Southeastern Massachusetts Library SystemContinuing Education Program

Help! My PC Just Died & Our Techie Is On Vacation!

Presented by Kathy LussierOctober 13, 2009

klussier@semls.org

Know Your Environment - Security

Do you have an administrative login for PCs?

Can you access the Start Menu on Public PCs?

Will all changes to the computer be erased on reboot?

What kind of anti-virus software is running on your computers?

What kind of anti-spyware software is running on your computers?

Know Your Environment – Other Factors

Which operating systems are running? Which software applications are running

on each computer? How much memory do you have on

your computers? How much hard drive space is

available? Where are the manuals, boot disks,

virus scan disks, recovery CDs?

Equipment woes

Those *!&$)# printers! Paper jams – look for different points

of access. Toner and ink cartridges – shake to

get the most out of them Dirty mice

Q-tips, alcohol & a pen knife (or a pen cap) are all you need.

Equipment woes

Stuck keyboard keys Pry those keys of the keyboards

Fingerprints on the monitor Many products available for CRT monitors

(make sure they are safe for screen). Windex works too. Spray on the rag and dry immediately.

Just use a dry SOFT cloth for LCDs. Diluted alcohol if needed, but don’t apply directly.

General rules of thumb when troubleshooting

First step should always be to reboot. (With a printer or other equipment, turn off or unplug.)

If problem starts after you install new software, uninstall the software.

Check cables not once, but twice, and sometimes three or four times.

Make sure everything is turned on (including surge protectors!).

Problem – the computer won’t turn on

Check your lights Green light on PC means the computer is on. No light on PC means PC is not on or cannot turn on. Green light on monitor means monitor is receiving a

signal from PC. Orange (yellow) light on monitor means monitor is

on, but is in standby mode or is not receiving a signal from PC.

No light on monitor means monitor is not on or cannot turn on.

Hit the Num Lock key on keyboard. Green light means keyboard is receiving signal from computer.

Next steps Try turning equipment on/off. Unplug and replug equipment. Depending on info gathered from lights,

swap out appropriate equipment: PC monitor power cords cables

If these steps don't solve problem, time to call tech support.

Problem: Printing does not work

Make sure printer is properly connected to the computer or to the network.

Make sure printer is turned on. Print by going to File < Print (instead of

using icon.) Make sure correct printer is selected.

If the printer is connected to another PC, check to see if that PC can print. If so, could be a network connectivity problem.

Check printer for error message.

If the print job is stuck in the computer

Printer icon will display in system tray.

Double-click the printericon.

Find the job that is stuck in the print queue.

Right-click on the document name and select Cancel.

If the top job will not cancel from print queue

Restart the print spooler. In Windows 95/98, you can only restart by

rebooting the computer. In Windows 2000/XP/Vista, right-click on My

Computer and select Manage My Computer. Under Services and Applications, select

Services. Right-click Print Spooler and select Restart. Needs to be done on computer connected

to the printer.

Print Settings to Consider Find Printer by going to Start < Printers

and Faxes. Right-click on printer and select Properties. Try a Test Page from here. On the Ports tab, make sure it is the

correct Port. If connected to computer, LPT1 or USB. If connected to the network, an IP address or the

name of another computer on the network. Try printing directly to the computer

instead of spooling.

Problem: Internet is down Check other computers in the building (not just

the one next to you, but ones across the room.) If other computers are the also down, problem

lies with your networking equipment or with Internet Service Provider.

If you have access to networking equipment, check lights on the router, firewall, modem, etc. for info before calling ISP.

If using Comcast, shut off the modem for a minute and turn it back on before calling.

Is the Internet really down?

Have you lost access to both e-mail and the World Wide Web?

If you can still access one, the connection is fine. Check you Internet Options or your e-mail options to troubleshoot.

Maybe it’s just your home page that is down. Try some other Web sites.

When your PC is the only one without Internet

Reboot the computer. Look at the networking port on back

of computer. Green or orange light means there is a live connection.

Check both ends of the networking cable to make sure there is a tight connection.

Swap cables.

When your PC is the only one without Internet

Become familiar with your TCP/IP Settings Control Panel < Network Connections.

When there is a problem, check to see if they are correct (Compare to neighboring computer if you have no clue what to look for. Just remember to keep the IP address unique.)

Problem: I can’t find a file

Windows search – Start < Search (Find in older OS). In Vista, click Start and the search box is at the bottom of the menu.

