Given enough time and usage your Windows PC will crash. An occasional PC crash is nothing to get too worried about; usually just rebooting your PC will allow to get back to what you were doing. However, frequent computer crashes are a sign that some bigger problem is lurking in your PC. This article will attempt to pass along some helpful pointers.

Why Does my PC Crash?

PC crashes and the accompanied”Blue Screen of Death” are what happens when Windows encounters a stop error, or simply put an error or condition that it cannot recover from. The causes of these errors can range from poorly written software drivers, failing hardware and problem in your PC’s registry.

PC Crashes during Startup

When the crash happens may be the first step in identifying the cause (although these crashes may appear to happen randomly, we’ll discuss this a bit later). For example, a PC crash during Windows startup may point to a problem with the hard drive or critical system files. Try running Windows check desk utility to check your hard drive’s integrity and Windows Update to make sure all of your drivers and system software is up-to-date.

Hardware Related PC Crashes

Failing hardware can account for many crashes. A crash that seems to happen when using a certain device is usually a strong indication that the device is failing. It may also indicate a problem with the current driver – a “driver” is needed in order for Windows to “know” how to communicate and use any particular hardware. Power down your PC and remove the hardware, does the problem continue. If not, you’ve likely isolated the source of your woes. One note, before assuming that the hardware is ready for the trash bin, attempt to obtain a new driver. Many times this is as simple as going to the manufacturer’s web site and finding your device.

Random (or Intermittent) PC Crashes

One of the most frustrating things to try to fix are random PC crashes. Of course, if your computer crashes every time you start a certain program, this is a good indication that the source of your problem is that software. One note of caution here, what may seemingly point to a software problem, may actually be a hardware problem. For example, software that controls your scanner may crash when it loads … however; the reason for this might be a problem with the scanner it’s attempting to use and not the software itself.

But what should you do for seemingly random crashes with no discernable commonality? In other words, at each crash, you don’t see any similarities.

An often overlooked cause of PC crashes is the Windows registry. Since Windows and every program on your computer uses the Windows registry, problems here can manifest themselves through PC freezes and crashes and overall slowness. A good registry cleaner will scan your registry looking for things like data corruption, broken references and unneeded entries that slow your overall PC’s performance.

We only touched on the main causes of PC crashes, there are certainly others. Hopefully you found this information helpful.

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