Troubleshooting maintaining your PC all in one for dummies 3rd edition

Spine:
0.82 In

OBC: 7.375” W

Be your own tech support guru!

• Learn the quick fixes that can be remedied
on-the-fly
• Fix everything from startup issues to
network nonsense
• Get tips and tricks on all the tools available
in the Windows 10 toolbox
®

• Keep everything safe and secure with appropriate security apps and vital system updates

Dan Gookin

has been writing
about technology for over 25 years.
Perhaps his most famous title is the
original DOS For Dummies, which
became the world’s fastest-selling
computer book. He has written
over 120 titles with 12 million
copies in print and translated into
over 32 languages. Dan’s books
are informative, entertaining, and
never boring.

3rd Edition

ALL-IN-ONE

5 Books Inside…

3rd Edition

Troubleshooting &
Maintaining Your PC

For all their incredible power and versatility, PCs can be trouble-prone and
may get temperamental over time. With Troubleshooting & Maintaining Your
PC All-in-One For Dummies, 3rd Edition, you can quickly diagnose and solve
your PC problems, while keeping your hardware and peripherals running
smoothly. Fully updated and revised, this third edition gives Windows ® 10
users the hands-on ability to resolve most issues, boost PC security, and
optimize system performance.

OFC: 7.375” W x 9.25” H

Troubleshooting &
Maintaining Your PC
ALL-IN-ONE

Cover Image: © oonal/Getty Images

Computers/Hardware/
Personal Computers/PCs
$29.99 USA / $35.99 CAN / £21.99 UK

Dan Gookin
Gookin

Bestselling author of all editions of PCs
For Dummies & Laptops For Dummies


Troubleshooting &
Maintaining Your PC
ALL-IN-ONE

3rd Edition

by Dan Gookin

0003100114.INDD i

Trimsize:7.375in×9.25in

April28,201710:22PM


Troubleshooting & Maintaining Your PC All-in-One For Dummies®
Published by: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774, www.wiley.com
Copyright © 2017 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey
Published simultaneously in Canada
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections
107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without the prior written permission of the Publisher. Requests

to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111
River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) 748-6011, fax (201) 748-6008, or online at />permissions.
Trademarks: Wiley, For Dummies, the Dummies Man logo, Dummies.com, Making Everything Easier, and related
trade dress are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and may not be used without
written permission. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. is not
associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book.

LIMIT OF LIABILITY/DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY: THE PUBLISHER AND THE AUTHOR MAKE NO
REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES WITH RESPECT TO THE ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF THE CONTENTS
OF THIS WORK AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION WARRANTIES
OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  NO WARRANTY MAY BE CREATED OR EXTENDED BY SALES OR
PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS. THE ADVICE AND STRATEGIES CONTAINED HEREIN MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR
EVERY SITUATION. THIS WORK IS SOLD WITH THE UNDERSTANDING THAT THE PUBLISHER IS NOT ENGAGED
IN RENDERING LEGAL, ACCOUNTING, OR OTHER PROFESSIONAL SERVICES.  IF PROFESSIONAL ASSISTANCE
IS REQUIRED, THE SERVICES OF A COMPETENT PROFESSIONAL PERSON SHOULD BE SOUGHT. NEITHER THE
PUBLISHER NOR THE AUTHOR SHALL BE LIABLE FOR DAMAGES ARISING HEREFROM.  THE FACT THAT AN
ORGANIZATION OR WEBSITE IS REFERRED TO IN THIS WORK AS A CITATION AND/OR A POTENTIAL SOURCE OF
FURTHER INFORMATION DOES NOT MEAN THAT THE AUTHOR OR THE PUBLISHER ENDORSES THE INFORMATION
THE ORGANIZATION OR WEBSITE MAY PROVIDE OR RECOMMENDATIONS IT MAY MAKE. FURTHER, READERS
SHOULD BE AWARE THAT INTERNET WEBSITES LISTED IN THIS WORK MAY HAVE CHANGED OR DISAPPEARED
BETWEEN WHEN THIS WORK WAS WRITTEN AND WHEN IT IS READ.

