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What To Do When Your PC Is About To Die (Part 2)

4/16/2013 9:25:31 AM

Hard disk failures

A hard disk failure can be catastrophic, since it usually results in data loss. However, a disk can often alert you to looming problems before it fails. This is courtesy of a technology called SMART (Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology), which detects warning signs such as increased heat output and vibrations. As long as SMART is switched on in your system BIOS, you’ll see a warning when you turn on your computer if one of your drives is reporting trouble. This is your cue to back up your personal files immediately and make plans to replace the disk. If you want to check a drive’s SMART data for yourself, there are plenty of free tools that will do the job, including SpeedFan, which we’ll cover below.

A hard disk failure can be catastrophic, since it usually results in data loss

A hard disk failure can be catastrophic, since it usually results in data loss

Occasionally, despite what the SMART data may say, a hard disk will abruptly give up the ghost while you’re using it. This might cause a blue-screen error, but it’s more likely that Windows will freeze and/or shut down; the sudden loss of the entire filing system, plus the contents of the page file, is too drastic for Windows to crash “cleanly”.

After an event such as this, the disk may be permanently dead, in which case your PC will naturally refuse to reboot. Or it may restart smoothly, making it difficult to correctly diagnose the problem. For mechanical drives, two possible clues to hard disk problems are a regular clicking sound coming from the drive, or a whining noise. Both of these spell doom.

If you aren’t sure whether or not a disk is dead or if there’s another problem preventing your PC from booting – try connecting it to another system and see if it’s recognized from within a working Windows installation. SATS drives can be safely hot-plugged, although you may need to go to the Device Manager and select “Scan for hardware changes” before the system will recognize your disk.

If your disk is really dead then you’re out of luck; hopefully, you have a backup. At the very least, you should consider using a service such as Dropbox or SkyDrive for important files. These services don’t take the place of a proper backup regime, but they replicate your data into the cloud – and on to any other PCs you may use – so it isn’t lost if a single system fails. Dropbox also provides protection against accidental deletion and overwriting by allowing you to undelete files and roll back to previous versions within a 30-day time frame. To access these features, log in to the Dropbox website and click on the rubbish bin icon.

CPUs and graphics cards

CPUs and GPUs are technically quite similar, and both are heavily tested at the factory, so it’s rare to come across a truly defective piece of hardware. However, both components can become very hot in use and if either one overheats it’s likely to shut down, abruptly blacking out the entire system.

CPUs and GPUs can become very hot in use – and if either one overheats it’s likely to shut down, abruptly blacking out the entire system

CPUs and GPUs can become very hot in use and if either one overheats it’s likely to shut down, abruptly blacking out the entire system

If that sounds familiar, the problem may simply be that the heatsink and fan unit on your CPU or graphics card isn’t doing its job effectively enough. An easy way to see whether your processor or GPU is suffering from thermal runaway is to use a stress-testing program, such as Prime95 for CPUs or FurMark for GPUs. Leave one of these running for a few minutes and you should hear your system fans start to work. You can use a free program such as SpeedFan (www.almico.com/speedfan.php) to monitor internal temperatures: if your PC becomes increasingly hotter until it crashes, you need better cooling.

The first thing to check is that your heatsink is mounted firmly onto the CPU or graphics card; if it’s only loosely touching, it won’t be doing its job properly. You may want to give the inside of your PC a clean, too, since dust can easily clog up ventilation ports, driving up internal temperatures. For CPUs, you could buy a replacement heatsink – there are plenty of third-party models out there. The same can’t be said for graphics cards, though: if your card regularly overheats, you might have to replace it, or use a tweaking tool to reduce its operating frequency so that it produces less heat.

Screens and other components

If an external display unexpectedly changes color, or appears and disappears (without displaying any other untoward effect), this can simply be caused by a loose connection. Check the cable connecting your monitor to your Pc, or try using a different output socket on your graphics card. If it happens on a laptop, you may need a specialist to open up the case to check the connection. If the screen goes fuzzy, however or shows things at the wrong size or with serious visual distortion, this tends to suggest a problem with its circuitry; if possible, try connecting a different monitor.

The free SpeedFan tool shows your PC’s temperature readings and fan speeds

The free SpeedFan tool shows your PC’s temperature readings and fan speeds

Another problem that can affect LCD panels is a dodgy backlight. At first, this may look like your screen simply turning off at unexpected times, but if you look closely you’ll see a very dark image of your computer screen is displayed. This is a hardware problem that isn’t practical to fix: you’ll have to buy a new monitor, or replace the panel if it’s a laptop.

Most other PC components are likely to be mounted on the motherboard. This doesn’t limit your troubleshooting options as much as you might think; if you suspect a surface-mounted component is playing up, you can try updating its device driver. If that still doesn’t help, you can normally disable the offending piece of silicon from within your BIOS menu and, if need be, replace its function with a PCI Express card or an external USB device.

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