Basic computer troubleshooting

How do I determine what type of file system is running on my hard disk drive?

2007-05-29T02:09:00.000-07:00

Question:
How do I determine what file system is running on my hard drive?
Answer:
Windows 2000 and Windows XP users
Microsoft Windows 2000 and Windows XP can also determine the type of file system that is running on the computer by following the below steps.
Open My Computer
In my computer, right click the drive you wish to see the file system for.
Click Properties
The Properties window should list the type of file system in the General tab.
Microsoft Windows 2000 and Windows XP users who administrative privileges can also see what file system is running on their computer by following the below steps.
Open Control Panel
Open Administrative Tools (XP Professional users need to open Performance and Maintenance and then Administrative Tools).
Open the Computer Management.
In Computer Management under Storage click Disk Management, which will display all drives and each of their file systems and other important information about the drives.
Windows 3.x, Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows ME users
Users who are using Microsoft Windows 3.x, Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows ME can determine the type of file system (FAT version) on their computer by running the fdisk command and display the partition information. See our fdisk command page for additional information and help with this command.
Users using Microsoft Windows 98 or Windows ME
Users running Microsoft Windows 98 or Windows ME can also determine the type of file system that is running on the computer by following the below steps.
Open My Computer
In my computer, right click the drive you wish to see the file system for.
Click Properties
The Properties window should list the type of file system in the General tab.
Additional information:
See our file system dictionary definition for additional information about file systems as well as related links and terms.

Computer stops at verifying dmi pool data...

2007-05-29T02:07:00.000-07:00

Issue:
Computer stops at verifying dmi pool data...
Cause:
This issue can be caused by any of the below reasons.
Corrupt boot files on the computer.
Settings for hard disk drive are not correct.
Floppy diskette or CD in computer causing issue.
Boot devices not set properly.
BIOS corrupt or misc. setting not set properly.
Connections loose or disconnected.
Bad Hard disk drive or other bad hardware.
Solution:
Corrupt boot files on the computer
If the computer has no bootable files on the drive it is attempting to boot from it is possible that the computer may halt at " verifying dmi pool data...".
To resolve this issue:
Boot from a bootable floppy diskette. Ensure that this diskette was made on the same Microsoft Windows operating system that is installed on your computer.
Once at the A:\> prompt type "sys c:" and press enter. This should report the message "File system transferred". Once transferred remove the diskette and reboot the computer.
If the computer continues to not boot attempt to re-create the master boot record by booting from the bootable floppy diskette again. Once at the A:\> prompt type "fdisk /mbr" and press enter. This should return you to the prompt without giving you any message. Once at the prompt remove the diskette and reboot the computer.
Additional information about the "fdisk /mbr" command can be found on document CH000175.
Note: The above information only applies to Microsoft Windows users. If you are running a Linux / Unix variant or other operating system such as OS/2 and the computer is freezing at this DMI message ensure that Linux / Unix has been properly installed first and/or your boot manger is not corrupt.
Settings for hard disk drive are not correct
The computer freezing at "verifying dmi pool data..". may be caused when the hard disk drive settings within CMOS are not set properly. Enter CMOS and verify that the hard disk drive settings are set properly and/or that it is set to Auto Detect.
Additional information about CMOS can be found on our CMOS help page.
Floppy diskette or CD in computer causing issue
Verify no floppy diskette or CD is in the computer. In some cases the computer may be trying to boot from either of these drives causing issues with the boot sequence.
Boot devices not set properly

Disk boot failure

2007-05-29T02:05:00.000-07:00

Cause:
This issue could be caused by any of the below possibilities.
Boot options are not set properly in CMOS
Non bootable CD or CD-R in computer
All boot devices set are not bootable
Solution:
Boot options are not set properly in CMOS
Verify that the boot options within CMOS are set properly. Below is an example of how we recommend the boot options be set.
Floppy drive
CD-ROM drive
Hard Drive
Other / Network
Non-bootable CD, CD-R, DVD or other disc in computer
Verify that no CD, CD-R, DVD, or other disc is in the computer possibly causing the computer to attempt to boot from that disc.
All boot devices set are not bootable
If all of the above recommendations have been attempted and you encounter the same issue it is likely that the computer is not detecting any devices in the computer that are bootable. Attempt to boot from a bootable floppy disk.
If you are unable to boot from a known bootable floppy diskette, ensure that the floppy drive is properly setup. Additional information and troubleshooting on the computer floppy drive can be found on document CH000277.
Once you are able to boot from a bootable floppy diskette, ensure that the hard disk drive is able to be read. Information about why you may not be able to see the hard drive when booting from a floppy diskette can be found on document CH000047.

