Grant-Howard Associates C H A P T E R 4 manual Finding Software Solutions

C H A P T E R 4

Finding Software Solutions

Because most computer systems have several application programs installed in addi- tion to the operating system, isolating a software problem can be confusing. Software errors can also appear to be hardware malfunctions at first.

Software problems can result from the following circumstances:

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Improper installation or configuration of a program

Input errors

Device drivers that may conflict with certain application programs

Interrupt conflicts between devices

You can confirm that a computer system problem is caused by software by running the System Set Test Group as described in Chapter 5, “Running the Dell Diagnos- tics.” If all tests in the test group are completed successfully, the error condition is most likely caused by software.

This file provides some general guidelines for analyzing software problems. For detailed troubleshooting information on a particular program, see the documentation that accompanied the software or consult the support service for the software.

Installing and Configuring Software

You should use virus-scanning software to check newly acquired programs and files for viruses before installing the programs on the computer's hard-disk drive. Viruses, which are pieces of code that can replicate themselves, can quickly use all available system memory, damage and/or destroy data stored on the hard-disk drive, and per- manently affect the performance of the programs they infect. Several commercial virus-scanning programs are available for purchase, and most bulletin board services (BBSs) archive freely distributed virus-scanning programs that you can download with a modem.

Before installing a program, you should read its documentation to learn how the pro- gram works, what hardware it requires, and what its defaults are. A program usually includes installation instructions in its accompanying documentation and a software installation routine on its program diskettes.

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