We received a report of a Broadview DSL outage affecting business users in Tonawanda this morning, Monday June 20th.. If you have Broadview DSL service and your Internet does not work on any computer, it is service provider related.
Dell computers are typically sold with either a 90-day or 1-year warranty, with the option to extend the warranty. However, once a computer malfunctions and requires service from Dell, the experience can be extremely time consuming and frustrating.
Before Dell will send a service technician or provide replacement parts, a service request must be established. When this request is placed over the phone, the telephone representative will begin troubleshooting the problem using a flow chart that guides them through the questions.
Some steps require running diagnostic software programs that may require up to twenty minutes to complete. Answering the questions in the troubleshooting flow chart and performing the troubleshooting steps over the phone can take up to four hours!
Even when the diagnostics are performed correctly, there are many problems that cannot be diagnosed or repaired over the phone. These are typically visual problems, including cracked and leaking motherboard capacitors, overheating due to excessive dust or seized fans, bad RAM and bad hard drives. Many viruses will also change system settings and interfere with the Internet connection, creating a false diagnosis of a bad network card.
A faster alternative to phone support is to use the Dell online chat using a second working computer. A skilled technician using the Dell chat can complete the diagnosis and arrange the replacement in as little as 20 minutes.
Once the Dell diagnosis is complete, the telephone representative will either arrange for a service technician to visit and replace the part, or they will send the replacement part out, typically using next day delivery services. When a replacement part is sent out, the failed part must be returned in 30 days or less. For Dell warranty contracts with on-site service, a representative from one of the independent national service firms will be dispatched with parts provided by Dell.
We encourage our clients with Dell computers that are in warranty and are malfunctioning to bring the computer to our office. Our technicians will diagnose and guide the Dell support representative to replacing the correct part quickly. And when a repair involves a hard drive, we can provide additional services to recover data files and backup a hard drive, restoring the data to the new hard drive.
Both laptop and desktop computers are assembled from components, allowing them to be disassembled for troubleshooting and repair. However, there are some components and sub-assemblies inside components that are impossible or impractical to repair. These components should never be repaired and instead should be replaced.
1. LCD CCFL backlight bulbs:
The CCFL light bulb inside an LCD panel is impossible to repair. Not only is it not designed to be removable, it’s extremely fragile. The glass tube is only 1-mm in width and up to 300mm (ten inches) long, making it incredibly fragile. The tubes are sealed inside the panel using aluminum tape that easily tears. When the bulb fails, the only practical option is to replace the entire LCD panel.
Most laptop LCD panels can be replaced for $99 and are easily replaced by our technicians. Desktop LCD panels frequently cannot be repaired, since there are very few replacement panels available for desktop LCD’s.
2. Failed motherboard capacitors:
Many desktop motherboards fail when the capacitors begin to bulge, crack and leak. While the individual capacitors cost less than a dollar each, the labor and skill to replace them is expensive and time consuming. Since there are a wide variety of capacitors used on motherboards, stocking replacement capacitors is difficult.
Replacing capacitors requires removing the failed capacitors, cleaning out the remaining solder from the holes, and then soldering in new capacitors. For a skilled technician with the best equipment, it may take several hours to replace ten capacitors. Many replacement motherboards are $99, so capacitor repair is not cost effective when a matching new motherboard is available.
Changing motherboards may also require a new CPU and RAM, pushing the total replacement cost up to $300. Therefore, capacitor repair is a feasible option when a matching replacement motherboard is unavailable, or for high value motherboards, or when there are fewer than five failed capacitors of the same type.
3. Ink-jet printers:
Ink-jet printers are not designed to be repaired, only replaced. There are no replacement parts available for any printer from any supplier, so when an ink-jet printer fails to print, the only option is to change the ink cartridge or the printer.
4. CRT monitors:
CRT (cathode ray tube) monitors are another item that never benefits from repair. CRT tubes will dim as they age, and replacing a tube is impossible. Instead, failing CRT monitors should be replaced with a new LCD panel. Some CRT monitor problems can be repaired using the color return or de-Gauss feature on the monitor.
5. Desktop LCD’s:
Desktop LCD’s are another item that has components that can be diagnosed but are impossible to repair. Common problems with desktop LCD’s include failed CCFL bulbs and burned out backlight inverter circuit boards. Very few desktop LCD monitors have replacement inverter circuit boards available, so repair is frequently impossible.
Similar to laptop LCD’s, when the CCFL bulb in a desktop LCD fails, it is easy to diagnose but impossible to replace or repair. Unlike laptop LCD panels that are widely available, almost no replacement LCD panels are available for desktop LCD’s. Any failure on a desktop LCD requires replacement of the entire LCD monitor.
A cookie is the name given to a very small file that stores settings and preferences made while visiting a web-site. Cookies contain only text used for settings and cannot be used to run software code (programs) or to deliver viruses to a computer.
