Software and Trouble Shooting: troubleshoot common Windows OS problems

Question 1

How can you troubleshoot Frequent shutdowns?

Answer 1

Spontaneous shutdown / restart – This is usually either a hardware or software issue. If the system reboots after being on for a certain amount of time and seems to reboot at the same point every time, you probably have a hardware issue or overheating issue. If the system reboots when you launch a certain application or certain hardware, then the problem is with the software or hardware you are trying to launch. Examine the log and boot files to see if you can see any problems. Use Safe Mode to correct incompatibility issues. Also, make sure that you remove all viruses and malware, because these applications can cause spontaneous reboots.

Question 2

What can you do to remediate frequent shutdowns?

Answer 2

Update/rollback/reinstall driver

Example: Right-click the Start Icon > Computer Management > Device Manager – Right click into properties of the software

Example: Control Panel > System and Security > Administrative Tools

Update/roll back drivers – Original Driver that is installed in the first place

Question 3

What is BSOD?

Answer 3

A STOP error, also known as a Blue Screen of Death (BSOD), is a proprietary crash screen for the Windows operating system. The BSOD will display an error message with a hexadecimal code that indicates what is wrong. Most BSOD errors can be researched in Microsoft’s Knowledge Base. You should also examine system log files to see if you can discover the problem. In most cases, a BSOD occurs because of a change that has been made to the system. If a simple reboot does not resolve the BSOD, then you need to roll back your system changes.

Question 4

What can you do to remediate BSOD?

Answer 4

Check logs

Example: Right-click the Start Icon > Event Viewer – Windows log >Sytem location (you can filter the current log on the right panel – Tick box on Event level: Critical / error

Update/roll back drivers

Repair Windows

Example: Boot to Windows 10 Installation Media > Repair your computer > Troubleshoot > System Restore

Roll back updates

Example: Boot to Windows 10 Installation Media > Repair your computer > Troubleshoot > Uninstall Updates

Question 5

What is the Mac version of BSOD? (Proprietary Screen Crashes)

Answer 5

The Windows and Macintosh operating systems both have proprietary screen crashes. The Pinwheel of Death (PWOD) is a spinning multicolored pinwheel mouse pointer that signifies that the Apple computer is running low on resources. First, try restarting the computer. Then you can try closing open applications, checking Safari settings, performing an Archive and Install process. If none of these solutions work, try adding memory, freeing up disk space, or deleting problematic application .plist files.

Question 6

What can you consider when your OS fails to boot?

Answer 6

For any type of computer, you should first try the obvious: make sure the display is operating and check the power to the CPU. If obvious problems are ruled out, this issue is usually caused in Windows when boot files are missing or corrupt. You should replace the missing or corrupt boot file if that is the problem. For Apple computers, you might need to reset the System Management Controller (SMC.)

The bootrec.exe utility is used to repair the master boot record (MBR), Boot Configuration Data (BCD) store, and the boot sector. To run bootrec, you must boot the computer from the Windows installation media or USB recovery drive and choose Command Prompt from the Advanced Recovery Options.

The two primary commands that you need to understand are bootrec /fixboot and bootrec /fixmbr. The fixboot command writes a new boot sector. The fixmbr command checks and repairs the master boot record.

Question 7

What can you do to remediate sluggish performances?

Answer 7

Verify requirements (of the appllication)

Add resources

Reboot

Task Manager – find the application that is using the most resource in CPU (usually will see in red) can find via Microsoft documentation of the purpose of it.

Question 8

What command tool / Utilities can you use for boot problems?

Answer 8

System File Checker (sfc /scannow)

System Configuration (msconfig.exe) this is also in your administration utilities

Selective start up – load system services – load start up items – Use original boot configuration.

Startup Tab - (in task manager) - You can disable programs on boot start ups

Diagnostic Start up – does not load up third party drivers

msconfig.exe > Advanced Startup Options > Startup Repair

Settings > updates & Security > Recovery (on the left pane) > Reset the PC. If you can’t get into the PC you can use windows installation disc and choose repair PC

Question 9

What utilities can you uses when services fail to start?

Answer 9

Services fail to start – Use the Event Log (Event Viewer) to determine which service has failed to start and to research any issues that may have led up to the service not loading.

Try to restart the service using the Services console. Also note that some services are dependent upon other services running. Check the service dependencies to ensure that all the services are running that are required.

You can also use check services in services.msc - stop and start service

Question 10

What steps can you take when applications are crashing?

Answer 10

Applications crashing:

Startup task manager – find out which apps is causing the application and end task.

Uninstall/reinstall/update applications – Repair installation (right click start icon and select app and features)

Example: Settings > Apps > Apps and features

Example: Control Panel > Programs > Programs and Features –change button – Options to repair.

Question 11

What are other considerations can you consider when applications are crashing?

