Here's explanation of what causes hangs computer "crash". That may never happen to your computer! and is often known as the "Blue Screen of Death". Every person who uses Windows will be familiar with this incident. What can you do? More importantly, how you can prevent it happening?
1 Hardware conflict
Number one reason why Windows crashes is hardware conflict. Each hardware device to another device that communicates through a channel interrupt request (IRQ).
For example, a printer usually connects internally on IRQ 7. The keyboard usually uses IRQ 1 and the floppy disk drive IRQ 6. Each device will try to monopolize a single IRQ for itself.
Computer
If there are many devices, or if not installed properly, two of which use the same IRQ number. When the user tries to use both devices at the same time, a crash could occur. How to tell if your computer has a hardware conflict is through the route as follows:
* Start-Settings-Control Panel-System-Device Manager.
Often if the device issues a yellow '! "Appears next to its description in the Device Manager. Highlight Computer (in Device Manager) and press Properties to see the IRQ numbers used by your computer. If the IRQ number look twice, two devices can be used.
Sometimes the device may share the IRQ with something described as 'owner for PCI IRQ steering'. This can be ignored. The best way to fix this problem is to remove the device and back problems.
Sometimes you may need to find newer drivers on the Internet to make the device function properly. A good resource is www.driverguide.com. If the device is a Soundcard, or modem, this can often be determined by moving to different places on the motherboard (be careful about opening your computer, because it can void warranty).
When working on your computer to switch it off, let Mother who leads and touch an unpainted metal surface discharge any static electricity.
To be fair to Mcft, the problem with IRQ numbers is not made of. This is a legacy issue back to the first PC designs using the IBM 8086 chip. At first there were only eight IRQs. Currently there are 16 IRQs in a PC. Easy to run out of them. There are plans to increase the number of IRQs in future designs.
2 Bad Ram
Ram (random access memory) problems might bring on the blue screen of death with a message saying Fatal Exception Error. A fatal error indicates a serious hardware problem. Sometimes it can be interpreted as part of the damaged and need replacement.
But a fatal error caused by Ram may be caused by a mismatch of chips. For example, mixing 70-nanosecond (70ns) Ram with 60ns Ram will usually force the computer to run all the Ram at the slower speed. This will often crash the machine if the Ram is overworked.
One way around this problem is to enter the BIOS settings and increase the wait state of Ram. This can make it more stable. Another way to issue a suspected Ram problem is to rearrange the Ram chips on the motherboard, or take a few of them out. Then try to repeat the circumstances that caused crashes. When handling Ram try not to touch the gold connections, because they can be easily damaged.
Parity error messages also refer to Ram. Modern Ram chips are either parity (ECC) or non parity (non-ECC). The best way is to not mix the two types, as this can cause problems.
EMM386 error messages refer to memory problems, but may not be connected to bad Ram. This may be due to memory problems often linked to old Dos-based program.
3 BIOS settings
Every motherboard is supplied with various chipset settings that are decided in the factory. Common way to access these settings is to press F2 or delete button during the first few seconds of boot-up.
Once inside the BIOS, great care must be taken. There is a good idea to write on a piece of paper all the settings that appear on the screen. Thus, if you change something and the computer becomes more unstable, you'll know what to go back to the settings.
The BIOS is a common mistake about the CAS latency. This refers to the Ram. Older EDO (extended data out) Ram has a CAS latency of 3. Newer SDRAM has a CAS latency of 2. Setting the wrong figure can cause the Ram to lock up and freeze the computer screen.
Windows Mcft better allocate the IRQ numbers than any BIOS. If possible set the IRQ numbers to Auto in the BIOS. This will allow Windows to allocate the IRQ numbers (make sure the BIOS for Plug and Play OS is switched to 'yes' to allow Windows to do so.).
4 Hard disk drives
After several months, information on the hard disk drive began to little by little, or for. There is a good idea to defragment your hard disk every week or more, to prevent the disk causes frozen screen. Go to
* Start-Programs-Accessories-System Tools-Disk Defragmenter
This will start the procedure. You will not be able to write data to the hard drive (for saving), while disk defragmenting, so that a good idea to schedule the procedure for a period of inactivity using the Task Scheduler.
The Task Scheduler should be one of the small icons at the bottom right of the Windows opening page (desktop).
Some lockups and screen freezes caused by hard disk problems can be solved by reducing the read-ahead optimization. This can be adjusted by opening
* Start-Settings-Control Panel-System Icon-Performance-File System-Hard Disk.
Hard disks will slow down and crash if they are too full. Some houses on the hard drive every few months and some free space on it. Open the Windows folder on drive C and found the Temporary Internet Files folder. Deleting the contents (not the folder) can free a lot of space.
Empty the Recycle Bin every week to free up more space. Hard disk drives should be scanned every week for errors or bad sectors. Go to
* Start-Programs-Accessories-System Tools, ScanDisk
If you do not set a task Scheduler to perform this operation at night when the computer is not used.
