A Quality Freeware Hardware Diagnostic Tool
By Stephen Bucaro
#1-TuffTEST-Lite by the #1-PC Diagnostics Company is a fully functional freeware
PC hardware diagnostic tool that has no time limit or restrictions on its use. Download
#1-TuffTEST-LITE from tufftest.com
The 250KB freeware download, ttlsetup.exe, is a self extracting Windows Installation Wizard.
The #1-TuffTEST-Lite setup program provides detailed step-by-step guidance for you to
create a floppy disk containing #1-PC Diagnostics proprietary self-booting operating
system. The setup Wizard opens a DOS Window to create the self-booting floppy Disk,
therefore, it is important that your operating system is configured to allow running
a DOS program under Windows.
The setup Wizard may not run properly on systems that have autoexec.bat or config.sys
files that have strange modifications, for example, to run DOS games that can't run
under Windows in a DOS window. After you create the self-booting floppy disk, make sure
the "Boot Order" in your BIOS is set to boot from "A" first.
Restart your computer with the diskette in your floppy drive. Your computer will boot
from the floppy and begin running a series of diagnostic tests to check your computers
CPU, RAM, display, floppy drive, hard drive, serial port, and parallel port. When the
test session is complete, it reports OK or Fail for each test. You can print the test
report or save it to the program diskette.
#1-TuffTEST-Lite is a smaller version of the company’s $9.95 #1-TuffTEST diagnostic
program. The lite version tests 8MB of RAM and 540 MB fixed disk compared to 3.5 GB
of RAM and 2000 GB fixed disk for the standard version. The lite version tests one
parallel port and one serial port compared to 3 parallel ports and 4 serial ports
for the standard version.
I found this utility very powerful easy and fun to use. Unfortunately it does not test
anything related to the Windows operating system itself, and as we all know, it's when
Windows gets hold of your hardware that the problems start. But at least it gives
you confidence that any PC problems you have are in Microsoft's buggy Windows operating
system and not in your hardware.
More Windows Troubleshooting Articles: • Run Old Programs in Windows Vista • How to Fix Advapi32 Error • Five Ways to Fix USB Ports Not Working • Free Firewall - ZoneAlarm • Four FAQs on How to Update Chipset Drivers • How to Fix msvcrt40.dll Error • How to Repair Low Memory Errors • Troubleshooting and Maintaining Your PC Desk Reference For Dummies • Stop Windows Freezing and System Lockups • How to Diagnose Windows Blue Screen of Death (BSOD)
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