Do you know what is the most horrible situation which we always never want to face…. as for I concerned… this is, I never wish to have my PC crash in the middle while I am working… though at any other time I even won’t mind it.  As this is our tendency reworking on an project which was almost completed; never gain the same effort as we do in first attempt. This is the irritating factor… Now do you know what cause such errors… the most horrible BSOD (Blue Screen of Death)…. or the Fatal Error: “Enter to return to Windows or press Control-Alt-Delete to restart your computer. If you do this you will lose any unsaved information in all open applications.”

Though there are not any single factor leading to such issues but a whole bunch of processes or hardware/software conflicts, registry problems etc. are responsible… today in this article we will get to learn about the most of the scary situation that cause to such errors…

Top Errors Causing a system unstable:

1. Ram Failure: This is what I put in the first order, RAM(Random Access Memory) is what responsible for the BSOD -saying Fatal Exception Error. How this happens, as you might have seen a RAM chip before that it contains several on-board chips of the same configuration  for Ex. 1 GB memory Chip may contains 8 CHIPS (IC) of 128 mbs each 4 on either side… now as we know Windows OS stores temporary information over it and if gets to an area of a chip not working properly… then this is the situation when most likely BSOD erros comes… apart from the faulty rams this error also caused by the Mismatch of Chips for ex. mixing 70-nanosecond (70ns) Ram with 60ns Ram will usually force the computer to run all the Ram at the slower speed thus finally leads to the system Crash.

Resolve:  a) Always try to use single high capacity RAM instead of using two or more in different channels as single chip ensures the highest performance.
b) If you are abide to use multi channel rams then enter the BIOS settings and increase the wait state of the Ram.
c) To get rid out of this problem is to rearrange the Ram chips on the motherboard, or take some of them out.
d) When handling Ram out od the CPU  try not to touch the gold connections, as this might cause them to damage.
2. Hardware Conflict: This is also among the top reason causing system instability, as each hardware device built in into the Motherborad communicates to other devices through an interrupt request channel (IRQ)… and each device is said to use the unique IRO number for which it is assigned for… like a printer will always look for IRQ 7. Now usually what happens if there are a lot of devices, or if they are not installed properly, two of them may end up sharing the same IRQ number. When the user tries to use both devices at the same time, a crash can happen. The way to check if your computer has a hardware conflict is through the Control Panel itself… as it is the place storing all and every information we might need.. to get to it….

* Start >Settings >Control Panel >System >Device Manager

Often if a device has a problem a yellow ‘!’ appears next to its description in the Device Manager. Highlight Computer (in the Device Manager) and press Properties to see the IRQ numbers used by your computer. If the IRQ number appears twice, two devices may be using it.

Sometimes you may have to find more recent drivers on the internet to make the device function properly. A good resource is www.driverguide.com. If the device is a sound-card, or a modem, it can often be fixed by moving it to a different slot on the motherboard (be careful about opening your computer, as you may void the warranty).

When working inside a computer you should switch it off, unplug the mains lead and touch an unpainted metal surface to discharge any static electricity.

To be fair to Mcft, the problem with IRQ numbers is not of its making. It is a legacy problem going back to the first PC designs using the IBM 8086 chip. Initially there were only eight IRQs. Today there are 16 IRQs in a PC. It is easy to run out of them. There are plans to increase the number of IRQs in future designs.

3. Hard Disk Drives: Though these are not very much related to system crash unless they are not damaged and have too many bad sectors… but often treated as the most important factor to slow down a PC…. but not to a System Crash. How…

After a few weeks, the information on a hard disk drive starts to become piecemeal or fragmented. It is a good idea to defragment the hard disk every week or so, to prevent the disk from causing a screen freeze. Go to

To Locate Disk Defragmenter : Go to Start> All Programs. Accessories> System Tools> Disk Defragment

This will start the procedure. You will be unable to write data to the hard drive (to save it) while the disk is defragmenting, so it is a good idea to schedule the procedure for a period of inactivity using the Task Scheduler.

