No Power

1. The power doesn’t come on
1. No power from the wall socket: Use a live power outlet. In rare cases, the power cable may be defective and may require replacement. Check the power cable on another working PC. Plug in a lamp or any other electric device to see if you have a live outlet.
2. Incorrect voltage setting on the PSU: Select the proper voltage setting (220-240V) on the back of the PSU. WARNING: If you have switched on the PC with the voltage set to 110-120V and with a mains supply of 240V you may have blown your PSU beyond repair at worst or blown a fuse at best. Be careful!
3. The front panel power switch’s connector to the motherboard is not fixed correctly or has come off or is defective: Check the motherboard manual and fix the lead (wires) from the front panel switch to the motherboard correctly. If there is still no power, try a different lead.
4. The front panel power switch is defective: Replace the switch. In case you do not want to get a replacement, one option is to use the reset button. The only problem with this is that to cut the power to the system in case of system hangs etc., you will have to switch off the power from the mains wall outlet rather than from the front panel.
5. The power supply connections to the motherboard are not correct: Check the power connections from the PSU to the motherboard. Refer to the motherboard manual and identify the correct connection points.
6. Not identified; non-PSU related problem: After attempting all the above, if the system still doesn’t power up, it is time to look elsewhere. Disconnect all the drives and see if it is powering up. (Note: Pull out the power cord when removing or disconnecting something.) If the system is powering up, then start reconnecting the drives one by one to identify which is defective drive. If the system is not powering with all drives disconnected, remove the other adaptors one at a time and checking to see if it is powering up. Leave the video adaptor for the last. If you are able to isolate the problem to one of the adaptor cards, verify that the slot and the adaptor cards are compatible. Then try plugging it into a different slot and see if the system powers up before discarding it and going for a new one. If the system is still not powering up, then you either have a defective PSU or a defective motherboard. If there is a burnt smell, then most probably either one of them has been fried. Look for burn marks on the motherboard. Sometimes the PSU and motherboard may be incompatible. If the motherboard looks fine, replace the PSU, since it’s cheaper!

2. The PC powers on after the second or third try
The mostly likely problem is that the power_ok (or power_good) signal is sent before the power supply has stabilised. Get a better quality PSU. In modern PCs, the power switch is a logic device that tells the PSU to supply full power to the motherboard. The power_ok signal tells the motherboard that the power supply is available and stable. If the signal is sent too soon the motherboard does not recognize it and stays off to protect itself. This can happen in lowerquality PSUs. Booting more than once is not recommended, and you will be better off getting a better PSU.

3. The PC powers on but nothing happens after that (no beep)
1. This may be due to the addition of new hardware that is overtaxing the power supply. Remove the last hardware component installed and check again.
2. A defective hard disk or one that is not plugged in correctly: Check the power cable to the hard disk. Sometimes it may not be fully plugged in. Check the hard disk on another system.

4. The PC powers on, beeps and stops. No Power On Self Test (POST) messages.
This may be a motherboard problem and not related to the PSU. Check the motherboard section of this guide.

5. The PC powers on and runs POST but there is no display
This may be a display card problem and not related to the PSU. Check the display section of this guide.

6. There is a squealing/whistling/whining noise when the PC starts
This could indicate either a problem with the fan, which has accumulated dirt over time, or one of the internal components of the PSU. Switch on the PC and listen carefully to confirm that it’s the PSU fan and not the CPU fan or the hard disk. Usually, the noise will stop once the fan picks up speed, and you can ignore it temporarily. It’s a good idea, however, to clean out the dirt around the PSU fan using a PC vacuum. This will increase the working life of the PSU fan as well as the PSU itself. If the fan stops working, the PSU will generate heat and cause more trouble. So a little prevention will save you a lot of headaches later. If the sound is not from the fan but from within the PSU itself, then you may be able to service it. A PSU has no ‘user-serviceable’ parts, and it’s best left to a competent technician, although in most cases of component failure, you will have to replace the PSU.

