Have you ever been working on an important report or about to make your highest score in your favorite game, and your computer suddenly freezes? You sit for a while hoping that things will start working again, but it doesn’t happen. What’s more, you encounter the dreaded blue screen error and are forced to reboot your system or your computer simply crashes. Anybody who has worked with Windows computers know the harmful effects of computer freeze and crash occurrences. Not only may you lose your data, but you may also end up with corrupt registry entries and system files. Computer crashes may occur due to several reasons. In this article, we are going to discuss some of the most common reasons and a few simple tasks that you can perform to resolve them.
Reason 1: Software Problems
Software problems usually occur when there is a problem with an installed software or device driver. If this happens, the best way to resolve the error is to either uninstall this faulty software and reinstall it or try to update it with its latest version. For example, you may have to reinstall Windows firewall software if it is working erratically and causing problems with your Internet access activity.
Reason 2: Faulty RAM
You may have one or more Random Access Memory chips on your computer. Quite often, RAM related problems occur if the RAM chips on your computer are not of the same configuration or one of the chips is faulty. RAM related problems may usually generate fatal exception errors that may stop your computer from functioning and crash your PC.
To check your RAM for problems you may use a good memory testing tool to run various diagnostics tests and identify the fault. You may also remove all but one RAM chip and then start your PC to see if the error occurs. If it does, then the chip on the system is causing the problem, otherwise, keep adding your RAM chips until you identify the faulty chip.
Reason 3: Hard Disk Problems
Hard disk problems usually occur when your disk gets filled up with unwanted programs, temporary files, obsolete system files and other such data. This filled up hard disk also causes disk fragmentation that may further slow down your disk and may even cause physical damage to it. This is the reason why to prevent hard disk problems, it is essential that you periodically use Add or Remove Program or a good third-party un-installer to remove unwanted software. You must also use Disk Cleanup regularly to clean up all unwanted junk files. In addition to this, it is essential that you use Disk Defragmenter periodically to make data on your disk contiguous and further enhance the speed of your computer.
Reason 4: Virus and Spyware Infections
Malicious infections such as virus, Trojan, worms, Spyware and Adware may stealthily creep on to your system through different sources and cause havoc. These Malware programs can generate many different types of computer errors, cause system crashes, steal your personal and confidential data, and in more severe cases even erase your entire hard disk. To prevent these infections, it is essential that you have anti-Malware tools, such as AntiVirus and anti-Spyware on your computer. For these tools to be effective you must choose tools that offer real-time protection and keep these tools updated with the latest malware definitions to ensure you are protected against the latest threats at all times. It is also important that you run regular full system scans to ensure that no malicious data exists on the disk.
Reason 5: Registry Problems
System crashes may occur due to an unstable, fragmented, and slow registry. To prevent these registry problems it is essential that you regularly scan and clean your registry. To avoid manually scanning through the complex registry tree by using the Registry cleaner tool, it is best to use a good and reliable third-party registry cleanup tool. These tools can help you perform several other registry maintenance tasks, including registry cleanup, backup, and defragment.
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Apple released QuickTime 7.5.5 and Front Row 2.1.6 today. Both of these updates were made available immediately after today’s presentation by Steve Jobs via the Software Update system preference for Mac. These updates are required prior to installing the new iTunes 8 software. According to Apple, QuickTime 7.5.5 is recommended for all QuickTime 7 users. The update includes the usual vague Apple references to: changes that increase reliability, improve application compatibility and enhance security.
