Alright, I've read many, many threads in this section that read something like: "My computers broke!" or "The game don't run!". This is not enough information. If you're having a technical problem, the more information you provide the better.
When you post in this section asking for help, you need to provide enough information so the rest of us can help you. Ideally, when you post you should provide the following information.
-A detailed description of your problem. As in: "I start battlefield 2, but after 30 minutes I start to notice graphical errors." or "When i start battlefield 2, the battlefield 2 logo displays but the game does not start."
-List any steps you have taken to try and fix the problem.
-The make/model of your motherboard. I.E: Asus A8N-SLI Premium, and the bios revision you are using.
-The CPU your are using. I.E: intel 975x, or AMD x2 4200. "Intel 3400 mhz" is not enough information.
-The video card you are using, and the driver version you have installed.
-The sound card
-The type and model of RAM you are using
-The power supply you are using (though it is very rare that a problem is caused by the power supply)
-The hard drive(s) you are using.
How do I find this information?
The device manager in the control panel will provide you with the driver versions of most of the hardware you are using. To get to it, open the control panel -> system -> Hardware tab -> Device manager. You shouldn't change any settings in here unless you know what you're doing. Or if I tell you to.
To find the driver version of a component, double click on the device and go to the driver tab.
Many times a device problem is caused by an incorrect or outdated driver, and updating to the latest version may solve your problem. (In the case of sound and video cards, you should uninstall the previous driver before installing the new ones. To uninstall the drivers for a device, click the 'uninstall' button in the device panel, or right click on the device in the device manager and select uninstall).
You can find information about your sound and video cards, network adapters, and central processing unit from the device manager. The sound card information may be truncated, as in "creative sb x-fi" instead of "creative sb x-fi xtrememusic edition," but many versions of the same card will use the same drivers anyway.
The name of your motherboard, and the bios revision will be displayed in the bios post message, if you turn off the manufacturer logo screen. The information on how to do this is given in the bios section at the end of this guide.
Ram is a little more tricky. Most generic ram just looks sort of like a printed circuit board with little chips embedded in the side. Higher end RAM may have a built in heat spreader, with the version and type written directly onto the side. However, because RAM does not use drivers, and there is basically no difference between different ram of the same technical specifications, knowing the exact name and model of your ram is not vitally important. What is important is knowing the memory timing and speed, and making sure these settings are correct in the bios. If you absolutely need to find the make and model of your installed ram, and cannot get it by any other means, you can call your computers manufacturer and ask them. All of the information about system components should also be in the original shipping invoice your manufacturer gave you as well.
The make and model of your power supply will be written on the side of the power supply itself. Just pop the side off your case, and look at the side. However, as I said before most problems have nothing to do with the power supply. If you've recently upgraded an internal component far beyond what the system was originally built with, your power supply may not be powerful enough. High end video cards, for example, use an insane amount of power. So if you bought a dinky little Dell workstation and stuck a geforce 7800 gtx 512mb version in it, your power supply may not be able to supply enough power.
Finding information about your hard drive is also a little difficult. If the information is not in the device manager, you can definitely find it printed on the top of the hard drive itself. However in many computer cases the hard drive may be difficult to get to. In most cases the hard drive is not a problem, so this information is usually not necessary.
There are a few basic problems.
Graphics: A graphics problem might manifest in several ways. Graphical distortion while playing a game, as in things dont appear the way they should. In extreme cases a graphic card problem may cause your computer to stop responding, and even blue screen.
*a note about bluescreens. They are not actually dangerous to your computer, it is merely an indication that something is very, very wrong, and needs to be addressed. If your computer does bluescreen, write down the error message and provide it in your post. There should also be a memory address in the bluescreen, it will look something like 4 blocks of numbers and/or letters. The memory address is not as important, but you can provide it if you want.
Sound: A sound problem will manifest in, well, an audible manner. Either no sound plays, or the sound is distorted in some way, or some other problem. Again, if you are having a sound problem, you need to describe it in your post. "My sound is messed up" is not good enough. Most sound problems are related to driver issues or system settings.
