Chapter 15 PC Troubleshooting 657
Note that Windows NT does not respond to msinfo32exe.
Windows NT is an older operating system and used a
set of three emergency recovery disks when problems
occurred.
Hardware devices, system resources, software, and Internet program
settings can be displayed from this location. You can readily determine conflicts
in system resources, as well as most startup problems. There is also an online
help program. This can assist you when you need to know more about your
diagnostics utilities. There are several troubleshooting utilities available through
this window. The essentials of some of these utilities will be covered in the next
section.
Reinstall the Operating System
If you cannot repair the system using the utilities provided, you will need
to reinstall the operating system. This is the very last resort to recovering from
a system startup failure. When reinstalling the operating system, first try to
perform a system upgrade. This will allow you to retain the data files that reside
on the hard drive. Performing a new installation rather than a system upgrade
wipes out all existing files on the hard drive, thus losing all data files.
Some problems can be intermittent and be a hardware
problem related to a loose connection or excessive heat.
For example, heat could slowly build up inside a computer
caused by partially blocked airflow path, resulting in over
heating the memory modules. Once the memory module
has overheated, the system locks up. Always be aware of
“What happened last” when troubleshooting a computer.
Windows Diagnostic Utilities
Most Microsoft operating systems carry the same troubleshooting
utilities. You need to become familiar with these utilities to save time when
troubleshooting a system problem. Let’s see how they might be helpful.
Dr. Watson
Dr. Watson is a standard Microsoft troubleshooting utility that is used to
diagnose software fault problems. Dr. Watson collects information about the
computer system during and just before a software application fault. It tracks
down the program that caused the fault and reports the part of the memory and
the program in which it occurred. This information can be used when contacting
product support.
Dr. Watson does not load automatically. To activate Dr. Watson, click
Start |
Run, type drwatson, and then click OK. The Dr. Watson diagnostic program will
appear as an icon in the system tray (bottom right taskbar area). You can then
Tech Tip:
Tech Tip: