Chapter 25. Hardware Problems

Hardware is the physical part of your computer and includes anything you can touch. For many people, this is the forgotten part of the computer. Hardware is generally the most reliable part of your system. Although hardware problems are generally less of an issue than software problems under Windows XP (or any operating system, for that matter), they do exist. These problems usually fall into two easily recognized categories:

  • CatastrophicYou can quickly determine that a catastrophic failure has occurred because the device in question no longer works. For example, you try to access a hard or floppy drive and nothing happens, or your modem picks up the phone line but refuses to dial. Figuring out the sources of these ...

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