How to troubleshoot a Hard Drive

For now there are two type of Hard drive used in computers. The Hard drive in your system may be an IDE or a SATA. IDE is the older variety, with the long, flat ribbon cable connector. SATA drives began appearing a couple of years ago. Gone is the flat ribbon cable. In its place is a thick serial cable.

Your hard drive have jumper on the rear. For the IDE HDD the jumper cap is used to indicate which drive is either the master, slave. You can also configure the IDE to use the ribbon cable as the basis for selecting which is master and which is slave this is call the cable select.

New hard disk installation

If you just bought a new hard drive and you want to install it first if its and IDE hard disk change the jumper cap to master, slave or cable select as you wish. Master is used when you have may be a CD-ROM drive and you are using one ribbon cable, slave is used when you have two IDE hard disk in one computer and you want the other hard disk to be master may be because you want to back up your files then you can put the jumper cap of the new hard disk on the slave pins. Cable select is use when you want the hard disk to be seen according to which part of the ribbon cable is connected to it. If it’s a SATA hard disk, don’t worry about setting the jumper just use its cable and connect it properly.

Old hard disk troubleshooting

Check your power cable
Sometimes a power cable is not properly connected. Make sure that the power cable you are using is good and change the current Molex power cable and use another one to power it

Configure the BIOS
You have to make sure that the hard disk is properly connected and the jumper cap is also properly placed, secondly check the BIOS. You will need to tap a certain key to enter the BIOS settings. This is normally the ESC, F1, F2, F10 or Delete key and is usually indicated on the very first screen when booting the PC. Once in the BIOS make sure the drive shows up in the appropriate place. If the hard disk is the master try detecting it and change the boot sequence to the master as the first boot device, and make sure it is set to Auto Detect the drive.

Check your IDE cable
Sometimes the IDE cable is not properly connected. Get another IDE cable and use it to connect the drives and make sure that it is properly connected.

Check if the drive is spinning
If the hard drive is not spinning, then it may not be getting power. You may need to listen real close to hear it spin, or touch the side with your finger to feel any vibration. If the drive is not spinning, test the power dongle with a multimeter, or try a different power connector. A power supply will often have several Molex connectors not being used. If the hard drive still does not spin up, the drive may be dead.
Sometimes may be something is just wrong with your computer that you can figure, so you have to try the hard disk in another computer before finalizing that its bad.

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How to Install A SATA Hard Drive

Installing a Serial ATA hard disk drive is generally easier than an IDE drive, as it is not necessary to configure jumpers. While physically installing the hard drive in the machine is similar, the SATA drives require fewer configurations and planning. The hard drive has jumpers at the rear of the drive, but they are used for power management and have nothing to do with Master, Slave and Cable Select like the IDE drives use.

Just like any hard drive, there are some precautions you must take when handling a new drive. Before doing anything, read the manufacturer's directions and follow any special instructions that might have been shipped with the HDD.

SATA HDD precautions

• Turn off and unplug the computer.
• Wear an anti-static wrist band or make sure you are properly grounded.
• Do not put stickers or labels on the drive.
• Do not touch the electronics on the hard drive.

Installation process

You can mount the SATA drive in the computer any way you want (flat, upright, and upside down) provided you use the screw mounts on the side or top of the drive. Mount the drive where you will have good air flow and be sure to use the SATA cable that ships with the drive or one that is less than 39 inches, which is within the SATA specification. You can connect the serial cable to a SATA controller on the motherboard, or a controller card if the motherboard does not have an on-board SATA controller.

Next, connect power to the drive using the SATA power connector or the legacy Molex connector. Do not use both at the same time, as this could hurt the hard drive.
SATA hard drive is better than IDE drives both in power consumption and speed. So when next you want to build new computer, consider installing a SATA drive.

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How to partition your hard drive using FDISK

Have ever seen a computer with one hard drive but when you boot the computer you always see two drives. This is usually done using FDISK. FDISK is a utility that let you partition your hard disk. It is also used to delete a partition

Before you can format your hard drive, you must partition it. Most drives only have a Primary partition, but that partition can be split into an Extended partition which can be further divided into Logical Drives. The C: drive is normally the Primary partition. The logical drives after that can be labeled D: E: F: etc. To partition the drive you'll need a boot disk. This disk (sometimes called a Startup Disk) will contain the FDISK utility. We recommend downloading one from bootdisk.com to match your Operating System, or you can get windows 98 bootable CD. You can use FDISK utility.

Creating Partition

Once the boot disk has been created, insert the disk and reboot. You will eventually wind up at the A:/ prompt. Type FDISK and hit enter. You will be taken to a screen with the following options: or you can use windows 98 bootable CD

1. Create DOS partition or Logical DOS Drive
2. Set active partition
3. Delete Partitions or Logical DOS Drive
4. Display partition information
5. Change current fixed drive

You will choose option one first, then when asked if you want to use the entire amount of space for this you will say Y if you have no intention of partitioning further, or N if you want to create an extended partition (recommended). Your extended partition must take up the remaining space on the disk. You will then be able to create Logical drives.