The cookie feature was first established and defined by the Internet standards forum in 2000 as RFC2695. Internet Explorer 4 was the first version to include support for cookies, and soon afterwards the media began writing stories about the potential risks of this new feature.
The main risk of the cookie feature was that Internet Explorer 4 and Internet Explorer 5.0 would allow a web-site to check the contents of a cookie file that was created by a different web-site. This security risk was eliminated in Internet Explorer 5.01 and later so that only the web-site that created the cookie could re-read the information.
Disabling cookies may prevent some web services from working correctly, and disabling cookies does not make you anonymous or prevent Web sites from tracking your browsing habits. HTTP requests still include information about where you came from (HTTP Referrer), your IP address, browser version, operating system, and other information.
However, ten years later none of the potential problems or risks of using cookies in Internet Explorer have been seen. While recommendations to delete cookies persist, it is an unnecessary and ineffective practice that should be discontinued. Since cookie files are tiny in size (rarely larger than 256 bytes) there is no size or space consequence to storing them. They also cannot be used to execute code, so there is no virus risk. Removing cookies has no effect on performance. Programs like cCleaner from Pirisoft.com can be used to remove all cookie files and other temporary files.
A better approach to dealing with cookies is to use the InPrivate browsing feature in Internet Explorer. When enabled, Internet Explorer will not save or create cookies, and does not leave behind any browsing history when finished.
In conclusion, there is no benefit to manually deleting cookie files, and the result of deleting them can make browsing web sites more difficult.
We started receiving reports of an Internet outage affecting Verizon DSL users in Hamburg and the City of Buffalo. The outage did not affect T1 or FiOS users. This outage began at 9:55am, Monday May 31st and was resolved at 11:08am.
If you were affected by the outage, please post a comment with your town name to help identify the affected area. If you have factual technical information to describe the cause of the outage, please post a comment.
If you were affected by this service outage, we recommend you send a letter to the New York State Public Service Commission and your state legislator with the recommendation that all Internet providers be required to post advance public notice of service affecting changes and outages as they occur.
When a computer loses its connection to the Internet, Internet Explorer will fail to display the home page and will display a text message instead:
“Internet Explorer cannot display the webpage”
Displaying a web-page requires a lot of individual elements to perform successfully, including:
1. The station must have a valid and current IP address, either provided dynamically by a router or server that provides DHCP, or a non-conflicting static IP address. The Windows IPconfig command can be used to confirm that a station has a valid IP address.
2. The station must be able to send and receive a DNS lookup request to a valid and working DNS server. The DNS server converts the requested name into IP address of the web-site. The Windows NSlookup command can be used to test the availability of a DNS server.
3. Port 80 for web pages must not be blocked by firewall software or diverted by a virus.
There are many different causes for Internet failure, but a few simple tools and tests can be used to quickly locate the problem. Typical causes, symptoms and solutions for Internet failure include:
To improve the reliability of a network, we recommend configuring the router for DHCP and then making the server the primary DNS with a secondary external DNS server. This ensures that if the server is unavailable, stations will continue to receive an IP address and reach the Internet. Rather than use the DNS servers provided by the Internet provider, we recommend using Google’s DNS servers at 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4.
The two best tools for troubleshooting an Internet connection failure on a station are IPconfig and NSlookup. To use either tool, select the Windows start button, choose the Run option and type: CMD at the Open prompt. This will display a command prompt where IPconfig and NSlookup can be used to check the status of an Internet connection. Typing EXIT when finished will close the window and return to Windows.
When both IPconfig and NSlookup work properly but Internet Explorer fails to display a web page, this is typically an indication that the Internet Explorer settings have been modified by a virus or malware program.
There are many tools available to check the files and settings in Internet Explorer. Successfully recovering from a virus requires removing the virus and then repairing the damaged and modified settings in Internet Explorer.
We are often asked to investigate why a computer is running slowly and what can be done to make it faster. Diagnosing the reason a computer is running slowly requires checking all of these potential causes, since the symptom alone is not enough to differentiate or isolate the cause. This list is not comprehensive; there are some other unusual and rare causes that will make a computer run more slowly.
1. Insufficient RAM to run all programs in memory without swapping to the hard drive.
Solution: compare commit charge to physical RAM and add RAM memory.
2. Bad hard drive; disk errors creating delays.
Solution: test the entire drive and repair disk errors or replace the hard drive if there are uncorrectable errors.
3. Low performance CPU.
Solution: upgrade the CPU to increase cache size, clock frequency and number of cores. For example, replacing a Celeron CPU with a Pentium CPU will increase cache size. Dual core CPU’s can be replaced with quad core CPU’s, and many CPU’s are offered in a variety of frequencies.
