5 things you should know before trying to fix your computer.

Let's face it everyone thinks they're a computer technician ,just need a screwdriver  patience and brains right?
Sometimes it's not as simple as it looks.
There a many factors and precautions to to consider before you even put that screwdriver in your hand.
I will list 5 important things that you should know before you even attempt to repair your computer.

1.One of the most important things is to have  a clean,clutter, hassle free workplace where you will be working on the computer.you need to place the side panels in one place ,computer parts and cables in another so make sure you have the space for it (and don't place it on the floor or carpet that's just silly.)
Also the right tools are handy to have too make sure the screwdrivers are the correct sizes and lengths too.
Using the correct tool for the job will make it much more pleasant.

2.ESD or ElectroStatic Discharge is how us humans can destroy and kill electronic components by just touching them.
Think of it as when rubbing your feet on the carpet and touching a metallic object like a door knob you receive a shock, though harmless to us can be deadly to the electronic components inside your computer (desktop or even laptop).
Before touching any component you have to either get an antistatic mat to place on your workspace ,ESD wrist strap to prevent you're body from sending any charge that will harm sensitive components.
If those items are not available then you can protect  the components  by touching anything metal on the computer case such as the power supply or chassis before touching anything electronic.
Remember to remove any fancy jewellery as well since this can cause ESD too.More info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrostatic_discharge

3.Turn off all power to the computer and remove any external cables such as the power cord ,printers ,modems ,network cables ,printers as these devices can still be holding current and you don't want any current when working on the inside of a computer.

4.Backup ,Backup ,Backup.
This is very important if you are doing a software repair as opposed to a hardware (physical) repair.
cleaning viruses, messing around with important system files if you're not too experienced can cause a nightmare instead of a solution, and you don't want to do backups when it's in nightmare mode trust me.

5.Research before you start to try and fix your computer yourself, will you be able to do it ,do you have the expertise, will you be able to finish once you start ,research online to similar problems that others are experiencing and see if their solutions apply to you and if they do can you do it yourself?
Compare repair costs if you fix it yourself will it cost you more than to have a qualified technician fix it for you?

These are 5 of the things that one should consider before trying to fix their own computers at home or even at work.Sure there are many more out there but these are straight forward guidlines that need to be followed and considered.

If you try to fix your computer yourself then all I can say is
Good Luck.


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Windows 7 64bit does not use all the memory installed

Had a laptop with windows 7 64bit edition and 4GB of Memory installed but the system would recognise 4GB but it said only 3GB is usable.
The problem here is that windows 7 has limited the usable memory to 3GB in the startup settings.
To fix this click Start ,type msconfig ,select the Boot tab and then select Advanced options , and uncheck the  Maximum memory option if activated click OK when done.
Then Apply and restart the computer.

Problem solved.

Windows 7 keeps reverting to 640x480 screen resolution

This one was a strange one every time you log into windows 7 the screen resolution would revert back to the lowest setting which in my case was 640x480 .
What was happening is that there is an option activated to boot windows 7 with a Base Video mode ,so even if you change the screen resolution back to what it was initially it would always revert back to 640x480 because that option is enabled.
To fix this click on Start ,type msconfig and in the General tab select Normal startup  ,Apply and restart.

Problem Solved.

Windows 7 does not autoplay CDs and DVDs

When inserting an audio, film, or software disk in windows 7 it no longer autoplays as before .
This is usually caused by a service that is not starting automatically, to resolve this do the following steps:

Click on Start then type services in the search box and select it when it is shown.
When the services window opens scroll down until you find Shell Hardware Detection double click it and change it's start-up to Automatic , click OK and then close the services window and restart windows.


Autoplay should now work.

 

Forum added to site.

Finally a forum has been added to the site where you can ask computer related questions and hopefully get the answers for them too.

click here to enter the forum

cmd.exe error Only part of a readprocessmemory or write process memory request was completed. windows XP

When trying to open the command prompt or calculator in Windows XP you receive the following error:
Only part of a readprocessmemory or write process memory request was
completed

The solution that worked for me is to type the following in the Run dialogue box:
sfc /scannow  note: you will be asked to insert your Windows XP CD if errors are found.
If that doesn't solve it then a Windows XP repair install should also resolve it.
http://mycomputerdidwhat.blogspot.pt/2008/07/how-to-repair-windows-xp.html

Windows XP SP3 does not automatically install drivers

When plugging in a USB device or even an add on card windows XP does not automatically start the Add New Hardware Wizard to install the drivers but if you look in Device Manager the devices are there with a yellow exclamation mark.
I found a solution that worked for me in the registry.
Open regedit then navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE ,System ,Setup and on the right pane change both AuditInProgress and FactoryPreInstallInProgress from (1) to (0) restart and problem solved.

Hope this helps someone else.