For general information on our other products and services, please contact our Customer Care Department within
the U.S. at 877-762-2974, outside the U.S. at 317-572-3993, or fax 317-572-4002. For technical support, please visit
/>Wiley publishes in a variety of print and electronic formats and by print-on-demand. Some material included with
standard print versions of this book may not be included in e-books or in print-on-demand. If this book refers to
media such as a CD or DVD that is not included in the version you purchased, you may download this material at
. For more information about Wiley products, visit www.wiley.com.
Library of Congress Control Number: 2017937988
ISBN: 978-1-119-37835-8; 978-1-119-37837-2 (ebk); 978-1-119-37836-5 (ebk)

Manufactured in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

0003100114.INDD ii

Trim size: 7.375 in × 9.25 in

April 28, 2017 10:22 PM


Contents at a Glance
Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Book 1: Solve My Problem Now! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
CHAPTER 1:

Trouble Comes Hither. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
CHAPTER 2: Quick Fixes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Book 2: O, We Got Trouble!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
CHAPTER 1:
CHAPTER 2:
CHAPTER 3:
CHAPTER 4:
CHAPTER 5:
CHAPTER 6:
CHAPTER 7:
CHAPTER 8:
CHAPTER 9:

Startup Problems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Disk Disaster. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Monitor Mayhem. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Internal Issues. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Printer Problems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Peripheral Perils. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
Software Situations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
Network Nonsense. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
Shutdown Issues. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229

Book 3: Tools to Use. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
CHAPTER 1:

241

CHAPTER 7:

Windows Recovery Environment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The Device Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
MSCONFIG and the Task Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Safe Mode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
System Restore. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The Task Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The Windows Registry. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

CHAPTER 8:

Events and Diagnostics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335

CHAPTER 2:
CHAPTER 3:

CHAPTER 4:
CHAPTER 5:
CHAPTER 6:

Book 4: PC Security. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

243
261
271
287
301
313
325

347

CHAPTER 1:

Windows Update . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349
CHAPTER 2: Keep Mr. PC Safe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 357
CHAPTER 3: Backup and Restore. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371

Book 5: This Old PC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

385

CHAPTER 1:

Performance and Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 387
CHAPTER 2: More Mass Storage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395

CHAPTER 3: Boost PC Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 411

Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

0003100115.INDD iii

Trim size: 7.375 in × 9.25 in

421

April 28, 2017 9:55 PM


0003100115.INDD iv

Trim size: 7.375 in × 9.25 in

April 28, 2017 9:55 PM


Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
About This Book. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
How This Book Works. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Icons Used in This Book. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Beyond the Book. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Where to Go from Here . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1
2

3
3
4

BOOK 1: SOLVE MY PROBLEM NOW!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
CHAPTER 1:

Trouble Comes Hither . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
The Root of All PC Trouble. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
What’s Changed?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Installing software. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Adding or removing hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Changing settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Hardware versus Software Problems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Dealing with software issues. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Solving hardware issues. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
When to Give Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

CHAPTER 2:

Quick Fixes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Things to Try First . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Restarting the PC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Restarting a stubborn PC or laptop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Running a troubleshooter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Repairing a program. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Fixing Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Restoring the system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Help! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Locating Internet support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Downloading drivers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Perusing forums . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Contacting tech support. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Be wary of remote desktop access! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Table of Contents

0003100115.INDD v

Trim size: 7.375 in × 9.25 in

15
16
17
18
19
21
21
22
22
24
25
26
27

v

April 28, 2017 9:55 PM

BOOK 2: O, WE GOT TROUBLE! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
CHAPTER 1:

Startup Problems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
The Onset of PC Heartbreak . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Phase I: Power On. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
What happens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
What could go wrong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Troubleshooting steps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Phase II: The POST. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
What happens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
What could go wrong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Troubleshooting steps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Phase III: Startup Options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36
What happens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
What could go wrong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Troubleshooting steps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Phase IV: The Search for an Operating System. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
What happens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
What could go wrong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Troubleshooting steps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Phase V: Operating System Initialization. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
What happens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
What could go wrong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Troubleshooting steps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Phase VI: Sign In to Windows. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
What happens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
What could go wrong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Troubleshooting steps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
The Last Thing You Do . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