4. Overheating due to failed fan or excessive dust blocking heat sink.
Solution: inspect CPU fan, case fan and power supply fan, then clean accumulated dust using compressed air. Always clean dust with compressed air, not a vacuum and never clean out dust inside a building, always blow out dust outside.
5. Bad motherboard due to failed capacitors that are cracked, leaking or bulging.
Solution: visually inspect the capacitors on the motherboard, video card and power supply for signs of distortion; replace the motherboard or the system unit. For high value components, individual capacitor can be a cost effective solution.
6. Memory leak; software bug causing a program to use increasing amounts of RAM until restarted.
Solution: upgrade the software causing the excessive memory usage or restart more frequently.
7. Wrong video driver making the display run slowly.
Solution: upgrade the video driver software in Windows device manager.
8. Low performance wireless connection due to 2.4ghz wireless or distant antenna with a weak signal.
Solution: upgrade wireless router or access point to 5ghz for higher performance.
9. Too many add-ons or excessive toolbars in Internet Explorer or Windows startup.
Solution: use MSconfig to remove startup programs, use add-on manager in IE7 and later to remove unused add-ons and toolbars.
10. Viruses and spyware stealing memory and processor performance.
Solution: use AdwCleaner and other scanning tools to identify and remove extraneous software. Beware of programs advertised to boost performance, nearly all are fake.
11. Low performance hard drive with 2mb cache or 5400-rpm spindle motor:
Solution: replace hard drive with faster 8mb cache and 7200-rpm spindle motor or SSD drive.
Contrary to popular opinion, the number of programs installed on a computer does not affect the performance. Removing or un-installing programs will generally have no effect on performance. Freeing up disk space by deleting programs and other files will not improve performance. Defragmenting a hard drive can improve performance but has a minimal effect on increasing performance and is not recommended for SSD drives.
Instead, its the number of programs that are currently running that determine how much RAM is being used, and it’s this RAM usage that determines performance. The Windows tray icons next to the clock are a good indication of the currently running programs that will reduce RAM and performance.
Checking the Windows commit charge (“in-use RAM”) and comparing it to the total memory is the best indication of actual memory use. As memory usage nears 100%, more swapping to disk occurs, reducing performance.
Between 1995 and 2011, Microsoft has produced 8 versions of Windows, and they continue to produce new versions of Windows. What are the differences and advantages of upgrading?
Windows 95/98/ME:
These versions are all identical, with only minor cosmetic changes. They are based on DOS and do not effectively recognize more than 64mb RAM. They only support FAT32 file system and do not recognize or support disks with NTFS. They lack a repair feature, so it is almost impossible to change a motherboard without re-installing Windows. They lack memory protection support, so viruses and program errors will crash and lockup the computer. These versions are considered completely unusable and should always be upgraded or replaced with Windows 2000 or later.
Windows NT:
This version of Windows introduced support for large hard disks using the NTFS file system, and included support for up to 4gb RAM. The recognition of protected mode memory features on Intel processors put an end to many types of software crashes and lockups. Windows NT lacked many features that were added to Windows 2000. Due to the lack of features in Windows NT, it should always be upgraded to Windows 2000 Professional.
Windows 2000 Professional:
Introduced a refined user interface and many useful features. This is the first version of Windows to include a repair feature, useful for recovering from virus damage, and also permits changing the motherboard without re-installing and erasing Windows. Windows 2000 included a 25-digit product key but it was not entered or activated in the software. Windows 2000 can recognize up to 4gb RAM but runs well with 256mb or more. Windows 2000 does not support Internet Explorer 7 or later versions. While it is limited to Internet Explorer 6, it will run the Mozilla FireFox browser.
Windows XP, Home and Professional:
Introduced two versions of Windows. XP Pro adds support for Windows server domain login accounts. XP Home includes folder sharing for up to 5-users, XP Pro provides support for up to 10 users sharing a folder or printer. There are no functional or operation differences between Home and Pro other than domain support in Pro.
Windows XP requires a 25-digit product license key and requires online or telephone activation to reduce software piracy. Windows XP originally ran OK with 256mb RAM, but with service pack 3 (SP3) and Internet Explorer 8, it requires 1gb or more for best performance. Windows XP does not support Internet Explorer 9.
Microsoft also introduced a rare 64-bit version of Windows Professional that provided support for more than 4gb RAM.
Windows Vista:
Microsoft made a gigantic marketing campaign to promote Vista, since it had been so long since a new version of Windows was released. However, Vista was widely criticized for two reasons. First, it required much more RAM than Windows XP to run properly, typically 2gb or more, so many computers with 1gb or less ran poorly. Second, it introduced a new software design for printers and other peripherals that limited the support for printers to fewer models than XP.
