Lesson 10: Hardware Troubleshooting
Week of Tue, Nov 17 · lesson closes Mon, Nov 23
Take Meerk's quiz for Lesson 10
This lesson's items
Exact due times are in Canvas.
Watch — Professor Messer
Watch — Professor Messer: Hardware Troubleshooting (220-1201)
Free, independent educational resource. Not affiliated with or endorsed by CompTIA. Watch, then read the notes below.
Know these cold
- POST failures: no video+beep codes (GPU/RAM), no beeps at all (PSU/motherboard). Troubleshoot by swapping components.
- Thermal issues: high CPU temp = failed heatsink, dried thermal paste, blocked airflow. Symptoms: throttling, shutdown, artifacts.
- Storage failures: S.M.A.R.T. errors (pre-failure warning), clicking (HDD head crash), slow performance (SSD wear).
Meerk's quiz — open the Lesson 10 gate
10 questions, no time limit. 85% on your first attempt in a 24-hour window opens the gate. Retakes inside the window are practice — they help you learn, they don't count. Work alone; the point is to know it, not to have seen it.
Dinner Table Question
Ask at home: How would you convince a user to back up their data before their drive completely fails?
En español: ¿Cómo convencerías a un usuario de respaldar sus datos antes de que su disco falle completamente?