CHAPTER 2:

Disk Disaster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
PC Storage Overview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Understanding computer storage. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48
Exploring mass storage devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Finding mass storage in Windows. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Adding another mass storage device. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Adding media. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Replacing drive C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Assigning drive letters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Resolving AutoPlay issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Removing media and mass storage. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Mass Storage Tools and Utilities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Opening the Disk Management console . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Finding mere mortal storage media tools. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

vi

Troubleshooting & Maintaining Your PC All-in-One For Dummies

0003100115.INDD vi

Trim size: 7.375 in × 9.25 in

April 28, 2017 9:55 PM


Drive Management and Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Understanding fragmentation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Defragmenting a hard drive. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Checking storage media for errors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Formatting media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Changing drive letters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Joining storage media to a folder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Fun with Partitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Examining disk partitions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Shrinking a volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Creating a new volume in unallocated space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Extending a partition. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Deleting a partition. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
CHAPTER 3:

61
62
63
65
66
70
72
73
74
76
78
79
81

Monitor Mayhem. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
The PC Graphics System. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

Using the proper monitor terms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Exploring the PC’s graphics system. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .84
Connecting the display adapter and monitor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Discovering your PC’s display adapter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Exploring the monitor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Adjusting the monitor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Orienting a monitor vertically . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Connecting a second monitor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Captain Video Troubleshooter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Seeing nothing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Seeing only the mouse pointer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Swapping monitors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Saving the screen. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Saving power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Adjusting the resolution. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Updating the video driver. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .103
Disabling the video driver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

CHAPTER 4:

Internal Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

107

Deep Inside the Case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Opening the PC case. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Exploring the motherboard. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Closing the PC case. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Things to Upgrade, Fix, or Repair Inside the Case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Upgrading the power supply. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Replacing the clock battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Expanding memory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Adding an expansion card. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Adding or replacing an internal drive. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

107
108
109
114
115
115
116
118
121
123

Table of Contents

0003100115.INDD vii

Trim size: 7.375 in × 9.25 in

vii

April 28, 2017 9:55 PM


Power Management Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Locating power management controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Setting power management options for specific devices . . . . . . .

Recovering from a PC coma. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Updating power drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
CHAPTER 5:

CHAPTER 6:

viii

0003100115.INDD viii

127
128
131
133
133

Printer Problems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Between the Computer and Printer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Connecting a printer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Connecting a printer manually . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Sharing the printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Controlling the printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Disconnecting a printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Keeping the printer stocked. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Feeding envelopes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The Windows Side of Printing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Printing in Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Using the Page Setup dialog box. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Setting the default printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Working with print jobs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Canceling a print job. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Printer Driver Duties. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Checking the printer driver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Browsing all printer drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Removing or resetting the printer driver. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Printer Problems and Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
“It printed on the wrong side of the page!” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
“Print preview lied!”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
“What’s this extra page?” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
“What are these wrong colors and streaks?”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
“What’s this weird character on the page?”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
“I see page after page of gobbledygook!” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
“The paper keeps jamming!” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Using the Printing Troubleshooter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

135
136
136
138
139
140
141
142
143
143
146
148
149
151
151

151
153
154
154
154
155
155
156
156
156
157
157

Peripheral Perils . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

159

Hardware Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Checking the Device Manager. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Diagnosing USB issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Doing the hardware swap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Running a hardware troubleshooter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Audio Anxieties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Testing the speakers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Connecting speakers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Fixing silence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

160
160
161

163
164
165
165
166
168

Troubleshooting & Maintaining Your PC All-in-One For Dummies

Trim size: 7.375 in × 9.25 in

April 28, 2017 9:55 PM


CHAPTER 7:

CHAPTER 8:

