10 reasons why PCs crash U must Know

Fatal error: the system has become unstable or is busy," it says. "Enter to return to
Windows or ress Control!"lt!#elete to restart your comuter. $% you do this you will
lose any unsa&ed in%ormation in all oen alications."
'ou ha&e (ust been struc) by the *lue +creen o% #eath. "nyone who uses ,c%t Windows
will be %amiliar with this. What can you do- ,ore imortantly, how can you re&ent it
haenin.-
1 /ardware con%lict
0he number one reason why Windows crashes is hardware con%lict. Each hardware
de&ice communicates to other de&ices throu.h an interrut re1uest channel 2$345. 0hese
are suosed to be uni1ue %or each de&ice.
For e6amle, a rinter usually connects internally on $34 7. 0he )eyboard usually uses
$34 1 and the %loy dis) dri&e $34 8. Each de&ice will try to ho. a sin.le $34 %or itsel%.
$% there are a lot o% de&ices, or i% they are not installed roerly, two o% them may end u
sharin. the same $34 number. When the user tries to use both de&ices at the same time, a
crash can haen. 0he way to chec) i% your comuter has a hardware con%lict is throu.h
the %ollowin. route:
9 +tart!+ettin.s!Control Panel!+ystem!#e&ice ,ana.er.
:%ten i% a de&ice has a roblem a yellow ;<; aears ne6t to its descrition in the #e&ice
,ana.er. /i.hli.ht Comuter 2in the #e&ice ,ana.er5 and ress Proerties to see the
$34 numbers used by your comuter. $% the $34 number aears twice, two de&ices may
be usin. it.
+ometimes a de&ice mi.ht share an $34 with somethin. described as ;$34 holder %or PC$
steerin.;. 0his can be i.nored. 0he best way to %i6 this roblem is to remo&e the roblem
de&ice and reinstall it.
+ometimes you may ha&e to %ind more recent dri&ers on the internet to ma)e the de&ice
%unction roerly. " .ood resource is www.dri&er.uide.com. $% the de&ice is a soundcard,
or a modem, it can o%ten be %i6ed by mo&in. it to a di%%erent slot on the motherboard 2be
care%ul about oenin. your comuter, as you may &oid the warranty5.
When wor)in. inside a comuter you should switch it o%%, unlu. the mains lead and
touch an unainted metal sur%ace to dischar.e any static electricity.
0o be %air to ,c%t, the roblem with $34 numbers is not o% its ma)in.. $t is a le.acy
roblem .oin. bac) to the %irst PC desi.ns usin. the $*, =0=8 chi. $nitially there were
only ei.ht $34s. 0oday there are 18 $34s in a PC. $t is easy to run out o% them. 0here are
lans to increase the number o% $34s in %uture desi.ns.
> *ad 3am
3am 2random!access memory5 roblems mi.ht brin. on the blue screen o% death with a
messa.e sayin. Fatal E6cetion Error. " %atal error indicates a serious hardware roblem.
+ometimes it may mean a art is dama.ed and will need relacin..
*ut a %atal error caused by 3am mi.ht be caused by a mismatch o% chis. For e6amle,
mi6in. 70!nanosecond 270ns5 3am with 80ns 3am will usually %orce the comuter to run
all the 3am at the slower seed. 0his will o%ten crash the machine i% the 3am is
o&erwor)ed.
:ne way around this roblem is to enter the *$:+ settin.s and increase the wait state o%
the 3am. 0his can ma)e it more stable. "nother way to troubleshoot a susected 3am
roblem is to rearran.e the 3am chis on the motherboard, or ta)e some o% them out.
0hen try to reeat the circumstances that caused the crash. When handlin. 3am try not to
touch the .old connections, as they can be easily dama.ed.
Parity error messa.es also re%er to 3am. ,odern 3am chis are either arity 2ECC5 or
non arity 2non!ECC5. $t is best not to mi6 the two tyes, as this can be a cause o%
trouble.
E,,?=8 error messa.es re%er to memory roblems but may not be connected to bad
3am. 0his may be due to %ree memory roblems o%ten lin)ed to old #os!based
ro.rammes.
? *$:+ settin.s
E&ery motherboard is sulied with a ran.e o% chiset settin.s that are decided in the
%actory. " common way to access these settin.s is to ress the F> or delete button durin.
the %irst %ew seconds o% a boot!u.
:nce inside the *$:+, .reat care should be ta)en. $t is a .ood idea to write down on a
iece o% aer all the settin.s that aear on the screen. 0hat way, i% you chan.e
somethin. and the comuter becomes more unstable, you will )now what settin.s to
re&ert to.
