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Health and Maintenance of Computers
L. D. Morrison
Technology Trainer — Clarksdale Public Schools
http://www.etwebtools.org
http://www.cdps.k12.ms.us/teacher_resource.htm
http://teacherexchange.mde.k12.ms.us
Adding/replacing cards
Adding more memory to your computer and replacing cards in the system
unit
(sound, video, modem, etc.) are best learned through hands-on demonstrations.
However, there are certain rules or procedures that apply in all cases:
- Avoid static electricity interference and ground yourself by putting
both hands on the frame before unplugging the computer.
- After removing the cover, check for dust and debris and remove with
a small vacuum or air blower.
- Handle all cards by their edges, being careful not to touch circuitry
or strips at the bottom.
- Label or draw pictures of things you remove to ensure they are replaced
correctly.
- Always take the part with you if you go to a store to get more cards
or replacement cards. (Internal modems, for example, have different
slots.)
- You can tell which cards are which by looking at the connectors on
the side of the card. To swap a card out, simply disconnect it and pull
out the bad card. Then press the new card in and reconnect it.
Updating and installing a driver
Almost every component of the computer includes its own driver. If you
troubleshoot a component and find that it is not working properly (see
guidance for Troubleshooting), it most likely requires a new or updated
driver.
Drivers are available on the disks or CDs that came with your computer
or the particular component. If you have lost or misplaced these disks/CDs
you may still be able to download an updated driver off the Web, if it
is available for that model.
Once you begin the process for updating the driver, you should have available
the disk or CD necessary so you can put it in when told to do so. If you
do not have the disk of CD you will need the model number and manufacturer
of the component to initiate a Web search.
The following steps will get you started if you need to update a driver:
Start>Settings>Control Panel>System>Device Manager
Highlight the component with the problem and click on Properties
Select the Driver tab and click on Update Driver (see Fig. 1)
Follow the guidance given for the update, inserting the disk or CD when
told or entering the appropriate information if doing a web search for
the driver.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What are the specifications of my computer?
Start>Settings>Control Panel>System;
General Tab gives operating system, processor and amount of RAM
Double click My Computer icon on desktop, right click on (C:) drive,
and click System Information.
(See Figure 1).
Figure 1
The System tab again reveals information about the processor, memory,
operating system, etc.
The Memory tab reveals Free and Used Physical Memory plus Windows Memory
(Fig. 2).
(Fig. 2)
The Drive Tab reveals Free and Used space on the Hard
Drive. (See Fig. 3).
Fig. 3
- How do I change the page that first opens when I start my Internet
Explorer?
Start>Settings>Control Panel>Internet Options; Under the General
Tab and under the Home Page section, type in the URL for the new page
that you wish to be the "home page." (See Fig. 4.)
Fig. 4
- How can I view, change or delete temporary Internet files?
Start>Settings>Control Panel; Double click Internet Options
Under the General tab of the Internet Properties page, go to Temporary
Internet Files
From here you can delete the files or go to Settings>View Files
to view
Additionally, you can adjust the amount of space used for temporary
files here. (Fig. 5)
Fig. 5
- How can I increase the security on my computer?
Start>Settings>Control Panel>Passwords; Here you have the
option for customizing preferences and personal desktop settings.
Start>Settings>Control Panel>Display>Screen Saver tab;
Here you can set up or change a password to go beyond the screensaver.
(See Fig. 6)
Fig. 6
Recover from a Software Crash
Windows contains a magical key combination that may unfreeze your PC.
Pressing Ctl + Alt + Del (Delete) at the same time presents you with
an onscreen window that you can use as a starting point for escaping
from a crash.
- Press the Ctrl + Alt + Del (Delete) keys. A dialog box appears, listing
all the programs that are open, with notes next to any that have stopped
working. The box gives you the choice of either shutting down programs
or restarting your computer. Shutting down programs may avoid losing
unsaved work.
- Click on the program you want to close, and then click End Task. Repeat
this to close other programs. Close the dialog box to see if your computer
is working again. If it is, save all your work before continuing.
- If your computer still doesn’t respond at this point, press Ctrl
+ Alt + Del (Delete) again, then try clicking Shut Down on the dialog
box.
- Press the computer’s reset button if the previous step doesn’t
work. Turn off the power switch as a last resort.
Prevention is the Best Cure
- Check that you have plenty of space available on your hard disk. Windows
likes to operate with lots of free disk space. You should always keep
at least 25% of your hard disk free. Any less that that and your hard
disk will struggle. Use Add/Remove Programs in the Control Panel folder
to remove unused software from your hard drive.
