The average person does not maintain his or her PC properly. Most people download applications and tools not realizing some of the things they download may cause problems in the future. Many times programs conflict with each other and will cause applications to malfunction or not work properly. This creates many frustrating problems the average PC user is unable to deal with or fix. The frustration and fear the computer is ruined makes it difficult for a person to think clearly. Most people generally panic at the first sign of computer trouble.
The first time you have trouble, you should simply attempt to reboot. Often, rebooting will solve the issue. However, once you notice a problem, you want to make sure you back-up all your files. While rebooting may work, you want to make sure if there is a more serious issue, you have all your files saved on an external device. Back-ups should be done on a regular basis to avoid losing information.
If rebooting does not resolve the issue, you may want to consider reinstalling the application that seems to be giving you a problem. You can uninstall the program in the add/remove program manager. Once you have uninstalled the program, you can restart your computer to see if the problem is resolved. If the problem is not resolved, another program may be causing the problem. If it is resolved, you can simply reinstall the program.
Keep in mind; if you are experiencing difficulty with Windows, reinstalling will cause you to lose the information on your computer. You will want to back-up all the information you have on your computer. Before taking this step, you will want to make sure additional applications are not the root cause.
Downloading programs you are unfamiliar with usually are the cause of most problems. Many of the free tools that are offered may cause a host of problems on your computer. If you download an application and you notice you are having problems running other applications, simply remove the application you downloaded.
At the first sign of trouble, remember to reboot.
