How to maintain and maintain a computer and maximize its service life is a problem that we are very concerned about and often face. In this article, we introduce you to the most basic computer maintenance methods and precautions, so that your computer can always be kept in a relatively stable state, just like a new one.

I. Environment

The influence of environment on computer life can not be ignored. The ideal working temperature of the computer should be 10℃-35℃. Too high or too low will affect the life of accessories. If you can, you must install air conditioning, and the relative humidity is 30%-80%. Too high will affect the performance of accessories, and even cause some accessories to be short-circuited. For example, when the weather is wet, it is best to use the computer every day or turn on the computer for a period of time. Some people think that using computers less or for a short time can prolong the life of computers, which is a one-sided view. On the contrary, if you don't use the computer for a long time, the accessories will be damaged by moisture or dust. Of course, if the weather is extremely humid, such as there is water vapor on the surface of the monitor or chassis, you must never turn it on at this time. Too low humidity is easy to generate static electricity, which is also unfavorable to the use of accessories. In addition, the dust content in the air has a great influence on computers. Long-term dust will corrode the circuit boards of various accessories. So it is necessary to dust the computer frequently.

Computers also have requirements for power supply. The normal range of alternating current shall be 220 V 10%, the frequency range shall be 50hz 5%, and there shall be a good grounding system. If possible, UPS should be used to protect the computer, so that the computer can continue to run for a period of time when the power supply is interrupted.

Second, the use habits

Personal habits have a great influence on computers. First, the computer should be turned on and off normally. The sequence of turning on the computer is to turn on the power of peripherals (such as printers and scanners) first. If the monitor power supply is not connected to the host power supply, turn on the monitor power supply first, and then turn on the host power supply. The closing order is reversed. Turn off the main machine power first, and then turn off the peripheral power. The reason is to minimize the damage to the host, because when the host is powered on, turning off peripherals has a greater impact on the host. After a period of time, you can't switch it frequently, because it will have a great impact on all accessories, especially on the hard disk. Generally, there should be at least 10 seconds between shutdown and next startup. Pay special attention to avoid turning off the computer while it is working. If the machine shuts down suddenly when reading and writing data, it is likely to damage the drive (hard disk, floppy disk, etc.). ); Never move the machine while it is working. Of course, even when the machine is not working, try to avoid moving the machine, because excessive vibration will damage the hard disk and other accessories. In addition, when shutting down, all programs must be closed first, and then exit in normal order, otherwise the application may be damaged.

Third, hardware failure.

After the computer is installed, some faults will inevitably occur, which may be hardware faults or software faults. Generally speaking, newly installed machines are more prone to hardware failure, and the failure rate is relatively reduced after the machine runs for a period of time. For hardware faults, as long as we know the characteristics of various accessories and the occurrence of common faults, we can eliminate them one by one.

1. Bad contact fault

Poor contact is generally reflected in poor contact of various cards, memory, CPU, etc. And the motherboard, or the power cable, data cable, audio cable, etc. are poorly connected. Among them, various interface cards and memory are in poor contact with the motherboard. Usually, the fault can be eliminated by replacing the corresponding slot or wiping the golden finger with the image skin.

2. The parameter setting is incorrect

The setting of CMOS parameters mainly includes the types of hard disk, floppy disk and memory, as well as passwords, machine startup sequence, virus warning switch and so on. Because the parameters are not set or set incorrectly, the system will prompt an error. If the virus warning switch is turned on, Windows 95 may not be installed successfully.

3. The hardware itself is defective

Hardware failure, in addition to its own quality problems, may also be caused by too much load or other reasons, such as insufficient power supply or overclocking of CPU, which may cause machine failure.

Fourth, software failure.

Software failures are usually caused by improper installation of hardware drivers or virus damage.

If there is no driver installed or there is a conflict between drivers, you can find some marks in resource management under Windows 95/98, including "?" Indicates an unknown device, usually the device is not installed correctly, "!" Indicates that there is a conflict between devices, and "×" indicates that the installed device driver is incorrect.

