Understand what happens during the POST routine. During the power-on self-test (POST), the BIOS checks to ensure that the base hardware is installed and working. Generally, one POST beep is good. Any more than that and you might have an error.

Understand the types of symptoms that misbehaving hardware can cause. Hardware problems cause symptoms that include excessive heat, noise, odors, and visible damage. Some devices can also warn of problems with status light indicators or alerts.

Know how to stop and restart the print spooler. Open the Services applet of Computer Management. Find Print Spooler on the right side. Right-click it and click Stop, or highlight it and click the stop square above the list of services. To restart it, right-click and select Start or click the start triangle above the list of services.

Understand what to do for laptop video issues. If you have no video, you can try an external monitor or try toggling the LCD cutoff switch. For screens that are too dim or too bright, you can raise and lower the brightness by using the Fn key plus the appropriate function key on your keyboard.

Know what to check if your wireless networking card isn’t working. Make sure the card has lights indicating it’s working. You might also have an external toggle switch to turn the card on and off. Finally, if your computer has an external RJ-45 connection, you can plug it in and see if it works when wired.

Know how to set IP addresses on a printer. The IP address can often be obtained automatically from a DHCP server, but this is not recommended for corporate networks. Instead, you may be able to use the printer’s control panel, Telnet, or printer management software to configure the IP address.

Know what could cause the printer to print garbage. Most often this is caused by the print driver. Deleting and reinstalling it should fix the problem. It can also be caused by a defective formatter board.

Understand what could cause print-quality issues on a dot-matrix printer. Print-quality issues are generally related to either the ribbon or the print head. The specific problem you are having will help determine the culprit.

Know what can cause unevenly spaced lines or characters on a dot-matrix or inkjet printer. This is usually caused by a failing stepper motor. For line spacing problems, it’s the main stepper motor. For character spacing, it will be the carriage stepper motor.

Know what causes printers to have paper jams. In a dot-matrix printer, jams are usually caused by material getting into the rollers, such as extra perf from the tractor-feed paper. On inkjets and laser printers, this problem is often caused by worn pickup rollers.