Testing the microphone. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Running the audio troubleshooter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Updating audio device drivers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Keyboard and Mouse Woes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Troubleshooting basic input dilemmas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Taming a wild mouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Making the mouse pointer move faster or slower. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Improving mouse pointer visibility. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Using a left-handed mouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Honing the keyboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Vacuuming a keyboard. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Cleaning the mouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

170
171
171
172
172
173
173
175
176
177
179
179

Software Situations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

181

Installation Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Adding software. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Downloading software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Dealing with installation issues. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Banish the Unwanted. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Uninstalling software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Removing bloatware. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Cleaning up the crud. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The Good and Evil of File Association. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Understanding file association . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Hiding or showing file extensions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Reviewing associations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Changing file association . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Dealing with unknown file types. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Common Software Problems and Solutions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
“How can I stop this program from starting automatically?” . . . .
“I need to run this older program” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
“This program is broken!”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
“How can I purge the recently opened file list?”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

181
182
183
185
185
185
186
187
188
188
189
190
192
193
194
194
196
198
199

Network Nonsense. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

201

The Network Big Picture. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
Understanding networking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
Reviewing network hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
Network Hardware Connection and Configuration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
Plugging in the network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
Connecting the gateway and modem. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .206
Configuring a gateway . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
Connecting to a wireless network. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
Managing wireless connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
Checking network privacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
Table of Contents

0003100115.INDD ix

Trim size: 7.375 in × 9.25 in

ix

April 28, 2017 9:55 PM


The Software Side of Networking. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Looking at the network. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Checking the Internet connection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Enabling sharing options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Sharing a folder. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Accessing shared folders on the network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Mapping a network folder to a drive letter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Network Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Checking the Device Manager. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Resetting the NIC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Upgrading the NIC’s driver. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Resetting the broadband modem. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Resetting the network software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Restarting the entire network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Network Problems and Solutions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
“What’s this firewall warning?”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
“Where did that network PC go?” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
“I can’t get a wireless connection!” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
“The Wi-Fi password has changed!” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
“What’s a ‘metered connection’?” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
“The hotel network keeps forgetting my laptop!”. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

214
214
215
217
219
220
221
222
222
222
223
224
224
225
226

226
226
226
227
227
228

Shutdown Issues. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

229

Such a Turn-Off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Walking through the Windows shutdown process. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Reviewing shutdown options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Problems with Restarting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Experiencing a random restart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Restarting automatically. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Shutdown Malaise. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Upgrading software to fix shutdown issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Turning off a stubborn PC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Waiting for an update to install. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Discovering that another user is signed in!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Dealing with the Restart Anyway prompt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

229
230
232
234
234
235

237
237
238
238
238
239

BOOK 3: TOOLS TO USE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

241

CHAPTER 9:

CHAPTER 1:

x

Windows Recovery Environment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

243

Startup Keys and Recovery Options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Reviewing the startup keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Locating recovery options in Windows. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Resetting the PC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Restoring the PC’s original version of Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Using Advanced Startup. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

243
244

245
246
248
248

Troubleshooting & Maintaining Your PC All-in-One For Dummies

0003100115.INDD x

Trim size: 7.375 in × 9.25 in

April 28, 2017 9:55 PM


CHAPTER 2:

CHAPTER 3:

CHAPTER 4:

The Sacred Recovery Volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Checking to see whether the PC has a recovery volume. . . . . . . .
Creating a recovery volume. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The Windows Recovery Environment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Starting the Windows Recovery Environment
from Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Starting the Windows Recovery Environment
from a recovery volume or thumb drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Running the Windows Recovery Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Choosing System Restore. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Recovering a system image. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Performing startup repair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Using the command prompt. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Accessing the UEFI. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Changing startup settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Restoring a previous build. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

253
254
256
256
256
257
258
259
260

The Device Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

261

Your Pal, the Device Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Opening the Device Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Looking for hardware in the Settings app. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Device Manager Duties. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Dealing with errant hardware. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Updating driver software. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Disabling a device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Enabling a device. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

