Lesson 3 Chapter 4 - Troubleshooting Laptops

Question 1

What are 3 steps to do if a laptop won’t power on?

verify, swap, remove

Answer 1

1. Verify that the outlet has power by connecting a device to it
2. Swap out the AC adapter for a known good one if it won’t power on with the AC adapter
3. Remove any peripherals as faulty peripherals will sometimes prevent the laptop from powering on

Question 2

What are 2 steps to troubleshoot a slow laptop?

task, frozen, re

Answer 2

1. Check the task manager for processes that are taking up too many resources (stop, reboot it, or update it)
2. If the laptop is frozen, hard reboot by holding power for 10 seconds or take out the battery if possible

Question 3

Why does a battery swell?

Answer 3

A battery usually swells due due overcharging (circuits that prevent it may have failed)

Question 4

How do you troubleshoot a swollen battery?

Answer 4

You carefully inspect the battery and replace it (take it to an electronic waste facility and recycle it)

Question 5

How do you troubleshoot a quickly draining battery? (2)

cycle, power, ant

Answer 5

1. If the battery is quickly draining, it’s most likely at the end of its life cycle
2. Certain programs/resources are draining a large amount of power (check if wireless devices are on)

Question 6

How to troubleshoot a battery that won’t charge at all? (2 things to try)

cook, remove, adapter

Answer 6

1. Replace the battery with a known good one to check if the battery is cooked
2. Remove the battery and run on the AC adapter only to check the AC adapter

Question 7

What do you do when a device feels dangerously hot to the touch? (5 things to make sure)

heat damage, power, battery, flat, sun, air

Answer 7

The main priority is preventing heat damage
1. Turn off the device
2. Remove the battery
3. Make sure the device is lying on a cool flat, hard surface
4. Keep it away from direct sunlight
5. Make sure there is airflow to the hottest parts of the device (hottest part exposed)

Question 8

Besides being hot to the touch, what are 3 signs a device is overheating?

power, visual, sound

Answer 8

1. Inconsistent reboots
2. Graphical glitches
3. System beeps

Question 9

When should you expect a device to generate a lot of heat? (2)

Over 9000

Answer 9

1. Busy or charging devices generate a lot of heat
2. If the entire device is hot, it was most likely left out in direct sunlight

Question 10

How do you troubleshoot an overheating device (after you made sure to cool it to prevent heat damage)? (3)

components, air, fan, block, open, fan, sink

Answer 10

1. Check which components shouldn’t be on, are using more heat and any runaway programs
2. Make sure there is good airflow (fan vent blockages)
3. Open the device and check fans and for heat sink issues

Question 11

What are 5 things to try if a display doesn’t display anything

power, keyboard, switch nub, type of laptop, external, keyboard, toggle, control

Answer 11

1. Laptop boots with beeps and drives? Make sure the display is on
2. Press Fn + key combo to cycle through the display repeatedly to see if something shows up
3. Check the LCD cutoff switch (small nub) and make sure it’s not stuck in the down position
4. If it’s a convertible laptop make sure the removable screen is attached correctly to receive power
5. Plug the laptop into an external monitor (Fn + key toggle between display cycles, and check control panel for display settings)

Question 12

What are 2 things to check when a display is very dim?

inside, backside

Answer 12

1. Make sure the inverter did not fail (will usually make a hum before dying then a popping noise, and common to fail when you connect it to the AC adapter as it gets its power directly from adapter)
2. Check that the backlights in the LCD panel are still working (much less common than inverter)

Question 13

What causes flickering displays on laptops? On which type of screens?

manufacturers switch, turn screen, rapidly, pixels lit, slowly, reduce feather, zap

Answer 13

Flickering is common on LED screens because the method these screen use to dim the screen is to have them turn on/off rapidly to keep pixels lit, but slowly enough that there’s a reduction in visible light and electricity use

Question 14

How do you fix flickering LED displays? (2)

Answer 14

1. Put the screen on max brightness (but with reduced battery life)
2. Replace the laptop

Question 15

How do you troubleshoot if 1 or more types of wireless (Bluetooth, WiFi) aren’t working? (4)

edges, keyboard, settings, repair

Answer 15

1. Look for airplane mode switch outside edge of computer
2. Fn + keyboard combo to toggle wireless adapter or for airplane mode
3. Check network settings for if airplane mode is enabled
4. If the laptop was recently repaired, the antenna may be disconnected

Question 16

How do you troubleshoot OS having trouble finding a wireless network after searching for one? (3)

range, walk

Answer 16

1. Out of range
2. At the edge of the range
3. Walk to the router or WAP with the device to make sure they still work and not a range issue

