In most cases you will have no idea what is causing the errors or crashes. You may have received a general error message, which basically tells you nothing. Unless you work for Microsoft. Some computers may just shut off and reboot on their own for no reason. The first thing you can do is start by doing general maintenance on your computer, which you probably haven’t done in awhile anyways.

Go to my computer and select your hard drive, perform a general clean up to start with.

Then update your anti virus definitions and run a full scan. You want to make sure you don’t have a virus hiding in the background. Next you’ll want to scan and clean your PC of any spyware or other such programs that do not belong on your hard drive. If you do not have a program for this you will have to download one made for getting rid of spyware.

The biggest reason why Windows will crash or get the fatal blue screen is because of registry errors. Repairing the registry manually can be a pretty daunting task even for experienced computer technicians. It’s usually not recommended to do this manually. If you do want to attempt that you can access your registry through rededit in Windows. The biggest problem is scrolling through the thousands of registry keys trying to find the right one. And remember, if you change or edit the wrong file you can do more damage than good. Delete or change the wrong one and your computer may not be able to restart.

The easy way to repair or clean a corrupted registry is with a third-party registry repair program. In my opinion windows should come with one, but it does not. A good registry repair program is a wise investment for any computer owner. With few clicks of your mouse you can begin your scan and automatically find and repair errors safely. Plus you can schedule regular scans to perform maintenance for you automatically in case you forget. Preforming a registry cleaning will find any corrupt or orphaned files which you no longer need and remove or repair them for you. It’s like giving your computer a tuneup. After you reboot you’ll be surprised at the increased speed and performance.

Your Windows operating system needs to reference the registry every time it starts up or loads software. Having files with errors or that try to reference software that is no longer installed on your computer can cause crashes and errors. It will also cause your system to become sluggish, jerky, or run at a snail’s pace.

If none of the above suggestions helped your problem you may have a hardware problem, like bad memory or your hard drive may be failing. Overheating could also be a problem, so make sure your unit is getting enough ventilation.

This will vary between operating systems and software but will give you a general idea of where to start. First of all you want to go into your bios and find a setting that enables quick boot. On most PCs you can hit the delete key while you’re computer is booting to get into your bios.

Next, you want to open up your anti virus program and find the options, make sure your anti virus is not scanning every time your computer boots. Some default settings are set to scan every time you restart. This can take forever sometimes if you have a lot of software on your hard drive. So make sure this option is not checked.

After that you want to remove programs from your start up that you don’t absolutely need. Windows XP made that difficult. The less programs your computer needs to load when starting up, the faster it will boot. You will also want to do a general cleaning and remove any programs you do not use anymore from your hard drive.

The biggest cause of a slow loading computer is a corrupted or damaged registry. Your computer needs to reference the registry files every time it starts up or loads any programs. If your files are corrupted, or you have a lot of orphaned registry entries, this may be your problem. You’re registry becomes corrupted from improper shutdowns, failed uninstall programs, viruses, spyware, or improper setting changes to your PC.

To clean and repair your registry, you will need a third party program to do this. Since Windows does not come with anything built in. Plus most of the software for this will have a built-in option to uninstall programs from your startup with a click of the mouse. For those of you running Windows XP, this will solve your problem.

A good Registry repair program is a must-have for any PC these days. Without proper maintenance, your computer will become sluggish, freeze, crash, and you may get a blue screen of death. The first time you run a scan, you will be amazed at all the errors that have built up on you. However, once you’re files are repaired and optimized you should be very happy with your computers performance. It should run like it did the day you bought it.

You can start by cleaning up your computer. Start by going to my computer, and right clicking on your hard drive. Click the cleanup button and run it. If you have not run a defrag on your computer for a long time. Or maybe never. You will want to run a complete defrag. Since it’s usually takes a long time start it before going to bed and let it run.

Next you want to make sure your computer doesn’t have a virus on it. Update your anti virus program with the latest definitions and run a full scan. If you don’t find anything that’s great. After that you want to scan and delete any spyware from your computer. If you do not have a program to remove spyware you will want to download a professional version. The price for a free one is great, but they do not do a complete job.

More than likely you will find many instances of spyware infections running on your computer. Spyware is a huge resource memory hog. If your hard drive is getting full remove any programs you no longer need. Depending on how old your computer is. You may need to upgrade the physical memory. If you do not have the skills to do this you want to take into a shop and have it done for you. Memory is cheap these days and having increased memory in your PC will speed up all of your applications.

Next you will want to scan and repair any registry errors. Windows does not have any tools to do this that are built-in, so you will need a third-party program. A good Registry repair program is a wise investment for any computer. A poorly maintained or corrupt registry is the biggest reason a complete computer will slow down. It will cause freezes, blue screens, slow boot times, and slow loading applications plus general errors.

Anytime you make changes to your computer, install or uninstall software, preform improper shutdowns, or if your computer has locked up and crashed, any of these will cause a corrupt registry. Keeping up with maintenance on your computer will ensure that it has a long life and continues to run smooth. It is amazing that most people never perform any maintenance on their computer until they have a problem. You should schedule regular weekly scans.