7. The PC freezes or reboots suddenly
1. This could indicate a failing PSU that is not supplying power correctly to the motherboard. You may be able to get the PSU serviced but in most cases you will be better off getting a new power supply.
2. This could be due to overheating of the PSU or CPU: If the PSU is overheating, the metal cabinet may be hot to touch or you might get a shock. Shut off immediately. Check if the PSU fan is working, clean or replace the fan if not working or spinning very slowly. If it’s a faulty PSU you may be able to service it. If the PSU seems normal it might be due to an overheating CPU.

Freeze PC

The PC freezes or reboots suddenly
1. This could indicate a failing PSU that is not supplying power correctly to the motherboard. You may be able to get the PSU serviced but in most cases you will be better off getting a new
power supply.
2. This could be due to overheating of the PSU or CPU: If the PSU is overheating, the metal cabinet may be hot to touch or you might get a shock. Shut off immediately. Check if the PSU fan is working, clean or replace the fan if not working or spinning very slowly. If it’s a faulty PSU you may be able to service it.

If the PSU seems normal it might be due to an overheating CPU.

The PC runs POST and then freezes

1. This may be a problem with the RAM modules or other add-on cards. In case of RAM module problems, you will usually be alerted by beeps from the BIOS. Strip the PC down to the ‘barebones’, that is, just the power supply, motherboard (with CPU & heat sink), minimum RAM and display card. Switch the RAM module to another slot. Verify that the RAM modules are as per the specs defined by motherboard manufacturer. Use matched RAM modules from the same manufacturer. Try a different RAM. If everything is working you should boot up and see the message ‘No boot device’ or something similar. Power off, connect the hard disk and reboot. If the problem still occurs, this points to something wrong with the hard disk or the basic boot up of the operating system. Check the storage section and the Windows troubleshooting section of this guide. If the OS boots normally, then power off and start adding each add-on card one by one, powering up after adding each card until you isolate the culprit. Check the relevant sections for troubleshooting hints for those components.

2. It may be a BIOS problem.

The PC freezes suddenly

1. This could be due to overheating of the CPU caused by poor contact between the heat sink and the CPU Remove the heat sink and fan (make sure the fan is working). On the exposed CPU die surface apply some thermal grease or thermal tape. This is to fill in the microscopic gaps that may exist between the CPU and the heat sink. Don’t use too much grease and don’t try to substitute with something else, use approved thermal media only. Also, don’t get impatient and try to force the heat sink on the die to try and make it fit. You may break the heat sink or worse still damage the CPU. If the fan is not working, verify the power connections. If the connections are correct and the fan still does not work you can try replacing the fan but the best option is to get a new heat sink unit (heat sink + fan). Note: The problem with a failed heat sink is the likelihood that you have already cooked your CPU. Most modern CPUs overheat very quickly and require cooling right from power on.

Device Conflict Symptoms

A hardware conflict may occur when you add a new device to your system. In some instances, this conflict will not cause any problem, and depending on the operating system you may not even be aware that such a conflict exists. Typical symptoms of hardware conflicts include:

The operating system may freeze frequently

The new device may suffer performance problems

An existing device that is conflicting with the new device may suffer performance problems

Windows starts in Safe Mode

The system crashes and you get a BSOD (Blue Screen of Death)

The sound card stops working or stutters

The screen jumps and shows garbled images

The mouse stops working

Modem/network card doesn’t respond

CD/DVD drive doesn’t respond or crashes the system

The PC works fine for a few hours and then freezes

Cause: This symptom is typical of overheating. Overheating processors are a major source of PC freezes and crashes. Other than the main processor, the graphics processor can also overheat and bring the entire PC to a grinding halt. Like the CPU, the graphics processor has its own heat sink and fan. An overheating graphics processor would point to some problem with the cooling system.

