Kathmandu:

In most personal computers in the world today, Microsoft Windows works as the operating system. Despite being user-friendly, however, this OS is very delicate and crashes frequently in absence of the right conditions. If you are tired of frequent crashing of your comp, please abide by the following tips.

• If any program or font is not working properly then reboot the comp. Most errors are temporary which occur due to running of different programs at a time. So on rebooting, they can be corrected as you reload the program.

• If you have problems after installing a special software, then you need to uninstall it and check for normal operations to identify whether the software has caused problems.

• To know whether all the system files of Windows are present or not, use system file checker(i.e. C:\\windows\ command\ebd) to see the presence of system files needed by the operating system. This will again place those files in the required places where they should be and those files that are corrupted are shown.

• If you have changed your mouse, or sound card or have installed any other hardware then uninstall it and see what happens. Next, from the computer seller or hardware manufacturer, get the most appropriate hardware (driver). Ask him whether the new hardware is compatible

with your old hardware or not.

• Note that, improperly working or bad memory is the biggest reason for a crash. So if you are receiving messages about page faults, illegal operation or fatal exception, check the RAM (Random Access Memory) or give it to the hardware engineer for examination. After using/fitting new memory module, if these error messages reappear, it means that your RAM module is not working properly or is not compatible.

• If the computer stops working itself from time to time or is not working properly which it should be, then use scandisk, disk cleanup and defrag.

• Keep a major portion of your hard disk empty. While working with Windows, one needs maximum space for making temporary files or swap files. So if you have less space on your hard disk then many faults may arise, the system may hang from time to time or Windows may even crash!

• Regularly scan your hard disk for viruses. If files are defected then use an unaffected floppy or a proper Windows CD to boot and then reinstall Windows in your computer. All computer users should know that the Clage viruses are the latest virus that can appear in as many as 120 different subjects like your password and undelivered mail. This virus gives a threat of reaching all destinations in the mail list, all by itself! This virus program is such that it first kills the antivirus program in the computer. But combat it; antivirus companies have launched various products.

• If Windows still crashes frequently in your newly brought computer, then consult your seller or hardware manufacturer to check out the compatibility of your computer’s motherboard or any other part.

• While starting, if an error message regarding device failure appears, then all you have to do is press the F8 key while restarting the computer in the safe mode. Then go to start>settings>control panel>system>hardware and opt for device manager to see if there are any duplicate devices. If so then clear the duplicate device and reboot.