Chapter 3 - Computer Maintenance - Hardware Tune Up (Windows 10)

The first chapter we cleaned up the junk files and the second chapter to see if there is any corruption. Now we will check the drivers and hardware.

The next step will be to check our current drivers. Many Blue Screens of Death occur due to a driver issue. The driver is the software that connects the hardware to the operating system. Most of the time drivers will be found when running windows update but sometimes the current driver will be found on the manufacturer's website.

We will also run onboard diagnostics to check the hardware to see if there is any damage with any physical component. Then we will check the hard drive for any errors.

Let's check the hardware!

Hardware Tune Up

Drivers
As previously mentioned, most of the time drivers will be found when running windows update but sometimes the current driver will be found on the manufacturer's website. Issues can arise if you have an outdated or incompatible driver. Here are some of the top computer manufacturers and links to update your drivers.

Acer - "Drivers and Manuals"
http://www.acer.com

Asus - "Download Center"
http://www.asus.com

Dell - "Enter a Service Tag, Serial Number, Service Request, Model, or Keyword"
http://support.dell.com

HP - "Customer Support - Software and Driver Downloads"
http://support.hp.com

Lenovo - "Update Drivers, BIOS and Applications"
http://support.lenovo.com

Microsoft - "Popular Hardware drivers downloads"
http://www.microsoft.com

If your machine is not in this list then you can do a search for your brand along with drivers.

Diagnostics
Running an online or offline diagnostics will help you determine if the issue could be hardware related. The tests can take 5 minutes or might take a few hours to complete.

Acer
Online: http://www.acer.com
Offline: Press F12 at boot

Asus
Online: http://www.asus.com

Dell
Online: http://support.dell.com
Offline:

    1) Restart your Dell PC.
    2) When the Dell logo appears, press F12 key to enter One-time Boot Menu.
    3) Use the arrow keys to select Diagnostics and press Enter key on the keyboard.
    4) Follow the on-screen prompts and respond appropriately to complete the diagnostics.
    If the test fails, write down the error code and validation code.
    You can visit the SupportAssist Pre-Boot System Performance Check page to get more information about ePSA or PSA diagnostic error codes.

HP
Online: http://www.hp.com
Offline:

    1. Restart the computer.
    2. As the computer boots, press the ESC key when the HP Splash Screen appears.
    3. When the Startup menu appears, press F2 to enter System Diagnostics.
     
    System Information: Shows information such as hardware installed and BIOS version.
    Start-up Test: A quick, high level test of the system.
    Run-In Test: A stress test to verify stability of system components.
    Hard Disk Test: Test the hard drive for problems. First it will run a quick test and then a SMART test. This test will take approximately two hours to finish.

Lenovo
Online: http://pcsupport.lenovo.com
Offline:

    To launch the diagnostics, the user should press F10 during the boot sequence and this will launch the Lenovo diagnostics.
     
    Additionally, the user can press F12 during the boot sequence to access the Boot Menu.
    Then press Tab to select Application Menu and arrow down to Lenovo Diagnostics and select it by pressing Enter.

Microsoft
Offline:

    1) Open Control Panel.
    2) Click on System and Security.
    3) Click on Administrative Tools.
    4) Double-click the Windows Memory Diagnostic shortcut.
    5) Click the Restart now and check problems option.

I hope the steps came through with nothing failing. If there is a failure, in my experience, it is usually the hard drive. The older hard drives with moving parts fail more frequently than Solid State drives. Devices with solid state drives tend to be more reliable unless the device is physically broken.

Check Hard Drive For Errors

Open a command prompt (search cmd and right click) with administrator privileges. Click Yes if you are prompted to run the program by the User Account Control.

Type chkdsk /? to get help with using the program.

Quick Disk Check - 3 Steps

chkdsk /f

Full Disk Check - 5 Steps - Can take many hours to complete.

chkdsk /f /r

Enter Y to run the check disk. It will run the next time you start up your computer.
You might need to look into a new hard drive if any issues arise during these tests.

Conclusion

We have cleaned up the junk, we have checked our operating system and now we have updated drivers, ran some diagnostics and checked the hard drive. Hopefully these steps passed without issues or problems were fixed along the way.

We have covered so far...
CH 1: Computer Maintenance - Junk File Tune Up
CH 2: Computer Maintenance - OS Tune Up
CH 3: Computer Maintenance - Hardware Tune Up


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3/26/2019 - Chapter 1 - Junk File Tune Up
3/28/2019 - Chapter 2 - OS Tune Up
3/31/2019 - Chapter 3 - Hardware Tune Up
4/3/2019 - Chapter 4 - Malware Tune Up
4/3/2019 - Chapter 5 - Retrospective II