Question 17

How do you troubleshoot an issue with Bluetooth not connecting? (2 points)

action both, power, seek

Answer 17

1. Bluetooth requires action on both devices
2. Power on Bluetooth device, actively seek it, try again

Question 18

How do you troubleshoot an issue with the GPS not functioning?

privacy

Answer 18

Privacy settings may be preventing the device from accessing GPS location info.
Check Location settings applet in control panel if location services and GPS device are enabled system-wise and for the application

Question 19

What do you do if NFC isn’t working?

enable, control panel, close support

Answer 19

Make sure that NFC is enabled (to communicate with nearby devices) in the control panel in the Proximity applet (Proximity Support must be enabled)

Question 20

4 first steps to verify audio settings are correct for audio troubleshooting?

notification area, output OS, application, properties

Answer 20

1. Check the notification area to make sure that sound devices aren’t muted
2. Check that the proper output device configuration through the OS
3. Check that the application selected the right output device
4. Go to the sound properties by right-clicking the speaker icon to sound settings

Question 21

If there are audio problems and the device had repairs recently, make sure …. ?

Answer 21

that the internal speakers are connected

Question 22

How do you troubleshoot audio issues when initial 4 steps didn’t work?

peripherals external

Answer 22

Connect external speakers or headphones to double-check if the internal speakers are faulty or not

Question 23

If you think the internal speakers of a laptop have been damaged and must be replaced, what 4 things should you make sure you did on the device first?

re, 2x out settings, change default, disable

Answer 23

1. Reboot the device
2. Double-check the audio output settings
3. Changing and resetting the default output device
4. Disable and then re-enable the sound device

Question 24

Before you assume an input problem is hardware-related, make sure the system is…?

butt, ice

Answer 24

Make sure the system is running smoothly before thinking input problem is hardware-related
If the system is freezing up that can affect input devices and make them act erratically

Question 25

What’s the first step to take when you have an input problem?

re

Answer 25

Reboot the computer

Question 26

Why would you be getting numbers instead of letters for some keys?

lock

Answer 26

The number lock is on, turn it off

Question 27

For stuck or sticky keys, when cleaning debris what are two things you can do? (***with a warning)

breathe, solution, dry, short

Answer 27

Use compressed air to remove obvious debris
For sticky situations that need a cleaning solution, disconnect the keyboard and make sure the keyboard is dry before reconnecting it as it can cause a short and damage laptop

Question 28

What might have happened if a key doesn’t register presses or feels sticky? What are some physical signs this might have happened?

KO, up

Answer 28

The key switch may have been knocked out of place, and especially if you can see that they key is elevated or tilted

Question 29

How do you troubleshoot a key that has had its switch knocked out of place? (2)

google, keyboard, mix, google, steps, detach, device, generic, clip

Answer 29

Search what kinds of switches your keyboard uses and look up steps to detach and reattach keys on that specific device otherwise find generic instructions for the clip type

Question 30

If your keyboard is registering the wrong characters, first try this before declaring it defective

hold, hard, wait, start

Answer 30

Do a hard reboot by holding the power button for 10 seconds, wait 10 seconds, then start it up again

Question 31

How do you troubleshoot an unresponsive or erratic touchscreen? (4)

sensors, wipe, arm, touch, diagnostics, hardware or, reset and re

Answer 31

1. Clean or wipe the screen itself of any grease, liquid, dirt, etc that can make sensor go haywire with a microfiber cloth
2. Sometimes arm or hand placement too close to the edge of the screen can cause an unintentional input
3. May have touchscreen diagnostics in BIOS to identify whether it’s hardware or software/configuration issue
4. May need to reset and recalibrate the touchscreen under tablet pc settings in control panel

Question 32

How do you troubleshoot an unresponsive or erratic touchpad? (2)

air, sense, keyboard, driver, control

Answer 32

1. Compressed air (better to remove the keyboard first according to the manual to get a deeper clean)
2. The touchpad driver may need to be reconfigured in control panel > mouse

Question 33

How do you fix pointer drift? (Cursor moves by itself on touchpad)

re, re

Answer 33

Reboot and if that fails, replace it it’s probably been damaged

Question 34

What do you do when the keyboard appears dead and no keys work?

seat, key, connector, stress, disassemble, reset

Answer 34

The keypad may have become unseated from the physical stress on the laptop (they’re fragile) so check the manufacturer’s disassembly procedures to locate and reset the keypad