Solution: Troubleshooting this is similar to troubleshooting an overheating CPU. However, you should eliminate all the other heat generating culprits first: check the power supply, the CPU heat sink, and fan. Once you have eliminated these possibilities, turn your attention to the graphics processor: check the heat sink and fan, it may be that the fan is not working or the heat sink is not fitted snugly on the graphics processor. Check the power connections for the fan and reseat the heat sink to fit it tightly with the processor. Use thermal paste if necessary. Such graphics cards should have a temperature sensor that can be viewed from within the operating system. This would give you a good indication of whether the card is overheating. Unless you are stressing out the system with high-end 3D applications for hours on end, it is unlikely that the graphics card is your source of trouble. In most cases it would be the power supply. But the sudden freeze and shutdown is typical of overheating, so look at the CPU and PSU again if you have ruled out the graphics card as the source of the problem.

C++ program

#include

int main()
{
float dist, time, speed;

cout<<"enter the distance : ";
cin>>dist;

cout<<"/n";
cout<<"enter the speed : ";
cin>>speed;

cout<<"/n";
time = dist / speed;
cout<<"The time is : ";
//similar to the above cout command, output the variable time, i cannot do it here


return 0;
}

There is some irregular discoloration along the edges of the screen

Cause: This is caused by the magnetisation of the metallic elements on the surface of the CRT. The magnetization happens because of EMI or due to sudden knocks to the body.
Solution: Cycle through the display controls and select the Degauss option. Degaussing is the process of demagnetizing the CRT.

Upgrading from 98 to windows XP

If you are currently running Windows 98/ME and are thinking of upgrading to Windows XP, this section will provide you with the know-how. Upgrading from Windows 98/ME is not without its dangers. You will need to prepare for it to avoid running into problems and damaging your existing Windows installation. Actually, calling it an upgrade is a bit of a misnomer; what happens is that Windows XP examines your system, moves all the personalised settings to a backup location, installs a fresh copy of Windows XP and copies back all the personalised settings to new locations. Also, it makes a backup of the previous version of Windows so you can uninstall XP and go back if anything goes wrong.

The activities that need to be carried out can be classified into the following stages:

1. Pre upgrade

2. Upgrade

3. Post Upgrade

Let’s look at the steps involved look at each stage.

1. The pre-upgrade stage

1. Verify the minimum requirements for the hardware and system configuration.

While Microsoft’s official recommendation is for a 300 MHz Pentium processor with 128 MB of RAM, experts and practical experience suggest you should at least have a Pentium III 500 MHz processor with at least 256 MB of RAM. Otherwise, Windows XP will be sluggish. In addition, you should have at least 1 or 2 GB of free hard disk space on your primary partition (the C: drive in most cases), an SVGA monitor that can support a screen resolution of 800 x 600 or higher, a display card, a sound card, a modem, and a CD or DVD drive. The sound card and modem are not essential, but you will want to connect to the Internet and update XP with all the latest patches once installation is complete, so a modem is required sooner or later. The sound card is preferable for your audio feedback (XP Setup sounds and music) at different stages of the setup process.

2. Which file system?

During setup, XP will ask you if you want to convert to NTFS from FAT/FAT32. FAT or FAT32 is the file system on which Windows 98/ME runs. NTFS is a newer, more robust file system used by both Windows 2000 and XP. Be warned, however, that this is a one-way street. If you convert to NTFS, you cannot convert back to FAT, and if you want to make your system a dual-boot, i.e. you want to be able to boot into either XP or Windows 98/ME, you will not be able to log into Windows 98/ME. The same goes if you want to uninstall XP and revert to your previous Windows version after converting to NTFS. During setup, it is best to leave it as FAT32, and later, after you have stopped relying on Windows 98/ME completely, you can convert from FAT32 to NTFS. In Windows XP, open a command prompt and type in “convert/?” to get details of the FAT32 to NTFS conversion process.

3. Hard disk clean-up

Run Scandisk and Disk Defragmenter. This will clean up the hard disk for the installation.

4. Run Upgrade Advisor

The Upgrade Advisor is an excellent tool that will test your system’s hardware and software compatibility with Windows XP. It is the same tool that runs during the XP Setup, but since you are running it independently, it will give you a report that will help you prepare for the upgrade. It is nearly 32 MB, in size and can be downloaded from www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/howtobuy/upgrading/advisor.asp.

