| How familiar does the following sound? Your computer | | | | removal applications.4. Check for free hard drive |
| was working fine, but then suddenly started locking up | | | | space. |
| (aka hanging or freezing), rebooting itself (crashing) or | | | | When no viruses are found, check out free hard drive |
| shutting down spontaneously? If you know only too | | | | space on drive C:. Make sure there is more than 20% |
| well what I am talking about, then read on! Performing | | | | of free space available; low disk space can lead to |
| the simple steps below can fix the majority of lockup | | | | random lockups.5. Check for overheating. |
| cases.1. Check for recently installed software or | | | | Overheating is another known cause of lockups. It |
| hardware. | | | | can be caused by problems with fans inside the case, |
| If the lockups started to happen after you installed a | | | | dust buildup, or other cooling problems. Make sure the |
| new peace of hardware, new software program, or | | | | power supply fan and CPU fan are running and free |
| new drivers, uninstall it and see if the problem goes | | | | of dust buildup. You can check the temperatures inside |
| away.2. Run your antivirus program. | | | | the case by running Motherboard monitor |
| One of the first things to do in the case of sudden | | | | |
| lockups is to run your antivirus program. Check your | | | | - make sure the temperatures are within the preset |
| antivirus manufacturer's website for updates and latest | | | | limits. Be very careful while cleaning inside the |
| virus definition files. (This is absolutely necessary, | | | | computer case (use plastic vacuum crevice tool) and |
| outdated antivirus is not going to be of any use!) If you | | | | NEVER OPEN THE POWER SUPPLY CASE as it |
| don't have antivirus software installed - or if updates | | | | contains high voltage.6. Check the hard disk. |
| are unavailable - run one of the web-based antivirus | | | | Check the hard disk - it is possible that its logical |
| scans that some major antivirus vendors like Trend | | | | structure is corrupted. To check the disk for errors, |
| Micro are offering for free. You can find a | | | | right-click on the disk C: icon in "My Computer", select |
| comprehensive list of available web-based scans and | | | | the "Tools" tab, check all check boxes in the "Check |
| free antivirus programs on Run some good spyware | | | | disk options" field, and press the "Check now" button. It |
| removal tool. | | | | should ask whether you want to schedule the check |
| If your machine is not infected with any viruses, it is still | | | | next time you restart your computer - answer "Yes" |
| possible that it has some harmful adware or spyware | | | | and restart your PC. The check will be performed |
| is present. Download and run some good spyware | | | | automatically after startup; it can take a while, so be |
| removal tool such as AdAware or Microsoft | | | | patient. |
| AntiSpyware. Check for a list of free spyware | | | | |