- Back up your files regularly. That way, if a severe crash damages
your hard disk, at least you won’t lose months of work. Yo should
also be sure to create astartup disk. To do this, open Add/Remove Programs
in Control Panel, select the Startup Disk tab and click Create Disk.
You’ll need one floppy disk to do this. Once made, store it safely.
- To guard against losing your work, save often. Press Ctrl + S to save.
Remember to keep backup copies of important work.
Handy Hardware Hints
- Computer crashes often result from problems with software, but it’s
worth checking your hardware first. Sometimes loose connections can
make you think you have problems that are more serious. Check that the
connector cable for your mouse is plugged securely into the back of
the computer.
Basic Computer Troubleshooting
Whether caused by programming or manufacturing glitches, phases of the
moon, curses placed upon you by disgruntled colleagues, or something else
entirely, computer catastrophes are most likely to take place in the memory
and hard drives. The CPU is the least likely to develop terminal disease.
Steps to curing your own computer ailments and retaining your sanity:
- Buy from a quality vendor with long warranties and a reputation
for good service. Any major PC magazine, such as PC World or PC Magazine,
conducts truckloads of product and vendor reviews.
- Consider buying extended warranties, especially if they include
on-site service. (Most laptop makers will not offer on-site repair;
you have to ship your machine to them.)
- Keep all manuals and documentation.
- Take it slowly and logically; often common sense is enough to see
you through.
Daily Prevention
- Plug your computer into a good-quality surge protector. Even better
is a surge protector plugged into an uninterruptible power supply. (UPS
for short)
- Backup your data! No excuses!
- Never ever move your computer while it is turned on.
- Never plug in a mouse or a keyboard while the computer is turned on.
- Always shut down Windows using the shut-down menu. If it hangs at
shutdown, give it a good long wait before turning off the power switch.
If any program than hangs, hit ctrl + alt + delete to bring up the Task
Menu, and select End Task. Be patient and give it time.
- If everything locks up, or you get the dreaded Blue Screen of Death,
try ctrl + alt + delete twice. Go get a cookie or do something that
takes three minutes.
- If it still does not respond, turn off the power switch and go get
another cookie. If Scan Disk runs when you restart, say yes to everything.
- Never click the power switch on and off quickly.
- Be very paranoid about static electricity. If possible, park your
chair on an anti-static mat. Ordinary plastic chair mats generate all
kinds of static electricity.
- When deleting a program, use its own Uninstall program, or use Add/Remove
Programs in the Control Panel.
- Absolutely have an anti-virus program installed and running, and update
it at least monthly.
No Documents!
- No documents? No problem. Visit the manufacturer's
Web site. For example, Seagate
keeps extensive archives of technical data. Find jumper settings, how-tos,
and everything. Anytime you research a problem, make the Web your first
stop.
Obvious Dumb Things
- No matter what weird behavior your computer displays, do the obvious
first:
- Rebooting cures most Windows ailments.
- Check all cables and power cords.
- Pay attention to error messages and write them down word-for-word.
If you call tech support, this is essential information.
Software or Hardware?
- First step is to figure out if you have a hardware or software problem.
Most of the time it will be software. Does the problem only occur
in one program, or in all programs? Does it happen when you have certain
applications running at the same time, or certain devices?
Software Fixes
- ...can be tricky. If you have warranty support, use it. Uninstalling
and then re-installing a problem application often cures problems.
Again, the manufacturer's Web site should be a wealth of information.
A good Web site will list known problems and fixes.
- Configuration errors can drive you nuts. Get "The Mother of All
Windows" book by Woody Leonhard and Barry Simon. Indispensable for
taming Windows.
Hardware Bad
- If you get a lot of "page faults," most
likely your RAM is toast. Easiest way to check is run Tuff-Test
Pro. Or, if you have extra
RAM modules, swap them in one at a time and see what happens. If you
are really lucky, a repair shop near you will have a tester, and can
test them for $10 or so. RAM testers are hideously expensive, so few
shops use them; try a shop that sells refurbished computers. Testing
the RAM modules is best, as a defective mainboard can act like bad
memory.
- Hard drives usually fail with much noise and drama, but not always.
If you start having a lot of corrupt files, run ScanDisk. If it finds
a lot of bad sectors, cross-linked files, or cannot complete the scan,
sorry Charley! All gone.
- TuffTest Pro does an extremely thorough disk scan. I recommend it
because it completely bypasses Windows, going straight to the hardware.
Other Stuff
- Computer slows way down. Check for overheated CPU. (A good ball-bearing
CPU fan is $20, and don't forget to stick the fan to the CPU with
thermal goo.)
- Check your power supply: it can fail partially and still start the
computer. Swap in a known good one, or test with a multimeter. A failing
power supply may cause spontaneous rebooting.
