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When I try and turn on my
computer nothing happens; what do I do now?
Wait a moment.
Try your power button again, pressing firmly on the
button.
Check the power
cable coming into the back of the PC from the outlet
or power strip. Make certain the cable is firmly
seated. Retry the power button.
Check other
devices that may be plugged into the power strip or
wall outlet to see if they have power. If so, try
swapping the power cable plug for the PC into
another outlet that you know is working. Try the
power button again.
When I turn my PC on, I hear
my PC making noises, but I have no picture; what
should I do?
Make certain the
monitor is turned on and that the cable running
between the PC and the monitor is firmly seated. If
there is a separate power cord, check that it is
firmly connected to a live power source as well.
Check to see if
the monitor (screen) has either a green or
amber/orange light on it. If so, is that light solid
or blinking? If you have checked this, call the
helpdesk and explain that you have checked the
cable.
What do I do if my computer
freezes and the mouse is not responding?
In many
application programs, the Escape (or Esc) key is a
general-purpose "get me out of here" key used to
cancel or back up a step in the current operation.
If the Escape
key doesn't solve your problem, you can try the
Break key. On most keyboards, either the Scroll Lock
or Pause key doubles as a Break key. (You should see
the word Break either on top of the key or on its
front edge. If you don't find Break on either key,
you can use Scroll Lock for this purpose.) By itself
Break does nothing, but holding down a Ctrl key and
pressing this key will interrupt some programs or
commands. This key combination is referred to as
Ctrl+Break (pronounced "Control Break").
If neither of
the preceding techniques works, you can reboot your
computer by holding down the Ctrl and Alt keys and
then tapping the Del key. Rebooting erases memory
and reloads the operating system; you lose any data
currently in memory. In some programs, you may
damage data as well, so use this key combination
only when you can't think of any other solution.
Although fairly drastic, rebooting is still a bit
safer than the next two options.
Many PCs have a
Reset button that lets you restart your computer
without actually flicking the power switch; the main
power to the computer's components is not
interrupted. This saves wear and tear. (Some, but
not all, Reset buttons are actually labeled Reset.
If you can't find yours, check in the documentation
for your computer.)
What do I do when all of a
sudden my mouse stops working? I see the cursor, but
the mouse doesn’t move the cursor?
The connection
at the back of your computer to your mouse may have
come loose or something has caused the software
driver for the mouse to hang or stop responding. The
best thing to do is to close all of the programs
that you have open using the keyboard and restart
the computer. The key combination is the Alt key and
the F4 key; simply hold down the Alt key and press
F4 to close what you are working on. Then hold down
the Ctrl key and press the Esc key to have the Start
Menu pop up. Press the U key to get the shutdown
command to activate and hit the Enter key to
shutdown or restart the machine. Assuming your
connection in the back of the computer is tight,
then your mouse should work again once you have
restarted the computer.
When I turn on my computer it
is very noisy, with clicking and grinding; is my
system going to break?
Hard disk drives
make a certain amount of noise when programs are
trying to get information or read data from the
drive. So you might expect to hear a faint grinding
noise when the computer is reading data from the
hard drive. However, the noise should not be too
loud. An unusually loud noise signals that there
might be something wrong with your hard drive, and
you should contact the ITSS department at (225)
771-4987 or (225) 771-5814.
The picture on my
monitor/screen is not in the center; how do I fix
this?
Occasionally the
screen is not centered on your monitor. Each monitor
has settings that allow the user to adjust the
horizontal and vertical placement of the desktop on
the monitor display. Generally, these adjustments
are made by using buttons on the lower edge of the
monitor. These buttons are sometimes clearly labeled
and other times are just marked by obscure symbols.
Using these buttons you can change the horizontal
and vertical placement of your monitor to center it
on the screen.
What do I do if I cannot hear
sound on my computer?
The first thing
to check is that your speaker wires are plugged into
the proper port on the back of your computer. You
should see a left speaker wire and a right speaker
wire, and they might be connected together into one
plug. Make certain that you have placed this plug
into the port marked with the speaker symbol. Often
the microphone port is located right next to the
speaker port, and it is easy to get them confused.
If you have checked that the speaker cable is
plugged into the back of the computer tightly, then
verify that you have power going to your speakers
and that the speakers are turned on. Some speaker
sets have separate power supplies, while others draw
their power from the computer. If the speakers are
turned on, turn the volume all the way up so you
will know when the sound starts working. If there is
a little speaker symbol on the Taskbar near your
clock, double-click on that symbol and make sure
that the volume control is set high enough and that
the "Mute All" or "Mute" is not checked. If these
are checked, it will turn the sound off on your
system, even if the speakers and other equipment are
working just fine. If you are still having a problem
with your sound, you should have your computer
examined by ITSS.
What are some basic steps I
can take when I am having trouble printing?
Be sure the
printer is turned on.
Check to see if
the ink cartridges are full.
Check to see if
the printer cable is fully plugged into the back of
the computer and the printer.
Click Start /
Settings and go to Printers to see if the printer
icon is black or if it is grayed out.
Is there paper in the printer?
Install new
print cartridges if you have them available to you.
If you are
trying to print to a network printer, be sure you
are plugged into the network.
Be sure there is
not any paper jammed in the printer. Install new
print cartridges if you have them available to you.
If all else
fails contact ITSS at (225) 771-4987 or (225)
771-5814.
What are some basic steps I
can take when I cannot log in to my computer or
cannot access all of my network applications?
Check to see if
the Windows Sign-on screen appears.
Are you using the correct
username and password?
Check to be sure
that you do not accidentally have the Caps Lock ON
or the Numb Lock OFF.
Be sure the
network cable is plugged into the network card on
back of the computer.
Check to see if
there is a light on the network card.
Are you using the correct
username and password?
See if others in
your area/building are also having similar
difficulties.
Contact ITSS at
(225) 771-4987 or (225) 771-5814.
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