Pay Attention

     A good physician listens to the patient and observes. Often, a little quiet observation offers clues that the most exotic tests might miss.
     It's the same with computers. Pay attention to error messages, and watch and listen for anything out of the ordinary.
     If you get an error message, type the exact text of the message-inside quote marks-into a good search engine such as Google. You'll allmost certainly be taken to pages that explain the problem. It may not be one you can fix, but at least you' ll have a clue about it.
     Sounds are big deals, too. for instance a hard disk going bad has a distinctive clatter. That sound should be enough to warn you to save your information to CDs, DVDs or an extermal hard disk.
     Your computer may also literally attempt to tell you the nature of the problem. Honest. If your computer is acting up and also making beeping noises, those beeps may be coded messages that tell you what's wrong.
     While not every manufacturer users the same code, most use one devised in the early days by IBM. In that code, for instance, repeated long beeps signal a memory error and one long beep and two short ones are a sign of a video problem.
     Despite the way it seems at times, computers are very logical machines. When something goes wrong, it's often the result of a change you made-anything from installing s new program, to adding a printer, to a little do-it-youself fixing.
     When something goes wrong, think back to the last change you made. Often you can get things back to normal by undoing that change.

Keep it simple

     Another princilple of self-repair is simplicity.
     Years ago, I had a friend who was a terrific shade-tree mecganic. He could replace a clitch,tune an engine a perform all kinds of mechanical tasks. So when his wife called one night to say the car wouldn't start, he was pretty sure he could take care of the problem himself.
    
     He worked for hours-checking spark pluges, tracing electrical connections and doping other stuff too technical for me to understand. Nothing helped.
   
     Finally, while trying to start the car one last time, he glanced at the gas gauge. The car was out of gas.
    
     The lesson is, try the simple and obvious things first. Check to see that cables are plugged in. Heck, check to see that the AC plug is securely in the socket. If the keyboard or the mouse won't work, check the connections.
    
     I know if sounds dirt simple-and it is-but I'll make you a bet that checking the simple thinks often will save you a huge amount of trouble. Interestingly enough, some of the worst offtenders when it comes to ignoring the obvious are experienced technicians.

Fine a substitute-Checking the simple things will often save you trouble.

     One way to tackle a problem is through substitution-a tactic that can be just as valuable in the computer worlds as it is on the football field. It involves substituting a device that you know is working for one that's suspect.
     Here's how that works: Let's say your monitor is flickering. Maybe the problem is in the minitor, but it also could be the video card. You can't decide what to replace until you know where the problem lies.
     Many of us have more than one computer these days. So taking a working monitor from another computer and replacing the flickering one will narrow the diagnosis. If the problem stops, you know you need a new monitor. If the flickering continues, it's clear the problem may be the video card.
     The same technique will help you diagnose a balky mouse, a suspect keyboard or a cable that my be going bad.

Home Computer Repair

Some technigues to help with do-it-yourself repair

     Most technicians agree that do-it-yourself computer fixes cause more problems than viruses, spam or Mountain Dew spilled onto a keyboard.
     But there are some jobs that can be safety done at home. The trick is knowing which ones.
     Today's column is not aimed at techies. Stuff that would be insane for you to try is fun for them. These folks keep a volt/ohm meter in their desk drawer and often talk among themselves about motherboards and surface-mount technology.
     But even if you've never had much use for a screw-driver besides prying the lid off a pickle jar, there are things you can tackle at home. Here are a few techniques.