Troubleshooting Most Common WIndows Problem's

Blue Screen Error in Windows..
Windows 8 Blue Screen


Blue Screens are one of the most common errors that people think of when a system crashes. The screen will appear if an error causes windows to cease operating, and either shut down or reboot. The BSOD error houses two important information (windows 8 has only one of those);

The first of which is at the top of the error;

Is known to most as a bug check. This will state the problem that has caused the error, most times listing a file that caused the problem. When fixing a BSOD error, this is the first thing you’ll use.

Houses what is called the STOP code. The first part of the information is called the Bugcheck code (what is written above, but with numbers/letters). The second part of this section, which is the stuff that is in brackets, are the paramaters. When browsing for support on the issue, you might come across a Microsoft page with the code listed in a table. In this table it will list paramaters and the error behind each parameter. Each set of code in the bracket is a parameter (parameter 1, 2, 3 etc..). Without this piece of information, it is very hard to fix an error.

So how do I fix it

There is not one method to fix a blue screen. As the blue screen itself only provides a means to determine what has caused the error in the first place. If you missed the error code, or never bothered to write it down, then there is a nifty program called BluescreenView to help you;

Download link

This program scans the minidump, to where windows will log the error, and display it in a table. It will also show you the files involved within the error, and list the results for easy fixing. You can also view the Blue screen itself if it makes it easier.

Now once you have found the bug check, files involved and the parameters to the bug check, you can start fixing. But as there are thousands of errors, there are also thousands of problems.

About.com has a really nice list with all of the codes listed. Link Here.

You have two options to fix your problem, you can either google your BugCheck code, from there (using the paramaters) pinpoint the problem and google it to find the fix. If that doesn’t work for you, or you are unsure as to how to fix the problem, you’re more than welcome to make a thread in this section, and someone will help you out!

What is Piconet

Piconet

Definition - What does Piconet mean?

A piconet is a network of devices connected using Bluetooth technology. The network ranges from two to eight connected devices. When a network is established, one device takes the role of the master while all the other devices act as slaves.

Piconet gets its name from the word "pico", which means very small. This very small network is so called because the number is limited to seven devices, plus the master, which limits network and data sharing capability. Data transfer rates vary from 200 to 2,100 kbps at the application.

A piconet is sometimes called a personal area network (PAN) because the range of optimal operation for Bluetooth is 10 meters, about the size of a living room.

Techopedia explains Piconet

A piconet is usually implemented with small mobile devices or home devices that need to communicate with each other.

A good example of a piconet is the Playstation 3 (PS3) console gaming system. Instead of having wired controllers, the PS3 implements Bluetooth technology to connect up to four controllers at the same time. The main console acts as the master and the controllers act as slaves. Newer home appliances are also able to communicate through Bluetooth.

Basic Primary Partition,Extended Partition and Logical Partition

Primary Partition, Logical Partition and Extended Partition (Disk Partition Basic)

A disk partition is a defined storage space on a hard drive. All Windows operating systems can let users divide a hard disk into multiple partitions, in this way, making one physical hard disk into several smaller logical partitions. To store classified data, multiple partitions on a disk can organize his data more effectively. On Microsoft Windows system, the OS was installed in one partition and other some partition is created to store user data, documents or games. This benefit is when a problem occurs with Windows system; the OS partition can be totally destroyed and reinstalled, but this does not affect the data partition.

Some users may split a hard disk into multiple partitions because smaller partitions offer smaller cluster sizes. A cluster size is the smallest chunk of data which a partition can store. A large partition might have a cluster size of 64KB. This means that a file with one word in it will occupy 64KB of space on the disk. In a smaller partition, that file might only require 2KB to store. This is a useful policy if you need to save a large number of small files.

You can create, delete and format partition through using the diskpart.exe command. Many operating systems also have graphical tools which accomplish the same task such as Partition Assistant. The Partition Assistant is a free partition manager. It not only can partition on a disk, but also resize/move a partition to adjust the size of the partition to optimize disk space usage.

The following is Disk Partition Related Glossary

Primary Partition and Active Partition:

A primary partition is in which an Operating System can be installed. One hard disk may contain a maximum of 4 primary partitions. An active partition is based on primary partition. Any one of the 4 primary partitions can be set as active partition. Since there can be 4 primary partitions with 4 different Operating Systems installed, one of the partition that is marked active is used for the initial booting. The active partition contains the boot loader (such as ntldr or bootmgr) to load operating systems from a disk.

