Computer Maintenance

COMPUTER MAINTENANCE
INTRODUCTION AND DEFINITIONS

Computer maintenance is the practice of keeping computers in a good state of repair. There are two types of maintenance:
hardware maintenance and software maintenance. When the maintenance is done before the damage of the computer the practice is
called preventive maintenance (it is the maintenance performed for the purpose of preventing problems before they occur);
when it is done to repair the computer it is called corrective maintenance since it is performed to correct faults in hardware or
software
I- HARDWARE PROTECTION
It is a good thing to have a computer for performing usual tasks; but another important thing is how to keep the computer
safety.
 Factors that can Damage your computer
 Heat (Overheating): Inadequate ventilation and cooling in and around your computer hardware can cause severe
damage to the equipment. The primary cause of hard drive failures is hardware overheating.
 Physical damage to your computer: Any type of physical force, such as bumping, jarring, or dropping your
computer may lead to physical damage to the computer.
 Dust: dust can cause serious damage to computer.
 Power Surges (Electricity interruptions and failures): A power surge can be caused by lightning strikes,
interference with power lines, or by any event which causes the flow of energy to be interrupted and then restarted. If you do not
have a special protection, for your computer against electricity surges or sudden power failures, disruptions may occur causing
massive data loss. Similarly, sudden and large changes in voltage in the computer can cause damage to data.
 Water Damage: Moisture caused by flooding or even by spilling a liquid onto your computer will have damaging
effects on a computer’s electronic parts and disk components, possibly even causing unwanted electrical currents which can
further damage your computer.
 Corrupted files/Viruses and other malicious programs: Improperly closing a program, turning off your computer
before closing files, and installing new software can cause files to become corrupted. Power failures and accidental computer shut
downs can contribute to corrupted files, andcausing damage to the hard drive. Viruses are a nuisance, whether they damage or
slow Internet connections or as example 'Spam' can in fact cause irreparable damage to computers deleting data that cannot again
be restored.
 Human error (User errors): at times, users can unconsciously cause damage to computer hardware and software.
Wrong use of additional hardware or mistakes made when installing, the incorrect installation of software, mistakenly deleted /
formatted files / disks, incorrectly installed device drivers, and many other errors can have negative effects on computers.
The above factors can have very bad effects on computers, fortunately they can be prevented.
II- Preventive maintenance

In order to prevent your computer from aforethought (planned in advance)[ə fáwrthawt]damages, take following precautions:
 Use surge protector and Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) to protect your computer from power problems.
Surge protectors or surge suppressors will protect your computer equipment from variations in electrical current, such as surges
and spikes. However, surge protectors do not protect against drops in power. In order for your computer to continue to function
even if there is no power available, you need a UPS. A UPS has an internal battery that will allow equipment plugged into it to
continue to run and will give you few minutes to shut down your computer the right way. They usually will beep when the power
goes off.
 Unplug your computer and accessories during any electrical storm.
It is not worth the risk of frying those hard drives, monitors, and printers. If you have a surge protector and all your stuff is
plugged into it, then you simply unplug the surge protector power strip.
 Discharge any static electricity from you before you touch the computer or keyboard.
 Keep your computer and accessories in a cool, dry place, away from excessive heat or sunlight.
 Store your CDs and DVDs VERTICALLY (not flat or horizontally) once you put data on them. Keep them in a
cool, dry place, away from excessive heat or sunlight.
 Wipe the area on your desk that your mouse runs over (if you don't have a mouse pad) once a week. Turn off your
computer, and wipe the keyboard. Turn the keyboard upside down and shake to get those crumbs out.

