PC Problems? Try These Quick Fixes

Have you ever had your computer make you want to commit an act of violence, such as throwing it out the window?

Nothing frustrates me more than having a deadline or important task interrupted by my computer losing its mind.

The next time your computer acts up, try these tips and see if you can't solve the problem before you give in to temptation and heave a brick through your monitor.

Computers usually lock-up because a program becomes unstable or performs an illegal function.

Regardless of why your computer stopped responding, the following sequence should help you avoid damaging your software while trying to get going again.

The first step after you lock up is to press the Ctrl+Alt+Delete keys at the same time. A dialog box should appear showing which programs are running.

Look for a program that has "Not Responding" or a similar message next to the program name.

If your mouse still works, click on the program and then click "End Task" or "End Process". If this unlocks the computer, exit Windows and shutdown properly. Restart in 15 seconds.

If your mouse doesn't work, but your keyboard still functions, press Alt+F4 to start closing down programs, including Windows.

If your mouse and keyboard don't respond at all, none of the above steps work, and you can't shut down properly, turn your computer off or hold in the power button for 4-6 seconds until the computer shuts down.

A floppy in the drive will prevent the computer from starting properly and can cause no end of embarrassment if you've already called tech support for help.

If your hard drive starts making strange noises, you need to act quickly. Drastic changes in the usual "beeps and burps" of your computer can represent anything from a loose screw to the imminent and catastrophic loss of all your data.

Log on to http://support.wdc.com/dlg/ and you can test the health of your hard drive and spot problems before they get really bad. This free service offered by Western Digital, one of the world's largest hard drive manufacturers, gets a very high endorsement from Smart Computing magazine.

Who hasn't gotten that blue screen in Microsoft Windows telling you a fatal error has occurred and directing you to "press any key to continue" or "hold down the Ctrl+Alt+Delete keys to restart your computer?"

Needless to say, most people either get scared or annoyed upon seeing the screen, but usually do as they're told.

The same thing happens when error messages pop up telling them a program has performed an "illegal operation." Most people just click "continue" without ever checking out the details.

Everyone experiences computer errors occasionally, but those errors can also signal a deeper computer or software problem.

To save time and money on technical support, users should do the following every time an error message appears: WRITE it down!

Record the error message, time, date, and the circumstances under which the error occurred.

When an illegal operation occurs, click the "details" button and write down everything that appears beginning with and ending with the words in CAPITAL letters.

Recording this information will aid your computer technician or software technical support in spotting any trends and it will definitely save you time when explaining what happened.

The more quickly the tech understands the problem, the faster your computer gets fixed!

If you repeatedly experience an error or a problem, get it fixed. You might pay a computer tech for an hour of their time now, but it sure beats spending several hundred dollars (or worse) later on down the road.

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PC Problems? Try These Quick Fixes