Noise from computer

2007-05-29T02:00:00.000-07:00

Noise from computer.
Causes:
Any other types of noises being heard from the computer could be caused by any of the below devices.
CD-ROM
Fan
Floppy
Hard drive
Modem
Power supply
Speakers
Monitor
Solutions:
Below is a listing of components within the computer that may cause unusual noises to be generated. To determine which of these components are causing your issue, first verify that lights on your hardware devices, such as the floppy drive, are not on. If you are only encountering excessive noise when a device is accessed, it is likely that device is causing your issue.
If the noise you are experiencing is occurring the entire time the computer is on, it is possible that any of the below devices may be causing your issue. Attempt to distinguish what device is causing the noise by reading through each of the below sections.
CD-ROM
CD-ROM drives may generate various types of noises when the drive is accessed. This noise should be a soft whirling noise when the CD-ROM drive is accessed. This noise should only be generated when the CD-ROM is accessed.
It is abnormal for a CD-ROM to experience any of the below symptoms.
No noise
Clicking during accessing the CD-ROM.
Noises when the CD-ROM is not being accessed.
If you are exhibiting any of the above issues it is likely that the CD-ROM drive is defective and it is recommended that it be replaced.
Additional help with CD-ROM drives can be found on our CD-ROM help page.
Additional buying tips on CD-ROM drives can be found here.
Fan
There are several fans in computers that help provide ventilation to the computer's components. Below is a listing of the fans that may be causing noises in your computer.
Case Fans – Case fans are fans commonly attached to the front or back of a computer. It is normal for most additional case fans to generate additional noise (usually a low hum). However, you should not expect to hear any type of clicking noise or high pitched noise from any of the case fans. When this occurs it is a good indication that the fan is failing or has already failed.
CPU fan – Although not installed on all computers, some computer heat sinks may also contain a fan to help with keeping the processor cool.You should only expect to hear a slight hum from the CPU fan; below are some issues that may cause additional noise from your CPU fan.- Cable is hitting the fan causing a vibration.- CPU fan is loose causing vibration- CPU fan is bad causing additional noise.
Power supply fan – See below, power supply section.
Floppy drive
Troubleshooting noises that may be coming from the floppy drive can be found on document CH000427.
Hard disk drive
The computer hard disk drive is a common issue for additional noise. It is normal for a hard drive to produce noise. Normal types of noises you should expect to hear include a low humming or quiet whistling sound.
Noises you should not expect to hear are any type of repetitive clicking, very noticeable humming or any type of hard thump. If any of these noises are experienced it is recommend that the hard disk drive be looked at or replaced as it may be going bad.Note: You will notice an increased volume in sound from a SCSI hard disk drive when it is compared to a standard IDE / EIDE hard disk drive.
Modem
When connecting to the Internet or another computer you may hear a loud screechy or high pitched noise. This noise is the onboard modem speaker and is the two computers connecting to each other. This noise should only be heard when the computer is establishing a connection with the other computer.
If you wish to disable this speaker please see document CH000439.
Power supply
The power supply is a common hardware component to cause an excessive amount of noise. This component provides your computer power as well as ventilation to the computer. It is possible for the fan within the power supply to become bad or dirty causing the fan to make an excessive amount of noise.If an excessive amount of noise is coming from the fan next to where you plug your computer power cable into, it is likely that the power supply fan is failing or bad. We recommend that you first attempt to clean the fan by using compressed air to blow out any dust, dirt, or hair. If this does not resolve your issue you will need to have the power supply replaced.
Additional help and information about power supplies can be found on our power supply page.
Speakers
Troubleshooting computer speaker noises can be found on document CH000205.
Monitor
Troubleshooting computer monitor noises can be found on document CH000489

No ROM basic system halted error:

2007-05-29T01:58:00.000-07:00

No ROM basic system halted error:
Issue:
No ROM basic system halted error.
Cause:
No active partition has been defined in fdisk, hard disk drive not setup properly, or hard disk drive is bad.
Solution:
Create active partition
After setting up your hard disk drive through fdisk you may receive the error message "No ROM basic system halted". This error is an indication that you have not set the hard disk drive's active partition. To resolve the issue, boot from a bootable diskette and enter fdisk. Within fdisk, choose option 2 to set active partition and set the drive you wish to be bootable as the active partition.
Additional information about fdisk can be found on our fdisk help page.
Invalid boot media in disk drive
If you are attempting to boot from the hard disk drive, ensure that no floppy diskettes or CDs are in the computer. It is possible the computer may be attempting to boot from either of these causing this error to occur.
Verify hard disk drive properly setup in CMOS
Verify that the hard disk drive is properly setup in CMOS.
Check cables
If creating an active partition does not resolve your issue and/or fdisk does not detect a hard disk drive, verify that the hard disk drive cables are properly connected.
Replace drive
Finally, if none of the above solutions resolve this error, unfortunately, it is possible that the hard disk drive is bad. We recommend that you either contact the manufacturer of the hard disk drive to have it replaced and/or purchase a new hard disk drive.

