How should I Fix a Broken Computer?
This article is a general high level overview of the parts of a computer and how each can fail. There are a number of factors that can bring about computer failures, but the principal issues are age, liquids, heat, electrical problems, and shock damage.
Many of these issues can be resolved by your local computer repair service. Motherboard, CPU, and power supply problems are common, and the local computer technician is almost certainly well equipped to remedy these problems.
Motherboard
The motherboard in a desktop or laptop is the computers principal circuit board. It almost always holds the CPU, RAM, expansion cards like GPU or network cards, connections to your computer’s ports, and connections for the hard drive(s) and optical drives. There will be direct or indirect connections between the motherboard and every other part of the computer. Spilling any kind of a liquid on your motherboard will almost certainly short out some components and could potentially damage other parts of your computer by extension.
CPU
The CPU or central processing unit is the part of your computer that handles instructions. It is most likely a silicon chip surrounded by a ceramic coating. The number of instructions the CPU can handle per-second is a common metric for speed. Megahertz refers to a number in millions of instructions per second and gigahertz refers to billions of instructions per second. A few major CPU manufacturers are AMD, Intel, and NVIDIA. If your cooling system is inadequate, heat can become an issue for the CPU. With millions or billions of instructions happening every second, it should come as no surprise that the central processing unit can get hot.
Expansion Cards
Many motherboards have built-in capacity for video processing and network connectivity. That said, if your motherboard does not come equipped with a network card (and your only option is using Wi-Fi), you can attach a network expansion card to your motherboard. Similarly, a majority of modern motherboard have graphical processing capabilities, but adding a dedicated GPU to your system will enable better performance for gaming. If you are using a GPU for high-intensity activities like high def gaming or mining cryptocurrency, heat and / or age can potentially cause failure.
RAM
Random access memory (RAM) is a form of computer memory that is typically used for reading and storing working data. If you are using an older desktop or laptop, you may notice that applications open slowly, and you have limited multi-tasking abilities. If your computer gets hot when there are several apps open at once, this could be a sign that you would benefit from upgrading the RAM. Upgrading the RAM is often a simple process where you simply remove the old chips and insert new ones. If you choose to go this route, be sure to check the specifications of your existing random access memory (DDR3 vs DDR4 and 1600 MHz vs 2400 MHz). You are more likely to encounter antiquated RAM than broken RAM. If your computer is struggling to run applications, the best course of action is a RAM upgrade.
Hard Drive
The hard drive is another integral component of a desktop or laptop. Every modern computer relies on either a hard disk drive (HDD) or solid state drive (SSD). When the computer is fully shut down, random access memory does not retain its data. This is why a long-term storage solution like a hard drive is necessary.
There has been tremendous technological progress over the past 40 years, and hard drives have come a long way, but they are not perfect. If you hard drive fails, and you don’t have a backup of the data; you are likely facing a very unfortunate circumstance. This is a situation where a professional data recovery lab like Gillware can help. The data recovery engineers at Gillware are specialists when it comes to hard drive recovery.
Power Supply
The power supply is an essential component for a desktop computer. With a laptop, a battery and charger take the place of a distinct power supply, but it should be obvious that a desktop with no electricity is simple a useless box of metal. The main function of a power supply is converting electricity from a wall socket to power your motherboard and other components. If your computers power supply encounters liquid damage, not only does this pose the physical risk of electrocuting the computer user, but it is also likely that you will need a new power supply. Power surges are also a risk connected to the power supply. For example, if your house or apartment is struck by lightning, there is a very real chance of a power surge that could fry your entire system.