" common *$:+ error concerns the C"+ latency. 0his re%ers to the 3am. :lder E#:
2e6tended data out5 3am has a C"+ latency o% ?. @ewer +#3am has a C"+ latency o% >.
+ettin. the wron. %i.ure can cause the 3am to loc) u and %reeAe the comuter;s dislay.
,c%t Windows is better at allocatin. $34 numbers than any *$:+. $% ossible set the $34
numbers to "uto in the *$:+. 0his will allow Windows to allocate the $34 numbers
2ma)e sure the *$:+ settin. %or Plu. and Play :+ is switched to ;yes; to allow Windows
to do this.5.
B /ard dis) dri&es
"%ter a %ew wee)s, the in%ormation on a hard dis) dri&e starts to become iecemeal or
%ra.mented. $t is a .ood idea to de%ra.ment the hard dis) e&ery wee) or so, to re&ent the
dis) %rom causin. a screen %reeAe. Co to
9 +tart!Pro.rams!"ccessories!+ystem 0ools!#is) #e%ra.menter
0his will start the rocedure. 'ou will be unable to write data to the hard dri&e 2to sa&e
it5 while the dis) is de%ra.mentin., so it is a .ood idea to schedule the rocedure %or a
eriod o% inacti&ity usin. the 0as) +cheduler.
0he 0as) +cheduler should be one o% the small icons on the bottom ri.ht o% the Windows
oenin. a.e 2the des)to5.
+ome loc)us and screen %reeAes caused by hard dis) roblems can be sol&ed by
reducin. the read!ahead otimisation. 0his can be ad(usted by .oin. to
9 +tart!+ettin.s!Control Panel!+ystem $con!Per%ormance!File +ystem!/ard #is).
/ard dis)s will slow down and crash i% they are too %ull. #o some house)eein. on your
hard dri&e e&ery %ew months and %ree some sace on it. :en the Windows %older on the
C dri&e and %ind the 0emorary $nternet Files %older. #eletin. the contents 2not the
%older5 can %ree a lot o% sace.
Emty the 3ecycle *in e&ery wee) to %ree more sace. /ard dis) dri&es should be
scanned e&ery wee) %or errors or bad sectors. Co to
9 +tart!Pro.rams!"ccessories!+ystem 0ools!+can#is)
:therwise assi.n the 0as) +cheduler to er%orm this oeration at ni.ht when the
comuter is not in use.
D Fatal :E e6cetions and EF# errors
Fatal :E e6cetion errors and EF# errors are o%ten caused by &ideo card roblems.
0hese can o%ten be resol&ed easily by reducin. the resolution o% the &ideo dislay. Co to
9 +tart!+ettin.s!Control Panel!#islay!+ettin.s
/ere you should slide the screen area bar to the le%t. 0a)e a loo) at the colour settin.s on
the le%t o% that window. For most des)tos, hi.h colour 18!bit deth is ade1uate.
$% the screen %reeAes or you e6erience system loc)us it mi.ht be due to the &ideo card.
,a)e sure it does not ha&e a hardware con%lict. Co to
9 +tart!+ettin.s!Control Panel!+ystem!#e&ice ,ana.er
/ere, select the G beside #islay "dater. " line o% te6t describin. your &ideo card
should aear. +elect it 2ma)e it blue5 and ress roerties. 0hen select 3esources and
select each line in the window. Hoo) %or a messa.e that says @o Con%licts.
$% you ha&e &ideo card hardware con%lict, you will see it here. *e care%ul at this oint and
ma)e a note o% e&erythin. you do in case you ma)e thin.s worse.
0he way to resol&e a hardware con%lict is to unchec) the Use "utomatic +ettin.s bo6 and
hit the Chan.e +ettin.s button. 'ou are searchin. %or a settin. that will dislay a @o
Con%licts messa.e.
"nother use%ul way to resol&e &ideo roblems is to .o to
9 +tart!+ettin.s!Control Panel!+ystem!Per%ormance!Crahics
/ere you should mo&e the /ardware "cceleration slider to the le%t. "s e&er, the most
common cause o% roblems relatin. to .rahics cards is old or %aulty dri&ers 2a dri&er is a
small iece o% so%tware used by a comuter to communicate with a de&ice5.
Hoo) u your &ideo card;s manu%acturer on the internet and search %or the most recent
dri&ers %or it.
8 Eiruses
:%ten the %irst si.n o% a &irus in%ection is instability. +ome &iruses erase the boot sector o%
a hard dri&e, ma)in. it imossible to start. 0his is why it is a .ood idea to create a
Windows start!u dis). Co to
9 +tart!+ettin.s!Control Panel!"ddI3emo&e Pro.rams
/ere, loo) %or the +tart U #is) tab. Eirus rotection re1uires constant &i.ilance.
