MCDST : Supporting Users and Troubleshooting a Microsoft Windows XP Operating System Chapter 9: Troubleshooting Power Management and I/O Devices

Guide to MCDST Objectives Understand and troubleshoot power management Understand and troubleshoot I/O devices

Guide to MCDST Power Management Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) –Extends battery life by powering down unused devices –Can control the system using soft power switches –Makes PC cards able to be hot-swapped and notebooks to be hot-docked

Guide to MCDST Power Management (continued)

Guide to MCDST Power Options Applet is used to set system’s power-saving and battery management features Typical tabs found in dialog box –Power Schemes –Alarms (notebook only) –Power Meter (notebook only) –Advanced –Hibernate –UPS

Guide to MCDST Power Options (continued)

Guide to MCDST Power Options (continued)

Guide to MCDST Power Options (continued)

Guide to MCDST Standby Versus Hibernate Standby –Mode in which system goes into a lower power consumption mode –System can quickly return from Standby mode to fully operational mode in a few seconds Hibernation mode –State of system is saved to temporary data file on hard drive and computer is fully powered off

Guide to MCDST Troubleshooting Power Management Issues ACPI-related problems –The system will not shut down –Standby and Hibernate modes are not available –Devices malfunction after restoring from standby or hibernation –The system is unable to resume from standby or hibernation –The monitor will not power back on after being powered off by ACPI

Guide to MCDST Troubleshooting Power Management Issues (continued) To troubleshoot ACPI problems: –Verify that computer hardware supports ACPI –Verify that ACPI is enabled via the computer’s BIOS –If necessary, enable ACPI through the computer’s BIOS –If necessary, update the BIOS on the computer

Guide to MCDST Troubleshooting Power Management Issues (continued) To troubleshoot ACPI problems (continued): –Verify that all device drivers are updated –Verify that latest service pack for Windows XP is installed –Verify that you are not using the generic VGA driver –If all other troubleshooting steps fail, attempt an upgrade or clean/new installation of Windows XP

Guide to MCDST Managing I/O Devices I/O device –Any device that is used to send input into the computer or produce output from the computer –Can be connected to a computer through Serial, parallel USB IEEE 1394 (Firewire) IR/IrDA (infrared) RF/WiFi/wireless

Guide to MCDST Installing Device Drivers via Add Hardware Add Hardware applet –Used to install DVD players, CD players, tape devices, scanners, modems –Once a device is installed it can be configured and managed through Device Manager

Guide to MCDST The System Applet Tabs General tab –Displays operating system version, service pack level, registered username Computer Name tab –Used to join a domain/workgroup and change the computer name

Guide to MCDST The System Applet Tabs (continued)

Guide to MCDST The System Applet Tabs (continued) Hardware tab –Used to access the Add Hardware applet, enable and disable driver signing requirements Advanced tab –Used to access controls for Performance settings System restore tab –Controls the amount of disk space to use for system restoration

Guide to MCDST The System Applet Tabs (continued)

Guide to MCDST The System Applet Tabs (continued) Automatic Updates Tab –Manages how Windows Update downloadable packages are handled Remote tab –Enables, disables, and configures Remote Assistance and Remote Desktop

Guide to MCDST The System Applet Tabs (continued)

Guide to MCDST The System Applet Tabs (continued)

Guide to MCDST The System Applet Configuration Options Driver signing –Identifies drivers that have passed Microsoft Windows Hardware Quality Lab evaluation and tests Options presented by Driver Signing Options dialog box –Ignore –Warn –Block

Guide to MCDST Device Manager Used to verify that a device is working properly Lists all installed and known devices and indicates their status Yellow exclamation point or a stop sign over a device’s icon indicates problems or conflicts

Guide to MCDST Device Manager (continued) A device’s Properties dialog box will have at least two standard tabs: –General: access type, manufacturer, and location settings –Driver: change driver settings or install or upgrade device-related drivers Resources tab displays device’s resource settings

Guide to MCDST Device Manager (continued)

Guide to MCDST Device Manager (continued)

Guide to MCDST Device Manager (continued) Four main areas of hardware resource conflict –IRQ –I/O port –DMA (Direct Memory Access) –Memory

Guide to MCDST Hardware Profiles A collection of custom settings specific to a particular situation Most often used on portable computers for which hardware configurations change often Can be employed whenever there will be a hardware change between bootups

Guide to MCDST Troubleshooting I/O Devices Problem/solution combos that may assist in resolving problems –Out-of-date BIOS or firmware Update using tools from the vendor’s Web site –Damaged connection cable Replace the cable –Incorrect connection cable Use the correct cable

Guide to MCDST Troubleshooting I/O Devices (continued) Problem/solution combos that may assist in resolving problems –Wrong hub type Use the correct hub for the device connection type –Hub does not provide enough in-line power Disconnect other devices or add direct power to device

Guide to MCDST Summary Windows XP supports both ACPI and APM standards Power management must be an enabled feature of the installed hardware in order to function Power Options applet is used to manage power issues

Guide to MCDST Summary (continued) Troubleshooting ACPI issues involves verifying that device drivers are updated and the ACPI features of devices are turned Windows XP supports a broad range of I/O devices Proper driver management is a key issue in troubleshooting devices