deciding what anti-virus program to install

8.10 Installing Anti-Virus programs

8.11 Installing Anti-Spyware, Malware and Adware program.

8.12 Diagnosing, Treating and Removing Virus infections

Chapter 9 - DATA RECOVERY Concept 

9.1     How disk drives work

9.2     Understanding Tracks, Sectors, Cylinders and

         Clusters

9.3     Master Boot Record

9.4     Partition table

9.5     Troubleshooting strategy concepts

9.6     Running Scandisk to check for disk errors

9.7     Correcting errors reported by scandisk

9.8     Causes and symptoms of a corrupted FAT

9.9     Repairing lost and cross-linked files

9.10   Surviving Disk Disasters

9.11   Understanding Disk error messages

9.12   Creating emergency rescue disk

9.13   Using Disk repair tools

9.14   Recovering Files and Directories

9.15   Recovering erased Files

9.16   Transferring recovered files to backup disk

9.17   Editing Disk sectors

9.18   Reviving non-bootable disk

9.19   Repairing the Master Boot Record

9.20   Fixing a damaged partition table

9.21   Dealing with accidental Reformatting

9.22   Unformatting a drive

9.23   Removing Disk Fragmentation

9.24   Using Backup utility program

9.25   Fixing common disk problems

9.26   Solving “Invalid drive specification

Chapter 10 - Configuring and Troubleshooting WINDOWS

10.1 General Troubleshooting Methodology

10.2 What to do when Windows failed to start

10.3 Windows Plug n Play Architecture

10.4 Windows boot files

10.5 Windows Start-up process

10.6 Troubleshooting Windows Start-up problems

10.6 Dual booting Windows 98 with Windows

        XP/2000

10.7 Creating Emergency Repair Disk (ERD)

10.8 Solving common Windows errors

              Windows Locks-up

              This program has performed illegal operation

               Etc..

10.8 Diagnosing hardware problems using

        Device Manager

10.9 Windows XP Administrative Tools

10.10 Computer Management Console (Adding,

          Editing and deleting partitions)

10.11 System Tools, Services and applications

Chapter 11 - The WINDOWS REGISTRY

11.1 What is a Registry?

11.2 Registry entry structure

11.3 Modifying Registry Entries with Regedit

       and Regedit32

11.4 Backing up registry entries

11.5 Preventing registry backup failures

11.6 Repairing corrupted Registry files

11.7 Removing Unwanted Registry entries

11.8 Solving Registry entry conflicts

Chapter 12 - DISK IMAGING/CLONING

12.1 Disk Cloning Concept

12.2 Advantages of Disk Cloning

12.3 Issues to consider before cloning a drive

12.4 Preparing for Disk Cloning

12.5 Disk Cloning Software

12.6 Disk Cloning using GHOST

12.7 Dealing with accidental or mistakenly cloned

        drive (Uncloning a drive)

12.8 Common disk cloning errors

12.9 Solving Disk Cloning failures