RAM: A ram problem will most likely cause programs on your computer to stop functioning, or not function at all. In extreme cases windows may tell you that you dont have enough memory to run an application, when you know that you do. There are basically 2 things that can be going wrong with your RAM, either the timings or speed are set incorrectly in the bios, or the RAM itself is bad. If you're having a problem you think might be related to your RAM, find the make/model that you have installed. I.E: Corsair xms pro pc3200. If you cannot get this information, try and find the designed operating speed for your RAM, and make sure the bios settings reflect this. Again, if you cannot find the designed speeds, just try increasing whatever settings are in your bios by 1, and try again. I.E, if your RAM is running at 2.2.2.5, increase that to 3.3.3.6, and see if that improves your problem. To find the RAM timings you are currently using without opening the bios, you can download a tool called cpu-z.
System: These are problems related to the way your operating system tries to run the program. In many cases reinstalling the program will help. In extreme cases you may need to reinstall the operating system completely. Defragmenting your hard drive may also help, you can do this with the windows defragmenter. (start, accessories, system tools, defragment).
The bios: The basic input/output system controls most of the components in your computer. Without the bios, your computer would be a hunk of useless metal, so its sort of important. To open the bios, you have to press a certain key just after your computer turns on, and this key varies by motherboard. In most cases its one of the f-keys (mine is delete). When your computer starts up, it should display a message at the bottom of the screen that reads something like "to open the bios, press [whatever]". The settings in your bios are very important, and you can actually physically damage your system components if you set these wrong, but this is unlikely. What is more likely is you will simply cause your computer to stop functioning correctly until you fix the incorrect settings.
Your motherboard manual should have a complete list of bios settings and their options (if you lost your manual you can usually get a pdf version from your manufacturers website). One setting I like to disable is the bios manufacturer flash screen. It basically displays an image of the manufacturers logo instead of showing you the bios post information. the bios revision you are using should be displayed somewhere in the bios, and it will display automatically if you disable the manufacturer's logo screen. The memory timings are also controlled in the bios.
I hope this helps a bit.
*edit* updated with information on how to find system component information.
When you post in this section asking for help, you need to provide enough information so the rest of us can help you. Ideally, when you post you should provide the following information.
-A detailed description of your problem. As in: "I start battlefield 2, but after 30 minutes I start to notice graphical errors." or "When i start battlefield 2, the battlefield 2 logo displays but the game does not start."
-List any steps you have taken to try and fix the problem.
-The make/model of your motherboard. I.E: Asus A8N-SLI Premium, and the bios revision you are using.
-The CPU your are using. I.E: intel 975x, or AMD x2 4200. "Intel 3400 mhz" is not enough information.
-The video card you are using, and the driver version you have installed.
-The sound card
-The type and model of RAM you are using
-The power supply you are using (though it is very rare that a problem is caused by the power supply)
-The hard drive(s) you are using.
How do I find this information?
The device manager in the control panel will provide you with the driver versions of most of the hardware you are using. To get to it, open the control panel -> system -> Hardware tab -> Device manager. You shouldn't change any settings in here unless you know what you're doing. Or if I tell you to.
To find the driver version of a component, double click on the device and go to the driver tab.
Many times a device problem is caused by an incorrect or outdated driver, and updating to the latest version may solve your problem. (In the case of sound and video cards, you should uninstall the previous driver before installing the new ones. To uninstall the drivers for a device, click the 'uninstall' button in the device panel, or right click on the device in the device manager and select uninstall).
You can find information about your sound and video cards, network adapters, and central processing unit from the device manager. The sound card information may be truncated, as in "creative sb x-fi" instead of "creative sb x-fi xtrememusic edition," but many versions of the same card will use the same drivers anyway.
The name of your motherboard, and the bios revision will be displayed in the bios post message, if you turn off the manufacturer logo screen. The information on how to do this is given in the bios section at the end of this guide.
