Is the power cord plugged in? If the computer or monitor was on and now its’ not, then there usually has to be a power issue that needs to be resolved. Find the cord that is plugged into the wall and follow it to the computer. Is it plugged into both the wall and computer securely? Unplug them and then replug them to be sure. Take a look at the power strip and make sure that the switch is on there also. Some of the power strips have a small circuit breaker in them. Make sure that it is not tripped as well. Make sure that you have power coming from the wall socket if all else fails. A small lamp that works in another part of the room would go a long way to ease your mind that the socket the computer is plugged into actually has power coming out of it. 

Most of the power cords that fit the computer will also fit your monitor as well as many other types of computer devices. Interchange the cords to be sure that the dog has not used the cord as a chew toy to teach you a lesson. If the light on the monitor is on but the computer light will not come on, change the cords with each of the items to see if the problem changes. There was one occasion that I had a power strip where one of the plugs on the end actually burned out. All the rest of the plugs on the strip were working fine except the last one. I took it apart and found that the connections to the last plug, which is where most items get plugged into, had loosened over time and caused the wires to short out and then burn.

Unexpected looseness does not only apply to the power plugs. It can also apply to the video cable from your monitor. Check to be sure that it has not come loose. Unplug and replug to be sure that it is plugged in securely. These have a habit of coming loose for those of us that do not tighten the screws on the cable to the video card. With the moving and adjusting of the monitor we sometimes tend to pull on the cord and pull it loose from the computer. This is true also with printer cables to the back of the computer as well as the plug on the printer. I once spent half an hour on the phone with a customer before I asked and then demanded that she open the little door on the back of the printer and check the printer cable. We found out that the boss was trying to find out why his computer would not print to the secretary up front. He had tried the plug and replug method but was lacking on the latter end of the exercise.

There are a number of other cords that we can look at on the outside of your computer. Having problems with the network, modem, keyboard, or mouse? Shutdown the computer and unplug and replug the items to be sure you have a solid connection. Networks that were working a few minutes ago usually have someone on one end of the cable changing things. One day at my office, I got a call from our Accounts Payable person that he was getting a lot of error messages in our accounting software. I went to his office and observed a few of the error messages and they all seemed to point to a problem accessing the database files that are located on our server. I checked to see if he was logged into the network as well as asking a number of the more mundane questions that I hoped would point me to a quick resolution of the problem, including how long this had been going on. He said that it had just started happening before he called and reported it to me. 

What could have happened in the last ten minutes that would have caused this type of network outage? I ask some of the employees in the area if they were having any problems. All came back that there were no other problems that could be found. Finally I decided that I needed to start from the top and check all of the basics since none of the software issues seemed to fix the problem. I looked at the network card on the back of the machine and observed that there were lights showing on the network card. This usually means that the connection was good so I headed over to the server to check out the other end of his connection. When I got to the server and the switches that connect the systems together, I found that the lights for his connection were lit on the switch as well. Looking a little closer, I noticed that there was a plug on the switch that I remembered to be empty but was now filled. This plug was the one that is shared with the plug that you use to connect two hubs together. 

About this time I start to hear about some other problems with some of the other employees computers. It seems that someone had plugged one of the unused cables into this plug, which cut off everyone on this switch from the network. I removed the offending plug and asked the employees to check to see if the problem had been corrected. The problem had been solved with the unplugging of a cable. If I had started with the basics before I moved onto the more complicated problem solving ideas that I had, I would have saved myself about thirty minutes out of my day. The moral of the story is that you should never assume that the problem is not a physical problem. Always check the hardware to be sure that you have all of the basics covered. Plug and replug the cords and you will be amazed at the number of problems that will miraculously correct themselves.

What about a problem with the sound or maybe the computer can’t find the modem. You would be surprised with the number of problems that are caused by a card coming loose. You will need to open the computer to look for these types of problems. I had a customer that bought a new computer for their son who was going off to college. I had delivered the computer to the customers’ office the day before and after discussing the computer for a moment she realized that she had given me the wrong America Online account information to set up on the new computer. Because of this I opened the computer at her office and set it up to change the account to the correct one. After making the changes and testing the system I reboxed the unit and felt confident that she would have no problems when she and her son set the machine up in College Station the next day. The next day I got a call from the father. He was finished setting up the computer and while testing the system found that the computer would not dial the phone to get on the Internet. After making sure that the phone line indeed had a dial tone and the cords were plugged into the correct holes on the computer, I decided that it was time to open the monster up. I proceeded to talk the father through the process of opening the computer and checking the cards. As soon as he opened the system and looked at the modem card he noticed that the card had wiggled loose from the slot that it was in. He pushed the card in, replaced the cover and turned the system on to see if he got his junior technician badge for the day. The modem in fact worked like it was supposed to. This was a very simple fix for a problem that would have brought the system back to the shop without the simple diagnostics that we went through on the phone.

What happens when your computer won’t boot? Try taking all of the cards out of the system except for the video to see if the problem is corrected. Cards that come loose have on occasion needed to be removed and then reinserted in order for them to allow for the system to boot correctly. If you had to push the network card back in because of a network problem, try removing the card completely and then reinserting it if the system will not boot.

I am always amazed at the number of very intelligent people that cannot give me a straight answer when I ask them what has changed since a problem began to occur. They will start with the “I haven’t done anything” and after a few minutes of prodding will finally start to confess to installing three or four programs since the problem came about. Then we are able to take a look at what was installed and the error messages and get to the bottom of the problem. Always look at the obvious before you try to reinvent the wheel. If the computer was working fine until you installed that new game, then the new game could be the cause of you problem. Uninstall the game to see if your problem goes away. If the problem goes away when the offending program is removed, you need to check the manufacturers site for an update and try the installation again.

Have you rebooted the computer to try to get rid of the problem? You would be surprised at the number of my customers that will call me with a problem and have not rebooted their system to try to correct the problem. This should be the first thing that you do when you are getting error messages or having problems with hardware or software. Always try rebooting your system before calling for help. This will correct a lot of the errors that can occur in the wonderful world of Windows that most of us live in.

These are some examples of what can go wrong with your computer that you as the end user have some control over. I know about most of these problems because I have either had them happen to me or I have witnessed them firsthand. Always look at the obvious first so you won’t have to slap yourself in the head because of an ID10T error. This is not brain surgery so using some common sense can go a long way in correcting a lot of the errors that can occur. Never assume that the simple things cannot go wrong because as soon as you do, they will.