1101 Troubleshooting Flashcards
Loud noise, Loud clicking noise, Grinding Noise
Cause: Damaged Hard Disk Drive or fan.
Solution: Replace Hard Disk Drive or fan.
Burning smells and smoke:
Cause: malfunctioning PSU.
Solution: Disconnect PSU and replace.
Intermittent Shutdowns
Cause: Overheating (Dust Build up, Environmental factors).
Solution: Reduce dust or place device in a cooler environment.
System Lockups or Sluggish Performance or Application Crashes
Cause: Overheating or Lack of RAM
Solution: Eliminate factors that contribute to overheating or Upgrade RAM.
Blank Screen on bootup (Black screen)
Cause: Problem with external video card.
Solution: Update video driver or Replace video card.
BIOS time and setting resets
Cause: Failed CMOS battery.
Solution: Replace CMOS.
Attempts to boot to incorrect device
Cause: Misconfigured BIOS.
Solution: Adjust BIOS boot order.
Continuous reboots
Cause: Bad Ram, Faulty Power Supply, or CPU.
Solution: Replace Ram, Power Supply, or CPU.
No power
Cause: Failed Power Supply or Power Plug Issues.
Solution: Replace Power Supply or verify power plug.
Fans spin - no power to other devices
Cause: Failing Power Supply or Failing Motherboard.
Solution: Replace Power Supply or Motherboard.
Distended capacitors
Cause: Overheated motherboard.
Solution: Replace motherboard.
Read/write failure
Cause: Damaged hard drive.
Solution: Run CHKDSK if applicable and replace hard drive.
Slow performance
Cause: Fragmented files are stored, or too many files stored.
Solution: Run disk defragmenter, upgrade hard drive, or delete unneeded files for more hard drive space.
Failure to boot or Bootable device not found
Cause: Misconfigured boot order, missing/corrupted OS, or bad hard drive.
Solution: Adjust boot order, Repair/Reinstall OS, or replace hard drive.
Drive not recognized
Cause: Flash drive may still be plugged in during boot, misconfigured boot order.
Solution: Disconnect flash drive, or adjust boot order.
S.M.A.R.T Failure
Cause: Damaged hard drive.
Solution: Run CHKDSK if applicable and replace hard drive.
Data loss/corruption
Cause: Damaged hard drive.
Solution: Run CHKDSK if applicable, use data recovery software and replace hard drive.
Missing drives in OS
Cause: Drive cable not connected, drive not initialized or damaged drive
Solution: Reconnect drive cable, Initialize drive in Disk Management or Disk Utility, or purchase new hard drive
Extended Read/Write times
Cause: Hard drive may be too full, slowing down system
Solution: Clear space on the hard drive
If any drive fails in RAID 0
Solution: you must start completely over since RAID 0 has not redundancy. Hopefully you would have an external backup.
If one drive fails in RAID 1
Solution: stop the RAID and prepare for a replacement drive to mirror your files to
If one drive fails in RAID 5
Solution: just replace it and the array will continue to work since the missing data will be rebuilt to the replacement drive
If two or more drives fails in RAID 5
Solution: replace the drives and recover information from external back up.
Incorrect data source
Cause: video cable is not plugged in, or monitor output settings not correctly configured
Solution: plug-in cable, or adjust monitor output configuration
Dead pixels
Cause: Physical damage to screen.
Solution: Replace screen.
Incorrect color patterns
Cause: Video cable may have bent pins or not connected properly.
Solution: Fix pins if possible or replace cable.
Video artifact or digital artifacts:
Cause: Overheating GPU/Video card or defective GPU/Video card.
Solution: Cool down GPU/Video card overall or replace GPU/Video card.
A burn-in:
Cause: Very high brightness for extended amount of time; screen is overheating.
Solution: Turn off Screen, set screensaver to an image that is always moving, replace screen.
Dim image
Cause: Brightness setting is on lowest level, or backlight is damaged.
Solution: Adjust brightness setting or replace backlight.
Audio issues
Cause: Cable may not be plugged in, or audio is muted
Solution: Reconnect cable, or turn on volume.
Oversized images and icons
Cause: Low screen resolution.
Solution: Increase screen resolution.
Flashing Screen
Cause: Loose backlight cable, failing backlight, unsupported resolution, or video driver issue.
