Initial Computer Testing
Click Computers Initial Diagnostic Testing
All Computers being checked in for service receive a series of initial diagnostic tests prior to being passed off to the technicians for further Problem determination and Root cause analysis. The purpose of these initial tests is to identify problems immediately that could cause issues, such as unrecoverable data loss, hardware damage and prevent malicious software/malware and viruses from doing further damage to the computer. Lastly, we understand how important your computer is to our customers your need to have repairs done in a timely manner. Below is a description of our diagnostic tests.
1. RAM/Memory Testing
Symptoms attributed to failing memory can manifest itself in the following ways. The Computer is performing slowly, it’s slow to boot and web pages are slow to load or might not load at all. You might experience programs that freeze randomly or completely shut down or fail to open. The Computer could also experience BSOD, Blue Screens of Death too.
2. Hard Drive Diagnostics
All your data resides on your hard drive and once gone the data cannot be replaced. It’s critical that it stays intact and you always have access to it. Spotting a failing hard drive is the most important diagnostic that can be performed. If your drive is starting to fail it’s paramount that we protect/recover the data before we’re unable to retrieve it. Once we spot a potential hard drive error we immediately stop all other diagnostics and switch to data recovery mode.
These tests include:
- SMART Check
- Short Drive Self Test: 20 to 90 seconds long
- Long Drive Self Test: may take up to 4 hours, progress in 10% increments
- Drive Information: can be saved to the Log file
- Short Generic: three-part test
- Long Generic: progress in 1% increments, sector repair option for USB external
3. Pre-scans:
The purpose of Pre-scan diagnostics it to a quick preliminary scan to spot, isolate, (quarantine) and delete Virus’, Malware and other potentially destructive programs from your computer. The programs can degrade computer performance, change your browser settings, redirect to browser as well and attempt to steal personal information for you.
The vast majority of issues discovered by are Malware called “PUPs”. PUP stands for Potentially Unwanted Programs.
Once all the pre-scans are completed the computer and the issue is still not resolved the Computer is handed off to the technician for bench testing and additional evaluation.