Troubleshooting & Maintaining PCs All-in-One For Dummies, 4th Edition

Introduction

If 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 thrill-packed book that’s all about solving computer problems. The topic is troubleshooting. It needs to be covered in so many pages here because a computer hasn’t yet been 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 & 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 is that troubleshooting is easier to do when you understand how the computer works. This philosophy is the 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 ...