UPGRADING REPAIRING PCs

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Chapter 2—System Components and Configuration
• You cannot format a floppy disk.
• The PC starts in Safe mode (Windows 9x/2000/Me).
Spotting Resource Conflicts with Windows 9x/2000/Me
Windows 9x/Me/2000 also show conflicts by highlighting a device
in yellow or red in the Device Manager representation. By using the
Windows Device Manager, you can usually spot the conflicts
quickly (see Figure 2.17).
Keep in mind that many computer viruses can also cause symptoms
similar to hardware resource conflicts. Scan your system for
viruses before you start working on it.
Recording System Settings
Use a System Configuration Template to record system settings.
This sheet is resource-oriented, not device-oriented, to make finding
conflicts easier. You can make a printout of the System
Summary from the Windows 9x/Me/2000 Device Manager to get a
lot of this information. For other operating systems, use the methods
listed earlier.
The first system resource map is provided as a model for your use;
it lists fixed resources on a modern PC. Add the other resources
used on your PC. Note that many high-performance PCI or AGP
video cards do use an IRQ, although some motherboard chipsets
have a provision for disabling the IRQ usage.
Figure 2.17 The yellow circle next to the Adaptec 154x SCSI card indicates
a conflict; view the card resources (right window) to see the conflicting device.