Extended Partition and Logical Partition:

Because the primary only can be created four maximum, this need to use extended partition to break the limitation of 4 partitions. In an Extended Partition you can create unlimited logical partition. You can store data in the logical partitions similar with primary partition, but the extended partition is not used to store data, because the Extended Partition is used to hold logical partitions, at the same time, there is one extended partition on a disk.

Partition Table:

Partition Table is a storage space which records some information about primary, extended and logical partitions. Further, the create/delete/resize of any partition all will modify the partition table to reflect the changes permanently. If partition table is crashed by virus or other stuffs, you partition will lost, so the table is extremely important.

CD-ROM Drvie

disc, the conversion from coded information back to a byte is accomplished from a look-up table. This table is in a ROM on the disc drive. Three additional bits are added to each 14-bit code to provide separation and low-frequency suppression. TOPIC 2—CD-ROM DRIVES Although still relatively new, CD-ROM drives are becoming popular as a tertiary storage media device. CD-ROM drives vary by manufacturers in the method the data is read from the disk and the laser system used, but the basic operation is similar. In this section, we cover  the  common  components  and  operation  of CD-ROM drives. The  basic  components  of  the CD-ROM drive are the following: l l l l Optical head Turntable Computer interface section Microprocessor based control system.

 

Figure 11-3 shows a basic block diagram of a CD-ROM drive. OPTICAL HEAD The optical head contains the circuitry to read the data from the disc. This unit usually consists of four main subassemblies; (1) the laser, used to generate a light beam; (2) a lens system, to focus the laser beam on the disc and to direct the reflected light to the photodetector; (3) a series of servomotors that controls the position of the laser and lenses to ensure proper tracking  and  focus;  and  (4)  a  photodetector,  that evaluates the reflected light and converts the light to electrical   impulses. Laser The laser in a CD-ROM drive is generally a small injection  laser  diode  that  emits  light  in  the  infrared band. An injection laser is energized by injecting it with an  electric  current  across  a  semiconductor  junction. Injection laser diodes are the smallest laser light source. They are highly efficient and mass produced.

 

How Data is stored on Hard Disk

Hard disk is a common data storage used in computers. Data is stored on the hard disk in the form of 0 and 1. Through this article we will find out how actually data is stored on the hard disk drive.  The part of the hard disk that stores the data is known as platter. Platters are circular disk made of a non magnetic material typically aluminum alloy, glass or ceramic and are coated with a thin layer (10-20nm) of a magnetic material. Platters are further separated in to the tracks and sectors where tracks are concentric circles while sectors are pie shaped wedges on the track.


                  
                                               Hard disk stores information in the form of magnetic fields. Data is stored digitally in the form of tiny magnetized regions on the platter where each region represents a bit. To write a data on the hard disk, a magnetic field is placed on the tiny field in one of these two polarities: N-S – If North Pole arrives before the south pole and S-N – if the south pole arrives before the north pole while the field is accessed.  An orientation in the one direction (like N-S) can represent the ‘1’ while the opposite orientation (S-N) represents “0”. This polarity is sensed by integrated controllers built within the hard disk.

Introduction Computer Motherboard

Now let’s dive into the pc box. The whole computer is built up around a motherboard, and it is the most important component in the PC.
In this chapter I will introduce the motherboard and it’s components.

Construction of the motherboard.

The CPU.

The busses.

Chipsets (controllers).
I will work through the individual components in more detail later in the guide. This chapter will describe the architecture in “broader” brush strokes.

Data exchange in the motherboard

The motherboard is a large printed circuit board, which has lots of chips, connectors and other electronics mounted on it. Computer nerds simply call it a board.
Inside the PC, data is constantly being exchanged between or via the various devices shown in Fig. 17. Most of the data exchange takes place on the motherboard itself, where all the components are connected to each other:

Fig.  23. Data exchange on the motherboard.
In relation to the PC’s external devices, the motherboard functions like a central railway station.

Fig.  24. The motherboard is the hub of all data exchange.
All traffic originates from or ends up in the motherboard; which is appropriately called the most important component of the PC. I will show you pictures of the individual components of the motherboard later, but this is what it looks like as a total unit:

Fig.  25. A motherboard is a board covered with electronics.