Apart from the above task always try to backup your valuable files as Harddisk are also a prone area to a System Crash. And try to clean up the disk space every few weeks time as well as empty the Recycle Bin every week also

4. Virus or Spyware Attacks:

Often the first sign of a virus infection is instability. Some viruses erase the boot sector of a hard drive, making it impossible to start. This is why it is a good idea to create a Windows start-up disk. Go to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-Add/Remove Programs

Here, look for the Start Up Disk tab. Virus protection requires constant vigilance.

A virus scanner requires a list of virus signatures in order to be able to identify viruses. These signatures are stored in a DAT file. DAT files should be updated weekly from the website of your antivirus software manufacturer.

An excellent antivirus programme is McAfee VirusScan by Network Associates ( www.nai.com). Another is Norton AntiVirus 2000, made by Symantec ( www.symantec.com).

5. Weather Condition Over Heating: Central processing units (CPUs) are usually equipped with fans to keep them cool. If the fan fails or if the CPU gets old it may start to overheat and generate a particular kind of error called a kernel error. This is a common problem in chips that have been overclocked to operate at higher speeds than they are supposed to.

One remedy is to get a bigger better fan and install it on top of the CPU. Specialist cooling fans/heatsinks are available from www.computernerd.com or www.coolit.com

CPU problems can often be fixed by disabling the CPU internal cache in the BIOS. This will make the machine run more slowly, but it should also be more stable.

6. Fatal OE exceptions and VXD errors:  Fatal OE exception errors and VXD errors are often caused by video card problems.

These can often be resolved easily by reducing the resolution of the video display. Go to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-Display-Settings

Here you should slide the screen area bar to the left. Take a look at the colour settings on the left of that window. For most desktops, high colour 16-bit depth is adequate.

If the screen freezes or you experience system lockups it might be due to the video card. Make sure it does not have a hardware conflict. Go to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-System-Device Manager

Here, select the + beside Display Adapter. A line of text describing your video card should appear. Select it (make it blue) and press properties. Then select Resources and select each line in the window. Look for a message that says No Conflicts.

If you have video card hardware conflict, you will see it here. Be careful at this point and make a note of everything you do in case you make things worse.

The way to resolve a hardware conflict is to uncheck the Use Automatic Settings box and hit the Change Settings button. You are searching for a setting that will display a No Conflicts message.

Another useful way to resolve video problems is to go to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-System-Performance-Graphics

Here you should move the Hardware Acceleration slider to the left. As ever, the most common cause of problems relating to graphics cards is old or faulty drivers (a driver is a small piece of software used by a computer to communicate with a device).

Look up your video card’s manufacturer on the internet and search for the most recent drivers for it.

7. Have the right software:
A common cause of computer crash is faulty or badly-installed software. Often the problem can be cured by uninstalling the software and then reinstalling it. Use Norton Uninstall or Uninstall Shield to remove an application from your system properly. This will also remove references to the programme in the System Registry and leaves the way clear for a completely fresh copy.

The System Registry can be corrupted by old references to obsolete software that you thought was uninstalled. Use Reg Cleaner by Jouni Vuorio to clean up the System Registry and remove obsolete entries. It works on Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 98 SE (Second Edition), Windows Millennium Edition (ME), NT4 and Windows 2000.

Read the instructions and use it carefully so you don’t do permanent damage to the Registry. If the Registry is damaged you will have to reinstall your operating system. Reg Cleaner can be obtained from www.jv16.org

Often a Windows problem can be resolved by entering Safe Mode. This can be done during start-up. When you see the message “Starting Windows” press F4. This should take you into Safe Mode.

Safe Mode loads a minimum of drivers. It allows you to find and fix problems that prevent Windows from loading properly.

Sometimes installing Windows is difficult because of unsuitable BIOS settings. If you keep getting SUWIN error messages (Windows setup) during the Windows installation, then try entering the BIOS and disabling the CPU internal cache. Try to disable the Level 2 (L2) cache if that doesn’t work.

The above are well some of the reason why a computer become unstable…. hope you enjoyed it…