Bogus Mainboard
- Some or all of your ports will not work. Again, TuffTest is a great
diagnostic tool.
No Sound
- Make sure your speakers are connected correctly. Soundcards are
not helpful, having cryptic, nearly invisible markings. When you find
the correct connection on the soundcard, mark it with a laundry marker.
If you have program sounds but no CD sounds, your CD drive is not
connected to the soundcard. This is an internal connection: a cable
runs from the back of the CD drive to the soundcard.
Cannot Read From CD
- Try different disks; if they all have problems, the CD drive is
a goner. It pays to spend a little more for a quality brand with a
year warranty. I prefer Toshiba drives. For the ultimate in satisfaction,
replace a defunct CD drive with a DVD drive. I installed a Toshiba
5x DVD, and love it, it reads CDs faster and more smoothly than the
CD drive it replaced. Doesn't matter much for installing software,
but for gameplay it makes a big difference.
General Diagnostic Rules
- Any time a new problem occurs, ask yourself if you made any changes.
New software, new hardware, changes in configuration? Undo the change
and see if that heals it. Any time you make changes, do one thing
at a time. Make sure everything works before doing the next thing.
If you have a lot to do, this gets tedious, but it saves big headaches.
Create Secure User Profiles with Windows 95's Policy
Editor
Publicly accessible computers, such as those in schools, require a
significant degree of security to prevent abuse. The Windows 95 CD-ROM
provides the tool you need to implement restrictive policies on such
machines in the form of the Policy Editor (POLEDIT) application. The
Windows "Policy Editor" setup can be found in the Windows resource kit
on your Win 95/98 installation CD. For the Windows 95 installation CD-ROM,
the policy editor (poledit.exe) is in the \admin\apptools\poledit\ directory.
For the Windows 98 installation CD-ROM, the policy editor (poledit.exe)
is in the \tools\reskit\netadmin\poledit\ directory. You then run the
"Policy Editor" (poledit.exe) to set which users or groups can access
what resources (for example, access to the Control Panel, Hard Drive,
Floppy Drive, Printers, make changes to the Desktop, etc.) on your Windows
95 or Windows 98 machine. Unfortunately, the Windows 95 Resource Kit
doesn't tell you how to use POLEDIT for standalone computers, so I developed
a method of my own:
- Prepare the System. Use Explorer to make backup copies of USER.DAT
and SYSTEM.DAT, in case of emergency. Make sure you have at least
10MB free on the Windows drive to hold user profile information.
- Enable User Profiles. Launch the Password applet in Control Panel.
Click the User Profiles tab, click the option Users can customize...,
and check the two check boxes. Click OK; Windows will restart.
- Create Profiles. When Windows restarts, log on as User and allow
Windows to create folders to hold your profile information. Shut down
and log on again as Administrator, with a suitably obscure password,
and again allow Windows to create profile folders. Don't forget this
password!
- Restrict User Access to Programs. While logged on as Administrator,
use Explorer to navigate to C:\WINDOWS\PROFILES\USER\STARTMENU. In
this folder and those below it, delete any shortcuts to programs the
user shouldn't be allowed to run, including every shortcut in the
Recent folder. Be sure to delete shortcuts to POLEDIT, Regedit, and
Explorer.
- Install Policy Editor. Launch the Add/Remove
Software applet in Control Panel, click the Windows Setup tab, and
press the Have... button. Navigate to the ADMIN\APPTOOLS\POLEDIT folder
of the Windows 95 CD-ROM and install POLEDIT.INF. This will install
POLEDIT and put it on the Accessories\System Tools submenu of the
Programs menu. It will also place the critical policy template file
ADMIN.ADM in the C:\WINDOWS\INF directory. If you don't have the CD,
you can download POLEDIT from http://www.microsoft.com
or CIS MSWIN.
- Define Default User Policy. Launch POLEDIT, create a new file, and
add new users named User and Administrator. Double-click the Default
User icon, select System | Restrictions, and check all four boxes.
Select Shell | Restrictions and check the four boxes whose captions
begin with Remove, plus the two that say Hide All Items on Desktop
and Don't Save Setting at Exit. Do not check the Disable Shut Down
command. Use Explorer to create a folder named C:\WINDOWS\PROFILES\DUMMY.
Back in POLEDIT, select Shell | Custom Folders and check all the boxes,
filling in the dummy folder name you just created for those that require
paths. Click OK and save the file as CONFIG.POL.
- Define User Policy. Load the example policy file MAXIMUM.POL, click
on the Default User icon, and choose Copy from the Edit menu. Reload
CONFIG.POL, click on the User icon, and select Paste from the Edit
menu. Doubleclick the User icon and choose Shell | Custom Folders.
