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"When I started working on PCs back in the mid-80's, there were thirty-six individual memory chips to be inserted in motherboard sockets. Today's computers don't have half that many individual parts! But the basic tool for troubleshooting PC problems remains unchanged - it's your brain. Swapping parts without thinking about it may work in production environments where there are endless supplies of spare parts lying around, but if you're trying to troubleshoot your home computer or out on a field service job, you won't have that luxury. The majority of computer problems turn out to be software issues, especially malicious software. But intermittent hardware failures can baffle the best technicians, and the only way to work around them is to adopt a systematic approach to troubleshooting rather than shooting from the hip. The approach I teach through my websites and books is to a process of elimination that narrows down the possibilities until the failure can be identified. When you master the basic troubleshooting technique, you'll be able to apply the lesson to technologies and situations not covered here. The flowcharts below are miniatures excerpted from my book "Computer Repair with Diagnostic Flowcharts" which is used by home hobbyists as well as for a course text in technical colleges and a field guide for technicians. "

Cheap gear that you may want to buy for a classroom.