PC Problems

Vikas has discovered a bad sector on his hard drive.

The only thing to do really is let Windows try fix the bad sector. If it can’t you may be looking at replacing the hard drive.

You can try a windows fix by following the instructions below:

• Double-click My Computer (located on the desktop)
• Right-click on the C: drive
• Click on the Tools tab
• Click on the Check Now button
• Check “Automatically fix file system errors”
• Check “Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors”
• Click Start
• Restart you computer when prompted and the utility will start automatically.

Abhay’s PC with Windows 7 keeps shutting down when watching a movie or playing “Need for Speed: Most Wanted”.

This is a classic sign that your computer can’t handle the resources necessary to run games and movies but since your computer specifications aren’t too bad I’m gonna guess it’s an issue with your Graphics/Video Card or your CPU is overheating. I’d try another video card if possible and if it’s still happening maybe the CPU fan or other internal fan is gone. The CPU might need some more thermal compound on it too.

There’s is also a chance that the power supply could be faulty.

Bob’s CPU and Computer shuts itself down while watching Blu Ray DVD’s.

The first thing that springs to my mind is that your computer might not be able to handle the data transfer required to watch Blu Rays so it overheats and shuts down. Is it an old, low spec pc that you recently added a Blu Ray player to?

Another thing could be that your graphics card or monitor can’t handle Blu Ray resolution. Can you try increase the resolution or try another graphics card?

The first thing I would do is upgrade the drivers for the Blu Ray player, Graphics card and Blu Ray player software and see how you go.

Mike’s computer went through the mail from a former house and now isn’t powering up.

I’d open her up first and have a quick look to see if any cables have been dislodged in transit. Touch the metal case of the pc first to release any static electricity and avoid frying sensitive components. If ti still doesn’t work and there’s no sound coming from the pc at all when switched on (hard drive or fans) I’d look first at the power supply unit PSU. These are cheap enough to replace. If it’s still not working with a new PSU, you may be looking at serious damage to the motherboard or hard drive. Possibly temperature or water damage depending on conditions during transport.

Rifatul has been getting the above error followed by PC shutdown and failure to restart.

It’s fairly obviously an issue with the graphics card or card drivers so you should start by uninstalling and re-installing the drivers then maybe searching for updated drivers on the card manufacturers website. If that doesn’t work then maybe it’s the card itself overheating or something. Try switching to the onboard/default graphics card if your pc has one. There’s a small chance your CPU might be overheating or your PSU could be faulty.

This article might be of further help - http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2665946