Summary

In this chapter, we discussed hardware and network troubleshooting. First, we looked at general hardware troubleshooting. We investigated the causes for hardware problems, such as excessive heat, and signs of problems, such as noise, odors, and visible damage. We also discussed alerts and status lights.

After the discussion of general hardware, we talked about issues specific to internal components, including the motherboard, CPU, RAM, power supply, storage systems, and video cards. Next, we covered problems that are unique to laptop computers. Because of their compact nature, they have unique issues relating to heat, power, and input and output. Laptops also typically have built-in wireless networking, which is a blessing but occasionally needs to be fixed.

We followed that with a discussion on troubleshooting printers. Specifically, we discussed problems with three major classes of printers, including dot-matrix, inkjet, and laser, and then talked about managing print jobs, the print spooler, and printing a test page.

Finally, we ended the chapter with a section on troubleshooting issues that are specific to networking. We talked about connectivity issues and looked at tools and commands you can use to troubleshoot network problems.