Avoid exposure to magnetic fields Avoid exposure to static electricity Avoid exposure to extremes in temperature Avoid exposure to liquids of any kind Run Scandisk on hard drive and floppies to keep disks in working order Run Disk Defragmenter on hard drive to ensure fastest storage & data retrieval rates Make an emergency boot disk for your system (with necessary drivers, etc.) First actions to take if the computer has crashed DONT PANIC - it happens to everyone Try Ctrl-Alt-Del to close the culprit program, then click End Task If that doesnt work, try Ctrl-Alt-Del again to restart your computer Use diagnostic and/or repair software to help pinpoint and/or correct problems Scandisk, Disk Defragmenter, Norton, Conflict Catcher for Mac Second actions to take - Check connections FIRST For example, no power light, check power cable Try swapping known good devices to pinpoint the problem (keyboard, mouse, monitor, etc. DURING COMPUTER USE Close running applications that you dont need Save your work regularly! If your Win 95/98 computer crashes, wait seconds before turning it back on. If your computer wants to run Scandisk, let it. COMPUTER VIRUSES Purchase and use a good anti-virus program If you have a disk that you suspect may have a virus, do NOT use that disk Invest in a personal firewall DISK BOOT FAILURE (insert system disk and press enter) If you are receiving this error, the first thing you should do is check the following: 1. Are the boot options correctly set in BIOS 2. Is there a non bootable CD or Floppy your PC 3. Do you have a bootable device such as a Hard Drive Installed 4. Have you recently installed a new hard disk 5. Is the hard disk plugged in 6. Have you checked your system for viruses If none of these conditions are a problem then more then likely you are dealing with a logical crash. A logical crash in this case is to your Boot sector. This can be caused by viruses, random mis-writes, power sags and surges, malware, improper computer shutdown or any number of other anomalies. If you are experiencing errors similar to the ones below, you can easily repair the problem without the need to call in a technician. Errors you may see: "Invalid system disk."; "Disk I/O error."; "Replace the disk, and then press any key"; "Non-System disk or disk error"; "Replace and press any key when ready."; and "Disk Boot failure "BOOT: Couldn't find NTLDR."; "I/O error reading disk.""disk boot failure insert system disk"; "boot disk failure insert system disk and press enter"; "windows xp disk boot failure" Slow Computer Check free space on your hard drive Run scandisk (possibly corrupt files) Too many processes (possibly spyware) running in the background Computer overheating (check fans) Recently installed hardware, software or updates? Illegal Operations Memory conflicts (bad memory?) Dirty CD or corrupt files on a floppy Highly fragmented hard drive Corrupt files (Windows or another program) Virus or spyware New hardware (possible driver issue or setting conflict) Program Not Responding Bugged software Conflicts between hardware or software Lack of system resources (memory, hard disk space, too many active programs) Computer Lock Up? No mouse control? Do you have keyboard control? You can check by pushing the caps lock or num lock keys on your keyboard and seeing if the corresponding lights respond. Have keyboard control, push CTRL-ALT-DELETE at the same time to access the task manager. End the program that is not responding in the task manager. Save anything you are working on and reboot the computer. No keyboard control? Hold the power button in for a few seconds. Use The Tools Available Check Disk or Scandisk Disk Cleanup Defragment Drive System Restore (Windows ME & XP)