MWENGECATHOLICUNIVERSITY(MWECAU)

FACULTYOFSCIENCE

DEPARTMENTNATURALSCIENCEANDINFORMATIONTECHNOLOGY

NAMEOFTHETASK:FPTTECHNICALREPORT

TECHNICALPROBLEM:COMPUTERFAILTOSTART

STUDENTNAME: PAULINAMTUNDUZEGGE

REGNUMBER: T/DEG/2022/1669

PROGRAMME: BARCHELOROFSCIENCEINCOMPUTERSCIENCE

YEAROFSTUDY: FIRSTYEAR

ACADEMICYEAR:2022/2023

SUBMISSIONDATE:MARCH,2023
Problemidentification

Computerfailtostart.

DuringthefieldpracticaltrainingIexperiencedtheproblemsofcomputerfailingtostart.Thisproblemoc

curredseveraltimesatdifferentofficesaroundthemunicipalcounciltodifferentcomputers.Thisproble

moccurredmainlyatmorningwhendifferentstaffarrivedattheirareasofworkandneededtousethecomp

utersintheiroffice.Anditmaysometimebeonbutnotdisplayinganythinginthescreenordisplaysomeme

ssagesonthescreenwhichcouldshowtheproblemencounteringthecomputer.Somecomputerscouldev

enstartandstopimmediatelybeforeopeningup.

Descriptionoftheproblem

Computerfailtostartissituationthatoccurswhenapersonpressesthecomputerpowerbuttontopoweront

hecomputerbutthecomputerfailstostart.Computerfailtostartisaproblemwhichoccursduetodifferentc

ausesthatcanoccurtocomputer.Thismaybecausedbydifferentreasons,someofthemareasfollows

 PowerSupplyFailure,sometimespowersupplyunitmaybebrokenthisisfordesktopcomputers.Pow
ersupplyfailureleadsacomputertocompletelydeadwhenyouturnon,thatisnofans,nolightsandnoth

ingonit.Powersupplyismostimportanttocomputerbecauseitprovidesenergyforcomputers.

 LaptopBatteryFailure,ifyouhavealaptop,thebatterymaybeconnectedproperly.Laptopbatteryisth
emainsourceofpowerinthelaptops.Iflaptopbatteryfailsthelaptopwon’tstartunlessyouplugthelapt

opdirectonpowerwhenyouareinuse.

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 Corruptormissingfile(s)inoperatingsystem.Whentheoperatingsystemfailstostartandthehardwar
eisnotafault,itwillbebecauseoneormoreessentialfilesthattheoperatingsystemneedstostarthavec

omecorruptormissing.

 MotherboardFailure.Ifitisnotthevideocard,powersupply,memorymodulesandharddrivefailure,t
henthehardwarefailureispresumedtobeinthemotherboard.Motherboardfailureresultstocompute

rfailtodoanythingsinceallcomponentsareattachedwithinthemotherboardforlaptops,afailureofth

emotherboardoftenspellsthedeathofthecomputer.

Measurestobetakentosolvetheproblem

Theonlymeasuretotaketosolvethisproblemisdoingcomputertroubleshootingtorecognizewhatisthep

roblem.Afterknowingwhatmakesthecomputertofailtostartyouhavetofixtheproblemfollowingthepr

oceduresthatwillhelpyoutofixthisproblemeasilyandthecomputertorecovertoitsnormalworkingcond

itions.

Procedurestobetaken

1. Givethecomputermorepower

Ifyoustartthecomputeranditfailstostaryouprobablymayhbiaveapowerissue.Unplugyourcomputer

andplugitdirectlyintoawalloutlettoknowifisthecomputerisworking,ratherthanapowerstriporbatter

ybackupthatmaybefailing.Makesurethepowerswitchonthebackofyourpowersupplyisflippedon,an

diftheoutletisconnectedtoalightswitch,makesurethatswitchisturnedontoo.Ifyou'reusingalaptop,m

akesureyourchargerispluggedinproperlyandtothecorrectportifitchargesviaUSB-

C,onlysomeoftheUSBportsmayactuallyprovidepower.Afailingpowersupplycanoftencausebootpr

oblems,evenifthefansandlightsdoturnon.So,ifthetroubleshootingstepsinthisguidefailyou,itmightb

etimetoreplaceyourpowersupply.

