What should I learn (in regard to troubleshooting PCs)

[billdotson]

I want to apply in a year for a job at the technical support center for the local university. I have a year before I am allowed to apply there and I was wondering what I should learn to assure that I will get the job? I have put together 2 PCs as of now, but there are still things like the volt rails on the PSU I do not understand, some hardware troubleshooting I do not understand, choosing hardware for specific purposes for the PC (e.g. what parts if someone wants a multimedia center PC) and some other stuff. Obviously a lot of issues are going to be w/ Windows but I do not know exactly what to learn.

Any advice as I would really like the job.. ?

[Daveski]

So long as you are able to logically eliminate things (in as fewer steps as possible), then you should be able to narrow down where a problem lay. This is the single most important skill in troubleshooting hardware and software in my opinion.

[Polygon]

im taking a info tech class where we go into depth about this sort of thing, maybe look for such a class (its called Info tech for me... might be diff for you)

but common sense and past experiences are your best friends

for example, your example, if someone wants a multimedia PC for just playing music, videos and other basic stuff, they are going to want a big hard drive to store all that stuff, a decently fast CPU and a decent, medium, semi recent video card, and 512 mb of ram at the least

if someone is a hardcore gamer, then obviously they will want a nice video card, nice cpu, lots of memory, fast hard drive (sata cause sata is faster then IDE) etc.

pick up a pc hardware book and just start reading. I personally love my copy of o'rileys PC hardware in a nutshell gives indepth guides to all sorts of hardware, and even goes over building a pc.

[mips]

CompTIA A+

The things you mention seem pretty basic and the above will more than cover it.

[Bartender]

Get this book
http://www.amazon.com/Upgrading-Repairing-17th-Scott-Mueller/dp/0789734044

I think the 17th edition is the latest. If you're tight on cash, you'll find copies of 16th edition for less. Scott's books are just amazing. He has a knack for explaining esoteric stuff in a way that even I can comprehend.

[wpshooter]

I want to apply in a year for a job at the technical support center for the local university. I have a year before I am allowed to apply there and I was wondering what I should learn to assure that I will get the job? I have put together 2 PCs as of now, but there are still things like the volt rails on the PSU I do not understand, some hardware troubleshooting I do not understand, choosing hardware for specific purposes for the PC (e.g. what parts if someone wants a multimedia center PC) and some other stuff. Obviously a lot of issues are going to be w/ Windows but I do not know exactly what to learn.

Any advice as I would really like the job.. ?

Dear Billdotson:

This is a very competitive field. Unless you have far more EDUCATION and background in computer science than just putting a couple of computers together and perhaps reading some technical reference books then if is very unlikely that you are going to get much consideration for a technical support position at a university. These jobs usually go to people that have DEGREES from places like ECPI and Devry and similar technical schools.

I don't mean to be harsh, but I just don't want you to be hoping for something that you might have little, if any, chance for.

Good luck.

[mand0]

Dear Billdotson:

This is a very competitive field. Unless you have far more EDUCATION and background in computer science than just putting a couple of computers together and perhaps reading some technical reference books then if is very unlikely that you are going to get much consideration for a technical support position at a university. These jobs usually go to people that have DEGREES from places like ECPI and Devry and similar technical schools.

I don't mean to be harsh, but I just don't want you to be hoping for something that you might have little, if any, chance for.

Good luck.

It may be competitive but I think it's unwise to be so negative. I went to university and got a degree in finance. Ends up I don't like it much, now I have a simliar job as the original poster describes with no formal education; got it based on my hobby experience only. Though what you say may have some truth to it, it's important to try. And plus, by the way the original poster describes it seems like a job that college students with less formal education often do.

[afljafa]

Well - in regards to troubleshooting - experience rules i`m afraid. Theory will only get you part of the way there

[billdotson]

almost all of the employees in the tech support center are university students.. there are only 2 that are not in college.

[belikralj]

I have little experience in this sort of thing but from what I know even the profesionals have difficulties sometimes in this field, just because you have a piece of paper doesn't make you instantly an expert (still it is handy) all you need to do is have a play around a pc doing all sorts of settups, as the guys before me said, experience will halp a lot more. Also knowing a few good sights on where to look for compatibility issues for the components you are installing (before you order them) could save you some trouble, forgive me if I don't post the sights as it appears the're not in my bookmarks any more. You just need common sense that's all, for the price they want you make give them the best components you can, remembering that the whole computer is as fast as it's slowest part. if you get a slow grafics card and a super fast processor for a gamer, it's no good is it, because the graphics will not keep up with the game. Hardware in my experience is a lot of guess and check (educated guessing), you don't know till you put it together

[hardyn]

So long as you are able to logically eliminate things (in as fewer steps as possible), then you should be able to narrow down where a problem lay. This is the single most important skill in troubleshooting hardware and software in my opinion.

