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Troubleshooting Hardware, Driver, and Disk Issues

This tutorial describes how to use the Windows 7 operating system to troubleshoot common hardware problems. This tutorial is not intended to be a comprehensive guide to troubleshooting hardware; instead, it focuses on using Windows diagnostic and troubleshooting tools to solve hardware problems. First, this tutorial describes improvements to Windows 7 that simplify the process of troubleshooting hardware problems. Then the tutorial describes the process of using Windows tools for troubleshooting hardware problems.

In this tutorial:

  1. Windows 7 Improvements for Hardware and Driver Troubleshooting
  2. Windows Troubleshooting Platform
  3. Built-in Troubleshooting Packs
  4. Windows Troubleshooting Platform Components
  5. Creating Custom Troubleshooting Packs
  6. Running Troubleshooting Packs Remotely
  7. Windows 7 Reliability Monitor
  8. Windows 7 Resource Monitor
  9. Windows Memory Diagnostics
  10. Disk Failure Diagnostics
  11. Self-Healing NTFS
  12. Improved Driver Reliability
  13. Improved Error Reporting
  14. The Process of Troubleshooting Hardware Issues
  15. How to Troubleshoot Problems That Prevent Windows from Starting
  16. How to Troubleshoot Problems Installing New Hardware
  17. How to Troubleshoot Problems with Existing Hardware
  18. How to Troubleshoot Unpredictable Symptoms
  19. How to Diagnose Hardware Problems
  20. How to Use Device Manager to Identify Failed Devices
  21. How to Check the Physical Setup of Your Computer
  22. How to Check the Configuration of Your Hardware
  23. How to Verify That System Firmware and Peripheral Firmware Are Up to Date
  24. How to Test Your Hardware by Running Diagnostic Tools
  25. How to Simplify Your Hardware Configuration
  26. How to Diagnose Disk-Related Problems
  27. How to Use Built-In Diagnostics
  28. How to Use Reliability Monitor
  29. How to Use Event Viewer
  30. How to Use Data Collector Sets
  31. How to Use Windows Memory Diagnostics
  32. Memory Failures
  33. How Windows Automatically Detects Memory Problems
  34. How to Schedule Windows Memory Diagnostics
  35. How to Start Windows Memory Diagnostics When Windows Is Installed
  36. How to Start Windows Memory Diagnostics from the Windows DVD
  37. How to Configure Windows Memory Diagnostics
  38. How to Troubleshoot Disk Problems
  39. How to Prepare for Disk Failures
  40. How to Use ChkDsk
  41. ChkDsk Examples
  42. ChkDsk Syntax
  43. How to Use the Graphical ChkDsk Interface
  44. How to Determine Whether ChkDsk Is Scheduled to Run
  45. ChkDsk Process on NTFS Volumes
  46. How to Use the Disk Cleanup Wizard
  47. How to Disable Nonvolatile Caching
  48. How to Troubleshoot Driver Problems
  49. How to Find Updated Drivers
  50. How to Roll Back Drivers in Windows 7
  51. How to Use Driver Verifier
  52. How to Use the File Signature Verification
  53. How to Use Device Manager to View and Change Resource Usage
  54. How to Use Windows 7 System Restore
  55. How to Troubleshoot USB Problems
  56. How to Solve USB Driver and Hardware Problems
  57. Understanding USB Limitations
  58. How to Identify USB Problems Using Performance Monitor
  59. How to Examine USB Hubs
  60. How to Troubleshoot Bluetooth Problems
  61. Troubleshooting Tools
  62. DiskView
  63. Handle
  64. Process Monitor