The harm of viruses to computers is well known, ranging from affecting the speed of machines to destroying files or causing crashes. In order to facilitate the maintenance of the computer at any time, tools such as DOS startup disk or Windows98 startup disk, antivirus software and disk tool software must be prepared to deal with the situation that the system is infected with virus or the hard disk cannot be started. In addition, drivers of various accessories should be prepared, such as CD-ROM drive, sound card, video card and modem. Cleaning discs and cleaning solutions for floppy disks and CD-ROM drives should also be kept in stock. (bobo)

"Look, smell, listen and cut" method for computer troubleshooting

In traditional Chinese medicine, "looking, smelling, asking and feeling" is the traditional method to diagnose diseases. Today, I applied the four diagnostic methods of "looking, smelling, listening and cutting" to the maintenance of computer faults, and achieved good results.

"Look" is to observe whether the plug and socket of the system board are skewed, whether the resistor and capacitor pins collide, whether the surface is burnt, whether the chip surface is cracked, and whether the copper foil on the motherboard is burnt out. Also check whether there are foreign objects falling between components of the motherboard (causing short circuit), and check whether there are burnt and discolored places on the board, and whether the traces (copper foil) on the printed circuit board are broken.

"Smell" is to identify whether the main engine and the board have burnt smell, which is convenient for finding faults and determining the short circuit position.

"Listening" refers to monitoring whether the working sound of power supply fan, soft/hard disk motor or seek mechanism, display transformer and other equipment is normal. In addition, the short-circuit fault of the system is often accompanied by abnormal sound. Monitoring can find some hidden dangers in time and help to take immediate measures when accidents happen.

"Cutting" means pressing the movable chip of the socket by hand to see if the chip is loose or has poor contact. In addition, when the system is running, touching or approaching the shell of CPU, monitor, hard disk and other equipment by hand can judge whether the equipment is running normally according to its temperature; Touch the surface of some chips with your hands. If it is hot, the chip is damaged.

Let me briefly describe my personal experience:

This morning, when the power switch on the computer was pressed, the computer was as quiet as death. I can't help being surprised. My intuition tells me that there is something wrong with the computer. The only phenomenon after booting is that only the boot indicator of the monitor is on, and the power indicator of the host is off. Because my computer is a 6X86 assembly machine, the power cord of the monitor is directly plugged into the power output socket of the host, so it can be concluded that it is normal to go from the power socket to the power cord and then to the power socket of the host, and the problem lies in the components after the power supply of the host.

After removing all external connection wires, open the vertical chassis, and then remove all DC power output wires and switches of the power supply assembly above the chassis. What needs to be pointed out here is that special attention should be paid to whether the positions of the two power lines of the motherboard are correct, because one of the two power lines of the motherboard has a common ground, +5V and ++ 12V output lines, and -5V output lines. In addition to the ground wire, +5V and+12V power wires, the other group has two output wires-12v and PG wires. If the positions of these two sets of power lines are reversed during recycling, it would be a big mistake. However, the installation of these two groups of power cords is very simple and has its own characteristics, that is, the black ground wire of the two groups of power cords is in the middle.

After opening the shell of the power supply module, the author found that the structure of the power supply module is not complicated, mainly composed of transformer, rectifier, filter and voltage regulator. Because the output power of the main engine is generally tens of watts, and after the introduction of commercial power, it is rectified by voltage division and then transformed by inverter circuit, which makes the current of rectification, filtering and voltage stabilization larger, so most of these components are electrolytic capacitors with large capacity and transistor components with high power, and most of them have large heat sinks to dissipate heat. Through the analysis of the circuit board, it is clear that the basic trend of current is socket → fuse → voltage divider power resistor → filter rectifier power capacitor → power transistor → transformer → back-pole voltage stabilizing system. Generally, most high-voltage and high-current power components are in front of the transformer.

According to past experience, fuses and power components are the most easily damaged in the power supply system, especially when there is no current output, either the fuse or the front-end power components are often damaged, thus causing the power supply system to lock up. As usual, check the safety tube first. After careful inspection, test it again with a multimeter. The safety tube is good. Only the latter part, that is, nine times out of ten, is the power element damaged. Check the power divider resistor. The voltage divider resistor directly undertakes the task of dividing 220V alternating current into about 180V alternating current, which is likely to be broken down or broken down. The method of testing its resistance is simple and convenient, and it is also intact after testing.

