If you get the chance to view your motherboard, most probably you would see a complicated setup as to how the backbone of a PC would work. Just imagine one malfunctioning chip and the impact it can have on the whole hardware you have. It takes one simple chip or diode to wreck all of it.

The question of identifying which one it may be is a blackhole. Some technicians may be able to trace it but in most cases, such a scenario would lead to changing the whole motherboard to avoid the trouble. So what are the instances wherein you would consider replacing your motherboard rather than wait and have it repaired?

1. Don’t fool around with the jumper cables.
There are certain settings that jumpers in your motherboard have been programmed for. Some may point towards reading the right memory chips while others pertain to the overall health of you PC as far as plug and play features are concerned. There are some of us who see technicians tinker around with them but in reality, it may not be a wise one if you do not know what you are doing. Avoid being a professional technician if you don’t know the effects that such would have on your PC.

2. Avoid spilling liquids on motherboards.
Such is a similar thing in mobile phones. Ever wonder why some phones get busted after they are accidentally dropped with a single drop of water? The same holds for a PC motherboard. Just provide that extra understanding that you motherboard must be free from such inconsistencies and you will have less things to worry about.

Let us travel back in time when the first Pentium was introduced in the market. Most of you may not be familiar with it but during those days, the Pentium I reigned supreme. Among their competitors were the 396 and 486 processors. I think there was even a 586!

One thing you will note though is that during these times, improvising was the measure of how effective a PC user or technician was. Trying to avoid replacing parts and discovering the tricks of malfunctioning computer parts was the craze back then and it took the help of only one simple item; a pencil eraser.

Yup, that reddish orange tip you see at the end was a very useful tool in making things work. It was recurring though. For example, a memory chip back then could be put to work by simply using the eraser to clean the teeth of the said chip. This even worked for video cards. While we are all past that, today, it does still work.

It cannot be discounted that slots would sometimes gather dust and for sure have a difficult time reading the chips to function properly. But look back again and try this trick out and you can have one last chance to see if the chip or part is indeed damaged and due for replacement.

At least, you have a last option to check if that chip can still be used or not. Rather than quickly buying a new one, at least you save on cost until the time comes it is not longer functional.

Note: this content originally from http://mygreenpaste.blogspot.com. If you are reading it from some other site, please take the time to visit My Green Paste, Inc. Thank you.

I was recently working on getting Windows Media Services configured on a system. Going through the properties, I noticed that the "WMS Anonymous User Authentication" plugin was in an error state. On inspection, I was presented with the following dialog.

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Windows Media Services
---------------------------
The plug-in cannot be enabled because the user name or password does not match the settings for the Windows user account used for anonymous guests.
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OK
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Also, the event viewer was showing the following:

Event Type: Error
Event Source: WMServer
Event Category: Plugin
Event ID: 323
Date: [Date]
Time: [Time]
User: N/A
Computer: [CompName]
Description:
Plug-in 'WMS Anonymous User Authentication' on the server failed with the following information: Error code = 0x8007052e, Error text = 'Logon failure: unknown user name or bad password. '.
For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.
Data:
0000: 8007052e

Checking "Local Users and Groups", I could see that the specified user (WMUS_COMPNAME) certainly existed. I changed the password for the user and then set the password in the properties for "WMS Anonymous User Authentication". I was rewarded with the same message. The user name and password were correct, so I focused my attention elsewhere. I first tried changing the settings to provoke the message while running Sysinternals' Filemon and Regmon, but was unable to pull anything from the captured data that seemed like it was germane to the problem.

The next thing I tried was creating a new account and specifying that account in the properties for "WMS Anonymous User Authentication". This worked; the status of "WMS Anonymous User Authentication" became "Enabled". I found this odd, as I was working with a fresh installation of Windows Media Services. In comparing the accounts (WMUS_COMPNAME and the test account I created), I noticed the WMUS_COMPNAME account was just a member of the Guests group, while the test account was just a member of the Users group. So, I added the test account to Guests and removed it from Users, and then checked / OK'd the "WMS Anonymous User Authentication" properties. I got the aforementioned message. I changed the test account back to the original group memberships, and "WMS Anonymous User Authentication" did not complain.

