Preventing Problems

There are a number of steps to take as safeguards against the possibility of disk failure or other serious system problems.  To help prevent hardware problems, take the following steps:

• Protect the computer against power surges and failures, which can damage hardware.
• Monitor Event Viewer - Go to your Control Panel/Administrative Tools/Event Viewer.  You will be able to see signs of a developing hardware problems.
• Perform regular backups and implement fault tolerance features such as disk mirroring, check for viruses, and carry out other standard administrative routines.  These safeguards help protect system and data integrity, and could provide warning if a disk or other hardware is beginning to fail.  In the Computer Lab I have Disk Deframentation and backup set up as a scheduled task to run on Tuesday night.  The following steps will help you implement a scheduled task:

Control Panel/Scheduled Tasks/highlight the desired task and click next/choose weekly/I selected Tuesday evening/click the box so the system will open advanced properties.  Go back and do the same process to implement other tasks to perform an hour apart.

• Specifying startup and recovery options - For example, you can specify that you want your computer to restart automatically, and you can control logging options.  To specify startup options that Windows should use if the system stops, right-click My Computer and click Properties.  On the Advanced Tab click Startup and Recovery, and then specify the options you want to set.  
• Recording hard disk information - One way to do this is to write the information down.  A second way is to open  Disk Management and save an image of the display showing disk information.  
• Keeping startup media available - Keep a set of floppy disks that you created.  (Before deciding that a computer must be started from floppy disks, try starting in safe mode on that computer first).  To create floppy disks for starting a  disabled system, you will need four blank, formatted, 3.5 inch, 1.44 MB floppy disks.  Label them Windows 2000 Setup Boot Disk, Windows 2000 Setup Disk #2, Windows 2000 Setup Disk #3, and Windows 2000 Setup Disk #4.  The startup disks must match the operating system on the computer you want to start.  Directions is as follows:

Good Spyware & Adware Ad-Aware does a good job of cleaning up a computer. So do Spybot-Search & Destroy and Windows Defender. The latter two also keep the bad stuff from taking root. All three programs are free. I recommend you use all three and run anti-spyware software a few times a week. Lava Softs Ad-Aware http://www.lavasoftusa.com/products/ad_aware_free.php SpyBot http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/index.html Windows Defender http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx Recovery Console - This is a powerful tool and should be used as a last resort.  Using the Recovery Console, you can start and stop services, read and write data on a local drive.  This is particularly useful if you need to repair your system by copying a file from a floppy disk or CD-Rom to your hard drive, or if you need to reconfigure a service that is preventing your computer from starting properly.  such as replace an overwritten or corrupted driver file with a good copy from a floppy disk.  You can use this method to copy files from systemroot/Repair to systemroot/system32/config.  After you do this, the registry will contain the information it had when the system state was last backed up.  Chages made after that time will be lost.   To start the computer and use the Recovery Console: Insert the first floppy disk you created. Restart the computer, respond to the prompts that request each floppy disk in turn. When the text-based part of Setup begins, follow the prompts.  Choose the repair option by pressing R.   When prompted, choose the Recovery Console by pressing C.   Follow the instructions for reinserting one or more of the floppy disks you created for starting the system. At the system prompt, type Recovery Console commands, and then type help for a list of commands, or help command name for help on a specific command. To quit the Recovery Console and restart the computer, type exit.   Cleaning Maintenance KEYBOARD Disassemble the keyboard cover or remove the far right key caps (-,+, Enter) Blow out key board, start from left to right. If key board covers are removed blow out the covers pieces too. If there is stubborn dirt or dust, use a non static producing brush. Reassemble the keyboard or carefully reinstall the key caps. Clean the keyboard with isopropyl alcohol or general purpose cleaner Test the keyboard, observe the POST. MONITOR Test the monitor , verify the video works. Blow off the top of the monitor. NOTE: Don't open up the monitor cover! Deadly High Voltage Inside! Clean the out side of the monitor isopropyl alcohol or general purpose cleaner Test monitor and verify that it works. If any problems occur check: Power switch & LED is on. Power & video connections. Brightness & contrast video intensity settings. Focus monitor from the back for better picture CASE Remove the screws securing the case cover. Carefully remove the case cover. Inspect inside the case for: Dust & dirt Corrosion Leaky Lithium battery acid Bugs, droppings & gecko eggs Loose connections Any thing loose, floating and or out of the ordinary. Blow out the power supply outside vents first, then the inside vents. Blow out the outside cases vents. Blow out the case starting from the P/S, Drive bays to the I/O cards left rear of case. Reassemble cover to case. Insure that all cables are positioned low so the cover doesn't snag any cables. Clean the out side case isopropyl alcohol or general purpose cleaner. Test PC Verify POST.

Recovery Methods For recovering from hardware problems, try the following: the first option is to try the safe mode.  Safe mode option, including Last Know Good Configuration, are especially useful if a newly-installed driver is causing problems with starting the system.   An option to consider if safe mode does not help is Recovery Console.  Use the Setup CD-Rom or floppy disks you created.  Then you can access the Recovery Console, a stopping services and accessing the local drive.   If safe mode and the Recovery Console are not workable in your situation, and if you made appropriate advance preparations, you can try the Emergency Repair Disk option. Safe Mode, Last Known Good Configuration - If your computer won't start, you can use safe mode.  You can then change the configuration to correct the problems.  You will want to choose Safe Mode with Networking because this starts Windows using basic files and drivers only and includes network support..   To start your computer in safe mode: Restart your computer When a line of test appears (black and white) Press F8 or F2. Use the arrow keys to select the startup option you want to use, press enter. Use the arrow keys to select the Windows operating system you want to start FLOPPY DISK DRIVE Test the floppy drive, verify it can read & write to a diskette. Clean read / write heads with a floppy drive cleaning kit. (follow directions on kit package) Test floppy drive again, verify it works! HARD DRIVE Test hard drive, verify it boots up. NOTE: Before running a utility program make sure all your data is backed up! Run Scandisk, Norton Disk Dr. or equivalent utility program. Optimize the hard drive, by using Defrag, Norton Speed or equivalent utility program.