Then check the filter rectifier capacitor, which is a large-capacity electrolytic capacitor with rated voltage of 200V and capacity of 220 μ F. Obviously, in order to obtain a relatively flat rectifier DC with appropriate filter coefficient, a larger electrolytic capacitor is needed. Because it is full-wave rectification, there are two large capacitors. The test of large capacitance must be taken down. If it is soft breakdown, it is still difficult to test in the uncharged state. To be on the safe side, I didn't weld the capacitor first, but carefully observed whether the capacitor was abnormal, smelled whether the capacitor had any peculiar smell, and compared the two capacitors, because under normal circumstances, the two capacitors could not be damaged at the same time. Through careful observation, I found that the top of one capacitor is slightly higher than the top of the other capacitor. Because there is a large amount of electrolyte in the electrolytic capacitor, if it works in the filtering state for a long time, it is easy to raise the temperature of the electrolyte, thus accelerating the leakage of the capacitor. When this vicious circle develops to a certain extent, the capacitor will either completely break down or be disconnected due to excessive current. However, one phenomenon is the same, that is, the capacitor shell bulges or even bursts due to the thermal expansion of electrolyte. To be sure, there is something wrong with this capacitor. Buy electrolytic capacitors with the same rated voltage and capacity to replace the installation. Aha! This is the problem. Of course, pay attention to the anode and cathode of electrolytic capacitor when installing, and don't make it upside down. Generally speaking, the positive and negative signs of electrolytic capacitors are all on the power circuit board in the regular cabinet. If it is not marked, the user should mark the positive and negative poles with a pen when welding the original capacitor.

Summary: Computers have both complex faults and simple faults. Practice has proved that most of them have certain clues, even some very obvious appearances, such as capacitor expansion and explosion, resistor burning or blackening, transistor explosion or rupture, transformer burning smell and so on. And the surface of the non-power supply integrated block without heat sink is seriously heated (note: never touch the integrated block when charging, because the high-voltage static electricity on your hand will breakdown the integrated block and generate new fault points. People's hands generally have tens of thousands of volts of high-voltage static electricity, but the amount of electricity is so small that it is difficult for people to feel it, but it is more than enough to break through the integrated block. As long as you can "look, smell, listen and cut" and analyze carefully, most faults can be solved smoothly through simple methods.

Installation of Common Drivers and Precautions

Perhaps installing drivers is a piece of cake for most friends, but there are still many friends who are new to computers who are distressed because they can't install drivers correctly. Today, the author briefly introduces his own experience in installing computer hardware drivers, hoping to help you install drivers.

Installation of motherboard driver

At present, all motherboards provide "fool" installation drivers, as long as you use the mouse to select the installation bar in turn. I suggest installing the motherboard driver first when installing the driver. Many motherboards, especially products using Intel chipsets, require that motherboard drivers be installed before other drivers can be installed. So we'd better install the motherboard driver first. Intel motherboard drivers are two files, which are installed in different order. I have tried many times to install INF before IAA. It is best to restart the computer after installing INF, otherwise you will be prompted that it cannot be installed. VIA and NF motherboard drivers are much more convenient, and both can be completed by executing a program. When installing, directly execute the installation program, and then click "Next" in turn until the system prompts you to restart. Here I want to say that sometimes the CPU (mainly AMD's processor) needs to install drivers. I found that after installing AMD's processor drivers under WIN XP, the system performance has been improved. So friends who use AMD processors should carefully check your drive disk to see if there is a description of CPU driver on it.

Install the graphics card driver

Generally speaking, there are multiple versions of drivers in the driver disk attached to the graphics card, but not the latest driver is necessarily the most suitable. Friends who install operating systems above WIN2000 had better install drivers certified by Microsoft. However, people who install WIN98 or WINME operating systems are not particular about it. If it is found that there is a crash after installing the graphics card driver, it is recommended to replace the driver of other versions.

Installation of sound card driver

Many friends may not know what sound card is integrated into their motherboard, and they don't know how to choose among many drivers when installing. I suggest that before installing the driver, it is best to look at the model of the sound card chip on the motherboard, or look at the label on the sound card model on the motherboard manual, and then install the corresponding driver. I have met many friends who installed inappropriate sound card drivers before, which caused the computer to be abnormal. Unfortunately, some drivers don't have a similar "unable to install" prompt when they are installed, so many friends don't know if the installation is correct.