Find your motherboard

If you are in position to look at a motherboard, I would recommend you do so. It is a very good exercise to try to identify the various components on a motherboard.
The motherboard is really just a big plastic sheet which is full of electrical conductors. The conductors (also called tracks) run across and down, and in several layers, in order to connect all the individual components, and transfer data between them.
The motherboard is mounted in the PC box using small plastic brackets and screws. The cabinet and the motherboard are made to suit each other, so there are holes in the metal for the connectors mounted on the board. Finally, the motherboard has to be connected to the PC’s power supply installed in the cabinet. This is done using a standard connector:

Fig. 26. The power supply is connected to the motherboard via a multicoloured cable and a large white plastic connector.
Now we’ll look at the various types of components on the motherboard.

Chips

The active devices on the motherboard are gathered together in chips. These are tiny electronic circuits which are crammed with transistors. The chips have various functions. For example, there are:

ROM chips, which store the BIOS and other programs.

CMOS storage, which contains user-defined data used by the setup program.

The chipset, which normally consists of two, so-called controllers, which incorporate a number of very essential functions.
You’ll learn a lot about these chips and their functions later in the guide.

Sockets

You will also find sockets on the motherboard. These are holders, which have been soldered to the motherboard. The sockets are built to exactly match a card or a chip.
This is how a number of components are directly connected to the motherboard. For example, there are sockets (slots) to mount:

The CPU and working storage (the RAM modules).

Expansion cards, also called adapters (PCI, AGP and AMR slots, etc.).
The idea of a socket is, that you can install a component directly on the motherboard without needing special tools. The component has to be pushed carefully and firmly into the socket, and will then hopefully stay there.

Fig. 27. Here you can see three (white) PCI sockets, in which plug-in cards can be installed.

Plugs, connectors and ports…

The motherboard also contains a number of inputs and outputs, to which various equipment can be connected. Most ports (also called I/O ports) can be seen where they end in a connector at the back of the PC. These are:

Ports for the keyboard and mouse.

Serial ports, the parallel port, and USB ports.

Sockets for speakers/microphone etc.
Often, the various connectors are soldered onto the motherboard, so that the external components, like the keyboard, mouse, printer, speakers, etc., can be connected directly to the motherboard.

Fig.  28. Connectors mounted directly on a motherboard.
In addition to these sockets, connectors and ports, the motherboard contains a number of other contacts. These include:

The big connector which supplies the motherboard with power from the power supply (see Fig. 26.

Other connectors for the diskette drive, hard disk, CD-ROM drive, etc.

So-called jumpers, which are used on some motherboards to configure voltage and various operating speeds, etc.

A number of pins used to connect the reset button, LED for hard disk activity, built-in speaker, etc.

Fig.  29. A connector can be an array of pins like this, which suits a special cable.
Take a look at Fig. 30 and Fig. 31, which show connectors and jumpers from two different motherboards.


Fig. 30. The tiny connectors and jumpers that are hidden on any motherboard.
The ROM BIOS chip (Award brand), inFig. 31, contains a small collection of programs (software) which are permanently stored on the motherboard, and which are used, for example, when the PC starts up:

Fig. 31. At the bottom left, you can see the two rows of pins which connect, for example, to the little speaker inside the cabinet. On the bottom right you can see two “jumpers”.
The round thing in Fig. 31 is the motherboard battery, which maintains the clock function and any settings saved in the CMOS storage

Recording Technique

Magnetic storage is essentially an analog medium. The data a PC stores on it, however, is digital information—that is, 1s and 0s. When the drive sends digital information to a magnetic recording head, the head creates magnetic domains on the storage medium with specific polarities corresponding to the positive and negative voltages the drive applies to the head. The flux reversals form the boundaries between the areas of positive and negative polarity that the drive controller uses to encode the digital data onto the analog medium. During a read operation, each flux reversal the drive detects generates a positive or negative pulse that the device uses to reconstruct the original binary data.

To optimize the placement of flux transitions during magnetic storage, the drive passes the raw digital input data through a device called an encoder/decoder (endec), which converts the raw binary information to a waveform designed to optimally place the flux transitions (pulses) on the media. During a read operation, the endec reverses the process and decodes the pulse train back into the original binary data. Over the years, several schemes for encoding data in this manner have been developed; some are better or more efficient than others, which you see later in this section.


Other descriptions of the data-encoding process might be much simpler, but they omit the facts that make some of the issues related to hard drive reliability so critical—namely, timing. Engineers and designers are constantly pushing the envelope to stuff more and more bits of information into the limited quantity of magnetic flux reversals per inch. What they’ve come up with, essentially, is a design in which the bits of information are decoded not only from the presence or absence of flux reversals, but from the timing between them. The more accurately they can time the reversals, the more information that can be encoded (and subsequently decoded) from that timing information.