Answer 11

This problem can be caused by a malware infection or memory and page file issues. Perform a malware check. If this does not resolve the problem, you may need to re-install the application (or check to see if the vendor has released an update)

Question 12

What are some factors you need to consider when you have low memory warnings?

Answer 12

A low memory warning signifies that your device has little to no memory left available for it to run programs or continue operating. These memory warnings can occur as the user has too many programs open simultaneously, are using a program that is taking up too much memory space causing other programs to crash, has background programs operating without out their knowledge, or has too small of a paging file.

Users should examine what programs are operating, close any unnecessary program sizes, and check their paging file size. If these problems persist, the user’s device may be infected with unknown malware, which will need to be removed or might have to upgrade their RAM.

Question 13

What are some steps you can follow on low memory warnings?

Answer 13

Low memory warnings - (holding memory running when you close the app or continues to consume memory / memory leak) find the application and uninstall the application.

such as – you actually might have low memory

Virtual memory running low and uses simultaneously another application and dumps the other application into hard drive temporary and does not have enough memory in the disc. This can also indicate low memory.

Upgrade the physical RAM

Question 14

What problem will arise with a USB Controller resource warning?

Answer 14

This problem can occur when attempting to connect too many UBS 3.0 devices at the same time causing the device to be unable to allocate the resources needed to utilize each device. The simplest method to solve this problem is to use a host that can operate the desired number of USB endpoints needed or by reducing the number of simultaneously active USB 3.0 ports. Many USB 3.0 devices can work on USB 2.0 ports as they are backward compatible.

Question 15

What steps can you take when you receive USB controller resource warnings – host controller gets corrupted?

Answer 15

Reinstall Universal Serial Bus Controllers

Example: Type devmgmt.msc in the Search field – uninstall device on host controller and go and scan for hardware changes to reinstall.

Question 16

What happens when RAID not detected during installations?

Answer 16

This usually occurs because the RAID driver was not properly loaded or installed. In Windows 10, you need to load the RAID drivers manually. If loading these drivers manually does not work, then you should check the Hard Drive status to ensure there are no other faults.

Question 17

What happpens when Device fails to start/undetected?

Answer 17

This problem is most often caused by device drivers. If this problem occurs after a new device driver has been installed, you should roll back to the previous device driver version. You could also boot into the Last Known Good Configuration. (system restore)

Question 18

How can you prevent a slow profile load?

Answer 18

Slow profile load – This problem is most often caused by remote profiles. The best way to resolve this issue is to load the profile on the local computer and not require the computer to load from a networked location.

Question 19

What should you do when a Missing dll message occurs?

Answer 19

These error message always list the exact dll file that is missing. Copy the missing dll file from the Internet, installation DVD, or another computer and place it in the correct location (usually the system32 folder).

Question 20

How can you remediate compatability error?

Answer 20

This issue is caused when an application is designed to run on an older operating system version. If the application will not run in a newer operating system, you can set the application to operate in the mode for which it was created. Use the Compatibility tab of the application’s Properties dialog box to select the compatibility mode. Alternatively, you may need to set the application to run as an administrator by enabling the Run As Administrator option on the Compatibility tab.

Question 21

What can you do when you experiencing slow system performance?

Answer 21

Slow performance – If you experience slow system performance, you should first check for viruses or malware. If the problem still exists, defragment the hard drive and check the hard drive for free space. Make sure the latest updates are installed. If you still have performance problems, you may need to install more RAM or additional hard drives.

Question 22

If the computer boots to Safe Mode, what is the cause of this?

Answer 22

This is most likely caused by a bad device driver. If you have a restore point from before the problem occurred, you could revert to that point in time. You could also use the Roll Back Driver feature to revert to the older driver. Device Manager can be used to view all devices and will allow you to install new drivers or roll back to older versions.

Question 23

What is a simple solution when a file fails to open?

Answer 23

This could be a file association issue. Right-click the file, and choose Open With to select the application with which the file should be associated. However, if this problem occurs with an EXE files, the problem is likely a virus infection.

Question 24

What happens when an OS is not found?

Answer 24

This problem can result from using a non-system boot disk in the first BIOS bootable drive or by specifying an incorrect BIOS boot order. These two causes can be resolved by removing the non-bootable disk or changing the boot order. However, if this problem is caused by a missing or corrupted boot sector or boot files, you need to restore the boot sector or boot files.

Question 25

What steps can you take when Missing graphical interface or Graphical interface fails to load?

Answer 25

This is usually caused by a bad device driver. Try booting into Safe Mode. If Safe Mode loads, a device driver is the problem. Try rolling back the most recently installed driver.

Question 26

What is a time drift?

Answer 26

Time drift is when the clock within a system or server begins to either lag or lead in time. This can be fixed by adjusting the tick rate within the server or device.

Navigate to Control Panel > Clock, Language and Region > Date and time > Set the time and date > Internet time > Change settings > check Synchronize with an Internet time server and click Update now.