Troubleshooting hardware malfunctions

When is a door not a door? When it’s ajar. When is a printer not a printer? When it’s a paperweight. When is a scanner not a scanner? When it’s a doorstop. Hardware malfunctions can suck the life out of valuable devices, but there are some steps you can take to help.

When there is a hardware malfunction, you will receive an error message such as:

• Hardware malfunction
• Call your hardware vendor of support
• The system has halted.

It might also include further details, such as:

• NMI: Parity Check/Memory Parity Error
• NMI: Channel Check/IOCHK
• NMI: Fail-safe Timer
• NMI: Bus Timeout
• NMI: Software NMI generated
• NMI: Eisa IOCHKERR board x

These likely do not help most users diagnose the problem. However, most hardware malfunctions have to do with the driver, RAM, adapter or motherboard. That means that most often hardware malfunctions are not actually problems with the physical piece of equipment! The steps below will give you a great start in rectifying the situation:

1. Make sure you have the right driver. Drivers are programs that act as translators between the hardware devices, software and operating systems. If you do not have the right driver or perhaps a corrupted one, the communication is non-existent or garbled. You can check the hardware vendors’ website for the latest driver or use innovative software that will scan your computer for what you need and help you get the right one.


2. Check the adapter. Disconnect any adapters that are not needed to start your computer and see what happens. If there is no error message, begin – one by one – reinserting the adapters and restarting. This can be a slow process, but it can also help you pinpoint what the problem is. It is possible that the adapter just required “reseating.” However, you might also need to replace it.


3. Is it the RAM? Similar to step 2, remove any additional memory modules and then restart your PC. Then begin reinserting them. You might need to replace a RAM module if it is defective.


4. Is it the motherboard? You should verify if you have installed the most recent update for your computer’s BIOS or its firmware configuration software. You can do so by going to the BIOS and setting load “fail-safe defaults” or “BIOS defaults.” After temporarily uninstalling your anti-virus programs set “Plug and Play OS” to “No.” Then see if it the error message reoccurs.

These steps will help you transform your expensive paperweight back to a printer!