In any form of binary signaling, the use of timing is significant. When a read or write waveform is interpreted, the timing of each voltage transition event is critical. Timing is what defines a particular bit or transition cell—that is, the time window within which the drive is either writing or reading a transition. If the timing is off, a given voltage transition might be recognized at the wrong time as being in a different cell, which would throw the conversion or encoding off, resulting in bits being missed, added, or misinterpreted. To ensure that the timing is precise, the transmitting and receiving devices must be in perfect synchronization. For example, if recording a 0 is done by placing no transition on the disk for a given time period or cell, imagine recording ten 0 bits in a row—you would have a long period of time (ten cells) with no activity, no transitions at all.

Imagine now that the clock on the encoder was slightly off time while reading data as compared to when it was originally written. If it were fast, the encoder might think that during this long stretch of 10 cells with no transitions, only nine cells had actually elapsed. Or if it were slow, it might think that 11 cells had elapsed instead. In either case, this would result in a read error, meaning the bits that were originally written would not be read as being the same. To prevent timing errors in drive encoding/decoding, perfect synchronization is necessary between the reading and writing processes. This synchronization often is accomplished by adding a separate timing signal, called a clock signal, to the transmission between the two devices. The clock and data signals also can be combined and transmitted as a single signal. Most magnetic data-encoding schemes use this type of combination of clock and data signals.

Adding a clock signal to the data ensures that the communicating devices can accurately interpret the individual bit cells. Each bit cell is bounded by two other cells containing the clock transitions. Because clock information is sent along with the data, the clocks remain in sync, even if the medium contains a long string of identical 0 bits. Unfortunately, the transition cells used solely for timing take up space on the medium that could otherwise be used for data.

Because the number of flux transitions a drive can record in a given space on a particular medium is limited by the physical nature or density of the medium and the head technology, drive engineers have developed various ways of encoding the data by using a minimum number of flux reversals (taking into consideration the fact that some flux reversals used solely for clocking are required). Signal encoding enables the system to make the maximum use of a given drive hardware technology.

Although various encoding schemes have been tried, only a few are popular today. Over the years, these three basic types have been the most popular:

• Frequency Modulation
• Modified Frequency Modulation
• Run Length Limited

The following sections examine these codes, how they work, where they are used, and any advantages or disadvantages that apply to them. It will help to refer to the image on page six of this piece as you read the descriptions of these encoding schemes because this figure depicts how each of them would store an “X” on the same media.

Frequency Modulation Encoding

One of the earliest techniques for encoding data for magnetic storage is called Frequency Modulation encoding. This encoding scheme—sometimes called Single-Density encoding—was used in the earliest floppy disk drives installed in PC systems. The original Osborne portable computer, for example, used these single-density floppy disk drives, which stored about 80 KB of data on a single disk. Although it was popular until the late 1970s, FM encoding is no longer used.

Modified FM Encoding

Modified Frequency Modulation encoding was devised to reduce the number of flux reversals used in the original FM encoding scheme and, thus, to pack more data onto the disk. MFM encoding minimizes the use of clock transitions, leaving more room for the data. It records clock transitions only when a stored 0 bit is preceded by another 0 bit; in all other cases, a clock transition is not required. Because MFM minimizes the use of clock transitions, it can double the clock frequency used by FM encoding, which enables it to store twice as many data bits in the same number of flux transitions.

Because MFM encoding writes twice as many data bits by using the same number of flux reversals as FM, the clock speed of the data is doubled and the drive actually sees the same number of total flux reversals as with FM. This means a drive using MFM encoding reads and writes data at twice the speed of FM, even though the drive sees the flux reversals arriving at the same frequency as in FM.

Because it is twice as efficient as FM encoding, MFM encoding also has been called double-density recording. MFM is used in virtually all PC floppy disk drives today and was used in nearly all PC hard disks for a number of years. Today, virtually all hard disks use variations of RLL encoding, which provides even greater efficiency than MFM.

The table below shows the data bit-to-flux reversal translation in MFM encoding.

MFM Data-to-Flux Transition Encoding
Data Bit Value	Flux Encoding
1	NT
0 preceded by 0	TN
0 preceded by 1	NN
T = Flux transition, N = No flux transition