Common Questions About Computer Hardwares

Frequently Asked Questions About Hardware

What is a motherboard?

A motherboard is the main circuit board inside your computer that is responsible for things such as transferring data between all the components such as your sound, video and network cards. It’s also where the processor (CPU) and RAM connect into the system. It also has slots such as PCI, AGP, PCI-E etc which all you to install your components in your computer. Many motherboards have built in components like sound, video and network cards. Motherboards will also have other ports such as USB, HDMI, VGA and DVI built in. Newer motherboards will have SATA hard drive connectors while older ones will have IDE connectors.

 How do I upgrade my computer’s RAM or memory?

This will depend on the age of your computer and if you have any available RAM slots on your motherboard. If you have an older computer it may not be easy to find the right kind of RAM for your computer since it’s not all the same and will depend on the type of motherboard you have. You can take out a RAM chip/DIMM and see if it has a sticker on it saying something like DDR3 PC2800 to give you an idea of what kind of RAM you have.
If all your RAM slots are full then the only way you will be able to upgrade will be by taking out some of the smaller RAM DIMMs and replacing them with larger capacity ones. RAM is pretty cheap and easy to replace so it’s a wise investment if your computer does not have enough.
For Windows Vista and up you should have a minimum of 3 GB with 6 to 8 GB being the ideal amount.

How do I clean my monitor?

This will depend on what type of monitor you have. If you have the older CRT monitor then it will have a glass screen and be easy to clean. You can spray some glass cleaner on a soft cloth then wipe down the screen and follow it up with a dry cloth. LCD and LED monitors are more sensitive and are not as easy to clean. You never want to put too much pressure on an LCD\LED screen since it may cause damage. First try a soft cloth like a microfiber cloth and gently wipe the screen. If its just dusty then you can use something like a Swiffer duster that is good at picking up dust. There are also special purpose LCD\LED cleaning kits that do a good job of cleaning your screen without causing damage. Just be sure to never spray anything directly on your monitor. 

Should I leave my computer on or turn it off?

There is no right answer to this question but there are some things to consider if you are trying to decide whether to leave your computer on or off. One reason to leave it on would be for instant access rather than having to wait for it to boot up each time you want to use it. If you are constantly on and off your computer all day then you may be better off leaving it on. Or if you have an older computer that boots up really slow or does not boot up successfully every time then leaving it on may be the way to go. Some people say leaving your computer on wears it out faster but they are really designed to be left on. Many computers have been left on for years nonstop with no problems. You can have your computer hibernate or shut down components like the hard drive and monitor after a set amount of time to save energy.
If you don’t use your computer too often then turning it off after each use may work better for you. If your computer is located in a hot room with poor ventilation then you should shut it down after using it to avoid damage from excessive heat. You should also look into keeping the room or computer cooler when it’s in use as well. Occasional reboots are good to “freshen up” your computer if it’s been running for a long time. It will clear out the RAM and reload processes and programs that may not be running as well as they could be.
The bottom line is that it is up to you to decide whether to leave your computer on or off when not in use.

What is the CMOS and how does its work?

CMOS stands for complementary metal oxide semiconductor and is a chip that is powered by a battery and contains the date, time, and system setup parameters for your computer. This information is kept in the memory even when the computer is turned off. That is why when you turn off your computer or unplug it and then turn it back on it remembers the date and time. The other information kept in the CMOS is used by the BIOS for starting up your computer. 

The computer displays disk boot failure insert system disk what should I do?

A disk boot failure can mean a couple of different things. It could be hardware or software related. I would first make sure your computer can see the drive. It should display the drive listing when you start up the computer on the POST screen. If you can't see it that way I would check the BIOS to see if it's recognized.
If it doesn't show up in the BIOS make sure your IDE or SATA cables and power cables are attached correctly and functioning. See if you can hear the hard drive power up when you turn on the computer. If you can you may want to try a different cable or port on the motherboard. Just make sure to adjust your jumpers appropriately if its an IDE drive. You may also have a bad hard drive. You can put the drive in another computer as a secondary drive to see if you can recover your data.

No sound after Windows reinstall

The most common reason you won't have sound after a Windows reinstall is because of a missing driver. I would look in Device Manager under Sound, video and game controllers and see if you have a sound card listed and also see if you have a yellow exclamation point or question mark there. If you do that most likely means you are missing the driver or something is wrong with it. If you know the make and model of your sound card you can go to the manufactures site and download the latest version or maybe try the driver tab and have Windows try to update it online.
You can also look up your computer by model or search by service tag number on the manufacturers website and find the sound card driver there. Then simply download it and run the installer and that should get things going for you again.

IRQ NOT LESS OR EQUAL error when using USB devices

An IRQ NOT LESS OR EQUAL error is usually caused by a hardware driver or IRQ conflict. An IRQ is an interrupt request where a device requests time from the CPU. When different devices compete for the same IRQ, there are operating conflicts.
One of your devices may be in conflict with another device on your system. There is no one specific fix for this error. You will need to narrow it down by removing drivers or devices until it does not do it anymore. I would first try uninstalling your printer and card reader completely and then trying your external hard drive. Remove the software from Programs and Features and check Device Manager to make sure it is gone.
You may also be able to avoid removing devices by disabling them in Device Manager instead and then try to connect your USB device.
There is also a chance it could be related to a driver update for your sound card, video card or other device that you may have performed or even Windows Update performed.

How do I reset a BIOS password ?

There are a couple of ways to try and reset the password. The first thing you can try is to remove the CMOS battery and leave it out for about 20 min and then put it back in. This will clear all the settings and should clear the password too. You will most likely have to reset the system time etc in the BIOS.
Another option is to see if there is a generic password for your brand of computer that you can use to get into the settings and clear the password. Many companies use a standard password just in case something like this happens.
If you can find the motherboard manual then there might be a jumper you can short to clear the BIOS password.

How do I connect TV cable to my computer so I can watch TV on it?

To connect your TV to your computer you will need a TV tuner video card or a video card with a TV input which is is a regular video card but it will also have a coaxial cable connector that you can plug your TV cable into. It will usually come with software that you can use to watch TV on your computer. Just make sure whatever card you get supports TV in rather than TV out or has both features. 

I get a blue screen error and then the computer reboots after I installed a second hard drive.

 

I would start by removing the new hard drive to see if you can get the computer to boot again. If you can then you can check the Event Viewer for any error details to try and narrow down why it doesn't like the new drive.
Then you can prevent the computer from automatically restarting on the blue screen error by going to System in Control Panel and go to Advanced System Settings. Then click on the Advanced tab and then the Startup and Recovery Settings button and uncheck the box that says Automatically restart. The next time you reboot, it should stop on the Blue Screen so you can read what it says.

My hard drive, continually spins up and down while I'm at or away from the computer. Can I stop this?

When your hard drive is continuously spinning it could be caused by a couple of things. The first and easiest thing to do is to run a disk defragmenter on the drive (not applicable for SSD drives). When a hard drive becomes fragmented it has to search the disk in several different places that are spread out to get the information rather than in just one contiguous section. You should check it about once a month to see if it needs to be run.
Another reason a hard drive will be constantly working is because you do not have enough RAM in your system and the computer has to go to the hard drive for memory to make up for it.
I would also check your startup items to make sure you don't have any unnecessary programs starting with your computer using up your resources and running in the background.