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Check out Hal
Cardona. the PC Sleuth's column
in my ABC Newsletter, Printer problems or
Questions? Another good site, where you can learn how to build and/or troubleshoot your own PC is PC-NUT.com. And, a site where you can learn how to reinstall your operating system completely is InstallOS.com Here are five tools I use when I think I might have a hardware problem. (These tools are also very useful when you want to identify what types of hardware you have installed, by name, version, etc.)
Go to your start button, then select "Run".....in this box, type hwinfo.exe /ui (note that there IS a space between "hwinfo.exe" and "/ui").....this will bring up a box that will just sit there while windows scans your system and checks all hardware......when it's done, it will give you a report....all warnings are printed in blue and all problems are printed in red. (NOTE: On many machines this utility shows a conflict regarding PCI steering, and generally this can be ignored.)
Sandra looks very much like your control panel, except she has many, many icons inside her and allows you to run lots of tests on your system and create reports. Whenever she finds something in your system that is incorrect or setup in a way that is decreasing your system performance, she makes suggestions with easy-to-follow instructions. She never changes anything in your system automatically....she only tells you what she thinks you should do, then walks you through the steps. And, if you download and install Sandra and have any questions, problems or difficulties using the program, don't write to me.....go back to Sandra's website and contact the support personnel there. I have found them to be extremely helpful and informative....especially when you realize they are giving you this fine diagnostic tool for free. Of course, if you find you love Sandra as much as I do, you will probably choose to spend the few dollars and upgrade to the professional version which allows you to do even more tests. I've been known to waste lots of hours just looking at my system through Sandra's eyes. It's taught me a lot!
It's very similar to Sandra and also allows you to see the registration keys on your computer for your operating system and installed programs, in case you've misplaced them and need to reinstall.
One is called WinTune and it takes about 20 minutes to run the full test. You can access this test from this URL: http://wintune.winmag.com/Default.asp. (since WinMag has gone out of business, you can try this downloadable version of WinTune until I find a new link for an online version). The is other is PC Pitstop, which is similar and you can access it at: http://www.pcpitstop.com/ (Note: I am not advocating nor recommending that anyone make specific changes based on the results they get from these testing tools. I am only recommending them as a way to see if you have any potential hardware problems. After that, you're on your own. Like I said, I'm NOT a hardware expert!) A QUICK TIP: If you are like me and find yourself accessing your device manager a lot (by going to start>settings>control panel>system>device manager tab), you might want to just add a shortcut to it on your desktop. It's simple: right-click on your desktop and choose New, Shortcut. In the Command Line field, type: C:\WINDOWS\CONTROL.EXE Sysdm.cpl, System,1 (Note the correct spacing--you may just want to paste the correct text from here into the field.) Click Next, name your shortcut Device Manager, and click Finish. CD-R or CD-RW questions or problems? Check out the CD-R/CD-RW FAQ. And here's a really good article on how to tell if the System Requirements of any hardware (or software) are met by your computer. Another good site for hardware help is here:
A really complete site where you can find just about anything you ever wanted to know about hardware, is Escape From Hardware Hell. |
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