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Ifyouareusingalaptop,checkifthebatteryisconnectedproperly.Removethebatteryandreattachwithabi

tofahardshoveincasethereisanelectricalcontactproblem.Ifthisdoesnotwork,itmightbethatthebattery

hasnocharge.Eitherthebatteryisfailingorthesupplyofelectricitytothebatteryisfailing.Takealookatthe

socketwheretheleadfromthebatterychargergoes.Ifthereisathinpininthesocket,isitverywobbly.Itisno

tuncommonforsomeonetotriponthebatterychargerleadandbreakthesocketwherethebatterychargerle

adattaches.Itisalsopossiblethatthebatterychargerhasdied.

2. ListenfortheBeepsound

Whenyoustartacomputerwhichfailedtostart,itmaymakeabeepingsoundwhichusuallyasinglebeepw

hichmeanseverythingisokay.Butifthecomputerishavingtroublestartingup,itmaymakeaseriesofbeep

s(kindoflikeMorsecode)thattellyouwhat'swrong.Checkoutforthemeaningofthebeepsoundsyouhave

hardfromthecomputertofixtheproblem.Youcanprobablyfinditonthemanufacturer'swebsite.Ifyourc

omputerdoesn'tbeepatall,youmightbeoutofluck,thoughsomedesktopPCsmayhaveaheaderonthemot

herboardwhereyoucaninstallacheapspeaker,orevenadigitaldisplaywithanumericalcodethatcorresp

ondstoanerrormessage.

3. ExploretheBIOS

IfyourcomputerturnsonandyouseethePOSTscreenbutcan'tbootintoWindows,certainsettingsmayb

ecausingaproblem.Forexample,anerrorstatingthatyourcomputercan'tfindabootableoperatingsyste

mmaymeanyourBIOSissettobootfromthewrongdriveoryouoverclocksettingsarecausingthecomp

utertobluescreenimmediately.EnteryourBIOSwhenthePOSTscreenappears,usuallybypressingDe

lete,F2,orsomeotherkeytoentersetup.Ifyou'vetweakedanyofthesesettingsrecently,trychangingthe

mback.MakesureyourBootOrderissettothecorrectharddrive,yourRAMisrecognized,andthatyour

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CPUisn'toverheating.Ifit'sabove90degreesCelsiusintheBIOS,somethingisdefinitelywrong.Youm

ightalsoturnofftheFastBootfeature,incasearecentWindowsUpdateisconflictingwithit.Ifallelsefail

s,tryresettingyourBIOSsettingsacrosstheboardusingtheLoadOptimizedDefaultsoption.Justbesure

tosnapafewphotosofyourBIOSsettingssoyoucansetthembackifthatdoesn'twork.

4. CheckyourHardDriveforCorruption

It'spossiblesomedataonthedriveiscorrupt,preventingWindowsfrombootingproperly.Thankfully,Mi

crosofthasafewtoolsthatcanattempttofixtheproblem.HeadtotheTroubleshoot>AdvancedOptions

menuasdescribedaboveandchooseCommandPrompt.Typesfc/

scannowandpressEnter.Windowswillcheckyourdriveforcorruptionandattempttorepairanyproblem

s.YoucanalsotrythechkdskC:/

rcommand,whichwilldoabroadersearchforfilecorruptionandbadsectors.Ifyouhavemultipledrives,y

oumaywanttorunwmiclogicaldiskgetvolumename,nameandreplacethedriveletterwiththecorrecton

efromtheresultinglist.

5. TesttheDriveinanothercomputer

Ifalltheaboveproceduresfailyoucanuseabackupdriveifpresentandifyoudon’thaveabackup,takeyour

harddriveoutofyourcomputer,connectittoaUSBadapter,dock,orenclosureandplugitintoanotherkno

wnworkingPC.Or,ifyoudon’thaveanotherPC,trybootingfromaLinuxLiveCDonyourcurrentmachin

e.Aslongasthedriveisstillworkingabigifyoucanatleastcopyyourfilesontoanexternaldriveforsafekee

pingbeforeyoureinstallWindowsorsendthePCinforrepairs.

Conclusionontheproblem

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InGeneral,FailureofcomputerstostartwasabigprobleminShinyangaMunicipalCouncil.Duetounstab

leelectricitysupplyaroundMunicipalareawhichleadtotheshockofthemotherboardanddestructionofs

omehardwarewithinacomputer.Also,unstableelectricitymayleadtodestructionofpowersuppliersinc

omputerdesktops.