Install the network card driver

At present, most motherboards are integrated with network cards, so the driver installation of such products is relatively easy. Unfortunately, some integrated VIA network cards are prone to problems that cannot be correctly identified during installation. At this time, you must carefully study the instructions and then install them. The author has encountered many problems that VIA network cards can not be installed normally under WIN98 system, so everyone should pay attention to them.

Install USB interface driver

WIN98 can't reach the transmission speed of USB2.0 at all. Just install USB 1. X driver under WIN98. Systems above WIN2000 also need to be patched to reach the normal speed of USB2.0, so everyone should pay attention when installing USB drivers.

Install printer and scanner drivers.

Many peripheral products need to execute the driver installation file first, and then connect according to the installation prompts, otherwise there will be problems that cannot be installed. For example, some models of printers are square. In view of this situation, the author also suggests that the instructions should be carefully studied first, and then the installation should be carried out according to the instructions. If an installation error is found, it is recommended to delete the incorrectly installed device in the device manager and then reinstall the correct driver.

Installation of RAID driver

Earlier, a friend mentioned that installing RAID drivers under WIN XP needs to be done when installing the operating system. Here, remind the friends who installed RAID to pay attention. When RAID needs to be installed in INTEL 865 chipset, it should be installed with floppy disk.

In addition, I want to say that WIN XP operating system is the most convenient of all operating systems for installing drivers. If you are afraid of trouble, you'd better choose to install WIN XP. But even WIN XP does not support all hardware, and there are many devices that need to be manually installed with drivers. What should I do if I find that the driver is not installed correctly, but I can't install it correctly after deleting the device (this situation is more common in WIN98)? You just need to find the corresponding file deletion in the INF in the WINDOWS directory. Here, I would like to remind you that friends who have little basic computer knowledge and poor English should never try it easily, otherwise they may need to reinstall the system.

"Eight before Eight" in Computer Troubleshooting

Compared with other electrical products, the computer is a fault-prone thing. Computer failure is a headache for many computer enthusiasts. How to deal with and solve the computer failures we encounter? Let me sum up here, writing an article about the "eight before eight" rules in computer maintenance will attract readers-

First, investigate first, then get familiar with it.

Whether you are repairing your own computer or someone else's computer, you must first understand the use state and previous maintenance state of the computer when it fails, so as to prescribe the right medicine. In addition, before repairing its computer, it is also necessary to clearly understand its software and hardware configuration and service life, so as to be targeted.

Case study—

For example, a computer whose operating system is the first edition of PWIN98 frequently crashes and the number of "illegal operation" tips increases, which is very annoying. The user is ready to reformat the disk and reinstall the operating system. I don't think it's necessary to go to such trouble. I carefully looked at the computer configuration, software and hardware installation, and checked the virus with anti-virus software ... After the author asked, the user said that a new version of IE6 browser had been installed recently. Could it be that IE6 browser is not compatible with its system? I tried to uninstall the new IE6 browser in the "Add/Remove Programs" column. After restarting the computer, the failure phenomenon no longer occurs frequently. So for this kind of fault, we can't bear to remove the newly installed software and hardware or the driver //DirectX, and do heavy maintenance work if we can't solve the problem.

Second, the first opportunity, after the machine.

For computers with faults such as the host computer or the monitor not being on, first of all, check whether the external components of the chassis and the monitor, especially some switches and knobs outside the machine, have adjusted the external leads, and whether the socket is open or short-circuited. Don't think these are trivial things. Practice has proved that many users' computer failures are caused by this. When the external components are confirmed to be normal, open the chassis or show it for inspection.

Case study—

After a computer is moved, the host computer cannot be turned on (the fan of the host computer does not turn on). The user thought that the main engine power supply was damaged due to disrepair, so he opened the chassis and removed the power supply for replacement. The author observed that both the host and the monitor are connected from the power socket with power cord, but the display is normal. In line with the principle of easy before difficult, try to replace the power plug of the host with a power jack. If it fails, unplug the normal monitor power cord and connect it to the host, and the host will return to normal. Connect the problem line to the monitor, and it doesn't light up, which proves that the problem comes from this seemingly inconspicuous power line (internal open circuit).

