General Computer Terms & Failure Types

BIOS:

-Basic Input/Output System

-Manages all of the essential functions of a computer system

-Pre-programmed into hardware & is integrated into the computer during the manufacturing process.

BIOS is tasked with managing the machine’s exchanges of inputs/outputs upon startup.

        Ex). You press the power button & the computer turns on

        Ex). Operates peripheral devices such as a keyboard & mouse.

CMOS:

-Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor

-Essentially it is a small battery located on the motherboard- it charges up while the machine is plugged into power. This battery can last anywhere from 2-10 years.

-Found in most laptops & desktops

-Powers the BIOS firmware in your machine.

When the CMOS battery fails, typically you will get an error message on the screen upon startup letting you know the CMOS needs to be replaced. However, you can also notice that the BIOS firmware will shut down & all settings will be reset to defaults.

Failures:

-difficulty booting

-constant BIOS beep sound

-date/time have reset

-peripherals are not responsive or do not respond correctly

-error message on screen stating CMOS battery needs to be replaced

Hard Drives:

Hard Drive Disk (HDD):

-Mechanical hard drive, consists of physically moving parts such as platters & an actuator arm that is used to read/write data.

Solid State Drive (SSD):

-Electronic hard drive, consists of no moving parts- tends to have higher/faster input/output rates & are preferred over HDDs

M.2 SSD:

-Electronic hard drive, smaller than a regular SSD, has fastest type of data transmission out of all hard drives available on the market.

Fusion Drives:

-Created by Apple, they’re terrible. ½ HDD and ½ SSD and were discontinued in 2020.

Failure Types

-hard drive is overheating/extremely hot

-grinding/clicking sounds (mechanical)

-corrupted files/data/folders, unable to access files/data/folders

-Machine tends to be extremely sluggish/major slow down

-frequent error messages

-system failure/OS crashes

-Failure to boot into OS

-BSOD (blue screen of death)

**Once an issue starts, they will progress & snowball quickly

**Data will be unrecoverable once the drive completely fails

RAM (Random Access Memory):

Short-term memory where data is stored as the processor needs it.

Failure Signs:

-BSOD

-Random crashes/reboots

-Crashes during heavy work loads like gaming + photoshop programs

-Failure to Boot

-Repeated long beep sounds

-Memory related errors on display

-PC freezing

-Ram not being recognized by computer/showing incorrect information

Speed of your RAM determines how quickly data flows in and out of your CPU

        If RAM is too slow or you do not have enough memory to support the tasks you are giving your machine, programs/websites may take longer to load, won’t load at all, or will consistently crash.

RAM Usage Recommendations:

-4GB bare minimum

-8GB basic usage

-16GB recommended for gaming, however check specs of specific games for requirements

-32GB best for gaming, photo editing

-64GB can tend to be overkill for gaming, however depends on the gamer. If gamer is multi-boxing or utilizing dual monitors, multiple games running at a time, etc. then the more RAM the better.

CPU (Central Processing Unit):

Responsible for processing and executing instructions and acts as the brain of your machine

Built by placing billions of microscopic transistors onto a single computer chip. Those transistors allow it to make the calculations it needs to run programs stored on your hard drive.

Over time, transistors continue to be built smaller & smaller w/technological advancement to allow an improvement in CPU speed.

3 stages: fetch, decode, execute

CPU fetches instruction from RAM, decodes what that instruction is, and executes instruction using relevant parts of the CPU.

Most common types of CPUs are Intel & AMD.

Failure Signs:

Random Freezing (when mouse freezes on screen, clicking or keyboard presses will be followed by a series of beeps)

Boot Issues (blank screen, no BIOS beep after boot, no keyboard or mouse recognition or function)

Random shut down

Blue Screen w/ 0x00000 error code (0x00000 error code indicates a CPU failure)

Beep Alerts on Boot, typically between 5-7 depending on manufacturer.

Motherboard:

Circuit board that connects all of your hardware to your processor; distributes electricity from power supply & defines types of storage devices, memory modules, & graphics cards that connect to your machine.

Failure Signs:

#1 symptom is a completely dead system, typically with no LED mobo lights.

Fans, drives, & other components may spin up but immediately shut down or stop working/responding

No display

Continuous System Reboots

Error Codes

BIOS beeps

BSOD (Blue Screen of Death) & error codes

One or more ports, expansion slots, or memory modules has failed/slots not reading properly

Troubleshooting Steps:

Check for any LED mobo lights- test PSU, check for spinning fans & behaviors. (LED mobo lights may have a diagnostic LED indicator that you can look up)
Replace CMOS battery
Check BIOS/UEFI settings
Check for signs of overheating- thermal paste on CPU; if paste is dry, clean up & replace
Check for any distended/bulging capacitors on board
Reseat CPU, RAM, GPU, drives, & any other adaptors
Remove any unnecessary components (like GPU) & attempt to boot

GPU: Graphics Processing Unit

GPU vs. Graphics Card:

        GPU refers to the physical graphics processor that is accompanied by dedicated memory, heat sinks, and other components. This is essentially equivalent to the CPU on a mobo.

        Graphics Card refers to the entire unit as a whole.



        GPUs utilize a more simple & specialized parallel structure; this allows them to have a higher number of cores than a regular CPU does.

Failure Signs:

Machine crashes & won’t reboot

No display

BIOS beeps

Graphics related errors

Graphics distortion/glitches/pixelation while gaming

Abnormal fan noise/performance

GPU overheating

Fans are not working or spinning

Remove GPU & plug display cables into mobo- if it shows a display when plugged directly into the mobo, you can almost guarantee that the graphics card has failed. However, ensure that the motherboard & CPU combo you are using has integrated graphics, if it does not you will not have a display when plugged into the mobo.

Clock Speed/Overclocking:

Clock Speed refers to how fast a processor can read information. The better the CPU, the faster it reads information. If the processor isn’t fast enough for the intended workload, you may receive extreme lag or delays in your system.

Overlocking- processor/GPU operates faster than it was programmed for. This typically improves gaming performance.

        Activated in BIOS or through a GPU program, like GPU Tweak III (For ASUS Nvidia cards)



        Overclocking a CPU/GPU will void the manufacturer’s warranty.

        It may cause the components to overheat if adequate cooling is not provided.

        Will shorten the lifespan of the CPU & GPU.

We DO NOT assist with overclocking any components as doing so may cause more harm that we do not want to be responsible for, as well as voiding any manufacturer’s warranty. We will not assist with overclocking any components under any circumstances. We also do not recommend overclocking any component for any reason.

Revision History

Status: approved
Imported from legacy approved SOP archive

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