Determining if FAT32 is enabled:

2007-05-29T01:55:00.000-07:00

Determining if FAT32 is enabled:
Issue:
Determining if FAT32 is enabled.
Solution:
FAT32 is only available in Windows 95 rev2 (OSR2) (click here for instructions on determining revision), Windows 98 and Windows 2000. Please note that if you have Windows NT 4.0 or below, it does not support FAT32.
To determine if your drives are running in FAT32, open My Computer and highlight the drive you would like to see is using FAT32 / once highlighted, click on the drive with your right mouse button and click Properties. If the File system indicates FAT then the hard drive you selected is running FAT16. However, if the File system indicates FAT32 then your drive would be utilizing FAT32

Basic hardware troubleshooting

2007-05-29T01:46:00.000-07:00

Hard disk drive ABCs
The hard disk drive is the primary storage location where data is permanently stored. Below is an illustration of what the inside of the hard disk drive may look like. The four main components of a hard disk drive are the platters, head arm, chassis, and the head actuator.
The majority of computer hard disk drives are permanently stored in an internal drive bay at the front of the computer and are connected with one ATA / SCSI cable and power cable. Unlike other drives, the hard disk drive is the only drive that is not physically accessed by the user like the floppy disk drive or the CD-ROM drive.

Why do Windows programs stop responding.

2007-05-29T01:26:00.000-07:00

Why do Windows programs stop responding?
Additional Information:
A computer, operating system, software program or driver may stop responding or cause other programs to stop responding because of several possible reasons, such as a confliction of software or hardware resources between two programs, lack of system resources, or a bug in the software or drivers.
Solution:
To recover from a program that has stopped responding, a user can generally press the CTRL + ALT + DEL keys on his or her keyboards to open the "Close Program" window or open the "Task Manager" window and click the "End Task" button to terminate the program. If another window opens, click the "End Task" button again to confirm stopping that program.
It is important to realize that when a program stops responding any work that has not been saved will more than likely be lost when end tasking a program. Unfortunately, there is no alternative.
If you continue to experience programs locking the computer or stop responding we recommend you review our General Troubleshooting page for recommendations on steps that can be performed to help stop this issue from occurring.

