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If you need assistance with any of these steps, or you cannot resolve your issue, please contact a
member of DIDE IT for further help.
Try restarting your computer. Many basic problems can be resolved easily and quickly
this way.
Press the Ctrl & Alt & Del keys on your keyboard together at the same time. This should
bring up a menu that will allow you to run Task Manager. In Task Manager, switch to the
Applications tab. Highlight any programs with the status 'Not Responding' and choose
End Task. You may be asked to confirm if you want to end the unresponsive program, so
choose Yes. Do this for all programs that are not responding.
If all else fails and you cannot shutdown/restart your computer, then hold down the power
button on the machine until it forcibly turns off. Wait a few seconds and then turn it back
on again.
Check that all the cables are securely plugged into the back of the machine and the
monitor.
Check that the power cables are plugged into a power socket and the socket has been
turned on.
Try using a different power socket or, if you are using a power extension strip, plug the
power cable directly into a power socket in the wall.
Replace the power cable with one that you know works.
o If there are no lights on anything, then it may be possible there is a local power
cut.
With laptops, try removing the power cable and the battery. Hold down the power button
for about ten seconds, and then plug the battery and power cable in again. Press the
power button to see if it switches on.
Make sure the power cable is firmly plugged into the monitor.
Some computers have multiple display ports, so make sure you have plugged the monitor
into the correct one. Try each one in turn, switching the monitor off then on in between
moves.
Most monitors have a status window displayed when you turn it on. Check if you can see
this status window when you press the power button on the monitor. You can also try this
with the menu button on the monitor, which should bring up an options menu on the
screen. This shows the screen is working ok, so it may be an issue with the video cable
from the monitor or the machine itself.
Check the brightness & contrast levels of the monitor via the menu button, to make sure
it has not been set too dark.
Move the mouse and press any key on the keyboard to make sure the screensaver hasn't
activated or that the computer hasn't gone into standby/hibernation mode.
Remove any floppy disks, CD/DVD discs and USB memory sticks or external hard
drives and try booting up again.
If you can hear a repeated scraping or clunking noise, power off the computer as soon as
possible, as there may be a physical problem with the hard disk and you may lose data.
Make sure the keyboard/mouse is firmly plugged into the back of the computer.
Try unplugging one or both, and then reinserting it into the back of the computer.
If you cannot see any lights on your keyboard when you press the Caps Lock or Num
Lock key, it may be a dead keyboard.
Make sure there is no dirt or fluff clogging up either the optical laser or roller ball on the
underside of your mouse. It may require a clean.
If you are using a wireless keyboard/mouse, try pressing the reset button on the device or
replace the batteries.
Windows may automatically restart after displaying a blue screen, as shown below. You
may also get a Windows startup menu upon reboot. If you do, choose 'Start Windows
Normally' and see if the problem goes away. It may be a one-off glitch.
If Windows hasn't automatically restarted after displaying a blue screen, press the Ctrl &
Alt & Del keys on your keyboard at the same time to restart the machine. You may need
to press and hold the power button on the machine to force it to turn off. Switch it back
on and, if you get a Windows startup menu upon reboot, such as the one shown below,
choose 'Start Windows Normally' and see if the problem goes away.
When you turn on the computer, press the F8 key on your keyboard repeatedly until you
get a Windows startup menu (like the one in the image above). Choose to start Windows
in 'Safe Mode'. If Windows boots up and you can login, restart Windows and let it boot as
normal which may resolve the problem.
When you turn on the computer, press the F8 key on your keyboard repeatedly until you
get a Windows startup menu (like the one in the image above). Choose 'Last Known
Good Configuration', which will try and load Windows with the settings that last worked
successfully.
If you can boot into Windows either normally or via Safe Mode (see above), then you can
run System Restore via Start -> All Programs -> Accessories -> System Tools -> System
Restore.
Choose a date and restore point that you would like Windows to restore to. You should
choose a date that is before the time you started experiencing the problems.
o Windows Vista/7: Press F8 repeatedly at boot until you get the Windows startup
menu. One of the entries in the menu is 'Repair your computer'. This may also be
shown automatically as an option if Windows failed to start correctly last time
around:
o Windows XP: Press F8 repeatedly at boot until you get the Windows startup
menu. Choose 'Safe Mode with Command Prompt. You will need to type in a
local administrator username and password. Then type in: %systemroot
%\system32\restore\rstrui.exe and press return.
Ensure you are using your correct DIDE username and password.
Check that your password is what you are expecting it to be by typing it into the
Username box. This allows you to see what you are typing in case your keyboard is set to
another locale, for example.
Check that the 'Logon to' box shows DIDE as the domain (only if your computer is on the
DIDE private network).
Try logging on to another computer to see if your account works on that. Ask someone
else to logon to your computer to see if they can or not.
Reset Internet Explorer (IE) back to its default settings and clear the temporary internet
files.
o In IE click on Tools and then Internet Options.
o Tick the box next to 'Delete Personal Settings' to delete temporary internet files.
Note: you will not lose your Favorites. Close and then reopen IE.
