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Computer Hardware Diagnostic Problems

Diagnosing computer hardware problems may be a simple matter of noticing that a user has spilled a pitcher of coffee on his laptop computer. More often, however, diagnosing computer hardware problems requires a time-consuming and thorough examination of all the potential causes of a problem to narrow the field and identify the actual cause.

Diagnosing computer hardware problems requires thorough research.
Conflicts

Seemingly unrelated hardware devices can come into conflict and complicate the diagnostic process. For example, a user may experience problems with a mouse such that the on-screen pointer is jittery as it moves across the screen rather than moving smoothly. While it is reasonable to assume that mouse problems result from a faulty mouse, in this example it may be that the video adapter or video card installed in the computer is displaying the pointer incorrectly. That is, the mouse itself can be working, but the video card can cause the appearance that the mouse is malfunctioning. Correctly identifying the actual source of a problem requires ruling out many potential hardware conflicts.
Drivers

All hardware requires that specialized software, drivers, be installed on the computer to which the hardware connects. Without the proper driver, hardware devices cannot communicate with a computer's operating system. If a keyboard is not working as expected with a particular computer, it may be that the computer hardware itself is in working condition, but that the computer does not have the proper driver installed. Determining whether specific hardware is faulty depends in part on first confirming that the computer has the hardware's drivers installed.
Applications

In addition to driver software, regular software applications such database, spreadsheet and word processing software can create conflicts that may appear at first to be hardware problems. For example, a scanner device attached to a computer may function correctly and fail only following the installation of a new desktop publishing application. However, the overt fact of the scanner failure in such a case would be misleading in that connecting the scanner to a different computer that did not have the conflicting software installed would show the scanner to be in perfect working order.
Standardization

The interaction of hardware with other hardware, the operating system, software applications and, by extension, software running on any network to which the computer is connected, creates relationships that complicate the troubleshooting process. Organizations with many computers minimize this complexity by setting standards so that all the organization's computers have the same hardware and software. This allows the knowledge gained from diagnosing problems on one computer to be useful and applicable on other, identical computers.
Restoring

When all attempts at diagnosing computer problems fail, the only alternative may be restoring the computer to an earlier, functioning state, using tools such as the Restore Points in some Windows operating systems. This approach will correct the problem at hand by sidestepping the need to accurately diagnose a hardware problem altogether.


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