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Figure 27-11 Tech asking nicely

In most troubleshooting situations, it’s important to back up critical files before making changes to a system. To some extent, this is a matter of proper ongoing maintenance, but if some important bit of data disappears and you don’t have a backup, you know who the user will blame, don’t you?

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EXAM TIP The CompTIA A+ certification exams assume that all techs should back up systems every time before working on them, even though that’s not how it works in the real world.

If you run into a partially functional system where you might have to reinstall the OS but can access the hard drive, you should definitely back up essential data, such as e-mail, browser favorites, important documents, and any data not stored on a regularly backed-up server. Because you can boot to a copy of Windows and go to the Recovery Console, you should never lose essential data, barring full-blown hard drive death.

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NOTE Dead hard drives retain their data, so you can recover it—if you’re willing to pay a lot of money. Having a good backup in place makes a lot more economic sense!

Establish a Theory of Probable Cause (Question the Obvious)

Now it’s time to analyze the issue and come up with a theory as to what is wrong—a theory of probable cause. Personally, I prefer the word “guess” at this point because very few errors are so obvious that you’ll know what to do. Fall back on your knowledge of the computing process to localize the issue based on the symptoms. Keep your guesses…err…theories…simple. One of the great problems for techs is their tendency to overlook the obvious problems in their desire to dig into the system (Figure 27-12).

Figure 27-12 Ford the Tech misses the obvious.

Outside the Case

Take a moment to look for clues before you open up the case. Most importantly, use all your senses in the process.

What do you see? Is a connector mangled, or a plastic part clearly damaged? Even if that connector or part works fine, the physical abuse could provide extra information. If the user can’t connect to a network, check the cable. Was something rolled over it that could have broken the thin, internal wires? Is that a jelly smear near the jammed optical drive door? (No pun intended, really!) A visual examination of the external computer is important.

When you put your hand on the system unit, does it feel hot? Can you feel or hear the vibrations of the fans? If not, that would be a clue to an overheating or overheated computer. Modern computers can run when overly hot, but generally run very sluggishly. If you run through basic malware fixes, but a computer still runs poorly, think about excessive heat as a potential problem.

If you spend a moment listening to the PC, you might get some clues to problem sources. As you’ll recall from Chapter 12, “Implementing Hard Drives,” a properly running hard drive doesn’t make a lot of sound; just a regular hum from the spinning platters. If you hear clicking or grinding sounds from a drive, that’s a very bad sign and a very important clue! Excessive thrashing or disk access can likewise lead to some potential problem areas, such as insufficient RAM or a badly fragmented drive.

Finally, don’t forget your nose. If you smell the unmistakable odor of ozone, you know that’s the smell electronic components give off when they cook or are simply running much too hot.

Inside the Case

Use all your senses when you go inside the system unit as well. Do you see any physical damage? Check the motherboard capacitors if you have a dead PC. Properly working capacitors should be nice and flat on top. They definitely shouldn’t look like partly melted batteries or be bulging at the seams. Fans should be spinning. The power supply shouldn’t be blistering hot. You should be able to localize sounds better with the case off, and any smell of cooking components will definitely be stronger.

As you do your inspection, both outside and inside the case, don’t jump