5 Fatal OE exceptions and VXD errors
Fatal exception OE errors and VXD errors are often caused by video card problems.
This can often be resolved easily by reducing the resolution of the video screen. Go to
* Start-Settings-Control Panel-Display-Setting
Here you should slide the screen area bar to the left. Note the color settings on the left of the window. For most desktops, high color 16-bit depth should be adequate.
If the screen freezes or you experience system lockups possibly because the video card problem. Make sure there are no hardware conflicts. Go to
* Start-Settings-Control Panel-System-Device Manager
Here, select the + next to Display Adapter. A line of text explaining your video card will appear. Select (to blue) and press properties. Then select Resources and select each line in the window. To view a message that says No Conflicts.
If you have video card hardware conflict, you'll see it here. Be careful at this moment and make a note of everything you do if you do bad things.
The way to resolve a hardware conflict is to uncheck the Use Automatic Settings box and press the Change Settings button. Your search for settings that will display the message No Conflict.
Another useful way to resolve video problems is to go to
* Start-Settings-Control Panel-System-Performance-Graphics
Here you should move the Hardware Acceleration slider to the left. As ever, the most common cause of the problems associated with the old graphics card or a faulty driver (drivers are a small portion of the software used by computers to communicate with the device).
Looking for your video card manufacturer on the Internet and find the latest drivers for it.
6 Viruses
Often the first sign of a virus infection is instability. Some viruses erase the boot sector of hard disks, making it impossible to start. Why this is a good idea to make Windows start-up disk. Go to
* Start-Settings-Control Program Panel-Add/Remove
Here, look for the Start Up Disk tab. Virus protection requires constant vigilance.
A virus scanner requires a list of virus signatures in order to identify the virus. This signature will be stored in DAT files. DAT files should be updated weekly from your website antivirus software manufacturer.
Antivirus programs are excellent McAfee VirusScan by Network Associates (www.nai.com). Another is Norton AntiVirus 2000, made by Symantec (www.symantec.com).
7 Printers
Actions that send a document to print creates a large file, the words are often called file.
Printer only has a small amount of memory, called a buffer. This can be easily overloaded. Printing a document also uses a lot of CPU power. This will also slow down computer performance.
If the printer is trying to print unusual characters, this may not be recognized, and can crash the computer. Sometimes printers will not recover from the crash because of confusion in the buffer. A good way to remove the buffer is to release the printer for ten seconds. Booting from a helpless state, the so-called cold boot, will restore the default printer, and you may be able to do.
8 Software
A Common causes a computer crash is wrong or very-installed software. Often the problem can be cured by uninstalling the software and then reinstall it. Use Norton Uninstall or Uninstall Shield to remove an application from your system properly. This will also remove references to the Registry System program and left the way clear for the full copy.
System Registry can be corrupted by old references to obsolete software that you thought was deleted. Used by jouni Reg Cleaner System Vuorio to clean the Registry and remove obsolete entries. He worked on Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 98 SE (Second Edition), Windows Millennium Edition (ME), NT4 and Windows 2000.
Read the instructions and use it carefully so you do not do permanent damage to the Registry. If the Registry is damaged you need to reinstall your operating system. Reg Cleaner can be obtained from www.jv16.org
Often Windows problem can be resolved by entering Safe Mode. This can be done during start-up. When you see the message "Starting Windows" press F4. This will take you into Safe Mode.
Safe Mode loads minimal drivers. This allows you to find and fix problems that prevent Windows from loading properly.
Windows install is sometimes difficult because of unsuitable BIOS settings. If you keep getting an error message SUWIN (Windows setup) during the installation of Windows, then try to enter the BIOS and disable the internal CPU cache. Try to disable the Level 2 (L2) cache if it does not work.
Do not forget to restore all BIOS settings back to their former settings following installation.
9 Overheating
Central processing unit (CPU) are usually equipped with their fans to stay cool. If this fails or if the old CPU fan might start to overheat and generate a certain type of error called a kernel error. This is a common problem in chips that have been overclocked to operate at higher speeds than they should.
One is to get a bigger drug and install a better fan on the CPU. Specialist cooling fans / heatsinks are available from www.computernerd.com or www.coolit.com
CPU problems can often be fixed by disabling the internal CPU cache in the BIOS. This will make the engine run more quietly, but must also be more stable.
10 Power supply problems
With all the new construction going on all over the country a stable supply of electricity has become disrupted. A sea power or spike can crash a computer as easily as a power cut.
If this has become a nuisance to you, then consider buying the troubled power supply (UPS). This will provide clean electricity when there is electricity, and will give a few minutes to perform controlled shutdown in the case of power cut.
This is a good investment if your data is very important, because the power cut will cause any unsaved data will be lost.
Posts