Solution: Adjust backlight cable, replace backlight, adjust resolution, or reinstall video driver
Fuzzy Image
Cause: For Projectors the focus have not been calibrated. For LCD screens there are device close that is causing interference, or a loose video cable
Solution: Calibrate projector’s focus, move devices like speakers and fans away or adjust video cable
Poor Battery Life
Cause: Running many apps and serviced in the background, faulty battery, improper battery usage
Solution: Force quit background apps when not in use, replace battery.
Swollen Battery
Cause: Age, device misuse, wrong adapter used for charging, overcharging.
Solution: Turn off device, replace battery, purchase correct mobile device charger, only charge device when needed and unplug when charging is complete
Broken Screen
Cause: Physical Damage
Solution: Replace screen or device, purchase screen protector
Digitizer issues
Cause: Liquid is on touch screen or digitizer is damaged.
Solution: Clean screen of substance or replace digitizer.
Liquid damage
Cause: Liquid spilled on mobile device or device is dopped in body of liquid
Solution: Turn off device, disassemble device and use a cloth or wipe additional liquid
Poor/no connectivity
Cause: Wireless antenna is crimped or damaged, far from access point or airplane mode is enabled
Solution: Replace wireless antenna, move device closer to access point, turn on Wi-Fi setting or turn on airplane mode.
Overheating
Cause: Too many applications open, overcharged battery, overused device
Solution: Force quit background apps when not in use, replace battery, replace device
Malware
Cause: Installation of malicious apps, OS vulnerabilities. Clicking suspicious links, unsecure networks
Solution: Run AntiMalware, download apps from official sources, update mobile OS, stay away from spam links, use a VPN on unsecure networks
Cursor drift/touch calibration
Cause: oil on touch pad, touchpad misconfiguration
Solution: Clean touchpad surface, calibrate touchpad
Streaks or lines down printed pages
Cause: Dirty print heads or dirty drum.
Solution: Clean print heads or drum.
Faded prints
Cause: Low toner or drum not storing proper charge.
Solution: Replace toner or replace drum.
Double/echo images on the print
Cause: Faulty drum cleaning blade
Solution: Clean drum cleaning blade or replace
Toner smearing or not fused to paper
Cause: Fuser is not hot enough or replace fuser assembly.
Solution: Increase fuser temperatureof possible or replace fuser.
Creased paper
Cause: paper not placed in paper tray properly, dirty pickup rollers, faulty pickup rollers.
Solution: place stock of paper properly in tray, clean pickup rollers, or replace pickup rollers.
Paper not feeding or multipade misfeed
Cause: paper not placed in paper tray properly, dirty pickup rollers, faulty pickup rollers.
Solution: place stock of paper properly in tray, clean pickup rollers, or replace pickup rollers.
Paper jam
Cause: paper not placed in paper tray properly, dirty pickup rollers, faulty pickup rollers.
Solution: place stock of paper properly in tray, clean pickup rollers, or replace pickup rollers.
No connectivity
Cause: Printer is not on, not pointed to correct DNS, or misconfigured printer settings.
Solution: Turn on printer, correct DNS settings, or correct printer sharing settings.
Garbled characters on paper
Cause: Wrong printer drivers installed.
Solution: Install the correct printer drivers.
Multiple prints pending in queue
Cause: Too many print jobs processed at the same time, or low amount of printer RAM (Low memory errors).
Solution: Restart print queue or increase amount of RAM.
Access denied
Cause: Don’t have sufficient privileges to print.
Solution: Obtain permission to print.
Color prints in wrong print color
Cause: Dirty printer cartridge nozzles or improper cartridge placement.
Solution: Clean printer nozzles or adjust cartridge placement.
Intermittent Wireless Connectivity
Cause: Wireless antenna is crimped or damaged, or far from access point.
Solution: Replace wireless antenna or move device closer to access point.
Slow transfer speeds/Low RF signal/External Interference
Cause: EMI, RFI, far from access point, or outdated NIC.
Solution: Remove device from environments of high EMI and RFI, move device closer to access point, or update NIC.
Limited connectivity
Cause: Router issues, DHCP issues, DNS misconfiguration, or share settings disabled.
Solution: Resolve router issues, resolve DHCP issues, properly configure DHCP, or enable share settings.