Once you’ve verified and are satisfied about the compatibility of your hardware and software, you can start the upgrade.

2. Upgrading to Windows XP

1. Insert the CD-ROM and select “Install Windows XP.”

2. Close all running applications such as virus scanners, spyware scanners, etc.

3. Choose an installation type. You can either upgrade or do a clean install. The clean install will either overwrite the existing OS or create a dual-boot system where you can select to either log in to XP or your previous Windows version at system startup. If you’re opting for a dual-boot, don’t forget to retain your FAT/FAT32 file system. We assume you’re opting for an in-place upgrade, so choose “Upgrade (Recommended)” and click next.

4. Accept the license agreement and enter the product key in the next screen.

5. This step duplicates the Upgrade Advisor and verifies the hardware and software compatibility. Review the report and proceed if you are satisfied, else cancel the installation and rectify the problems identified by the Upgrade Advisor.

Running The Upgrade Advisor

The first screen is basic information about the Advisor.

In this screen, you are asked if you want to connect to the Internet and get the latest compatibility updates

More information on compatibility Even more information on compatibility, informing you about the report categories

Upgrade Advisor connects to the Internet and downloads the latest compatibility information updates

The advisor examines the system against the latest compatibility list

6. If you are connected to the Internet, Setup will ask you if it can get updated setup files over the Internet. It is strongly recommended to accept this, as you will get all the latest critical updates and driver updates.

7. Windows XP Setup will be updated. It will copy some files to the hard disk and reboot. On reboot, if you see a message to press any key to boot from the CD-ROM, ignore it. Setup has configured itself to run from the hard disk.

8. Setup will copy more files and reboot again. Ignore the message to press any key to boot from the CD.

9. Setup installs devices and the network, and then copies files and configures the rest of the files needed to install XP.

10. Finally, program and system settings are upgraded, temporary files are removed, and the system reboots again.

11. The first time XP boots, you are presented with the option of connecting to the Internet, activating Windows and optionally registering. You are then presented with the XP desktop.

The upgrade report lists all the software and hardware with problems and requiring either replacement or XP-compatible updates.

Save this report and review it to determine which hardware and software requires replacement or upgrades You can also visit the Windows Catalog Web site to get a list of hardware and software that will work with Windows

3. Post-Upgrade Tasks

1. Testing Installed Software

Check all your software programs to see if they are working. If any are not, try reinstalling the application or visit the software vendor’s Web site to get XP updates for the program. If they still don’t work, go to “Fixing a problem” in the “Help and Support Center” to get help in solving application and software problems.

2. Testing Installed Hardware

Check if all the hardware is working. Right-click on My Computer, and go to Properties > Hardware, and click on Device Manager. See if there are any problematic devices; double-click to see the properties page and the error code. See the Troubleshooting Hardware Device Conflicts in Windows section of this guide to understand what the Device Manager error codes mean, and their possible resolution. Update the drivers as applicable by right-clicking on the problematic device and selecting Update Driver. Leave the XP setup CD in the drive and try the option “Install the software automatically (Recommended)”. If that doesn’t work, get the updated Windows XP driver from the manufacturer. If that fails, go to “Fixing a problem” in the “Help and Support Center” to get help in solving application and software problems.

3. Run Windows Update

Update your installation of Windows XP with all the patches, other updates, and service packs by connecting to the Windows Update site.

4. Defragment your hard disk

The upgrade would have made your system files heavily fragmented. Open My Computer, right-click the installation drive (usually C:), select Properties, click on the Tools tab, and select “Defragment Now”.

5. Customise

Further customise the system—wallpapers, screensavers, etc. You are now ready to use Windows XP! Use Windows XP for a few weeks to verify that everything is working correctly. Once this is confirmed, go to Add or Remove Programs. Remove the option to revert to your old system. This will save on disk space, but be warned that there is no going back to your previous OS once you remove it.