Operating System Troubleshooting

Question 1

Bluescreens and spontaneous shutdowns - OS Troubleshooting

Answer 1

• Startup and shutdown BSOD
  
  • Bad hardware, bad drivers, bad application
• Apple pinwheel/beach ball
  
  • Hang or constant retries by application / resource contention
• Use Last Known Good, System Restore, or Rollback Driver
  
  • Try Safe mode
• Reseat or remove the hardware, if possible
• Run hardware diagnostics
  
  • Provided by the manufacturer
  • BIOS may have hardware diagnostics

Question 2

Boot errors - OS Troubleshooting

Answer 2

• Can’t find operating system - OS missing
• Boot loader replaced or changed - Multiple OSes installed
• Check boot drives - Remove any media
• Startup Repair
• Modify the Vista/7/8/8.1 Boot Configuration Database (BCD)
  
  • Formerly boot.ini
  • Recovery Console: bootrec /rebuildbcd

Question 3

Improper shutdown - OS Troubleshooting

Answer 3

• Windows Error Recovery window
  
  • “Windows did not shut down successfully”
• Should recover normally - may just have problems again
• “Launch Startup Repair” can fix most issues
  
  • F8 or run from Windows Error Recovery window

Question 4

Missing GUI - OS Troubleshooting

Answer 4

• No login dialog, no desktop - Driver or OS file corruption
• Start in VGA mode - F8 for startup options
• Run SFC - System File Checker - Run from recovery console
• Update driver in Safe Mode - Download from known good source
• Repair/Refresh or recover from backup

Question 5

Startup Repair - OS Troubleshooting

Answer 5

• Missing NTLDR
  
  • Run Startup Repair or replace manually and reboot
• Missing operating system
  
  • Run Startup Repair or manually configure BCD store
• Boots to Safe Mode
  
  • Run Startup Repair

Question 6

Missing GRUB/LILO - OS Troubleshooting

Answer 6

• GNU GRand Unified Bootloader (GRUB) - Linux boot loader
• LInux LOader (LILO) - An older and less common boot loader •
Missing boot loaders - Can be overwritten by other OSes
• Boot-repair LiveCD or command line recovery

Question 7

Starting the system - OS Troubleshooting

Answer 7

• Device not starting
  
  • Remove or replace driver
• “One or more services failed to start”
  
  • Try starting manually
  • Check account permissions
  • Confirm service dependencies
  • Windows service; check system files
  • Application service; reinstall application

Question 8

Slow system performance - OS Troubleshooting

Answer 8

• Task Manager - Check for high CPU utilization and I/O
• Windows Update - Latest patches and drivers
• Disk space - Check for available space and defrag
• Laptops may be using power-saving mode - Throttles the CPU
• Anti-virus and anti-malware - Scan for bad guys

Question 9

Kernel panic - OS Troubleshooting

Answer 9

• Unix and Linux systems, Mac OS X - Non-recoverable fatal error
• Error message provides some insight, Hardware failure, OS bug

Question 10

Multiple monitor misalignment - OS Troubleshooting

Answer 10

• Monitors aren’t “aligned” - Mouse won’t move between screens
• Drag monitors into alignment - Move into any location