If you have another web browser installed (such as Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome),
try running that and see if you can browse the web. If you can't, then there may be
connectivity problems.
If you are having problems accessing your e-mail via Outlook as well as the internet, try
restarting your computer.
Restart Outlook. You should be prompted for a username and password when Outlook
starts.
Try accessing your e-mail via Outlook Web Access. If you can, then Outlook itself is
having problems. If you can't, then there may be a problem with the e-mail servers.
Check ICT's service status page to see if there are any general e-mail issues.
If you haven't restarted your computer for a while, or your normally put it into Sleep or
Hibernation modes, allow it to restart. This clears the memory and allows your system to 'clean
boot', freeing up resources in the process.
Make sure you have antivirus software installed on your computer, and that it is enabled
and up to date. Then run a full system scan to remove anything suspicious from your
computer.
The College uses Symantec Endpoint Protection to scan for and remove viruses and
malware. To check it and run a scan, do the following:
o Click on Start -> All Programs -> Symantec Endpoint Protection -> Symantec
Endpoint Protection. Windows Vista/7 users may get a prompt asking them if they
want to allow the program to make changes to their system, so choose Yes:
o If it is up to date and running, you will see a big green tick with the words "Your
computer is protected. No problems detected":
o Click on 'Scan for threats' in the left hand column and then click on Full Scan.
This may take a while to complete:
You can also use a free dedicated malware scanner such as Malwarebyte Anti-Malware to
scan your computer.
o Download, install and run it. Allow it to update itself, and then choose 'Perform
full scan':
o At the end of the scan click on the 'Remove selected' button to remove the
malware. You may need to restart your computer:
In My Computer, right click on the C: drive icon and choose Properties. Click on the
Disk Cleanup button:
Disk Cleanup will take a short while to scan the hard drive:
Once done, tick the boxes next to the items you would like deleted and then click on Ok
to delete. It should be safe to tick all the boxes if you wish:
Windows 7 users have an additional button labeled 'Clean up system files'. Clicking on
this button will add a tab labeled 'More Options'. This will allow you to remove old
System Restore points and Shadow Copies (backups) of files, which will free up a lot of
space:
You'll be prompted to confirm that you want to cleanup old restore points:
Click on Start and then type into the box cmd.exe (see image below).
In the list of programs that appears, right click on cmd.exe and choose 'Run as
administrator'. Say Yes to the confirmation prompt:
Type in sfc /scannow and press return. This will take a few minutes to scan and fix any
problems:
In Windows XP:
Type in sfc /scannow and press return. This will take a few minutes to scan and fix any
problems:
Important Note: Be careful what you uninstall, as it may be an important program or system
utility. If you are unsure about what is safe to remove or not, please ask a member of DIDE IT.
Select 'Adjust for best performance' and click on Ok. This may take a minute to apply the
changes and your screen may flicker briefly:
In Windows Vista/7:
Select 'Adjust for best performance' and click on Ok. This may take a minute to apply the
changes and your screen may flicker briefly:
Click on the Tools tab and then click on the Check Now button:
Tick the box next to 'Automatically fix file system errors' and 'Scan for and attempt
recovery of bad sectors'. Then click on Start:
You may get a warning that Windows can't check the disk while it's in use. It will ask you
if you want to schedule a check the next time your restart your computer. Click on
'Schedule disk check' and restart your computer. This scan may take a while to complete:
Click on Start -> All Programs -> Accessories -> System Tools -> Disk Defragmenter.
Click on the Analyze button to allow Windows to check if the disk needs to be
defragmented (see image below).
If Windows reports that the disk needs to be defragmented, click on the Defragment
button. This may take some time to complete. Try not to use your computer whilst it is
defragmenting:
Reinstall Windows
Windows can become slow and develop problems after years of use on the same machine.
Security updates and patches are applied, programs are installed and uninstalled, and settings are
modified regularly. It is therefore a good idea to wipe the hard drive and reinstall Windows from
scratch, back to its optimum configuration and performance. Doing this after around three to four
years of use may give a noticeable speed improvement.
When reinstalling Windows from scratch, it is important to backup any data you have stored on
the hard drive, as well as making a note of the programs you would like reinstalled.
Please speak to a member of DIDE IT if you think the time has come for your machine to be
wiped and setup with a fresh installation of Windows (which will normally be the latest version
of Windows).
Advanced Steps
Important note: These steps are for advanced users only. Failure to backup your system and
proceed with caution could result in Windows not booting up at all, requiring a reinstall. Please
ask a member of DIDE IT if you need assistance with these steps.
Use a registry cleaner to delete redundant and incorrect entries in the registry. One
example of a good free registry cleaner is CCleaner. Warning: Make sure you create a
full backup of your registry first in case you need to revert a change made by a registry
cleaner:
Manually disable programs from starting up when Windows starts up using the msconfig
utility. Click on Start -> Run (or just Start in Vista/7), type in msconfig and press return.
Click on the Startup tab to view a list or programs that starts up when Windows
does. Uncheck the box next to all the programs you don't want to startup automatically: