Different Types Of Faults and Viruses – Essay

In today’s modern society the use of technology is vastly increasing. Technology is progressively becoming a obligatory system that we use in everyday life whether that’s using laptops, phones or computers, we use these types of devices mainly due to the implausible service technology provides such the different types of applications and also the well known internet. Statistics suggest that laptops and computers are a very common type of technological device than any other gadget mainly due to its stability, capacity, simplicity, and portability.

Having a computer requires a lot of care; computers may come across different types of faults which can be time consuming and frustrating to endure. There are several symptoms a computer/laptop can experience when being under threat such has not being able to download anything, very slow browsing or computer won’t come on but this can be avoided by installing firewalls/anti-virus software.

P3: Different types of faults

Viruses-

Viruses are very common in interrupting a computer while it is used in an activity of some sought, Viruses inflict damage by multiplying its self on to another programme without the user’s allowance which then results in the virus doing anything it wants such as destroying a programme and downloading inappropriate content. A virus can occur by surfing a non- trustworthy site, opening ”spam” mail or clicking on fake adverts. A typical virus would mainly access the hard drive of a computer which can result in deleting important information/data. There are many viruses that can penetrate a computer such as macro viruses, File infectors etc.

Error messaging-

Error messages imply that a computer has rejected a certain demand that a user has issued for a specific reason, for example when trying to load or save files you may get an ”out of memory” dialogue box, or when trying to access websites the computer may respond with an ”access denied” dialogue box.

Loss of service-

Loss of service is a certain malfunction while trying performing an operation. Example of Loss of service can be failure in accessing the internet or the system shutting down, or a certain component of the computer is not responding such as the printer, scanner, unable to share resources with other computers or that you cannot interact with other computers.

Poor performance-

Poor performance is the slow response from the system such as on the internet a certain webpage may take a long time to load or a computer is unable to obey a specific command.

In my opinion the internet is the most successful and useful resource in order to find a solution for faults because the internet has unlimited data so if you were looking for information the internet will almost guarantee you a worthy find.

How to resolve these faults

Viruses: Viruses can damage your system in many ways, shape or form, you should contact a help desk in which you will be consulted by an experienced technician if not then visiting forums where people are in the same situation can help, FAQS (frequently asked questions). Another solution can be downloading anti software or firewalls such as Norton. If you are determined to succeed without having to invest then you may consider opening up the computer and trying to adjust the issue.

FAQ

Loss of service: A certain component of a computer may not be functioning e.g. scanner, if this issue occurs the user should refer to the manual given with the scanner at purchase or looking at informative books on a possible solution, or maybe reading trouble shooting guides, you may need to contact your manufacturer for assistance.

Error messages- This type of fault is very frequent when trying to perform a particular procedure, reading trouble shooting guides may be helpful, reading manuals upon the issue or maybe notifying a technician.

Poor performance: a computer may take a long time to load an application such as the internet; a user should contact the local administrator for assistance.

When buying a computer a user should always make sure they have the essential package to adjust faults such as having firewalls and antivirus software etc, and they should always have the links on where to go if these types of problems occur

P4- Source technical information to provide advice and guidance for a variety of faults.

Viewing different sources of information can always help to find a solution to different types of faults, when buying a computer you should consider analyzing what the computer does, its security etc. A user is always given instruction manuals at purchase which are very important because a user may find out how to solve the problems they are having such as poor performance. Alternatively if a manual does solve the issue then a user should consider other options. Below are explanations of each type of sources of information

Sources of technical information

FAQs: Frequently asked questions or FAQs is an online source which lists the most common questions and answers that are based on a problematic situation. FAQs can be written concerning any subject, they are written by users who have become some sought of an expert in a particular field which they have been in themselves in which they have found the solution.

Fault records: it keeps a register of all of the faults that occur, it includes when a fault occurs, why it occurred what do to do solve it.

Specialist expertise: an expert can be the best source to cure a fault because they can gain a better understanding when they have visual indication and then they can solve the issue.

User manuals: The main purpose of user manuals which can also be known as ‘user guide’ is to provide assistance and clarity when using a particular system, object or item. The information a manual supplies is usually written by a professional technological writer.

Technical forums: Technical forums can be known as an online conversation between different users regarding a specific issue they have experienced. This can be an efficient method when finding a solution because there are millions of internet users throughout the world so you are bound to find someone who has had the same issue and that you can seek advice and help from them but you can come across answers that may be biased.

Product specification: A product specification consists of a document that includes the raw material that will be used to make this product, and all the required characteristics

If a user’s computer fails to operate, viewing FAQs can help and actually going to the official company of your computer can help, manufacture lend a major hand in going in to depth with these issues. For example if you have a Compaq laptop or computer and are experiencing difficulties such as faults you can contact the company on their website and address them about this particular situation. http://www.compaq.com/cpq-country/uk/en/cpq_support.html.

