PC Repair - Technical Writing Sample

Considering that all of my work at Verizon Wireless is proprietary property, I am intending to send a recruiter a link to this blog as a sample of my writing style. I am going to use this post to document the work that I performed on my friend's PC over the past two nights.

View in Microsoft Word.

<-- Begin Writing Sample -->

PC Repair Summary

10/23/2006 - 10/26/2006

Machine Specifications
Processor: Intel P3, 1ghz
RAM: 256MB SDRAM
Hard Drive: Western Digital 40MB
CD-ROM Drive: 12x DVD / CD-ROM
OS: Windows XP
Notes: This is a custom built PC with a very compact case.

Summary
Problem: PC would not boot into Windows.
Solution: Hard disk needed to be replaced.

Details
10/23/2006
The customer contacted me via telephone to report an error message that was appearing on her screen when she tried to boot her computer. The message stated that there was a disk boot failure and that she needed to install a system disk. My first thought was that perhaps she had accidentally left a floppy disk or a CD-ROM disk in her PC and that the computer was trying to boot from one of those disks instead of the hard drive. The customer claimed that there were no disks in the drive. I scheduled a visit to the customer's location for Monday, 10/25/2006.

10/25/2006
I booted the customer's PC and got the same results that had been reported. There were no disks in the floppy or CD-ROM drives. I re-booted the machine again in order to check the BIOS settings. The hard drive and CD-ROM drive were both being detected properly by the machine.

I used a Windows XP CD-ROM to determine if I could start the machine and repair the Windows installation if necessary. I was able the boot from the CD-ROM, however, when it got to the point where I could choose the recovery option, it failed because the machine could not read the hard drive. When it failed, it went to a C:\ prompt. From there, I tried to execute chkdsk and dir commands but kept getting errors that the disk was not valid. I shut the machine down.

The next step I took was to open the machine. I unplugged all the cords and removed the two screws from the rear of the casing. I then slid the casing off. Because the case is so small, the hard drive is located under a hinged section that houses the floppy and CD-ROM drives. I experimented with the IDE cables to see if I could get a different result, but no matter what I tried, I was unable to read the hard disk. I determined that the disk needed to be replaced. We went to the nearest Staples and purchased a 160GB Western Digital drive on sale for $79. I put the new drive into the drive casing and plugged the power and IDE cables in but did not put it into it's place under the hinged section yet.

I was able to successfully start the PC using the Windows XP CD-ROM. I used the disk to partition the new drive and install Windows. Once this was complete, I attempted to setup the old drive as a slave to the new drive. I changed the pin on the old drive and plugged in the power cable and the IDE cable. The PC booted and recognized the drive, however, the drive could not be read. I concluded that the information on the old disk drive is unrecoverable and recommended (just in case) that the customer dispose of the disk by having it physically destroyed.

At this point, it was getting late and it was time to leave the customer's site. We scheduled an appointment for Tuesday 10/26 to finish putting the PC back together and re-installing security and printer software.

10/26/2006
Arrived at the customer's site and was able to put everything back together, making sure that all the cables were carefully tucked away. On first attempt, a cable was covering the processor fan, which caused a clicking noise to occur when we started the machine. Once this was corrected, there were no further issues.

I then ran Windows Update to get the latest fixes. This process ran without incident and 57 updates were installed.

Next step was to install the security software from Verizon. I was able to go to the Verizon website and download the anti-spyware / anti-virus package and install it.

After that, I needed to install the printer software. Ran the install from the HP CD-ROM. It installed the printer drivers and photo editing software. We tested the printer by printing a picture of my keeshond.

Customer needs to obtain a copy of Microsoft Office. Once this occurs, I will return and help install the software.