Third, mechanical before electrical.

For CD-ROM drives, printers and other peripherals, the general principle is to check whether there is mechanical failure first, and then check whether there is electrical failure. For example, if the optical drive does not read the disc, it is necessary to distinguish between mechanical reasons (such as bald head problems) and electrical problems. Only when it is determined that there is no fault in the rotating mechanism and optical head of each part can the electrical inspection be carried out.

Case study—

I bought a 40-times-speed optical drive for more than a year, and the fault phenomenon is that I can't read the disc. After the author took over, I took the CD-ROM drive apart and observed its internal structure. This CD-ROM drive is all-steel structure, so there should be no serious mechanical situation. The author is not in a hurry to further "destroy" its optical head and increase the power of the laser head. After inserting a CD, the author carefully observed the rotation of the CD, the movement of the feed parts of the optical head and the advance and retreat of the motor. It is found that the disc rotation is basically normal, and there is not much problem with the motor advancing and retreating. On the contrary, when there is no load or an optical disk is added, it is difficult for the optical head assembly to slide on the slide bar. Turn off the power supply and gently push the optical head assembly several times by hand to make it slide on the rod, which has obvious hysteresis. At this time, the author focused on the slide bar of this CD-ROM drive, and saw that the lubricating oil that should have been white on it turned into light black, and even dense dust and impurities could be seen in the place where strong light was shining. No wonder sliding doesn't work. Clean the lubricating oil containing impurities on the sliding assembly with pure alcohol first, then add new lubricating oil, try the machine again, and read the disk back to normal.

Fourth, software first, then hardware.

It is an important principle in computer maintenance to eliminate software faults first and then hardware problems. For example, the damage or loss of WINDOWS system software may lead to crash failure, because system startup is a step-by-step process, and no error can occur in any link. If there is a damaged executable file or driver, the system will die here. The problems of computer components, poor interface contact of connectors, the settings of hardware devices, such as the perfection of BIOS and drivers, the compatibility with the system, the stability of hardware power supply equipment, the compatibility between components against external interference, etc., may also lead to computer hardware crash. When maintaining, we should start with the soft aspects first, and then consider the hard aspects.

Case study—

After the computer starts self-checking, the message "No ROMBasic, System Halted" is displayed on the screen, then it crashes and the hard disk light is always on. The cause of bad tracks on the hard disk has been eliminated. Obviously, the cause of this failure was that the boot program of the hard disk was destroyed, which caused the system to crash because the hard disk could not be found. There are many ways to fix this fault. For example, KV300 can be used to easily solve the failure of hard disk boot area. Its use method is very simple. You can refer to the description file of KV300, so I won't say much here. If not, you can also start the computer with a floppy disk and execute a special "FDISK/MBR" command in the pure DOS state. You can also forcibly overwrite the correct master boot program and end flag in the main boot area of the hard disk, but you should pay attention to this command.

Five, first clean, then repair.

When checking the accessories inside the chassis, first pay attention to whether the interior of the chassis is clean. If dust, dirt, cobwebs or redundant solder and welding oil are found between components, leads, wires and gold fingers in the chassis, they should be removed first, and then overhauled, which can not only reduce natural failures, but also achieve twice the result with half the effort. Practice shows that many faults are caused by dirt, and often disappear automatically after cleaning once.

Case study—

After the computer opens the case and installs a new graphics card once, the display screen will be black after restarting, and the speaker in the computer will give out a continuous long beep alarm sound. Fault analysis: The speaker in the chassis keeps beeping, which is a typical memory fault. Although everyone may not move the memory stick when disassembling the computer or moving the computer, the memory is a precise thing, and its enemy is dust. After your computer is used for a period of time, it is likely to be covered with a thin layer of residual ash, and the memory near the CPU is the biggest "victim". The dust blown by the CPU fan is likely to spread a thick layer on your memory. A slight vibration may cause the dust to fall into the memory slot, causing local problems. In this case, you should first check the installation of memory. You can press the memory several times before starting to see if the contact is getting better, if not; Then you can remove the memory, first clean up the dust on the surface of the memory, then carefully clean the memory slot with a small fine brush, and then plug in the memory again, which can generally eliminate the fault.