Ram is a little more tricky. Most generic ram just looks sort of like a printed circuit board with little chips embedded in the side. Higher end RAM may have a built in heat spreader, with the version and type written directly onto the side. However, because RAM does not use drivers, and there is basically no difference between different ram of the same technical specifications, knowing the exact name and model of your ram is not vitally important. What is important is knowing the memory timing and speed, and making sure these settings are correct in the bios. If you absolutely need to find the make and model of your installed ram, and cannot get it by any other means, you can call your computers manufacturer and ask them. All of the information about system components should also be in the original shipping invoice your manufacturer gave you as well.
The make and model of your power supply will be written on the side of the power supply itself. Just pop the side off your case, and look at the side. However, as I said before most problems have nothing to do with the power supply. If you've recently upgraded an internal component far beyond what the system was originally built with, your power supply may not be powerful enough. High end video cards, for example, use an insane amount of power. So if you bought a dinky little Dell workstation and stuck a geforce 7800 gtx 512mb version in it, your power supply may not be able to supply enough power.
Finding information about your hard drive is also a little difficult. If the information is not in the device manager, you can definitely find it printed on the top of the hard drive itself. However in many computer cases the hard drive may be difficult to get to. In most cases the hard drive is not a problem, so this information is usually not necessary.
There are a few basic problems.
Graphics: A graphics problem might manifest in several ways. Graphical distortion while playing a game, as in things dont appear the way they should. In extreme cases a graphic card problem may cause your computer to stop responding, and even blue screen.
*a note about bluescreens. They are not actually dangerous to your computer, it is merely an indication that something is very, very wrong, and needs to be addressed. If your computer does bluescreen, write down the error message and provide it in your post. There should also be a memory address in the bluescreen, it will look something like 4 blocks of numbers and/or letters. The memory address is not as important, but you can provide it if you want.
Sound: A sound problem will manifest in, well, an audible manner. Either no sound plays, or the sound is distorted in some way, or some other problem. Again, if you are having a sound problem, you need to describe it in your post. "My sound is messed up" is not good enough. Most sound problems are related to driver issues or system settings.
RAM: A ram problem will most likely cause programs on your computer to stop functioning, or not function at all. In extreme cases windows may tell you that you dont have enough memory to run an application, when you know that you do. There are basically 2 things that can be going wrong with your RAM, either the timings or speed are set incorrectly in the bios, or the RAM itself is bad. If you're having a problem you think might be related to your RAM, find the make/model that you have installed. I.E: Corsair xms pro pc3200. If you cannot get this information, try and find the designed operating speed for your RAM, and make sure the bios settings reflect this. Again, if you cannot find the designed speeds, just try increasing whatever settings are in your bios by 1, and try again. I.E, if your RAM is running at 2.2.2.5, increase that to 3.3.3.6, and see if that improves your problem. To find the RAM timings you are currently using without opening the bios, you can download a tool called cpu-z.
System: These are problems related to the way your operating system tries to run the program. In many cases reinstalling the program will help. In extreme cases you may need to reinstall the operating system completely. Defragmenting your hard drive may also help, you can do this with the windows defragmenter. (start, accessories, system tools, defragment).
The bios: The basic input/output system controls most of the components in your computer. Without the bios, your computer would be a hunk of useless metal, so its sort of important. To open the bios, you have to press a certain key just after your computer turns on, and this key varies by motherboard. In most cases its one of the f-keys (mine is delete). When your computer starts up, it should display a message at the bottom of the screen that reads something like "to open the bios, press [whatever]". The settings in your bios are very important, and you can actually physically damage your system components if you set these wrong, but this is unlikely. What is more likely is you will simply cause your computer to stop functioning correctly until you fix the incorrect settings.
Your motherboard manual should have a complete list of bios settings and their options (if you lost your manual you can usually get a pdf version from your manufacturers website). One setting I like to disable is the bios manufacturer flash screen. It basically displays an image of the manufacturers logo instead of showing you the bios post information. the bios revision you are using should be displayed somewhere in the bios, and it will display automatically if you disable the manufacturer's logo screen. The memory timings are also controlled in the bios.
I hope this helps a bit.
*edit* updated with information on how to find system component information.
Last edited by Skruples (2006-02-15 15:01:05)