Windows 7 includes several different tools to assist you in diagnosing the source of hardware problems. The following sections describe the most important tools.
1. How to Use Reliability Monitor
To view Reliability Monitor, click Start, type Reliability
and then click View Reliability History. The chart provides a
day-by-day report of any problems or significant changes. To view events
that occurred on a specific day, click the day in the chart and then
view the reliability details for more information. You can also click
the drop-down list in the upper-right corner and then click Select All
to view a report that contains all events that Windows has recorded.
From Reliability Monitor, you
can access capabilities that were part of Problem Reports And Solutions
in Windows Vista. At the bottom of the page, click View All Problem
Reports or Check For Solutions To All Problems.
2. How to Use Event Viewer
Event Viewer provides a
central location for operating system and application event logging. On
most computers, Event Viewer contains thousands of events generated by
Windows, drivers, and applications. Most of these events can be safely
ignored. However, when troubleshooting problems, you should examine the
event log to find events that might be related to your problem. It is
entirely possible that no events will be related to your problem,
however, because not all problems may initiate an event.
To open Event Viewer and view hardware-related events, follow these steps:
Click Start, right-click Computer, and then click Manage.
Under System Tools, expand Event Viewer.
Under Event Viewer, expand Windows Logs and then click System.
In the Actions pane, click Filter Current Log.
In the Filter Current Log dialog box, select the Critical, Warning, and Error check boxes. Click OK.
Browse through the
displayed events. Most of the events will not be related to your
problem, but it is important to evaluate each event to determine any
potential impact. In particular, pay close attention to events with a
source of Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI),
PlugPlayManager, or another source related to the hardware feature that
is experiencing problems.
3. How to Use Data Collector Sets
The Performance snap-in includes data collector sets and corresponding reports that perform detailed analysis of different aspects of a computer's configuration and performance.
To use data collector sets and reports, follow these steps:
Click Start, right-click Computer, and then select Manage.
Expand Performance, expand Data Collector Sets, and then click System.
In
the middle pane, right-click the data collector set you want to analyze
and then click Start. For example, to analyze the computer's hardware,
right-click System Diagnostics and then click Start. Windows 7 will begin collecting data.
Right-click
the data collector set and then click Latest Report. Windows shows the
report status while data is being collected (this might take several
minutes). After enough data has been collected, the report is displayed.
Figure 1 shows a System Diagnostics report.
Examine the report to determine whether any of the causes might be related to the problem you are troubleshooting.
4. How to Use Windows Memory Diagnostics
Memory problems are one
of the most common types of hardware problem. Memory problems can
prevent Windows from starting and cause unpredictable Stop errors when
Windows has started. Because memory-related problems can cause intermittent failures, they can be difficult to identify.
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Memory Failures
Because of the massive
number of memory chips that hardware manufacturers produce and the high
standards customers have for reliability, memory testing is a highly
refined science. Different memory tests are designed to detect specific
types of common failures, including the following:
A bit may always return
1, even if set to 0. Similarly, a bit may always return 0, even if set
to 1. This is known as a Stuck-At Fault (SAF). The wrong bit is addressed when attempting to read or write a specific bit. This is known as an Address Decoder Fault (AF). A section of memory may not allow values to change. This is known as a Transition Fault (TF). A section of memory changes when being read. This is called a Read Disturb Fault (RDF). One
or more bits lose their contents after a period of time. This is known
as a Retention Fault (RF) and can be one of the more challenging types
of failures to detect. A
change to one bit affects another bit. This is known as a Coupling
Fault (CF) if the faulty bit changes to the same value as the modified
bit, an Inversion Coupling Fault (CFin) if the faulty bit changes to the
opposite value as the modified bit, or an Idempotent Coupling Fault
(CFid) if the faulty bit always becomes a certain value (1 or 0) after
any transition in the modified bit. This behavior can also occur because
of a short between two cells, known as a Bridging Fault (BF).
Given these types of
failures, it's clear that no single test could properly diagnose all the
problems. For example, a test that wrote all 1s to memory and then
verified that the memory returned all 1s would properly diagnose an SAF
fault in which memory is stuck at 0. However, it would fail to diagnose
an SAF fault in which memory is stuck at 1, and it would not be complex
enough to find many BFs or CFs. Therefore, to properly diagnose all
types of memory failures, Windows Memory Diagnostics provides several different types of tests.
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Fortunately, Windows includes Windows
Memory Diagnostics, an offline diagnostic tool that automatically tests
your computer's memory. Windows Memory Diagnostics tests your
computer's memory by repeatedly writing values to memory and then
reading those values from memory to verify that they have not changed.
