Troubleshooting Your PC For Dummies®

Chapter 8. Startup Problems

Some people rise bright and early in the morning, completely rested and refreshed. Those folks bounce out of bed and start their day with a big smile, boundless energy, and a positive outlook. Then there's the rest of us.

If you're one of the few who takes great efforts to pull yourself from the comforting arms of sleep, consider the plight of the poor PC. It takes a titanic amount of effort — yes, in the form of electricity — to get a computer up and working properly every time you start it. The fact that the computer starts at all should be considered miraculous. Indeed, those times that the miracle misfires, that's when you turn to this chapter to cover a smattering of issues that affect Mr. PC when he (unenthusiastically) starts his wary day.

Computer Genesis

Note

In the beginning...

When you understand how the computer starts, you can better pinpoint various problems that can occur during the startup process. Although you really don't need to know this information, it helps to be familiar with what happens where and when, and how to be properly able to point the finger of blame.

Overall, remember that computer hardware is dumb. It needs software to tell it what to do. The problem, however, is that it's the hardware that starts up first. So, the hardware in a PC is geared toward immediately finding and desperately loading an operating system so that the computer can become a useful tool and not an impressive-looking but expensive office prop.

First: Within ...