At this point, I knew that the problem was related to some restriction placed on the Guests group. I ran secpol.msc to check the Local Security Policy Settings, and I noticed that Guests had been added to the Security Setting for the "Deny access to this computer from the network" policy. According to TechNet, the default for this policy is "None". Removing Guests from the setting allowed the WMUS_COMPNAME account to function as the anonymous account used by Windows Media Services.

A while ago, I noticed a handle leak in Apple's "Bonjour Service" (yeah, that sounds like something I want running on my system...) - mDNSResponder.exe. I knew right away that that was the executable for the "Bonjour Service" because the name is so helpful. (Joking. Even if it was named after the service, how the heck would I even guess what the "Bonjour Service" did. But I digress...)

The service description is:

Bonjour allows applications like iTunes and Safari to advertise and discover services on the local network. Having Bonjour running enables you to connect to hardware devices like Apple TV and software services like iTunes sharing and AirTunes. If you disable Bonjour, any network service that explicitly depends on it will fail to start.

I put up with the leak for a while, from time to time stopping the service when I thought of it after booting. Most of the time I didn't think of it and the leak did not appear to be having any kind of performance impact on my system (I never saw it get above 80,000 handles). An update (or two?) later, I thought it would be fixed. So I was surprised to find mDNSResponder.exe had more than 55,000 handles when I checked recently with Sysinternals' Process Explorer.

I tried to use Process Explorer's handle pane to see the handles in mDNSResponder.exe, but with that many handles to display, and with Process Explorer running with its default High priority and refreshing every second, the system became rather sluggish. I dropped the priority of Process Explorer with Task Manager, hid the lower-pane view, and gave Handle.exe a shot with handle.exe -a -p mdnsresponder.exe.

I found that the handles being leaked are handles to registry keys - specifically, HKLM\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Services\Tcpip\Parameters. (ControlSet001 is the current control set on my system.)

Since there's not much I can do about the handle leak, I'll disable the service, and hope the next update fixes the problem as surely the next update will set the service to Automatic start. Wonder why the installer doesn't at least set a service such as this as "Delayed Start" in Vista...

Aside from PC Extreme, there are a lot of sites you can check out online for PC repair tips. It can range from hardware to software and will entirely depend on what anyone who has problems with a PC is concerned.

The tips you can get on the web do not usually have to be professional in nature. In fact, the simpler terms used towards guiding people who need to repair their PC is better. Not all people are technically versed on PC terms and making it simple, using synonyms that makes it generally easy to understand will surely be more appreciated for novice PC repair specialists who want to avoid having a technician do it for them and pay professional fees in the process.

Such a recourse is not a cheapskate person. It is something like learning what you can to understand your PC better and avoid these mistakes in the process. The only way to learn in the world of technology is through hands on. Some may call it risky but the fact is that as much as possible, if you can try to resolve the matter with your own efforts, then the better.

The learning process is also something to look forward to. We find most issues on the web resolved by simply sharing the steps you made. Besides, if in case you fail to resolve the issue on your own, you can bring it to the standard PC technicians for repairs. But at least you tried and made paying for it as a last recourse.

For most software that you install, there will be the ideal PC requirements provided so you can be assured of optimum performance for programs and games you will install on your PC. At times, varied differences as far as video specifications, memory and processor capacity will be stated. But while many would see the usual minimal requirements, you have to consider the fact on whether these will be sufficient to satisfy the level of performance you are expecting once these software programs are installed.

Based on experience, it would never hurt to be a step ahead. This entails making sure that you are installing the software on hardware that is a bit advanced. For example, if video card requirements are at least 128 MB, why not install a 256 MB video card if the difference is just a couple of bucks? Or perhaps if memory requires at least 256 RAM, why not go double like 512?

Some may call it overkill but they are really some form of making sure that you get best performance from these programs. Remember that if you go for minimal requirements, you will eventually find yourself wanting better performance and hence upgrading these concerned hardware peripherals in the end.

In summary, do not take the minimal system requirements as a measure of competent utilization of programs. They are placed there so that you know that the program will indeed run. But as far as great performance is concerned, do consider the fact that it is not stated anywhere in that part of the software box for you to ponder on as well.