261
261
263
265
265
265
268
269

MSCONFIG and the Task Manager. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

271

The System Configuration Utility. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Exploring MSCONFIG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Reviewing the troubleshooting tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
MSCONFIG Startup Options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Examining the startup services. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Disabling a startup service. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

271
273
275
284
284
285

Safe Mode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

287

The Mode Is Safe. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Safe Mode to the Rescue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Understanding safe mode modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Entering diagnostic mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Using safe boot for safe mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Getting into safe mode at boot-time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Entering safe mode unexpectedly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Exploring safe boot options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Signing into safe mode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Leaving safe boot safe mode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

287
288
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
294

Table of Contents

0003100115.INDD xi

Trim size: 7.375 in × 9.25 in

249

249
250
252
252

xi

April 28, 2017 9:55 PM


CHAPTER 5:

CHAPTER 6:

CHAPTER 7:

xii

0003100115.INDD xii

Safe Mode Duties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Checking for problems in safe mode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Running the System File Checker (SFC) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Reviewing the CBS.log file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Not Safe Mode Duties. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

296
296
296
298

299

System Restore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

301

The System Restore Philosophy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Understanding System Restore. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Accepting System Restore’s limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Activating System Restore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Restore the System, Restore Your Sanity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Running System Restore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Getting to System Restore from the Windows
Recovery Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Choosing another restore point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Setting a restore point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Undoing a System Restore. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
System Restore on Schedule. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

301
302
303
303
304
304
306
307
307
308
309

The Task Manager. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

313

Task Control Central. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Summoning the Task Manager. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Switching tasks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Exploring the Task Manager window. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Connecting programs to processes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Examining all the processes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Enjoying the services. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Here a Task, There a Task . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Ending a stuck program. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Halting a process on the Details tab. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Disabling startup programs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

313
314
315
316
317
318
319
321
321
322
322

The Windows Registry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

325

Behold the Registry. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Understanding the Registry. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Using the Registry Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Backing up the Registry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Modifying the Registry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Making specific Registry changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Finding stuff in the Registry. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Registry Cleaning. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

325
326
327
329
330
331
333
334

Troubleshooting & Maintaining Your PC All-in-One For Dummies

Trim size: 7.375 in × 9.25 in

April 28, 2017 9:55 PM


CHAPTER 8:

Events and Diagnostics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

335

What Has Gone On Here? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335
Reviewing events. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336
Understanding events. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .336
Filtering and searching events. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 338
Diagnostics to the Rescue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339
Understanding diagnostics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 340
Viewing system information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 340
Diagnosing DirectX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341
Running the Windows Memory Diagnostic tool. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343
Using other diagnostic tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 344

BOOK 4: PC SECURITY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

347

Windows Update. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

349

Windows Updates, Doesn’t It?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Understanding Windows Update . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Configuring Windows Update . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Reviewing updates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Updating drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Update Hiccups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Undoing an update. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Fixing a stuck update . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

349
350
351
352
352
353
353
354

Keep Mr. PC Safe. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

357

Malicious + Software = Malware. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Protecting your PC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Obtaining malware (accidentally) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Surviving the malware scourge. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Windows Defender to the Rescue. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Understanding malware protection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Exploring Windows Defender . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Scanning for malware in Windows Defender . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Dealing with an infection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Life Behind the Firewall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Understanding the firewall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Using the Windows Firewall. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Dealing with a firewall alert. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Reviewing firewall rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

357
357
359
359
361
361
362
363
364
365
365
366
367
368

Backup and Restore. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

371

An Emergency Copy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Prepare for Backup! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Getting external storage. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Using network storage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

371
373
373
374

CHAPTER 1:

CHAPTER 2:

CHAPTER 3:

Table of Contents

0003100115.INDD xiii

Trim size: 7.375 in × 9.25 in

xiii

April 28, 2017 9:55 PM


Configuring File History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 374
Selecting folders for backup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 375
Modifying the backup routine. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 376
Making an immediate backup. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377
Confirming that the backup worked. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377
File Time-Travel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 378
Recovering an older version of a file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 378
Browsing File History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379
Restoring all your personal files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 381
The System Image. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 381
Creating the system image. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .382
Restoring a system image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383

