Troubleshooting Your PC For Dummies®

Introduction

Who would believe that there's so much trouble out there in PC land that this book would evolve into a third edition? Golly!

Well, trouble looms. Anyone who has used a PC for any length of time suddenly realizes what scientists in white lab coats have known since the 1950s: Computers sometimes don't work right. Even without a degree from MIT, it's obvious. And, unlike those bespectacled, clipboard-toting geniuses of the Eniac era, you most likely have no training in how to troubleshoot, let alone manage and maintain, that expensive piece of computer hardware sitting on your desk (or lap).

Well, do not fret! Troubleshooting is something I do well, which is why I wrote this book. And, this is a For Dummies book, so you know that it's easy to understand, full of good advice, and spiced throughout with a modicum of humor and good taste.

You know, computers aren't supposed to die or crash or hang or bomb or toss a hissy fit for no apparent reason. But, as any computer owner knows, computers often don't do what they're told. Unpredictable behavior from a PC is predictable. You can have problems ranging from the it-was-working-yesterday syndrome to the who-owns-the-problem? issue. You'll have to decide whether the printer isn't working because of the printer itself or because of Windows or because of the application that's trying to print. I won't even bore you with random Internet-disconnect problems, dead mice, monitors thrust into stupid mode, and a myriad of other problems ...