Hardware diagnostic software - Intel/Windows

[Jerome Stanek]

Try popping the ram and use an eraser to clean the contacts

[Phil Thien]

First I always do a visual inspection, looking for bad caps. Any capacitor where the top isn't perfectly flat is a concern. If I find any, I make the decision (before going any further) whether I'm going to swap those caps, or not. In fact, I just had to swap four on an OptiPlex 745 this morning.

Next, I run mhdd or hdat (you can find them on the ultimate boot CD) and check for any smart problems on the drives. Any reallocations or pending reallocations or any other SMART trouble will have me deciding whether the machine is worth a new drive. I really prefer mhdd because I can do a timed read of each sector. If I see some real slows developing, it indicates something going wrong with either the drive's media or heads. You can often figure out which by the pattern. Mhdd runs on legacy controllers, newer machines may not run it. I'll often toss the drive into an older machine I keep just for this purpose, just so I can run the thing (it is that handy).

Now I run memtest. It isn't foolproof. I have had machines that will pass 20-30 iterations and still crash. But it is a good start. I run it overnight, typically.

Forth, I run something like bluescreenview (actually I run a debugger but most people should run bluescreenview). If you don't have the codes mesmerized, you can google them. You can get a pretty good indication of what is going on if multiple crashes point to the same file (for example, a display driver).

If all that looks good, I'll toss a temporary drive in a machine and do a clean install of Win7, update the drivers, and see how that behaves. If that works, I'll run burn-in test from PassMark.

If the machine makes it through all that, but reinstalling the original drive leads to problems, I'll typically start uninstalling carp like utilities, avirus software, etc., and see if I can get it stable.

BTW, I blow machines out with a leaf blower, outside. The one I'm using these days is a rechargeable Ryobi (not too much CFM). But I've used a 120v Toro, I'm just careful not to blow the fins right off the fans.

[Phil Thien]

Try popping the ram and use an eraser to clean the contacts

Nah you really shouldn't use erasers. They have binders in them that can cause problems. A little denatured alcohol on a clean cloth is a better idea.

[Phil Thien]

This, too... lost two to this in the last 5-6 years. Doesn't really give me much confidence in the "high-end" supply manufacturers :-/

Yeah me three on that. I get guys that bring their Newegg dream machines in, complete with 1000+ watt power supplies that don't work correctly.

I honestly don't understand why they suck so bad.

[Phil Thien]

Our test technicians frequently used a hot air gun to locally heat areas of the computer board, cables, etc to force problems as a diagnostic tool or alternatively blast areas with cold (freeze spray). The idea was to find a sensitive spot to help localize further investigation. This can help isolate a bad circuit area and point you to a possible conenctor or solder joint problem (yes - they can/do go bad over time)

Just be careful with hot-air guns, they can generate enough heat to liquefy the solder. I often use heat guns to move surface-mount components between boards.

[Dan Hintz]

Try popping the ram and use an eraser to clean the contacts

Nah you really shouldn't use erasers. They have binders in them that can cause problems. A little denatured alcohol on a clean cloth is a better idea.

Also, any good RAM should have gold-plated contacts, which will not oxidize (the purpose of the eraser).

[Curt Harms]

Just be careful with hot-air guns, they can generate enough heat to liquefy the solder. I often use heat guns to move surface-mount components between boards.

hair dryer, maybe? Shouldn't be as hot. Thanks for the heads-up on the no eraser, that's what I've used.

[Phil Thien]

Also, any good RAM should have gold-plated contacts, which will not oxidize (the purpose of the eraser).

Yeah I never see any oxidized contacts on RAM.

But what I do see is hand grease and other stuff.

I had a guy bring in a PC once that he had assembled himself. It looked as if he had consumed a giant bag of potato chips during the assembly process, and everything he touched was oily/greasy. It didn't really cause any problems at that point, but I imagined it may down the road. I'm not exaggerating I saw nearly complete handprints on parts of the sheet metal, and greasy fingerprints everywhere.

A month ago a local university brought me a Dell server that was throwing a code during POST (Power-On-Self-Test). The code indicated a bad power supply (redundant supplies). I checked the service tag and the unit was sold with a single CPU (now there were two) and half the RAM that was now installed. So I pulled the chips and RAM and cleaned everything with wipes, reinstalled, and she started up fine. One of the CPU's did have something on it, so I also cleaned the sockets.