What are the best desktop application support tools for diagnosing hardware issues?
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If you work as a technical support specialist, you know how challenging it can be to diagnose hardware issues on different desktop applications. Sometimes, the symptoms are vague, the error messages are misleading, or the user is not cooperative. That's why you need some reliable tools that can help you identify and fix the problem quickly and efficiently. In this article, we will introduce you to some of the best desktop application support tools for diagnosing hardware issues, and explain how to use them effectively.
One of the first tools you should use when troubleshooting hardware issues is the Device Manager. This is a built-in Windows utility that lets you view and manage the devices connected to your computer, such as keyboards, mice, printers, monitors, and more. You can access the Device Manager by typing devmgmt.msc in the Run dialog box or the search bar. The Device Manager shows you the status of each device, and if there are any problems, such as missing drivers, conflicts, or errors. You can use the Device Manager to update, uninstall, disable, or enable drivers, and to scan for hardware changes.
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Mahdi Saadatmand
IT Manager at SIMCO
First of all, we check the hardware Physicaly after that with software . There are many ways, but one of the easiest and fastest ways to check hardware and drivers with software is this way but it's not enough.
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Misha Maslov
Technical Support Engineer
Pair Device Manager with manufacturer-specific diagnostic tools. Many hardware manufacturers offer their own utilities that provide detailed information and troubleshooting options for their products. This specialized software can be invaluable in identifying and resolving hardware issues.
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Another useful tool for diagnosing hardware issues is the System Information. This is also a built-in Windows utility that gives you detailed information about your computer's hardware and software components, such as the processor, memory, disk drives, operating system, BIOS, network adapters, and more. You can access the System Information by typing msinfo32.exe in the Run dialog box or the search bar. The System Information can help you check the specifications and compatibility of your hardware, and to identify any potential issues or errors.
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Joe Torres
MS collaboration tools expert.
Hiren's BootCD is a collection of various diagnostic and recovery tools that can be used to troubleshoot a wide range of hardware issues. Remember that when diagnosing hardware problems, it's essential to interpret the results of these tools correctly. While it's easy to just throw new parts at what you suspect may be the problem, it's not the best way to troubleshoot. 7/10 times in my experience I've found faulty software to be the cause of an issue as to faulty hardware.
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Emeka Mika
Multi-Skilled Engineer | Field Service Engineer | Automation & Control Engineer | Project Engineer | Operations Management
System Information, a Windows desktop application, aids in diagnosing hardware issues by offering a comprehensive hardware overview, device and driver information, and system summaries. It identifies problem devices, highlights resource usage, and provides access to the system event log for error tracking. The tool also offers built-in system diagnostics for memory, storage, and network components and allows you to export reports. While it's excellent for understanding your hardware and identifying potential issues, more specialized tools may be needed for specific diagnostic tests.
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Sometimes, you may need more advanced tools to test and diagnose your hardware components, such as the CPU, RAM, HDD, SSD, GPU, or motherboard. There are many third-party hardware diagnostic tools available online, but you should always be careful and choose reputable and reliable ones. Some of the most popular hardware diagnostic tools are CPU-Z, MemTest86, CrystalDiskInfo, FurMark, and HWiNFO. These tools can help you monitor the performance, temperature, voltage, and health of your hardware, and detect any errors or failures.
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SANATH KUMAR S
Cloud Support Engineer at Google Operations Center - Google Workspace, GCP
Again, for hardware diagnostics in windows, using CMD, Chkdsk: Chkdsk checks your hard drive for errors and fixes them if possible. To run chkdsk, open a command prompt window and type the following command: chkdsk /f Sfc /scannow: Sfc /scannow scans your system files for corruption and repairs them if possible. DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth: This command scans your system image for corruption and repairs it if possible. Windows Memory Diagnostic: The Windows Memory Diagnostic tool is a built-in tool that can be used to test your computer's RAM for errors. To run the Windows Memory Diagnostic tool, open a command prompt window and type the following command: mdsched.exe Note: always open the cmd tool as an admin.