To identify the widest range of memory failures, Windows Memory
Diagnostics includes three different testing levels:
Basic Basic tests include:
Standard All basic tests, plus:
Extended All standard tests, plus:
Although the specifics of each
of these tests are not important for administrators to understand, it is
important to understand that memory testing is never perfect. Failures
are often intermittent and may occur only once every several days or
weeks in regular usage. Automated tests such as those done by Windows
Memory Diagnostics increase the likelihood that a failure can be detected; however, you can still have faulty memory while Windows
Memory Diagnostics indicates that no problems were detected. To
minimize this risk, run the Extended tests and increase the number of
repetitions. The more tests you run, the more confident you can be in
the result. If you have even a single failure, it indicates faulty
memory.
After Windows
Memory Diagnostics completes testing, the computer will automatically
restart. Windows will display a notification bubble with the test
results, as shown in Figure 2, and you can view events in the System Event Log with the source MemoryDiagnosticsResults (Event ID 1201).
If you do identify a memory
failure, it is typically not worthwhile to attempt to repair the memory.
Instead, you should replace unreliable memory. If the computer has
multiple memory cards and you are unsure which card is causing the
problem, replace each card and then rerun Windows Memory Diagnostics until the computer is reliable.
If problems
persist even after replacing the memory, the problem is caused by an
outside source. For example, high temperatures (often found in mobile
PCs) can cause memory to be unreliable. Although computer manufacturers
typically choose memory specifically designed to withstand high
temperatures, adding third-party memory that does not meet the same
specifications can cause failure. Besides heat, other devices inside the
computer can cause electrical interference. Finally, motherboard or
processor problems may occasionally cause memory communication errors
that resemble failing memory.
4.1. How Windows Automatically Detects Memory Problems
When Windows analyzes
problem reports, it can determine that memory problems might be a source
of the problem. If this happens, the Action Center prompts the user to
run Windows Memory
Diagnostics. Users can click a link to either restart Windows and test
for memory errors immediately or wait until the next time the computer
is restarted.
4.2. How to Schedule Windows Memory Diagnostics
If Windows is running, you can schedule Windows Memory Diagnostics for the next startup by following these steps:
Click Start, type mdsched.exe, and then press Enter.
Choose to restart the computer and run the tool immediately or schedule the tool to run at the next restart, as shown in Figure 3.
Windows Memory Diagnostics runs automatically after the computer restarts.
4.3. How to Start Windows Memory Diagnostics When Windows Is Installed
If Windows is already installed, you can start Windows Memory Diagnostics from the Windows Boot Manager menu. To do this, follow these steps:
Remove all floppy disks and CDs from your computer and then restart your computer.
If
the Windows Boot Manager menu does not normally appear, press the
spacebar repeatedly as the computer starts. If you are successful, the
Windows Boot Manager menu will appear. If the progress bar appears,
restart your computer and try again to interrupt the startup process by
pressing the spacebar.
On the Windows Boot Manager menu, press the Tab button on your keyboard to select Windows Memory Diagnostics, as shown in Figure 4, and then press Enter.
Windows Memory
Diagnostics will start and automatically begin testing your computer's
memory.
4.4. How to Start Windows Memory Diagnostics from the Windows DVD
If Windows is not installed, you can run Windows Memory Diagnostics from the Windows DVD by following these steps:
Note:
If Windows 7 is installed but will not start, you can start System Recovery tools faster by pressing F8 before the Starting Windows logo appears and then choosing Repair Your Computer from the Advanced Boot Options screen.
Insert the Windows DVD into your computer.
Restart
your computer. When prompted to boot from the DVD, press any key. If
you are not prompted to boot from the DVD, you may have to configure
your computer's startup sequence.
Windows Setup loads. When prompted, select your regional preferences and then click Next.
Click Repair Your Computer.
Select your keyboard layout and then click Next.
System
Recovery scans your hard disks for Windows installations. If the
standard drivers do not detect a hard disk because the drivers were not
included with Windows, click the Load Drivers button to load the driver.
Select an operating system to repair and then click Next.
The Choose A Recovery Tool page appears. Click Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool.
Windows Memory Diagnostics
will start and automatically begin testing your computer's memory. For
information on how to configure the automated tests, read the next
section.
4.5. How to Configure Windows Memory Diagnostics
As shown in Figure 5,
you can configure different options for Windows Memory Diagnostics. You
can use these options to configure more thorough (and more
time-consuming) diagnostics.
To view Windows Memory Diagnostics options, start Windows
Memory Diagnostics and then press F1. You can configure three different
settings, which you select by pressing the Tab key:
Test Mix
The default set of tests, Standard, provides efficient testing while
catching most common types of memory failures. To reduce testing time
(and the types of failures that might be caught), choose Basic. To
increase the types of failures that might be caught (as well as testing
time), choose Extended.
Cache
Some tests use the cache, while others disable the cache. Tests are
specifically designed to use or disable the cache to identify problems
with different memory features. Therefore, you should typically leave
this as the default setting.
Pass Count
This defines the number of iterations. Increase this number to provide
more thorough testing and to increase the likelihood that you will
identify any existing problems. The higher the Pass Count, the more
likely you are to find problems.
After you have configured settings, press F10 to apply your changes. Windows Memory Diagnostics will then restart the tests.
