Hardware Errors. How to identify the problems of my computer:
Hang up. Sudden shutdowns. Overheating.
The hardware is the pieces that make up the computer equipment; A hardware error is a failure in one of these parts or the components that form it. We detail the most common hardware errors:
Power supply error:
The most common hardware error on desktop computers is power supply failure. If we try to turn on our equipment and the front LED not turns on we can be almost sure that the power supply is not providing voltage to the motherboard. Many other times the source does not steadily supply the output voltages and this causes instability in the rest of the computer components. In many cases the computer affected by errors in the power supply turns off while we are making use of it. To summarize: The power supply is responsible for providing stable power to all components of the equipment; If this does not occur properly any of these components may be affected and appear unstable. It is very important to choose a quality power supply if we want to ensure a long life to all components of our equipment, especially the motherboard.
Faults in the graphics card or graphics chip:
It is possible that a failure of the video card prevents the computer from starting up. There are times when it is easy to associate a computer error with a malfunction of the VGA: The computer beeps when trying to turn it on. The computer starts up, starts up but nothing is seen on the monitor. Vertical streaks appear on the monitor. Other times the computer becomes unstable when it has been running for some time or some multimedia application is running (the graphics chip is overheated). Depending on the model of graphics card installed and its power, the amount of heat it can generate can be very high and can jump the welds that attach to the motherboard. As with most computer components, proper ventilation of the equipment is very important.
RAM memory failures:
The faults in the RAM modules present variable symptoms: Instability of this parts. Random Errors (Depending on whether the information is in damaged memory sectors). When the memory module is in very bad condition the computer does not start and usually beeps when the power button is pressed. These errors can be detected with specific software such as: memtest, which exhaustively analyzes the integrity of memory.
CPU failures, on the microprocessor:
The faults in the microprocessor (usually INTEL or AMD) are quite unusual nowadays mainly due to the protections that integrate in the motherboards so that when a temperature is exceeded the equipment turns off. CPU failures are almost always caused by overheating, very dirty heat sinks, bad anchoring to the board or by forcing the original clock speed (overclocking). It is very important to continuously clean the heatsink on the processor and the fan that draws the hot air from the heatsink. It is also desirable to change the thermal paste that attaches the heatsink to the processor to ensure efficient transfer of heat.
Motherboard faults:
The motherboard contains a multitude of electronic components and chips that are likely to fail after prolonged use. The most common faults in the motherboards are usually due to faults in capacitors, short circuits or damaged tracks. In most cases they can be repaired electronically. When choosing a new motherboard it is very convenient that of quality, that dissipates the heat well and that its capacitors are solid. Some problems with the boards are related to the components it integrates (graphic chip, network chip (Ethernet), sound chip … in most of these cases the problem can be solved by attaching an additional PCI card of the component that fails in a slot It is very important for a long life of the plate that the power supply used by our equipment is of the best quality possible.
Hard Disk Failures:
Hard disk failures are the most elusive from the point of view of the information contained in a computer. “” The need to make backups is directly proportional to the import of the data contained in the computer “”. Mechanical hard drives usually “warn” before permanently failing: the system slows down for no apparent reason, there are errors when installing any program or accessing a file. There are two types of failures in mechanical hard disks: logical and physical. The logics are due to failures in the file system and the physical to errors of some / s of the components that forms the disk. The most common failure in a hard disk is the deterioration of the magnetic surface in the form of defective sectors, these sectors can be isolated by software but the most advisable when they appear is to change the hard disk as soon as possible. On laptops the life of mechanical hard drives is lower because they have more vibrations and dry blows (mechanics and disc plates suffer more).