" &irus scanner re1uires a list o% &irus si.natures in order to be able to identi%y &iruses.
0hese si.natures are stored in a #"0 %ile. #"0 %iles should be udated wee)ly %rom the
website o% your anti&irus so%tware manu%acturer.
"n e6cellent anti&irus ro.ramme is ,c"%ee Eirus+can by @etwor) "ssociates
2 www.nai.com5. "nother is @orton "ntiEirus >000, made by +ymantec
2 www.symantec.com5.
7 Printers
0he action o% sendin. a document to rint creates a bi..er %ile, o%ten called a ostscrit
%ile.
Printers ha&e only a small amount o% memory, called a bu%%er. 0his can be easily
o&erloaded. Printin. a document also uses a considerable amount o% CPU ower. 0his
will also slow down the comuter;s er%ormance.
$% the rinter is tryin. to rint unusual characters, these mi.ht not be reco.nised, and can
crash the comuter. +ometimes rinters will not reco&er %rom a crash because o%
con%usion in the bu%%er. " .ood way to clear the bu%%er is to unlu. the rinter %or ten
seconds. *ootin. u %rom a owerless state, also called a cold boot, will restore the
rinter;s de%ault settin.s and you may be able to carry on.
= +o%tware
" common cause o% comuter crash is %aulty or badly!installed so%tware. :%ten the
roblem can be cured by uninstallin. the so%tware and then reinstallin. it. Use @orton
Uninstall or Uninstall +hield to remo&e an alication %rom your system roerly. 0his
will also remo&e re%erences to the ro.ramme in the +ystem 3e.istry and lea&es the way
clear %or a comletely %resh coy.
0he +ystem 3e.istry can be corruted by old re%erences to obsolete so%tware that you
thou.ht was uninstalled. Use 3e. Cleaner by Jouni Euorio to clean u the +ystem
3e.istry and remo&e obsolete entries. $t wor)s on Windows KD, Windows K=, Windows
K= +E 2+econd Edition5, Windows ,illennium Edition 2,E5, @0B and Windows >000.
3ead the instructions and use it care%ully so you don;t do ermanent dama.e to the
3e.istry. $% the 3e.istry is dama.ed you will ha&e to reinstall your oeratin. system. 3e.
Cleaner can be obtained %rom www.(&18.or.
:%ten a Windows roblem can be resol&ed by enterin. +a%e ,ode. 0his can be done
durin. start!u. When you see the messa.e "+tartin. Windows" ress FB. 0his should
ta)e you into +a%e ,ode.
+a%e ,ode loads a minimum o% dri&ers. $t allows you to %ind and %i6 roblems that
re&ent Windows %rom loadin. roerly.
+ometimes installin. Windows is di%%icult because o% unsuitable *$:+ settin.s. $% you
)ee .ettin. +UW$@ error messa.es 2Windows setu5 durin. the Windows installation,
then try enterin. the *$:+ and disablin. the CPU internal cache. 0ry to disable the He&el
> 2H>5 cache i% that doesn;t wor).
3emember to restore all the *$:+ settin.s bac) to their %ormer settin.s %ollowin.
installation.
K :&erheatin.
Central rocessin. units 2CPUs5 are usually e1uied with %ans to )ee them cool. $% the
%an %ails or i% the CPU .ets old it may start to o&erheat and .enerate a articular )ind o%
error called a )ernel error. 0his is a common roblem in chis that ha&e been o&ercloc)ed
to oerate at hi.her seeds than they are suosed to.
:ne remedy is to .et a bi..er better %an and install it on to o% the CPU. +ecialist
coolin. %ansIheatsin)s are a&ailable %rom www.comuternerd.com or www.coolit.com
CPU roblems can o%ten be %i6ed by disablin. the CPU internal cache in the *$:+. 0his
will ma)e the machine run more slowly, but it should also be more stable.
10 Power suly roblems
With all the new construction .oin. on around the country the steady suly o% electricity
has become disruted. " ower sur.e or si)e can crash a comuter as easily as a ower
cut.
$% this has become a nuisance %or you then consider buyin. a uninterruted ower suly
2UP+5. 0his will .i&e you a clean ower suly when there is electricity, and it will .i&e
you a %ew minutes to er%orm a controlled shutdown in case o% a ower cut.
$t is a .ood in&estment i% your data are critical, because a ower cut will cause any
unsa&ed data to be lost.