Troubleshooting, maintaining and repairing PCs

Highlighted by 10 new chapters and 5 new appendices, this thoroughly updated and expanded edition of the best-selling Troubleshooting, Maintaining, and Repairing Personal Computers is your total guide to PC problem-solving. Equally useful to technicians, enthusiasts, and PC students, this mammoth resource reviews the fundamentals of PCs and peripherals and features: a unique, alphabetized "Symptoms at a Glance" section stocked with fully explained solutions to over 1,300 PC problems--900 more than before!

New CD-ROM full of shareware and freeware diagnostics and utilities that help you pinpoint the peskiest PC problems. Newly reorganized material that makes locating beep, POST, and diagnostic codes much easier. Fully revised DLS Technician's Certificate II test that also serves an ideal prep for the A+ and ETA certification exams. New Web addresses in all 73 chapters, which offer extra details, self-study aid, and news on manufacturers and organizations. An opportunity to get ongoing troubleshooting, help via a subscription to The PC Toolbox newsletter. Including new guidance on PC standards, new information on PC newsgroups, Windows 95 shortcuts, and a variety of forms you can photocopy, the Second Edition is your quick and dependable cure for every PC ailment.

Table of contents

Section I: Getting Started

Inside Today's Desktop and Tower

Inside Today's Monitors

Operating Systems and the Boot Process

The Pre-Service Checkout

Section II: System Data and Troubleshooting

Batteries

BIOS

CD-ROM and CD-R Drives

Chipsets

CMOS

Conflict Troubleshooting

CPU Identification and Troubleshooting

Disk-Compression Troubleshooting

Drive-Adapter Reference

DVD Drives

Error Codes

Floppy Drives

ISA/EISA Bus Operations

Joysticks and Game Ports

Keyboards

Laser/LED Printers

MCA Bus Operations

Memory Troubleshooting

Memory Managers

Mice and Trackballs

Modems and Fax Cards

Monitor Troubleshooting

Motherboard Troubleshooting

Overlay Software Troubleshooting

Other Interfaces and Technologies

Parallel-Port (Centronics) Troubleshooting

PC Cards and Peripherals

PCI Bus Operations

Pen Systems and Touchpads

Plug-and-Play Configuration and Troubleshooting

Power Switching Supplies

High-Voltage Power Supplies

Removable Media Drives

SCSI Systems and Troubleshooting

Serial (RS-232) Port Troubleshooting

Sound Boards

Tape Drives

Video Adapters and Accelerators

Video Capture/PC-TV Boards

Virus Symptoms and Countermeasures

VL Bus Operations

Section III: System Maintenance and Support

Adding a CD-ROM, CD-R, or DVD-ROM Drive

Adding a Floppy Drive

Adding Memory

Adding a Second Hard Drive

Adding a Sound Card

Backing Up the System

Data-Recovery Techniques

Enhancing Drive Performance

Fans and Cooling Devices

Floppy Drives Testing and Alignment

Monitor Testing and Alignment

Power Protection

Preventive Maintenance

System-Assembly Procedures

Upgrading a Microprocessor

Upgrading a Motherboard

Upgrading a Power Supply

Upgrading a System BIOS

Appendices:

A: MPC Standards for the PC

B: ASCII Chart

C: DOS Error Messages

D: PC Newsgroups

E: Windows Shortcut Keys

F: Forms