Troubleshoot hardware issues with these five free tools

Software

Troubleshoot hardware issues with these five free tools

By Brien Posey March 25, 2015, 3:38 PM PDT

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Introduction

Image: iStockphoto.com/ fstop123

Introduction

Although computer hardware has become something of arncommodity item, there are still situations that require troubleshooting.rnFortunately, a number of free utilities can help you with the process. Thisrnarticle discusses five good choices.

Note: This gallery is also available as an article.

Image: iStockphoto.com/ fstop123

3DP Chip

Knowingrnthe exact make and model of each device helps you acquire the proper devicerndrivers.One of the best features ofrnthis application is that it can back up and restore your driver set.

CrystalDiskInfo

Inrncase you’re wondering, the software seems to work especially well with SSDs.rnCrystalDiskInfo also contains a charting function you can use to graph variousrndisk statistics.

Unknown Device Identifier

ThernFind Driver function simply performs a Google search for the driver. ThernContact Vendor function takes you to the vendor’s Web site.

Memtest86

Memtest86 isrntypically burned to a bootable CD or DVD so that the computer in question canrnbe tested without the operating system running. The interface isrnstraightforward and easy to use.

Nero InfoTool

Therntool has a clean interface to display the collected data and diagnosticrninformation. Unlike the other tools on this list, Nero InfoTool requires thern.NET Framework and Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable to be installed.

By Brien Posey

* 1988 - Started teaching myself about computers \ * 1992 - Mainframe programmer for an insurance company \ * 1993 - Network Administrator for a different insurance company \ * 1996 - Author for The Cobb Group \ * 1998 - Network Administrator

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