Thursday, 30 May 2013

Task 4: Examples of routine maintenance Unit 25 (P4, D1)

Videos of yourself performing at least one example of routine maintenance in a suitably professional and safe manner from each category: File Systems, Cleaning and Ventilation and Maintaining Systems.






Evaluation 
This types of routine maintenance help to improve the system and make the equipment more useful. For example proper naming and managing files will help to understand what files are about and will make it easier to find the right one.  Cleaning lenses will help to read the disc and also help to keep the DVD drive working for longer period of time as if they are not clean they usually stop working or don't work how they are expected. Changing paper and ink on the printer will make sure that you never run out of them so you always going to be able to print and other people that use the printer will be able to print. All of this routine maintenance will help to improve the quality of the use of computers.  Will also keep them working so they will not have to be repaired or replaced for longer period of time. 

Thursday, 23 May 2013

Task 6: Maintain data security and integrity when applying fault remedies - 25 (M3)

When performing fault remedies user should take in to the consideration Data Security and Data Integrity.  All the data that is stored in the machine that is taken in to the maintains should be secured and backed up if needed. It’s common that data is always backed up when performing fault remedies on servers and hard drives. However all the data should be secured and should come back to the user as it was when the user saves it last time. The data should be also compatible so if any software like for example Microsoft Project have been uninstalled it has to be installed again and the data should be able to open on this software. All the files also should not be corrupted because it’s the same as they wouldn’t be there. 

Task 5: Justify an appropriate remedy for one complex hardware, and one complex software problem (M2, P6)

Hardware Problem: Maya does not allow the user to use high quality rendering or version 2 rendering modes on their laptop.

The Laptop most likely is not meeting the requirement of the software but it also could be a problem with a graphic drivers or graphic card fault. Laptops usually have two graphic cards one is integrated and another one dedicated. The integrated card is usually not as much powerful as dedicated so it would be appropriate to change the graphic card priority in the graphic control power. If the software is still not allowing user to use high quality rendering then user should try updating the drivers for the graphic card as the might be very old so the might be not compatible with the software. If that don’t work I would suggest upgrading the components that don’t meet the requirements and in case of laptops is most likely be easier and not much more expensive to just buy new one.

Software Problem: User cannot run ‘theme hospital’ on their windows 7 machine.


If the user cannot run theme hospital on the windows they should right click on the game.exe and run it in compatibility mode as its any old game so it’s not specified for new operating systems. If that don’t work user should also find and download patch for the game that will update the version of the game to the one that is compatible with Windows 7. Running game as a administrator could also help as sometimes games will not run if the user not chose that option.  User can also install second operating system on the machine for older software and games. Reinstalling the game as well as updating drivers might help to run the game. 

Task 4: Apply fault remedies safely to simple (easily identifiable) IT system problem. (P4, P5, P6)

Machine does not power on.


The first step would be to check if the button on the back of the device is switched on. If it’s off then you have to turn it on in order for the machine to start working make sure you turn all the buttons on. Buttons such as:  Power button/switch on the front of the computer, Power switch on the back of the computer, Power switch on the power strip, surge protector, or UPS.  Find out that the power supply voltage switch is set correctly. If the input voltage for the power supply does not match the correct setting for your country the machine may not power on at all. Most importantly you have to check for disconnected computer power cable connections. Replace the computer's power cable. If your computer is no working power supply unit you should test whether the (PSU)  should be replaced. You should however test it just to be sure. The computer fault could also be that the power on and off button on the back of the computer is not working. This is not usual case but it could happen in this case the power button should be replaced. In worst scenario the problem might be on the motherboard in this case motherboard should be replaced. 

Task 3: Identify sources and select suitable fault remedies from the following list to solve the above problems. (P3)

User experiences erratic performance and system hangs/crashes while using Photoshop CS6 on their Windows XP machine.

The first think to do would be Understanding what the problem is and what is the most successful method to repair it. To make the Photoshop CS work on the Windows Xp machine better I would suggest allocating more RAM memory for the software and updating the hardware to have more RAM. In order to do this user performing repair will need screwdriver, antistatic wrist band and new Ram. User will have to remove the old ram and replace it with the new one or if there is free slot for the ram add it to the old one. The other solution to this problem might be reinstalling the software as there could be a error in process of installing it. If this doesn’t help the only solution is to downgrade to the previous version such as CS5 with might have less requirement or be more compatible with the Windows XP Operating System.  


On boot users machine halts and asks for time and date to be set.

The solution to this would be in the main or system setup screen you should be able to see the date and time. Using your arrow keys, navigate to the date and change the date. Once highlighted on the month, day, or year, press your arrow keys or your page up or page down keys to change the date. These steps may vary for your BIOS. You can also change the date and time by following the steps for your operating system by right clicking on the time on the right bottom corner and changing the date and time to the correct one.  

User cannot access the internet.


This could be cause by many different problems and the first step would be identifying the problem by right clicking on the internet access on the bottom right corner by fallowing all the steps. The build in troubleshooting software should give the case of the problem and suggest the solution. The first thing to do is to check that all the cables are connected to the device. Also using different cable would be suitable to test if it is a cable fault. Another step would be to check the router and the lights on it should indicate the problem. Resetting router settings might help if that doesn’t help replacing the router might be to only chance. Also network card in the pc should be checked in order to find out if that’s the cause of the problem.