A computer is almost guaranteed to experience poor performance once which is when a web page does not load or that something is not loading. When a user’s computer lacks speed it is best to notify a professional technician to make adjustments to the system or possibly upgrading your computer can increase speed. Since my computer is from the company Compaq I would use this source of information on how to increase speed/clearing any junk off the system, http://www.compaq.com/country/articles/index.html.

Browsing sites, opening spam mail can occasionally allow viruses to enter the system mainly the hard drive which can result in deleting important data. Re booting the system can be an option if a user does not want antivirus software but this action may result in data being deleted. Downloading antivirus software or firewalls are the biggest help to defend against viruses. A common anti virus software used by many can be Norton since they provide outstanding protection against spyware and virus programs. http://us.norton.com/antivirus.

Loss of service can be very time consuming and costly if a device of your computer does not work such as printer. A solution can be reading the manual you got with the device at purchase, contacting a specialist or maybe opening up the device yourself and trying to solve the issue. The best solution can be contacting the manufacturer of your computer and inform them.

Error message dialogue boxes are often displayed when you try to perform a certain operation, there are different types of phrases which show an error message has occurred such as ”access denied ‘and ”File not found”. Reading trouble shooting guides can help, open user forums, but in a different scenario, if you are using a Microsoft application and it fails to obey your demand, you may come across a ”send error report” dialogue box in which you can actually address Microsoft regarding this issue, I believe this is the best cure if you are experiencing these type of faults with Microsoft.

But when experiencing error messages while using windows, I believe this source of information may be able to satisfy a user’s needs. http://en.kioskea.net/faq/113-windows-error-codes-and-how-to-fix-them

P5 and P6: Use different communication routes to provide advice and guidance, respond to end users.

Communication is a vital ingredient needed in everyday life, lack of communication can disrupt many people/ organizations in their bid to achieve to their full potential. Communication is a method primarily used to distribute information for a certain purpose whether that can be physically, orally, verbally etc; communication can deliver a user’s factual material, opinions, theory, predictions through to the public. The most common methods of communicating can be through telephones, email and face to face.

Communication can be categorized into three main categories which are telephone, email and face to face:

Communication passing through telephone can be known as verbal communication, because as a technician a user is not visible through the telephone but words are still used to communicate with the user. It is easy to distribute information through telephone because a user can hear your advice on how to address a specific issue, but through this process there are many issues that a user and technician can encounter such as connection failure and loss of signal. In some cases communication via telephone will not help due to the user having only some degree of knowledge on how to solve an issue. This therefore concludes that it is best for a technician to tackle the matter themselves.

Communication through face to face talking can also be known as verbal communication. This type of communication is a more efficient method of solving an issue than any other because a user can show visually the full extent of the issue. A user can give an in-depth insight regarding the problem through talking face to face. This type of communication enables the technician to gain a visual and physical understanding of the issue e.g. printer not connecting, which then can lead to technician taking away the computer and addressing the subject. Below is an example of a face to face conversation:

User: hello

Technician Hi, so what is the issue regarding your computer?

User: I installed a certain programme on my computer (Microsoft word older version) and it seems to keep freezing every often, it keeps saying ”not responding”

Technician: do you use your computer very often if so how long?

User: yes I use my computer for all sorts of studies and also my nephews play a lot of computer games on the PC.

Technician: first of all if your nephews are playing on the computer, always make sure you close the game windows because this can take up the processing power, memory or maybe even try uninstalling them because they can contain harmful viruses. And also make sure that the software you are using is compatible with your windows. Confirm that your PC holds the minimum requests for the software you are using for example the base score of your computer must exceed the software score, if it barely exceeds the software this may cause your computer software to be erratic, the following link describes the base score for a computer and how to match a specific software you would like to use. http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/What-is-the-Windows-Experience-Index

User: Thank you very much for your help, I believe if have found the solution to my issue

Email communication is a written type of communication which demonstrates an issue through a written document. This type of communication media is very different from the others because the user or technician does not have the benefit of voice modulation nor can the recipient receive any form of visual indication, providing the user with a source of technical information may not be certified to use can be an issue, when emailing a user should always be specific about the issue they are enduring if not then a response from a technician can provide information best suited for a different problem.

End users query concerning a fault

A technician’s reply regarding the fault

FAQ

Why does my computer freeze overtime?

What do i do to clean my system?

How often should I clean my system?

Why can’t i run more than 3 applications at once?

Information for technicians reply obtained from http://www.microsoft.com/atwork/maintenance/speed.aspx

http://cobweb2.louisville.edu/faculty/regbruce/bruce//mgmtwebs/commun_f98/Verbal.htm

http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000528.htm

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http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/What-is-the-Windows-Experience-Index