Nice search in Vista, but slow in older Os’s

Check out Desktop search products (Google Desktop, Copernic.)

Places to look Windows defaults to saving many files

in the My Document folders. Pics go in the My Pictures folder. Music goes in the My Music folder.

Each login has its own My Documents folder.

To change the default location, adjust Options in each application.

e.g. for Word, use Tools < Options < File Locations.

Be aware of file extensions

File extensions tells Windows what type of file it is. (.doc for Word, .xls for Excel.)

When opening a file need to make sure looking for correct file extension.

To change default program that opens a particular type of file, look in Options or Preferences of application.

If can’t find there, double-click on My Computer. Go to Tools < File Options < File Types.

Office 2007 Woes Office 2007 introduced new file extensions

(.docx, .xlsx) that cannot be opened by older software.

If using Office 2007, change settings so that it saves in older formats.

Click on the “Microsoft Office” button in upper left corner, click the “Options” button, and click “Save” in the left column.

In the “Save files in this format” box, select the 97-2003 version of software.

Download the Office Compatibility Pack if you are using older versions of Office and need to open a 2007 file.

Quick Tips To see your file extensions in XP:

Go to My Computer. Click Tools < Folder Options. Click the View tab. Uncheck the “Hide file extensions for known file types”

box.

To see file extensions in Vista: Go to My Computer. Click Organize < Folder and Search Options. Click the View tab. Uncheck the “Hide file extensions for known file types”

box.

Quick Tips If somebody is using a file type that your

software cannot open, go to Google Docs - http://docs.google.com/ - to see if Google works with that file format.

Click the Upload button to upload a document.

Once in the document, click File < Download File As to save in a different format.

Problem: Computer desktop doesn’t look right

If most of your icons are missing and the desktop looks like it did when the computer was new, you may have logged in under a different account.

Log off and log back in again. If all icons are missing, right click on

Desktop, scroll to Arrange Icons By, and make sure that Show Desktop Icons is selected.

Check your display settings.

To get to Display settings, right-click on Desktop and go to properties. Settings include: Windows themes The background for the Desktop The screen saver and power management

options System font and icon sizes Screen resolution and color quality

Problem: The CRT monitor is flickering

Go to your Display properties (right-click on the Desktop, select Properties)

Click on the Settings tab and click Advanced.

Click the Monitor tab. Increase the Refresh rate.

Problem: the mouse is acting funky

Clean mouse Check mouse settings Start <

Control Panel < Mouse. You can adjust: Function of left and right mouse

buttons, as well as scroll wheel Double-click speed The look of the cursor. The speed of the cursor.

Problem: Application locks up(or causes major slowdown)

Get to your task manager by using CTRL-ALT-DEL. (In 2000/XP, you can also right-click on Taskbar and select Task Manager.)

On the Applications tab, select the application and click End Task.

If it is a continual problem, check for updates to the application or do a Google search to find fix for the problem.

Problem: Computer running slow

Check Disk space: From My Computer, right-click on C drive and select Properties. (Look at percentage. 75% is getting full.)

Defrag the hard drive. Right-click My Computer and Select Manage my Computer. Select Disk Defragmenter. Analyze first to see if needed.

Check memory (RAM). Right-click My Computer and select Properties. If only meets minimum requirements for OS, will be slow.

Check you processes Go to Task Manager. Right-click on

taskbar and select Task Manager. Click on Processes tab. Click on Mem Usage twice to see which

applications are using the most memory – helpsvc.exe is Windows Update and can sometimes cause slowdowns.

You want around 40 processes. More than that can indicate virus or spyware.

Check Event log for errors (Windows 2000/XP)

Right-click on My Computer and select Manage My Computer.

Select Event Viewer. Check for errors in all logs. Link in log leads to explanation of

error. You can also check at www.eventid.net.

Problem: Error messages

Google them.

Google Microsoft search - http://www.google.com/microsoft.html

Check manufacturer’s web site as well.

When all else fails System Restore is a feature in ME and

XP. Start < Programs < Accessories < System Tools < System Restore.

If you have a major problem that can’t be fixed, Restore will return your computer to a previous point in time without deleting files.

Create a Restore Point before installing software.

Resources Windows Annoyances –

www.annoyances.org Can Librarians Be Techies? – handout from

2006 PLA conference - http://www.placonference.org/handouts/264_Granger_Janice_086628_040606022908.doc

Google Windows search - http://www.google.com/microsoft.html

Microsoft Knowledge Base - http://support.microsoft.com/search/?adv=1

Questions?