Common errors and how to fix them

2007-05-29T01:19:00.000-07:00

How do I fix illegal operations
Cause:
Illegal Operations can be caused by several different factors. Below is a listing of the more commonly known reasons for getting an Illegal Operations.
TSR's or Third-party programs causing memory conflicts or other types of conflicts with the program or programs attempting to be run.
Data not being read properly from source. Running a program or game with a dirty CD can cause the CD to be read improperly causing Illegal Operations. Floppy diskettes which may contain errors can cause illegal operations.
Installing a program or game on a hard disk drive that has errors or is highly fragmented.
Corrupt files.
Memory managers.
Bad, incorrect or not the latest video drivers.
Computer Virus.
Added hardware
Error in program coding
Corruption or problem within Windows.
Bad Memory, invalid bits or physically bad memory.
Solution:
TSR's or Third-party programs:
TSR's or Third-party programs running in the background are one of the more commonly found reasons for Illegal Operations. If you are receiving an Illegal Operation when attempting to run a game or program it is recommend that you temporarily remove or disable programs running and TSR's running in the background, ensuring that these programs are not causing your issues.
Additional Information on how to remove a TSR can be found on document CHTSR.
If, after removing these programs, you run the program or game and no longer receive the Illegal Operations, it is recommend that you reboot the computer and disable or End Task each program or TSR one at a time to attempt to determine which program is causing the Illegal Operation.
Data not being read properly from source:
When running a program or game from a CD you receive an Illegal Operation, verify that the CD is clean. Additional information on how to clean a CD or CD-ROM drive can be found on our Cleaning Page.
If you are running a game from a floppy diskette or other floppy media such as a zip diskette or LS120, verify that the diskette does not have physical errors with it by running a scandisk or a disk drive utility included with the drive.
Installing a program or game on a hard disk drive that has errors or is highly fragmented:
When installing a program or game onto a hard disk drive it is recommended if you receive errors after installing that program or game that you attempt to uninstall that program or game, run a scandisk, then a defrag, and finally attempt to install the program or game again.
If errors exist on the hard disk drive, they will cause the program or game to run improperly and can cause Illegal Operations.
Additional Information on scandisk can be found on our Scandisk Page.
Additional Information on defrag can be found on our Defrag Page.
Corrupt files:
Corrupt, bad or missing files can cause Illegal Operations. It is recommended that you attempt to uninstall and or reinstall the program causing the Illegal Operation to verify that any corrupt, bad or missing files are replaced or repaired during the reinstallation.
Memory managers:
If you are running a memory manager that is used to obtain more memory or handle the computer memory in replace of Windows, it is recommended you temporarily disable or uninstall this program to verify it is not the memory manager causing the Illegal Operations.
Bad, incorrect or not the latest video drivers:
Bad, incorrect or not the latest video drivers may cause Illegal Operations when performing such tasks as moving the mouse or dragging data from one source to another as high demands are placed onto the video card. Attempt to decrease the video settings to 640 x 480, 256 colors to verify if the program or game being run is having errors because of the current video settings.
Additional information on how to set the video resolution in Windows 95/98/NT can be found on document CH000190.
Additional information on how to set the video resolution in Windows 3.x can be found on document CH000189.
If, after attempting to adjust the video settings, you still encounter the same issue, verify the computer is utilizing the latest video card drivers by visiting our Video drivers section.
Computer Virus:
Because computer viruses are loaded into memory and can change the data of program files when infecting a computer, ensure that a virus protection utility is installed on the computer and that you have the latest Virus Definition.
Additional information about computer Viruses can be found at our Virus page.
Added hardware:
If added hardware has been recently installed onto the computer it is likely that either the hardware is conflicting with other hardware devices on the computer or that the drivers used to install that hardware is causing issues with other hardware or software installed on the computer.
If added hardware has recently been added to the computer, it is recommended that you temporarily remove that added hardware and the software associated with it to ensure it is not causing your issues.
Error in program coding:
If you are receiving Illegal Operations only when running a particular program, verify that the program is compatible with the Version of Windows you are running and ensure no available patches or software are available that may fix errors made during the development stages.
Corruption or problem within Windows:
Because Windows controls the memory operations as well as the file structure and association, it is possible for Windows or files associated with Windows to become corrupted, causing Illegal Operations or other errors. It is recommended you reinstall Windows if you are experiencing Illegal Operations in Windows or more than one program trying to be run on the computer.
Bad Memory, invalid bits or physically bad memory:
It is possible that bad memory can cause Illegal Operations. If you have recently added memory to the computer, it is recommended that it first be removed to verify that you are not experiencing conflicts with the recently installed memory.
If no memory has been recently added to the computer and you have tried all the above recommendations you can find additional information about testing your memory on document CH000708.
Additional Information:
An Illegal Operation is an operation requested to be performed by either the Operating System or CPU that is not understood and therefore is

Basic computer troubleshooting

2007-05-29T01:11:00.000-07:00

My computer is running slow what steps can I do to fix it?
Issue:
My computer is running slow what steps can I do to fix it?
Cause:
This issue can be caused by any of the below possibilities.
Hard disk drive is short on available disk space.
Several software programs have been installed/uninstalled leaving behind bad files and/or confusing the software.
Data Corruption.
Computer is overheating.
Bad Hardware.
PC Solution:
Below are steps for Microsoft Windows that should help speed up the computer or determine why the computer is running slow.
Not enough hard disk drive space
If you have a hard disk drive that is 2GB or smaller, ensure that there is at least 200MB of hard disk drive space free. If you have a hard drive larger than this size, verify that there is at least 500MB of free hard disk space. This available space allows the computer to have room for the swap file to increase in size as well as room for temporary files. See document CH000528 for additional information about regaining lost hard disk drive space.
Hard drive corrupted or fragmented
Run Scandisk or something equivalent to help ensure that there is nothing physically wrong with the computer hard disk drive.
Run Defrag to help ensure that data is arranged in the best possible order.
Background programs
Remove or disable any TSRs or programs that automatically start each time the computer boots. See document CHTSR for additional information.
Hardware conflicts
Verify that the device manager has no conflicts, but if conflicts are present, resolve them.
Issues with Windows XP prefetch
If you have Windows XP try deleting all files in the prefetch directory. These are prefetch files and can lower system resources if loading programs no longer being used. See our prefetch definition for additional information about prefetch.