 Keepfood, and especially drinks, away from your laptop or desktop box.
 Downloading the latest updates for your computer software.
 Installing antivirus examples of antivirus include Karspersky, Norton , avast , nod 32, smadav
 Verifying you have the latest anti-virus protection updates on your computer.
 Deleting unused programs or other files on your computer
 Perform defragmentation1
1
III- HARDWARE SELECTION
Some common elements to pay attention to when selecting hardware are:
Ergonomics: the study of how a workplace and the equipment used there can best be designed for comfort, efficiency, safety,
and productivity.
Working with computers can cause many discomforts which can have short-term, as well as long-term consequences on the
user's health. Some of the problems are noise, inconvenient body position, eye strain, eye sight difficulties and other health problems.
Production quality and robustness (a feature which is particularly important when a computer is handled by a lot of different
people)
Power consumption (with portable equipment also the autonomy without external power supply)
Quality of design (what it looks like)
Size (how much space it takes up)
Price and the price/quality ratio
Specific Considerations: depending on the type of application, hardware is needed for; attention can be paid to following:
Capability for and ease of using multimedia
Sound utilities, video input/output
Memory size and possibility to be expandable
Hard drive storage capacity and possibility to be expandable
Cache memory capacity
Capacity of graphics card
Availability of adequate electronic devices for backup and storage of data
LESSON 1 FAULT DIAGNOSIS

Competences :
Detect simple faults such as components failures and how to resolve these problems: power supply problems, cards, system
board, CPU, Ram, drives, CD/DVD ROM, Software crashes.
Virus attacks
I- Hardware failures diagnostics
Hardware failure refers to a malfunction within the electronic circuits or electromechanical components (disks, tapes) of a
computer system. Recovery from a hardware failure requires repair or replacement of the affected part for the computer or equipment
to operate again.
Generally, factors including: strange noises like beeping, whirling, or grinding, during start-up or when computing may be a
sign of hardware failure. A blue screen is often a sign of a driver conflict or hardware issue. If you face following symptoms, it could
be possible your computer is having a hardware failure:
Start up problems
Reboot problems
Slow computer speed and performance
Frequent computer crashes
Complications while copying, moving or deleting files
Frequent and automatic reboots
Unable to read file
Overheating
Interruptions in power supply
Unable to install software. Continuously getting error messages
Depending on the type of sign you notice, you may deduce the specific component that is disturbing.
- Hard Drive Failure
If your hard drive data is corrupted, you will often end up with an operating system error telling you some file is missing or
corrupt.
- Video Card Failure
Usually if your video card starts going bad it can happen one of two ways: it will just stop sending signal through the card if
the video processing chip has given up the ghost. You can try another screen if you think the signal is not getting through. This helps
make sure that you are not misdiagnosing the issue.
- Memory Failure
Symptoms like: Blue screens (blue screen of death), random crashes or reboots, crashing during heavy memory use tasks such
as gaming, distorted graphics on your computer screen, failure to boot (or turn on), repeated long beeps, memory errors appear on
screen, or computer appears to boot, but screen remains blank, may imply RAM failure. Then, you can test it to be sure. You can
replace the sticks of memory if you have extras to see if makes a difference.
- Motherboard Failure
One of the most common ways to note a motherboard failure is when the system does not boot up or even power up. When
this happens, it is possible that it is the processor, but it is good to take a look at the motherboard.
- Processor Failure
A smell like that funky smell we call "giving up the smoke" might mean the processor is bad. The processor gets kind of
stinky, like that smell of burned plastic when it gets fried. The best way to test a processor is to stick it in another machine to see if it
will power and boot up. If a processor is dead, it will not heat up (in most cases). And it will not boot either. It will not give you a
P.O.S.T. Beep either.
- Power Supply Failure
If a power supply is bad, chances are your system will not power on. But it can be possible to have power supplies that are
intermittently bad. Usually in this case you will have random power failures and sometimes blue screens of death (BSOD’s). Most
computer stores have power supply testers and can tell you if the unit is just bad or if the voltages are inconsistent or sub standard to
the requirements for 3, 5 or 12 volt settings.
- Monitor / Screen Failure
When computer turn on normally but no display, it is probably a monitor problem. The easiest way to test a bad monitor is to plug in a
working one to your computer. If your video card gives signal to the new monitor, then double check your conclusion of bad monitor
by plugging your monitor into another computer. If it does not power up, you know your monitor is bad.

Computer Maintenance

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COMPUTER MAINTENANCE

INTRODUCTION AND DEFINITIONS

II- Preventive maintenance

LESSON 1 FAULT DIAGNOSIS

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