Computer Repair For Teachers
Resource And Textbooks For Technician Training In Classroom Or Home
Copyright 2010 Morris Rosenthal, All Rights Reserved
Laptop Repair Ebook $13.95 or book from Amazon for $24.95
Computer Repair Flowcharts Ebook $12.95 or book from Amazon for $14.95
Copyright 2010 by Morris Rosenthal All Rights Reserved
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These online resources are all copyrighted, so feel free to link, but please
don't steal. At the core of these textbooks are twenty nine diagnostic flowcharts
(12 in the laptop textbook, 17 in the personal computer textbook), with text
to expand on the decision points. Together, with the photo illustrated procedures
on the website, they provide interactive education resources that are used
to diagnose computer hardware problems and to teach the diagnostic process.
The books are among the most popular computer texts on Amazon, and are used
as lab manuals in technical colleges and government training programs where
I'm sure they are the cheapest textbooks those students see in their entire
IT education:-) Active classroom computer repair instructors are welcome
to contact
me for evaluation copies.
I've been publishing computer repair texts online since 1995, some of which was based on hand-outs I used to write for technicians I trained to fix hardware problems. I write primarily about troubleshooting, because you can't fix anything unless you figure out what the problem is first. With both PC's and laptops, "fixing" usually means replacing parts. I'm not telling you to throw out your soldering iron or your multimeter, just that you won't need them that often. That said, there's nothing you can do at home to fix a microprocessor, though reseating a socketed microprocessor will occasionally fix a seemingly failed CPU, and reflowing the solder on a surface mount microprocessor using a heat gun or an alcohol candle may temporarily repair a bad solder joint. I say temporarily, because surface mount solder usually fails from overheating or stress, neither of which will be repaired by reflowing the solder on an old board. My approach to the troubleshooting process is to create flowcharts to take you through the most likely issues. The goal is to correctly diagnose 90% or the problems 90% of the time -there's no substitute for experience, but the approach should save you time and frustration. Note that the basic procedures for troubleshooting microcomputers is the similar for all of the basic brands. Acer, Toshiba, HP, Compaq, Asus, Sony, Lenovo, Apple, Gateway, eMachines, Fujitsu, all share some of the same components, and most are made by a handful of companies in the Far East, who make laptops for multiple manufacturers. The flowcharts themselves are necessarily written in short-hand form, to fit a meaningful number of decision points on a page. The charts are designed to push parts swapping to the end of the diagnostic procedures wherever possible, so readers without a stock of spare parts will have the best chance to repair the problem without spending money. The point of IT education is to train computer technicians to think through problems logically, rather than just swapping parts and hoping for the best. The flowchart approach allows teachers to graphically teach students how approach computer problems. Teaching students to think is the Holy Grail of education and is talked about far more than it is accomplished. The flowcharts aren't magic bullets, but they lay the thought process of troubleshooting bare for any student willing to study the material. Diagnosis is an art. There's no point in having the world's leading brain surgeon poking around in your skull if the problem is with your liver. This is exactly analogous to what happens when techs or hobbyists try fixing a PC or laptop without following some intelligent diagnostic procedure. The most experienced computer technicians are sometimes some of the worst diagnosticians, because they're overconfident in their troubleshooting abilities. If a technician works on a given brand of personal computers for a few months and finds that 90% of the problems encountered are due to a bad power supply, that technician starts attributing all PC problems to power supplies. If the tech had been working in a different shop on a particular notebook computer, the conclusion may have been that 90% of all notebook computer problems were due to bad RAM, etc. Students should always approach each new problem with an open mind and look at the most basic possibilities before jumping to conclusions. These books can't make students into professional computer technicians without hands-on experience, but they can shorten the learning curve and add a real-world troubleshooting to IT education. They can help you troubleshoot your PC or laptop problem and take the most cost effective approach to fixing it, getting it fixed, or replacing it. The PC flowcharts text assumes a familiarity with PC parts and procedures, the Laptop Repair Workbook includes a 100 page introduction to laptop technology, troubleshooting and the cost effectiveness of certain repairs. |
