SmartPCTutor.com

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Frequently Asked Questions

If your computer locks up for an extended period of time and will not respond to any commands or input, it may become necessary to "kill" one or more of your running applications. Now don't worry, the application itself will be fine. However, if you have any unsaved data, you risk losing that data by doing the following. If you find yourself in this situation though, you may have no other choice. This is why it is always important to save your progress frequently.
Try pressing Ctrl + Shift + Esc (simultaneously) to open up your Task Manager. *If this does not work then press the Ctrl + Alt + Del (simultaneously) then click on Start Task Manager. From here you will want to click on the “Applications” tab and find any program that has “Not Responding” next to it. Click on that program and then click “End Task”. Once you give your PC a moment, hopefully all is well again once that troubled program is no longer active.
If you are still faced with an uncooperative computer it’s time for a reboot. A lot of problems that occur while your computer is running can be fixed with a simple reboot. Often an application doesn’t release memory like it should when it has been ended. The result is your computer locks up. When you reboot, memory registers are cleared thus fixing a lot of problems that can occur.

 Frozen or Locked Computer

Error messages… Ah who needs them? Truthfully error messages are extremely annoying, especially when they pop up at the worst possible time. It’s got to be Murphy’s Law. While we agree those pesky error messages are annoying, they actually help point us to your solution. There are literally hundreds of thousands of error messages out there, and every single one was designed specifically to aid in repairing software or hardware issues. Since there are so many we’ll discuss here the best way to help your technicians help you.
Once you receive an error message the first thing you’ll want to do is write down exactly what the dialogue box says. For example in the (fake) error message we see below you would want to jot down “run error” and “run as fast as you can and don’t look back.” Word for word.

 Error Messages

Taking a “screen shot” of error messages to send to your technician can be much easier and more effective if you know how to take one and your computer is in a state that allows it.
Here’s how.
When the message is on screen hit the Ctrl + Print Screen keys(simultaneously) to copy the screen or Alt+Print Screen to copy the window. Open up your Word program and “paste” the image into the document. You can then email the file or, depending on your email software, paste directly into the email.

If you have a seemingly simple error message on your hands try to complete a Google search for the error message within quotation marks and see if you can find any results that describe your exact situation and a step by step fix.

WARNING - Only use trusted resources such as http://support.microsoft.com/ for help with Microsoft issues. There are those out there who do not have your best interests in mind, so be warned.

Diagnose and Repair Yourself

http://support.microsoft.com/

For a do-it-yourself guide to troubleshooting computers check out what the folks over at www.ehow.com have to say. They have a lot of useful information on those of you feeling up to the task.

http://www.ehow.com/