Agreed... A good problem solver really just able to see things as discrete systems, and be able to think about these systems in a logical pattern... AND stay cool, and not get frustrated... a problem is just a puzzle that needs solving.

trouble shooting is really much like:

neck bone is connected to the shoulder bone.... etc...

start from one end eliminating things until you can find where a problem might be... after a little while experience takes over, and computers cease to be scary.

[billdotson]

but where would I go to/ how would you recommend me prepare for it?

I know that troubleshooting is educated guess and check but it would benefit me to know what are common signs of certain things.

Like for Ex: Freezing at the BIOS screen- generally power issues, could be motherboard or RAM incompatibility

How should I go about learning these things.. like signs of certain issues w/ (I guess) the most common parts: RAM, CPU, power supplies, video card and so on.

I guess what I need to know is the common issues w/ certain hardware parts and how to troubleshoot Windows XP and Vista OSes.

I would guess that almost all the problems w/ XP and Vista will be virus/spyware/adware/trojan issues and I would like to know how to learn to get rid of those manually.. as some scanners miss them.

Thanks.

[Daveski]

but where would I go to/ how would you recommend me prepare for it?

There really is no substitute for experience. You should get fixing problems right now. Get a load of really cheap (or even being thrown away) hardware and build machines. Install the OSes you want to learn to fix and start trying to get everything working together.
If a machine works perfectly, swap out some components until you find a faulty one, or one which causes probs with the machine. Install and uninstall all the software and applications you can get your hands on, uninstall and reinstall, configure and reconfigure until you get problems - then try to figure out what the problem is a try to fix it.
Search the internet and post requests for information in forums - share any insights you have or solutions to problems you have fixed.



I guess what I need to know is the common issues w/ certain hardware parts and how to troubleshoot Windows XP and Vista OSes.

You will learn FAR more about computers in general, and about hardware/software if you learn about Linux. If you want to specialise in Windows then you only need trawl through the hundreds of MSKB (Microsoft Knowledgebase) articles on their website. Most of these will suggest command line tools and/or tweaking the registry.

[billdotson]

finding old hardware as you recommended could be quite a chore to find. There aren't exactly a bunch of people throwing out old computers. If they are they are being sold on state surplus as the university puts all their discarded stuff on surplus and you have to pay for it.

I might be able to find some old computers laying around but finding one or two old ones is going to be a long shot.

Surely there is somewhere where I can look at issues w/ hardware as I said earlier.. like symptoms of certain types of hardware not working correctly??

I know that I will learn a lot about computers w/ Linux but I am sure that not many university students bring their computers in for help w/ their Linux OS. It will either be a virus/spyware/adware/trojan on Windows or a hardware issue. I am not saying I am not going to learn Linux as I like learning new stuff w/ Linux, but I need to know how to remove viruses/spyware/trojan/adware manually in addition to hardware troubleshooting because almost all the people that are going to bring in computers for support are gonig to have those sort of issues. It is not so much that I am asking what is the best to learn but how should I prepare.. as the tech support @ the university many of the issues will be w/ Windows.

[hanzomon4]

Well, I get where you're comming from I think....

You want to know how to go about gaining experience to prepare you for this job/career. There's quiet a few ways to go about this, I suggest the following...

Fix family's, friend's, or neighbor's computers They'll trust you faster then any job, so it would be a good way to gain real-world experience without flashing around a degree



Do tech's have to pass standardized test? I don't know but check it out. If they do go to books-a-million and read the "test prep" guides (think sat/act prep books). This will give you an idea on where to focus your attention as you go about learning techy stuff



People love, hate, and need interns Because their cheap(free) and make old hats feel all "Mr.Miyagi". Just explain your situation and level of experience and ask for an internship. My brother did the same thing for a dj gig at 14 now he's the highest rated dj in the area and is producing and selling a syndicated show.

Just stick to your guns and you'll go far. I'm sorry that I can't offer specifics but I'm not in the industry.
I know how to fix stuff(and do fix stuff for family/friends) but I'm more of a hobbyist techno-geek.

[mips]

Troubleshooting involves two main things Methodology & Experience. Thing is the first one can be taught to a degree but goes hand-in-hand with experience which takes time.

The two above components seem scares in todays world. Call tech support or ask your pc geek and to the experienced you will see they have very little methodology. Call centre staff just go via a tick sheet to solve problems and there is no thinking involved. You can see this when you present them with a clear discription of a problem, they start with "Is it switched on" etc and you can tell they are getting further away from the solution the longer they carry on.

Real/proper tech support is scares these days. Everyone is an 'expert' but knows just a bit more than the average joe in the street.