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Brian Wanjala
IT Consulting | Digital Marketer | Researcher | Data Analyst | Seasonal Software Engineer
In instances where standard tools fall short, advanced hardware diagnostic tools like CPU-Z, MemTest86, CrystalDiskInfo, FurMark, and HWiNFO step in to provide a more detailed examination of critical components. Always exercise caution and choose reputable tools to ensure accurate diagnostics and prevent potential risks.
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Another handy tool for diagnosing hardware issues is the Event Viewer. This is also a built-in Windows utility that records and displays the events that occur on your computer, such as system errors, warnings, information, and audits. You can access the Event Viewer by typing eventvwr.msc in the Run dialog box or the search bar. The Event Viewer can help you find the root cause of hardware issues by showing you the event ID, source, level, date, and time of each event, and the details and solutions of each error.
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Mahdi Saadatmand
IT Manager at SIMCO
I use of SolarWinds and PRTG. In addition to monitoring the entire network and existing devices, they can also give you reports and warnings for issues and errors that occur in the network. I usually do not activate event viewer for all operating systems, only operating systems on which critical services are active. because I need a general and quick report of the systems in my network, and the detailed report is used when the company is very large scale and there is an information security department in the company. this tool helps them for analyse the System.
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Hamdan Hussain
IT Expert with 10+ YOE🔹Technology Enthusiast 🔹Driving Digital Transformation🔹Strategic IT Planning & Execution🔹Team Leadership🔹Streamlining IT Operations🔹Enhancing Security
Alongside Event Viewer, the Performance Monitor and Resource Monitor toolx can be quite handy. If hardware such as CPU, RAM, or disk is doubted to have issues, PerfMon can be used to collect and view performance data from performance counters and trace events in real-time or from a log file.
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Finally, one of the best tools for diagnosing hardware issues on desktop applications is the Remote Desktop. This is a feature that allows you to connect to and control another computer over the internet, as if you were sitting in front of it. You can use the Remote Desktop to access the desktop applications of your clients or users, and to troubleshoot and fix their hardware issues remotely. You can enable the Remote Desktop by going to the Settings > System > Remote Desktop on your computer, and by using the Remote Desktop app or the web client to connect to another computer.
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Joel Uche
Technical Support Engineer | Devops Enthusiast | IT Expert
Remote Desktop has been a vital tool in supporting clients and users remotely. It's efficient and has saved me the commute time of being on-prem for many tasks.
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Jhonny Richard Cardoso Pacheco
CCNP-ENWLSD(In Progress)/F5-CTS-LTM (301a+301b) F5-CA (101+201) / NSE 1, 2 e 3 / CCNP Enterprise / CCNA R&S / AWS CCP / LPI Linux Essentials / ITIL Foundation / CCTT Versiv Copper & Fiber / HDI-DST / Scrum Fundamentals
You can Access to via search mstsc. In network environment this tool is very usefull to jump from one network to a host that have Access to many other hosts or network and security equipments.
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Indrajith Jayadevan
Experienced IT Operations/Technical Support Engineer | Cyber Security Graduate | AWS | PCNSA | Security+ | ISC2 CC | ITIL
Apart from the inbuilt-tools, most of the manufacturers have released their own vendor-specific hardware diagnostic tools such as Dell-Support Assist, HP Support Assistant, Lenovo Vantage etc. Most of these support software are easy to use and understand for standard PC users. There is more into the professional approach of Identifying hardware issues by using third party paid software, I would suggest applications like Glasswire (for network monitoring), AIDA64 Extreme (for complete hardware analysis) and If you are a an expert tech who can dig deep into system, another suggestion is the Diagnostic Data Viewer app. for using this first you have to enable it in the Privacy settings of windows OS and install the app from Microsoft store
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Phil Davenport
Managing Director @ Affirm IT | Cyber Security Evangelist
I'm a huge fan of going to the manufacturer website and downloading there troubleshooting tools as well as the latest drivers. Often issues are resolved with a BIOS update or diagnosed with the manufacturers pre boot diagnostics. Other than this, an intermittent blue screen can often be solved by simply re-seating the RAM.
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