The worst nightmare for anyone who owns a computer or works on one is perhaps a crash. With most users having a Windows operating system installed, Windows crashes are more common than you can possibly wish for. If you are one of the lucky few whose systems crash only ruins about a day’s work, then you must be the envy of people who have had computer crashes which took them several months to fully recover from.

Yes, Windows crashes can be very stressful. Not only can you end up losing all the data you have collected on your laptop over the years, and this includes all your photos, music and movie collection, but it could also mean very little chance of data recovery. Moreover, if your system crashes once, there is always the chance of it crashing again. In fact, if you don’t find out the cause the first time it crashes and fix it, it is going to crash continuously. The good news is, you can probably solve Windows system crashes on your own most of the time.

Why do Windows crashes occur?

People who use Windows 95 and 98 have reported more crashes than those who use other versions of the operating system. That does not mean that your computer will never experience a crash in case you use an XP. The severity of crashes may differ. It can be as simple as a program or application not working to your whole system crashing and refusing to open up.

A particular application

This is the most common and typical reason why Windows systems crash. The application you may be running may contain a bug or the crash may have occurred because it couldn’t handle the kind of tasks given to it. It may also happen that a particular application you may be running tries to access a protected memory or restricted location which makes your system display the Fatal Exception or General Protection Fault error message. The reaction may be a closing down of the application or the whole system.

A corrupt driver

A driver can cause your Windows to crash if it is incompatible or corrupt. A corrupt driver can in fact lock down your whole system and leave you in a lurch.

Virus and malware

These can also be the reasons why systems crash.

Repeat crashes

A huge portion of Windows crashes are repeat crashes. Because the root of the first crash was not solved, crashes kept on repeating. It is difficult for system administrators to resolve crashes immediately because of the huge depth of the issue. Moreover, non- technical people who don’t have much knowledge about operating systems don’t even know when crashes are occurring and fail to notify Microsoft about it. This is the case with most Windows users as most of them have personal laptops or PC’s without a system administrator to govern them. If crashes are dealt with quickly and efficiently, chances of them occurring again becomes a lot lesser.

Things to do if your Windows crashes

The first thing to do if your Windows operating system collapses is to keep your cool. The world hasn’t ended and with a little luck you can actually retrieve most of your data.  Follow the steps given below to solve the problem on your own:

Reboot

If your system has crashed, you have to reboot it to see what damage has taken place. In case you were running a particular program or application, do a local reboot. For this, you need to press down Ctrl+Alt+Delete. You will see a Close Program box on your screen which will list all of the programs that you were running on your computer at the moment. Check to see which one has the Not Responding sign next to it and then Select it and End Task it. After you have confirmed your choice, the application will be closed. If the crash is a minor one, this is enough to fix the problem. But if it has affected your whole system, then use the Reset button of the computer to shut it down. If that too doesn’t work, turn it off with the Power button. Then reboot it again.

In case of overheating

Windows may crash if the computer is placed in an area where it’s too hot. You have to understand that your computer must be moved to an area where there is enough ventilation. If ventilation is something you can’t arrange for, make sure there’s a fan or AC running whenever it is in use.

Save your registry files

It is extremely important that you save your registry files. If you are a non- technical person, it is very possible that you don’t know what a registry file is and what it does. Registry files store, keep track of and sorts all the information on your computer and this includes information relating to your software and hardware. It has all the programs and applications as well. So after your computer has crashed and you have restored it, it is important that you save all your registry files. If you don’t already use a registry cleaning device to perform ‘defragmentation’ on your computer regularly, it’s high time you do. In fact, you should ‘defragment’ your system at least once a week. It will not only prevent crashes due to registry files, it is also going to make the programs run smoother.

General tips to avoid Windows Crashes

Check your RAM

It is important that you check your computer’s RAM regularly. There are many free tools available on the internet to do so.

Check software

If you notice programs and applications running abnormally, check it and if required re-install your OS before it crashes.

Use scanning software regularly

If you use your laptop on a daily basis, it is a good thing to schedule scans on a particular time everyday. This will prevent any spamware, malware or virus to go undetected on your system