BOOK 5: THIS OLD PC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

385

Performance and Resources. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

387

CHAPTER 1:

The Relationship Between Performance and Resources. . . . . . . . . . .387
How Ya Doin’, PC? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 388
Viewing the Performance Monitor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389
Checking the Performance tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 390
Monitoring system resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 392
Using the monitors as troubleshooting tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 393
CHAPTER 2:

CHAPTER 3:

xiv

0003100115.INDD xiv

More Mass Storage. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

395

The Mass Storage Pie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Looking at the storage situation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Measuring bulky things . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Get Yourself More Mass Storage Capacity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Dealing with large files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Using Disk Cleanup. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Uninstalling programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Compressing single files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Compressing every dang doodle file on a drive. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Even More Storage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Adding mass storage. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Relocating programs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Getting a larger Drive C . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

395
396
398
399
399
402
403
404
406
407
407
408
408

Boost PC Performance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

411

Man, Your PC Is Slow!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Understanding slow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Unclogging the spyware. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Finding a memory leak. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

411
412
412
413

Troubleshooting & Maintaining Your PC All-in-One For Dummies

Trim size: 7.375 in × 9.25 in

April 28, 2017 9:55 PM


Speed Up Your PC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Performing regular maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Upgrading the hard drive. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Adding more RAM. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Putting ReadyBoost to work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Setting the number of processors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Disabling background services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

INDEX

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 421

Table of Contents

0003100115.INDD xv

413
413
414
415
415
417
418

Trim size: 7.375 in × 9.25 in

xv

April 28, 2017 9:55 PM


0003100115.INDD xvi

Trim size: 7.375 in × 9.25 in

April 28, 2017 9:55 PM


Introduction

I

f trouble were predictable, it wouldn’t be a problem. That’s because the problem
with trouble is that it’s unpredictable.

You hold in your hands a big ol’ book that’s all about solving computer problems.
The topic is troubleshooting. It needs to be covered in so many pages because
there hasn’t yet been a computer invented that didn’t have trouble following it
like a shadow on a sunny day.
The computing experience should be a pleasant one. And it can be  — if you’re
informed and able to deal with the troubles you encounter. This book helps you
along that journey in an informative and entertaining way. Welcome to Troubleshooting and Maintaining Your PC All-in-One For Dummies.

About This Book
A byte of prevention is worth a gigabyte of cure.
This book’s philosophy on troubleshooting is that it’s easier to do when you
understand how the computer works. This philosophy is opposite of what most
computer users expect, which is to look up a specific condition and find a specific
cure for it. This approach has two glitches.
The first downfall with the look-it-up approach is that you don’t learn anything.
Because there’s a method behind PC madness, often, the same solution can be
applied to multiple problems. After you understand why things go wrong, it’s not
only easier to fix them — it’s also possible to prevent them in the first place.
The second difficulty with the specific-solution approach is that it would make
this book obnoxiously huge. With millions upon millions of potential hardware
and software configurations available in all the PCs in the world, it would take not
one but several fat books to document every problem and its solution. This book
is big enough already!

Introduction

0003100116.INDD 1

Trim size: 7.375 in × 9.25 in

1

April 28, 2017 10:16 PM


My approach is simple: Look up the problem, learn a bit about what might have
caused it, and then arrive at a solution. The notion is that when trouble arises
again later, you will have the experience to deal with it in a practical manner.
Because most PC troubles have a common origin, this solution works.
Before moving on, please be aware that there’s a difference between trouble and
an event that’s merely annoying. For example, if the text you print from an email
message is tiny, it’s annoying, but it isn’t a bug. Though specific annoying problems such as that one might not be covered in this book, you’ll still find a solution here. That’s the beauty behind my philosophical approach to troubleshooting.
After all, using Windows shouldn’t be a frustrating experience.

