Another Day With My PC

What do you do when you encounter an error message?

I bet many of you just click “ok” after reading the first 4 words that are written in the notice or warning. I don’t blame you for having that kind of attitude towards Windows’ occasional ranting. I myself am guilty of that sometimes. The words in the warning or message box seem either gibberish or too technical to comprehend. In the fatalistic hope that things would turn out just fine by clicking ok (after all, ok means ok, right?), many users blindly click the first button that they see, especially if it’s selected or highlighted by default.

It’s Actually Telling You Something

The authors of Windows didn’t just randomly copy a page of the operating system’s manual and paste it on the error or warning boxes, though. You can bet your mouse’s left button that the designers carefully thought out all the error messages that Windows could utter in case it hiccups. I would even dare say that around 50 cents of the operating system’s price tag accounts for the time that the programmers have spent in writing those error messages.

It’s not wise to ignore error messages. Warning or error boxes that pop up on your screen are Windows’ way of telling you that it’s not feeling well and that it probably needs some tweaking. The fact that you know nothing technical other than Ctrl+Alt+Del doesn’t mean that you don’t have to exert any effort to try to address those messages. The most prudent thing to do when you see Windows coughing is to take note of the thing’s that it’s telling you and try to Google on it for clarifications and solutions.

The Blue Screen of Death

If you’re too lazy to open Google, then just continue reading this post. I’ll just spoon-feed you as to the possible causes.

One of the well known (and dreadful) error messages that you could get is the blue screen of death (BSoD). This curse is usually caused by faulty hardware, such as the motherboard and SIMM modules. Overheating on the CPU can also cause your monitor to spray blue paint all over its screen.

Solving BSoD problems caused by faulty hardware can easily be solved. However, the solution could be a bit of a burden on your pocket. Sputtering peripherals usually need to be changed. Although you could have it examined and dissected by a technician, chances are is that the numbers on the repair costs are almost the same as the price tag for a brand new part. I recommend that you just buy a brand new component rather than having your old peripheral undergo e-surgery.

Soft Solution for a Hard Problem

Before you buy a new component, though, make sure that it is really the problem. There are times when the peripheral is actually ok but appears to be not working due to a defective or incompatible device driver. Make sure that all the supporting applications or drivers that are necessary in order for the component to function are already installed. Update them regularly by visiting its manufacturer’s Web site for new releases or by checking driver repositories on the Internet, such as Driver Detective.

BSoDs are also caused by faulty Registry. If this is the cause of your operating system’s problem, you can solve it by running System Restore. If you failed to create a restore point, then seek the help of a Registry cleaner, such as RegCure. This program could rid your operating system’s registry of unwanted lines and instructions.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 14th, 2008 at 11:35 am and is filed under RegCure, PC Maintenance, PC Optimization, Registry Problems, Registry Cleaners . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.