Computers are huge parts of our daily lives now, and while they do help make our lives easier in many, many ways, they can also be a source of endless frustration when they are not performing correctly. Computer crashes are among the top annoyances that PC users face, and if you find that your computer is freezing, stalling, showing you the dreaded Blue Screen of Death or crashing, then you want to take care of it as soon as you can so you can ge

t back to work (or play!). You do not always have to take your computer out to an expensive repair shop to correct the problem, though. It is possible to learn how to fix computer crashes easily and effectively yourself, no outside help required!

The following are some handy tips you can use to get your computer system back up and running in great shape:

 

1. Cut down on the clutter. Many people have unwanted programs on their systems that they are not aware of. For example, if you download a program like Adobe Acrobat Reader on purpose, if you do not look carefully and opt out of it, it will also download and install the Google Toolbar for you automatically. A cluttered hard drive is a slow hard drive and one that is prone to freezing and crashing, so uninstall and remove any software and programs you do not absolutely need.
2. Run the Disk Defragmenter. Computer programs and files are not comprised of one solid piece of information. Instead, they are broken up into smaller packets. Ideally, all of the packets would be installed onto your hard drive contiguously, but as a hard drive fills up, it runs out of room to do that, so new programs have to deposit those packets in different areas. This can cause your computer to slow way down and crash, because when you start that program up, it's hunting desperately around, looking everywhere for the information it needs, causing it to hang and mess up!
3. Stop unnecessary programs from starting automatically when you boot up your computer. If a ton of things are trying to get up and going at once when you boot up your machine, then the risk for failure grows. Any programs that do not absolutely have to be available at start up for your computer to function can be turned off – then you need only turn them on yourself when you are ready to use them. The System Configuration Utility's Startup tab will show you what programs are set to run automatically and give you the option to disable them to prevent them from doing so.

With a little forethought and effort, you can keep your computer system running smoothly and crash free!