5.2 troubleshooting

What is another term used to identify the Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) that often indicates a hardware failure?

Windows STOP error

When you power on a computer, you hear two beeps during power-on self-test (POST) and the computer never completely boots into the operating system. What is the likely cause?

A failed or failing hardware component

Which simple visual test will tell you if power is properly supplied to a hardware component?

Indicator lights will be on or on and green.

Which motherboard component can become distended and break its casings, leaking electrolytes and causing the board to fail?

Capacitor

A user reports that their computer's screen is blank after they power it on. The user hears the power supply fan running and there seems to be no power issues with the computer. What do you check first?

Check cabling and connections.

If no error message is displayed at startup, which of the following could you do to diagnose issues with a Windows operating system?

Enable boot logging.

You are examining the motherboard of a computer that was issuing POST errors and failing to boot. You observe physical damage and signs of overheating. Which of the following actions do you take to determine the cause of the issue?

Examine the environment around the computer and the maintenance history.

Which of the following does NOT cause overheating problems?

Failing CMOS battery

A user reports an unusually loud noise. Which of the following is likely the cause?

Failing fan or hard drive

A user reports that a PC will not boot. While investigating the problem, you observe that none of the LEDs on the front panel of the system case are lit up and you cannot hear the fans or hard drives spinning. What is likely the cause?

No power

Which of the following may increase the frequency of system lockups?

Overclocking

Other than a failed or failing hardware component, what other problem can cause a computer to shut down randomly?

Overheating

A computer fails to execute POST. There are no audible beeps. Which of the following do you check first?

Power

What should you do if you notice a burning smell while working on a computer?

Shut down the system immediately.

What should you tell a user if they report seeing smoke?

Shut down the system immediately.

Which of the following is a symptom of thermal problems?

Spontaneous reboots

A computer is losing the correct time. Which of the following components is likely failing?

The Real Time Clock battery

A user calls in and tells you that when turning on the computer, the power supply fan can be heard, but the computer does not boot. What do you check first when you have physical access to the user's computer?

The power supply connection to the motherboard

System firmware returns an error message such as "No boot device found" or "Invalid boot disk." What is likely the cause?

The system is attempting to boot to the incorrect device.

The motherboard itself can be a source of computer failures. Which of the following symptoms would lead you to conclude that there is something wrong with the motherboard?

Unresolved intermittent device failures

In Windows, where are boot messages written?

ntbtlog.txt