Troubleshooting Operating Systems 16

Troubleshooting Operating Systems

• Common troubleshooting steps for Windows OS problems, including motherboard, RAM, CPU, and power issues are performed.
• Turning off and on a computer is a key troubleshooting step, as issues can arise from programs not releasing resources (memory leaks).
• Rebooting helps resolve unrecognized issues quickly and effectively, but sometimes requires reboots until updates address them.
• Services (crucial parts of current OS operations), can also cause problems. Misbehaving or crashed services can lead to network, printing, or file access issues.
• Restarting services can resolve temporary issues, but a full system reboot may be more effective, depending on the system demands.
• Restarting services is a crucial troubleshooting step.

Application Issues

• Applications can malfunction after installation, updates, or unexpectedly.
• Updating the application or installing a previous version can often fix application failures.
• Uninstall and reinstall the application if updates do not resolve the issue.
• Application compatibility issues (program and OS) require verifying if the application and OS are compatible. If needed, consider updating the OS or using a previous version temporarily.
• Corrupt files can cause unexpected application failures, especially after crashes, power outages, or data restoration.
• Uninstalling and reinstalling the application may resolve data corruption issues.

Recovering a Broken Windows OS

• The Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) is a helpful tool for troubleshooting boot problems.
• Users can access WinRE if the system boots, holding Shift while restarting and following the options.
• If the system does not boot, use the Windows installation media.
• Various specific utilities such as Startup Repair, Command Prompt, and Utilities are available in WinRE, each with a specific purpose and function.
• Startup Repair attempts to repair corrupted Registry entries, boot files, system files, and driver files.
• Command Prompt offers detailed system modifications for resolving complex issues.
• Utilities allow users to modify the system behavior.

DiskPart Utility

• diskpart is a command-line tool for managing disks, partitions, and volumes within Windows.
• The diskpart utility is used to manage various disk operations directly.
• list disk, select disk, list partition, select partition, list volume, and select volumeare example commands for managing disks and partitions.
• Other disk operations include create partition primary, delete partition, extend, shrink, format, assign letter, and clean.
• Users should backup crucial data before using diskpart.

Resetting Windows System

• If less aggressive options like Startup Repair fail, the Reset this PC option found in WinRE can reinstall Windows.
• Keeping Files option preserves user files and applications, but removes other apps. Other option involves completely removing all files.
• Both options are available in the WinRE Reset this PC options.
• Corrupted user profiles can cause login issues, slow load times.
• Rebuild Windows profiles can reset corrupted profiles.

Advanced Troubleshooting

• Using the Registry Editor may be needed to reset Windows profiles and edit entries.
• System restore points are available for restoring the system to a previous state.