Six, the first power supply, after the machine

Power supply is the heart of machines and accessories. If the power supply is abnormal, other components can't work normally, and other faults can't be checked. According to experience, the failure rate of power supply is the highest in the machine, and many failures are often caused by power supply, so repairing power supply first can often get twice the result with half the effort.

Case study—

The 15-inch monitor has a display failure, and there is no grating or image, and an obvious "squeaking" sound can be heard from the power supply. Fault analysis: From the analysis of fault phenomena, it can be seen that the faults of power supply circuit, line scanning circuit and main load circuit are the reasons for this kind of problem. Because the "squeak" sound from the power supply indicates that the switching power supply has worked, it shows that there is basically no problem in the circuit before the switching transformer. First, use a multimeter to check whether the terminal voltages of the five outputs are normal. It is found that the positive terminal of power filter capacitor C 1 17 is 0V, while the normal terminal should be about 5V, which is obviously abnormal, indicating that its peripheral circuit components have short circuit or open circuit phenomenon. It is found that the current of L 105 is very small by measuring the current, and it is further suspected that there is something wrong with the rectifier diode VD 106 in front of it. After replacement, troubleshooting.

Seven, common fault first, then special.

According to the * * * characteristics of computer faults, the common faults with universality and regularity are eliminated first, and then the special faults are investigated, so as to gradually narrow the fault range and shorten the repair time.

Example analysis-a computer has a fault that the power light is on, but the system does not check the black screen of the display after replacing the motherboard and restarting the computer. Open the chassis and observe carefully, and find that the CPU fan is working normally. After turning off the power supply, carefully check the installation of the board card, reinstall the memory module and graphics card, and check the jumper related to the motherboard to make sure it is correct. Therefore, the "minimum system method" is adopted to troubleshoot, and the connecting cable of the hard disk is removed, and only the minimum system of the motherboard, CPU, memory and graphics card is kept, and the system starts smoothly after booting. Mainly check the connection between CD-ROM drive and hard disk. After installing the optical drive, the above failure reappeared. Is it because the optical drive is not installed correctly? CD-ROM drive is connected to IDE2 bus interface separately. The author found that there is no anti-insertion bump on the IDE cable connector used for optical drive connection. Is it a reverse connection? If you look carefully, sure enough, the system will work normally after correct installation.

Eight, first peripheral, then internal.

When checking the important parts or accessories of the computer, don't rush to replace them or start work on their internal or important accessories first, but check their peripheral circuits, and then consider replacing the accessories or important parts after confirming that the peripheral circuits are normal. If you don't ask questions, just replace accessories or important parts, it will only cause unnecessary losses. From the maintenance practice, we can know that the fault of the peripheral circuit or machinery of accessories or important parts is much higher than its internal circuit.

Case study—

The hard disk of a PC in a company is working normally, but it can't be found after restarting the computer. According to the computer operator, this hard disk had such a problem two days ago, but it was discovered after a while. I went to work today. I just restarted the computer under normal use, and the system can't find the hard disk anymore. When I opened the case, I saw that the hard disk was a Western Digital 3.2G hard disk I bought three years ago. It looks old because it is often taken apart to copy data. For this kind of fault, you can check the IDE hard disk cable first, and it will be invalid after replacing it with a new one. Try to plug in the new power plug again, and the hard disk will return to normal after booting. It's done. Install accessories, close the box cover, and then restart. Strangely, the hard disk disappeared again ... so many times the hard disk can't be used normally, but I can return to normal as long as I plug in the power cord of the hard disk several times and unplug it several times. Could it be that the terminal in the hard disk power interface is in poor contact? Take it down for observation, no rust, no halogen phenomenon. Using multimeter to detect the conduction between terminals and terminal solder joints on hard disk circuit board, the author found that a column (5V) can only be conducted by pressing with an iron pen, which ruled out the cases of terminal surface oxidation or solder joint virtual welding. The author bought a power cord adapter from 3 yuan Money, cut off the connector, peeled off the copper wire, and welded it on the solder joint corresponding to the power socket terminal of the hard disk power supply part in turn, inserted the male terminal of the power cord into the female terminal of the host computer, and restarted the machine.