Troubleshoot Windows Checklist

If your computer is crashing frequently, appears to be running slowly or has some other type of problem, you may be able to fix it yourself by following a few simple procedures. If the problem persists after executing these procedures, you can take your computer to Technology Services G2G  828-2229 for repair.

If you don't feel comfortable doing this checklist yourself, please call the Help Desk at (804) 828-2227 and schedule a one-hour appointment with a professional who will sit with you as you perform the checklist. 

DISCLAIMER: These recommendations derive from previous experiences dealing with similar issues. VCU accepts no responsibility for anything that may happen to the machine. If you choose to follow this simple checklist, you are accepting full responsibility for anything that may happen to the machine.

Step 1:  Backup

This is always step one.  Do this whenever you are going to do something to your computer.  Do it now.  Do it every time.  Just do it!

Save all your important data such as pictures, school work,  music (legal only, of course!), documents, etc., to some kind of external medium such as a CD, floppy disk or memory stick (if you don't have too much, you can use VCUFiles). If the system fails, your hard disk may have to be replaced or reformatted and all your information may be lost.

Okay, now that that's done, you can do some fixin'...

Step 2:  Is your anti-virus software up-to-date?

• Are you using the Sophos managed anti-virus client?

  Download the program for free or get a free Digital Tool Kit at the HelpDesk (Cabell B-9 or Sanger B-001).

• Are all the anti-virus definitions up to date?

  • Open Sophos
  • Look in the upper left corner under "Status" and see when the last update time was.
  • If the last up date time is today, your Sophos program is up to date.
  • If the last up date time is over two days old, close Sophos and follow step 5.
  • Double click the Blue shield to start a manual update.
  • Once the update completes, open Sophos again and check the last update time.
  • If the last update time is not today, See the first question on the FAQ list (Why is there a white X over the Sophos icon next to my clock).

• Has a complete scan of the system been done?

  Sophos will automatically scan for viruses, and will quarantine in place any virus it finds so it won't infect your computer. But if you want to manually scan for viruses and want to know more about what to do with them if Sophos finds them, we've created a short PDF to help you do that. Download it here.

Step 3:  Install and Run Ad-Aware

• Have you downloaded, updated the definition files and run Ad-Aware?

  (This url given needs to be on a single line in your browser.)
  
  http://www.download.com/Ad-Aware-SE-Personal-Edition/3000-8022_4-10319876.html?tag=lst-0-4
  
  
  1. Start Ad-Aware (under Start - Programs - Lavasoft AdAware)
  2. Under Sections to scan on the left, check the "My Computer" box, then uncheck the boxes for any Removable drives, such as your floppy drive or CD/DVD drive.
  3. Click the Scan Now button and wait while the program scans your computer.
  4. When the program finishes scanning, it will tell you how many "components" it found. Click the Continue button.
  5. Right-click in the Detected components window and choose Check All. Click the Continue button.
  6. Click OK in the "Confirmation" box.
  7. Click OK when it says "Cleaning finished," then close the program.

Step 4:  Install and Run Spybot

• Have you downloaded, updated the definition files, and run Spybot?

  (The url given needs to be on a single line in your browser.)
  
  http://www.download.com/Spybot-Search-Destroy/3000-8022-10289035.html?tag=lst-0-2
  
  
  1. Start Spybot (under Start - Programs - Spybot - Search & Destroy).
  2. Click Check for Problems and wait while the program scans your computer.
  3. When the program finishes scanning, it will show you the items it found.
  4. Choose the items you wish to remove (you can get more information by clicking on each one), or choose Select all items to remove them all. Click the Fix selected problems button.
  5. Click Yes in the confirmation box.
  6. When the program is finished, you may close the program.

Step 5:  Install and Run CW Shredder

• Have you downloaded, updated the definition files, and run CWShredder?

  (The url given needs to be on a single line in your browser.)
  
  http://www.majorgeeks.com/download4086.html
  
  
  1. Follow instructions with the program to run.

Step 6:  Clean off all those "free" goodies

These are usually proof that you get what you pay for, and they can often mess up your computer!

• Have you removed any file-sharing software (Kazaa, Morpheus, iMesh, etc.)?

• Have you removed any "search" programs?

• Have you removed any "toolbars"?

• Have you removed all "freeware" such as: weatherbug, yahoo companion, etc.?

• Have you removed all third-party screensavers, etc.?

  1. Go to Start - Control Panel - Add and Remove Programs
  2. Find the program, highlight it, then click Remove, Add/Remove, or Change/Remove
  3. If it says that it can't uninstall it because it's running, then you'll need to exit out of it first. To do so:
     1. Go to your Task Manager/Task List (you may need to press CTRL + ALT + DELETE once to get to this).
     2. Find the program (e.g., kazaa.exe, imesh.exe,) in the list (you may have to switch to the Processes tab). Click once on it to highlight, and then click the End Process/End Task button. You may have to do this more than once.
     3. Once the program closes, go back to Add/Remove Programs and try again to remove it.
  4. Repeat for each file-sharing program you have installed.

Step 7:  The Final Frontier

• Consider formatting the hard drive and reinstalling the Operating System. Remember, if you choose this option, all information on the hard drive will be lost. Also, you must have the Operating System software disk in order to reinstall it.
  • This has the best results because the system is a fresh copy.
• Consider repairing the Operating System using a tool such as Windoc.
  • This has the second best results; not all issues may be resolved.
• Call the Help Desk:  804-828-2227 or help@vcu.edu.