Your Primary partition should automatically be set as the Active partition. If not, you may need to go to the option 2 to designate it as such.
Keep in mind that there are some restrictions on partition sizes. You may need to partition huge drives into 64 gigs or smaller.

Deleting Partitions

Before creating partitions on older drives, you will have to delete the current partitions. Backup any important data because all data will be lost after deleting a partition. To avoid losing data, you can use non-destructive partitioning software such as Partition Magic--but it's wise to backup just in case.
If you have an NTFS partition on a drive FDISK will not be able to remove it. You'll probably see an error like this NTLDR is missing. Press any key to restart. You can use a utility called delpart.exe to remove the NTFS partition. This is also available at bootdisk.com.

Hard Drive Utilities

Most hard drive manufacturers include partitioning and copying software with the new drives. This will be a disk similar to a boot disk that will provide a graphical interface that walks you through the process of transferring files from one drive to another and partitioning the new disk into the FAT 32 or NTFS format. This is by far the easiest way to go. However, it is still recommended that you know the differences between a Primary, Extended and Logical drive.

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How to Troubleshoot a Motherboard

Troubleshooting is a set of procedures that entails using your mental tools to dictate and rectify a fault on the computer system. The motherboard is the one component that connects to every other component on the system. For that reason it’s also one of the hardest to troubleshoot.

Check the power supply

When trying to diagnose a bad motherboard that will not power up, you must first check the power supply. Use a tester to test the voltage of current supplied to the computer. If the power supply and power pack checks out okay make sure you are plugging the computer directly into a working outlet.
Check your ram
The next step to take is to check and make sure that the ram is ok. To do this note that the motherboard comes with two ram banks (slots).insert the ram into the first bank (slot). It is normally labeled bank 0 and bank 1 or bank 1 and bank 2. Whichever way just make sure that it is occupying the first slot. Power your computer, if it does not come up.

Use isolation method

Remove any add-on card. Like network card, sound etc including any IDE device connected to the board like hard disk, CD-ROM drives and any external device like printer, scanner etc. after isolating these components power the motherboard. If it comes up then connect the devices one after the other.

Look For Physical Defects on the Motherboard

Common problems with motherboards are leaking capacitors. Capacitors help regulate voltage and when they fail, they will often budge and leak. Capacitors look like tiny soda cans and there are often several on a motherboard. If you do not see any bad capacitors, lift the computer and give it a gentle shake. Listen for any screws that may have come loose and work their way between the motherboard and case. This can cause a short that prevents the computer from booting.

Check your CMOS battery

If the motherboard still does not come up, the next step is to check the CMOS battery. The CMOS battery is suppose to read 3 volts, if it reads 2.5 it’s still ok, but if reads less than 2.5 volts then the battery needs to be replace. Change the battery with a new one. Then check the CMOS jumper. If it is in pin 2 and 3 that means it is disabled, correct it to pin 1 and 2. If you have done that power computer. If it does not come up.

Check your processor

Finally check if your processor is good. To do this, uninstall the cooling fan and heat sink but leave only the processor connected. Power your computer, it should come up by now.

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How to Backup Your Computer Data

Routinely backing up our important data is something we should all do. Unfortunately, we don't realize this until we're scrambling to recover data on a hard drive that has just gone south. Family photos, MP3s, that spreadsheet you've been doing for work--all gone. You can avoid this traumatic experience by using the backup utility that comes with Windows. This article outlines a few simple techniques you can use to make sure your computer data is safe.

Storage locations

Get a CD burner and occasionally drag and drop your files onto a disk using the software that came with the device (Usually something like Roxio Easy CD Creator or Nero). A flaw in this technique is that you will inevitably forget to do this, and before you realize it, it's been a year since your last backup.
If you're determined to use this method, we suggest weekly backups as well as monthly backups, where you physically remove the backed up data from your home or office and store it at another location. A house fire or other disaster could destroy both your PC and your backup sitting beside it on the desk. So you'll increase your odds if you keep a monthly copy in a safe deposit box, at work, or at a family member's home.

Windows Backup

Windows has a backup program ready to go on your system. Navigate to START, PROGRAMS, ACCESSORIES, then SYSTEM TOOLS and you'll find the backup utility. While older versions of this utility will differ slightly from XP Professional's, you'll be able to follow the Wizard when backing up.
You can backup the entire system, which isn't a great idea. Windows and other programs can be reinstalled. So you're probably better off keeping your data in a centralized location, such as your My Documents folder. You can add folders within that directory by opening My Documents and right-clicking an empty space. Name the new folders whatever you want and organize your data. Then use the Windows backup utility to create a backup of your data. Put this file on another hard drive, burn it to disk, or copy it over to another computer on your network.
Also, take a moment to schedule backups. The Windows backup utility will give you a chance to schedule backups automatically. This is normally located under the advanced tab at the end of the backup process. Take a moment to set this up.

