Windows displays a blue screen during startup
Windows may automatically restart after displaying a blue screen, as shown below. You may also get a Windows startup menu upon reboot. If you do, choose 'Start Windows Normally' and see if the problem goes away. It may be a one-off glitch.
If Windows hasn't automatically restarted after displaying a blue screen, press the Ctrl & Alt & Del keys on your keyboard at the same time to restart the machine. You may need to press and hold the power button on the machine to force it to turn off. Switch it back on and, if you get a Windows startup menu upon reboot, choose 'Start Windows Normally' and see if the problem goes away.
Windows does not start successfully or repeatedly displays a blue screen
When you turn on the computer, press the F8 key on your keyboard repeatedly until you get a Windows startup menu. Choose to start Windows in 'Safe Mode'. If Windows boots up and you can login, restart Windows and let it boot as normal which may resolve the problem.
When you turn on the computer, press the F8 key on your keyboard repeatedly until you get a Windows startup menu. Choose 'Last Known Good Configuration', which will try and load Windows with the settings that last worked successfully.
Do a System Restore to a previous working state.
Running a system restore
System Restore is a feature of Windows that takes regular snapshots of your machine. You can restore Windows to an earlier point in time with these snapshots, with the aim of restoring it to a time before you started experiencing problems.
System Restore will not delete any of your personal files or documents.
If you can boot into Windows either normally or via Safe Mode (see above), then you can run System Restore via Start -> All Programs -> Accessories -> System Tools -> System Restore.
Choose a date and restore point that you would like Windows to restore to. You should choose a date that is before the time you started experiencing the problems.
If you cannot boot into Windows, then do the following:
Windows Vista/7: Press F8 repeatedly at boot until you get the Windows startup menu. One of the entries in the menu is 'Repair your computer'. This may also be shown automatically as an option if Windows failed to start correctly last time around:
First, try running a 'Startup Repair' to fix any problems preventing Windows from starting up correctly (see image below).
Failing that, try running 'System Restore' to restore Windows to an earlier point in time (see image below).
Windows XP: Press F8 repeatedly at boot until you get the Windows startup menu. Choose 'Safe Mode with Command Prompt. You will need to type in a local administrator username and password. Then type in: %systemroot%\system32\restore\rstrui.exe and press return.
Cannot login to Windows
Ensure you are using your correct DIDE username and password.
Check that Caps Lock/Num Lock isn't on by mistake.
Check that your password is what you are expecting it to be by typing it into the Username box. This allows you to see what you are typing in case your keyboard is set to another locale, for example.
Check that the 'Logon to' box shows DIDE as the domain (only if your computer is on the DIDE private network).
Check the network cable is securely plugged in at both ends.
Try logging on to another computer to see if your account works on that. Ask someone else to logon to your computer to see if they can or not.
Cannot access the Internet or web browsing is slow
Reset Internet Explorer (IE) back to its default settings and clear the temporary internet files:
In IE click on Tools and then Internet Options.
Click on the Advanced tab and then click on Reset.
Tick the box next to 'Delete Personal Settings' to delete temporary internet files. Note: you will not lose your Favourites. Close and then reopen IE.
If you have another web browser installed (such as Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome), try running that and see if you can browse the web. If you can't, then there may be connectivity problems.
If you are having problems accessing your e-mail via Outlook as well as the internet, try restarting your computer.
Cannot access email
Restart Outlook. You should be prompted for a username and password when Outlook starts.
Try accessing your e-mail via Outlook Web Access. If you can, then Outlook itself is having problems. If you can't, then there may be a problem with the e-mail servers.
Check ICT's service status page to see if there are any general e-mail issues.
Issues with Microsoft office
For Office 2007, run the Microsoft Office Diagnostics tool:
Click on Start -> All Programs -> Microsoft Office -> Microsoft Office Tools -> Microsoft Office Diagnostics.
Click on Continue to start the tests and repair any problems found
For Office 2010, run the Repair tool:
Click on Start -> Control Panel -> Programs & Features (or Add/Remove Programs in Windows XP).
Click on 'Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2010' and then click on the Change button in the toolbar.
Choose Repair and click on Continue.