How This Book Works
This book is composed of five minibooks, each of which addresses a computer
troubleshooting topic. The minibooks are split into traditional chapters, all geared
to a specific subject within the minibook topic. Then the chapters are split into
sections consisting of paragraphs, words, and then letters. So, if you understand
the alphabet, you’ll understand this book.
To run the special troubleshooting tools and utilities, you take advantage of the
Windows 10 Start menu. Tap the Windows key to pop up that menu, and then
start typing the name of a tool or utility. The text explains what to type. You then
choose the matching utility from the search results list. This method is much
faster than hunting for tools on the Start menu’s programs list.
Because this book approaches troubleshooting in a philosophical way, lots of
material is cross-referenced. For example, startup issues are also related to disk
disaster recovery. So, in both chapters, you’ll find references to the other ­chapter’s
material.

This book covers all varieties of computers, from a traditional desktop to an allin-one model, a laptop, two-in-one, or even a tablet. As along as the computer
runs Windows 10, you’re good.
Speaking of Windows 10, this book is specific to that operating system. The second edition covers Windows 7. Windows 8 was merrily skipped, and, of course,
­Windows 9 never came to be. When this book refers to “Windows,” it means
­Windows 10.

2

Troubleshooting & Maintaining Your PC All-in-One For Dummies

0003100116.INDD 2

Trim size: 7.375 in × 9.25 in

April 28, 2017 10:16 PM


When you’re supposed to type something, that text appears in bold type. In the
context of a step, where the text is normally bold anyway, the stuff you type
appears in regular roman text.
Do not press the Enter key until you’re directed to do so. And even then, I recommend that you review what you type before you press Enter, just to ensure that
you got everything typed properly.
Do not press a period at the end of any text you type, unless I explain that the
period is needed. Unlike sentences in English, computer commands don’t end
with a period.

Icons Used in This Book
I’d like to think that everything in this book is a tip, but for those special, worthy
items, you’ll find this icon lurking nearby.

A reminder of something not to do, something to avoid, or something that can
cause serious trouble is flagged by the hazard icon.

This icon flags text that is important enough to remember or that reminds you of
something you may have forgotten that bears repeating.

When the urge to blurt out something nerdy overwhelms me, I succumb and use
this icon to supply a warning sign. You’re free not to read any technical text near
this icon.

Beyond the Book
The publisher maintains a support page with updates or changes that have
occurred since this book went to press. You’ll also find bonus content, in the form
of an online Cheat Sheet, which isn’t really cheating and isn’t a sheet.
To peruse the online content, visit dummies.com, though that’s not the right
page. You need to search for Troubleshooting & Maintaining Your PC All-in-One For
­Dummies — the whole thing! After you find the proper search result, click it, and

Introduction

0003100116.INDD 3

Trim size: 7.375 in × 9.25 in

3

April 28, 2017 10:16 PM


then open the Download tab on this book’s dedicated page. I’d offer more specific

information, but I don’t have it. The publisher told me that the actual address of
the online material is held in one of 20 briefcases and if I choose the right one, I get
paid — something like that.

Where to Go from Here
Feel free to start reading this book in any minibook, chapter, or section. Everything is self-contained, so there isn’t really a reason to read one section before
another. For those rare times when it helps to know information located elsewhere in the book, I provide a cross-reference. But it’s not necessary to read the
book from front to back.
My email address is Yes, that’s my real address. I reply
to all email I receive, and you’ll get a quick reply if you keep your question
short and specific to this book. Although I enjoy saying "Hi," I cannot answer
­technical support questions or help you troubleshoot your computer. Thanks for
understanding.
You can also visit my web page for more information or as a diversion:

wambooli.com
This book’s specific support page can be found at

wambooli.com/help/troubleshooting
I provide frequent updates and posts on that page, offering bonus information,
supplements to this book, tips, tricks, trivia, and fun. And there’s only one little
advertisement on the page and no pop-ups.
The publisher also maintains a support page, complete with a Cheat Sheet,
­supplemental material, and updates. You can visit the site here:

www.dummies.com/go/god-only-knows
Thank you for choosing my book,
Dan Gookin

4

Troubleshooting & Maintaining Your PC All-in-One For Dummies

0003100116.INDD 4

Trim size: 7.375 in × 9.25 in

April 28, 2017 10:16 PM


1

Solve My
Problem Now!