Use online storage

If you're having a problem with finding media to backup to, take advantage of free Yahoo Mail, Google Gmail accounts and other free email providers. You can get up to 2 Gigabytes of storage space on these accounts. What does this mean? You can email yourself attachments containing data. So you essentially have an invisible hard drive Out There on the Internet. This is great for temporary or redundant storage, but do not rely on it for the long term.

External disk

Another way to back up your document is to get an external hard disk and always back up to this disk at least once every week

Finally

No matter how you backup, make sure you never rely on a single source. Rotate your backups out of the home, Email them to yourself or place them on a separate partition on your hard drive. Take advantage of the backup utility in Windows and use the scheduler feature to automate things. Be proactive with your data, and you will be better off when your system fails....and it will fail eventually.

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Step by step Guide to install windows xp professional

How many times do you have to call a computer engineer to repair/install windows xp software on your computer when it breaks down?
There is no doubt windows xp has been the best operating system produced by Microsoft corporation. This software has been in existence since 2002 and still many people still find it difficult to install or repair when it encounters a problem.
In a short while I will be showing you how to install windows xp professional just read on.

For you to install windows xp professional, you need the installation cd and make sure that your computer has cd-rom drive. If these things are available bingo! We are ready to install windows xp professional.

After connecting your computer correctly, press the power button and hit F11, F12, F1 depending on which key take you to boot selection menu. If none of these keys takes you there then you can set CD-Rom drive as the first boot device from the BIOS setup of your computer. To go to the BIOS setup, when you power your computer press F1, F2, and delete key simultaneously one of the key should take you to the BIOS setup. Then under advance setup menu select cd-rom drive as the first boot device and press F10 to save and exit.

When your computer starts booting it will check cd-rom drive for bootable media, then it will give a statement like “press any key to boot from cd” when this message comes up press any key on the keyboard, the installation process will begin. After starting windows the first screen will show with three options

1. To set up windows xp now, press enter
2. To repair a windows xp installation using recovery console press R
3. To quit setup without installing windows xp, press F3.

Press enter, windows xp license agreement will come up press F8 to accept it
Another screen will show displaying the drives in on your computer, press enter to install window xp on the drive and copy windows file
In the next screen use your arrow key to point “ format the partition using the NTFS file system (quick) “then press enter to select it. Your system will format the drive and copy installation files. After that your computer will restart, when it does it will still show you the same message “press any key to boot from cd” don’t press anything. Your computer will start setting up windows xp professional first it will install the devices on your computer and then gives you dialog window first you type in your name and company name then press next and enter the product key of windows xp professional you are installing and press next then the installation process continues.
After setting up windows your computer will restart. Then it takes you to a screen where you have to setup a user profile. When the screen comes up enter your user and press next. And restart your computer that’s it. You have installed windows xp professional.

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The best way to keep your computer safe

The best way to keep computer safe
Computer security is a very vital and a very important aspect of the computer, especially when your computer has a lot of vital information and documents that you cannot afford to loose.
A lot of computer users suffer from data lose as a result of poor computer security. If your computer is vulnerable to virus attacks, you are likely to experience computer crashes and heavy data lose.
Keeping your computer safe and secured is just like owning a car, fueling it, washing it and changing oil, makes your car gives you maximum performance.
In this article I will be sharing with your some step to take in other to keep your computer safe and secured.

1. Limit your account user right

If you have an administrative right on the computer that means you can install any thing and also perform any system configuration on the computer, so also viruses using your administrative right can install themselves on the computer and also enter registry values. But when you limit your user right to a power user, no auto run file will be able to run on your computer without your permission and also no system configuration will be done on your machine without your permission, but when you want to install a program you right click on the program and click run as then enter the admin user name and password. Or you log of the current user and log in as administrator to install or configure your computer.
How to Change your user account right can be found here. This is the first step in keeping your computer safe.

2. Use Internet security software

Using a good internet security will not only keep you safe from viruses it will also monitor spyware and malwares also it will monitor your internet connections and sites that are harmful to your computer will be blocked
A good internet security should be updatable offline, easy to use and configured, and must be able to dictate harmful programs and sites and prompt for user action to run or block.
Remember that you have to make sure that your antivirus solution is consistently updated.

3. Perform system cleanup regularly

Performing system clean up erases all the junk files that accumulate memory in your computer. If you clean up your computer regularly, your system will run faster. How to clean up your junk files read the article here.

4. Scan external drives:

Because you never can tell if an external drive has a virus by merely looking at it, you need to scan any external drive attached to your computer before using it.
Lastly scan your computer frequently so that if any infectious file has entered your computer, your internet security will remove it.
If these steps have been taking, you are on your way to keeping your computer safe and secured.

You can send your comment and question on this article and other computer related problems.
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