Click on the text of each check box in turn and, if an edit box appears
below, replace C:\WINDOWS with C:\WINDOWS\PROFILES\USER. Make sure
all boxes remain checked. Select Control Panel | Passwords and check
the Restrict box; then check the other four boxes that appear below.
Under Shell | Restrictions, check Remove Run command, Remove Find
command, Hide Drives in My Computer, and Don't Save Settings at Exit.
Consult the Windows Resource Kit Help to determine what other restrictions
you may wish to add, but be sure not to check Disable Shut Down command.
Now go to the Shell | Restrictions and System | Restrictions and change
any gray check boxes to blank.
- Define Administrator Policy. Double-click the Administrator icon
and go through the entire list of restrictions, setting every check
box to blank, not gray. This protects the Administrator policy from
being affected by the Default User policy.
- Define "no user" Policy. Log on again, but press Esc to close the
log-on prompt. Run POLEDIT, select Open Registry from the File menu,
and double-click Local User. Apply all the same restrictions you applied
to Default User. Then log on as Administrator again.
- Enable Policy Loading. Load CONFIG.POL in POLEDIT, open the Default
Computer icon, select System, and check Enable User Profiles. Under
Network\Update, check Remote Update. Select Manual for the Update
Mode, and enter C:\WINDOWS\CONFIG.POL as your path. Save CONFIG.POL.
Now select Open Registry from the File menu, double-click Local Computer,
and make the same change to the network update mode. Save changes
and exit POLEDIT.
- Test Policies. Log on as User; check to see that the policy restrictions
you specified are in place. Log on as Administrator and check that
there are no restrictions. Now shut down and log on again, but use
a new name and password. There should be no icons on the desktop and
no programs available from the Start Menu (nothing to do but log on
again). This time press Esc at the log-on prompt to bypass entering
a user name. Again you should have no option but to shut down and
log on again.
- Protect Policies. Log on as User and confirm that there is no way
to run POLEDIT. For greater safety, change the file named ADMIN.ADM
(in the C:\WINDOWS\INF folder) to something else. Use the DOS command
ATTRIB to remove the read-only, hidden, and system attributes from
the file C:\MSDOS.SYS, and load it into your favorite editor. Find
the heading [Options] and change the Bootkeys= key to Bootkeys=0.
If this key is not present under [Options], simply add it. Save the
file and restore its read-only, hidden, and system attributes. This
change prevents the user from breaking out of Windows 95's startup
process. Finally, if the system BIOS permits, use its SETUP program
to disable booting from a floppy disk.
Computer Viruses
What is a Virus
Simply put, a computer virus is a computer
program that is created to make and spread copies of itself. The program
may however also be designed to have other effects on the systems it
infects, ranging from the annoying to the disastrous.
How to Avoid Viruses
Never use the Internet, or receive e-mail
attachments, or use files created on other computers, or use any disk
that isn't received shrink-wrapped fresh from the manufacturer.
In other words, it is very difficult to avoid them, your best defense
is a reputable AntiVirus program.
Hoax Viruses
Occasionally you may receive an e-mail
message warning you of dire consequences if you open a message with
a particular subject line, common ones are "Join the Crew" and "Penpals".
These messages are hoaxes. There is no way such a virus could be transmitted
by a simple e-mail message. Viruses can be carried by attachments to
e-mail messages, but will be picked up easily by an up to date AntiVirus
program. If you do receive a message like this, DO NOT forward it on
to other people. Just delete and ignore it. The only virus involved
with messages like these is the messages themselves. They spread around
the Internet, multiplying as they go, clogging up the lines and slowing
down legitimate traffic. http://securityresponse.symantec.com/ will
give you the latest information on various viruses and hoaxes out there
on the Internet.
AntiVirus Software
Your best defense against computer viruses
is an up to date AntiVirus program. The standard ones that I use are
Norton AntiVirus (NAV) for PCs and Macintosh. These programs can be
set to automatically update themselves on a monthly basis providing
ongoing protection against new viruses as they appear. Your computer
consultant will be able to tell
you if you have an AntiVirus program on your computer and arrange for
you to get one if you don't.
Norton Antivirus - http://www.symantec.com/nav/
- Usually can be found for $29.95 - $39.95
McAfee Antivirus — http://www.mcafee.com/ -
Usually can be found for $29.99 - $49.99
AVG Antivirus - http://www.grisoft.com/ - Available
free to qualified educational users
PC-cillin - http://www.antivirus.com/pc-cillin/download/
- Available free for 30 days.
Housecall - http://housecall.antivirus.com/pc_housecall/
- Free Online scan of your computer
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