0003091282.INDD 5

Trimsize:7.375in×9.25in

April28,201710:05PM


Contents at a Glance
CHAPTER 1:

Trouble Comes Hither . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
The Root of All PC Trouble. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
What’s Changed?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Hardware versus Software Problems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
When to Give Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

CHAPTER 2:

Quick Fixes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Things to Try First . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Help! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

0003091282.INDD 6

Trim size: 7.375 in × 9.25 in

April 28, 2017 10:05 PM


IN THIS CHAPTER

» Understanding PC problems
» Examining software changes
» Reviewing hardware issues
» Adjusting PC settings
» Determining the source

1

» Tossing in the towel

Chapter 

Trouble Comes Hither

I

t’s sudden, unexpected, and unwelcome. It’s PC trouble, and it sneaks up on the
horizon like the dawn. Unlike the sun, however, technology issues hardly warm
up your day with welcome sunshine. No, the dread and foreboding that comes
with computer woe is a splash of cold water, a pebble in your shoe, and a longterm visit from an unwelcome guest all rolled into one.
You can’t avoid computer woe, but you can prepare for its arrival. You can also
become familiar with the core cause of digital distress. The more you know about
why things go wrong, the better you can prepare yourself for that eventuality.

The Root of All PC Trouble
Simply enough, the cause of nearly all PC trouble is rooted in one thing: change.
Most computers foul up because something has changed. It could be something
you did, such as modify a setting, uncover a software bug, run a malicious program, or experience any of several items that all qualify as “change.” Even time is
an agent of change, in that PC hardware gets old, eventually wears out, and fails.
The goal isn’t to avoid change, but rather to be aware of its consequences. The
process of troubleshooting becomes easier when you realize that something you
just did, intentional or not, might have triggered a problem.

CHAPTER 1 Trouble Comes Hither

0003091296.INDD 7

Trimsize:7.375in×9.25in

7

April28,201710:28PM

What’s Changed?
No, it’s not your fault that you changed something. Computers are designed to
be flexible. Rather than blame yourself when trouble arises, just recall what’s
changed. When you do, you make it easier to troubleshoot and find the source of
what’s going wrong.
For example, you install a new keyboard and the mouse doesn’t work. Perhaps you
unplugged the mouse instead of the old keyboard? You update a graphics driver,
but now all your computer games are reset to low resolution. The point is to be
aware of what you’ve just done, to see how it relates to the current problem.
To help you discover what’s changed, or what might have caused recent issues,
ask yourself, “What did I just do?” Specifically, did you recently or just now

»» Install new software?
»» Add new hardware?
»» Change a setting?
Think hard! That’s because you do a lot with your computer and sometimes you
do several things at once. For example, a dialog box may feature multiple settings
but only one OK button. All the settings are applied instantly with a mouse-click.
Undoing the change requires that you recall which change you just made.
Windows keeps track of all system activities, including those that cause woe. See
Book 3, Chapter  8 for information on the Event Viewer, which lets you peruse
­system logs for signs of trouble.

Installing software
Software covers the gamut, from the PC’s operating system to programs you
install. It also includes the software that controls specific pieces of hardware,
which are referred to as drivers.
The best way to avoid issues caused by installing new software is to create a restore
point. That way, should problems arise, you can uninstall the software and use the
restore point to recover the system’s previous configuration.

»» The good news: Windows automatically creates a restore point whenever you
install new software.

»» The bad news: Some older programs may not prompt Windows to create a
restore point. And, when you modify settings, a restore point isn’t created.

8

BOOK 1 Solve My Problem Now!

0003091296.INDD 8

Trim size: 7.375 in × 9.25 in

April 28, 2017 10:28 PM