Vista has a different interface than Windows XP, with a softer look. Vista supports up to Internet Explorer version 9. The 64-bit version supports more than 4gb RAM and runs noticeably faster than the 32-bit version, but it has very limited support for peripherals, such as printers.
Windows 7:
This version is practically identical to Windows Vista with very few changes. Like Windows Vista, it runs best with 2gb RAM or more. It is available in 32-bit and 64-bit versions.
When a computer running Windows stops working, the first troubleshooting step is to test all of the hardware. Any failure in a critical component, including the processor, RAM, motherboard and hard drive will prevent Windows from starting. These components can be tested with individual diagnostics, or exchanged with a known good part, or relocated to a known working system.
Once the hardware components have been tested and confirmed to be working reliably, the next decision is whether to repair or erase and replace Windows.
Starting with Windows 2000, Microsoft introduced a repair feature that can be accessed from the original installation CD disc. This repair feature removes and replaces all of the Windows program files, and then rebuilds the settings used to control the operation of Windows. The Windows repair option in Windows 2000 and Windows XP is very effective, and will frequently resolve many types of software problems introduced by viruses. The repair option does not affect installed programs or user data, and does not erase the hard drive.
The Windows repair feature is also effective and useful for making hardware changes. While Windows will detect new components automatically, it will not startup if the motherboard is changed. No repair is required when changing a CPU, RAM or hard drive, although multiple changes may trigger an online re-activation request.
Prior to Windows 2000, Windows 95/98/ME/NT all lacked a repair feature. Instead, the closest choice to repair was to start in safe mode and delete all items from device manager. However, this had limited use and could not be used to resolve corrupt files and settings due to a virus. The lack of repair options in Windows 95/98/ME/NT made all of these versions of Windows unrepairable after a virus infection. Instead of repairing these versions, they can be upgraded to Windows 2000 and then repaired.
After Windows 2000/XP, subsequent versions of Windows Vista and Windows 7 introduced built-in repair features, so the installation boot disc method is no longer required. However, the repair option in Windows Vista/7 does not perform the same type of extensive repair as in Windows XP/2000, and is less effective at fixing problems due to corrupt files. It also does not effectively handle hardware changes such as a new motherboard.
Since the Windows 2000/XP repair is so effective, it is rarely necessary to erase Windows 2000/XP. However, when Windows is extensively corrupted and fails to startup or run reliably after a repair, an erase and replace approach is required. Before erasing a non-working copy of Windows 2000/XP, the best method is to backup or clone all files to a spare hard drive. The original hard drive can be replaced, and if space permits, all of the original files can be re-copied into a folder. This method ensures that all of the original files are available for recovery, while preventing any corrupt files from interfering with the new copy of Windows.
Every computer, laptop or desktop, has a number of fans and motors inside. These fans and motors wear out as they run, and eventually fail. Since motors are a mechanical and spinning component, they must have a bearing to allow the shaft to spin. There are three types of bearings found in computers: sleeve bearing, ball bearing and fluid dynamic bearings.
Sleeve bearings are the least expensive and simplest bearing. They consists of brass bushings, so they run with metal on metal contact. Sleeve bearings are frequently found in small fans, usually 80mm or less. They are frequently used inside power supplies, case fans and small CPU fans (source: Diversified Bronze & Manufacturing Inc.).
Most sleeve bearing fans have a lifespan limited to around 10,000 hours or less. For a typical desktop computer used 8 hours a day, this can provide up to 5 years of usage. But for a computer run continuously, a sleeve bearing motor will fail within a year. As sleeve bearings wear out, the fan slows down and heats up, eventually seizing.
The next better type of bearing is a ball bearing. This bearing features tiny stainless steel balls that reduce friction. Good quality ball bearing fans can last 20,000 hours or more. All hard drives up to 20gb, and some 40gb and 80gb hard drives use ball bearing motors. Hard drives with ball bearing motors will begin to squeal or whine as they wear out. This sound is noticeable after 20,000 power-on hours, and can be very loud after 40,000 hours.
The best bearing type is the fluid-dynamic bearing (FDB.) The FDB is similar to a sleeve bearing but machined to a much higher tolerance and includes a liquid sealed inside the bearing. There are no ball bearings inside an FDB. These bearings are incredibly reliable, operating silently past 50,000 hours. The reduced friction of the fluid dynamic bearing also eliminates heat, making the hard drive and motor run cooler.
Some 80gb hard drives use FDB bearings, and almost all hard drives that are larger than 80gb or larger and operate above 5400-rpm use FDB bearings. FDB bearings can also be found on the very best CPU and case fans, but these require special order since most manufacturers do not include them in the original equipment.
Arctic Cooling sells a line of replacement fans in three standard sizes; 80mm, 92mm and 120mm that include fluid dynamic bearings and feature a 6-year warranty.
Jonathan M. Rosen
