Start Up and Crashes

Remember: Problems with a task or program?? Reboot!!

To turn on your computer you press the power button. In pre XP operating systems , you see a series of white on black screens. In XP this process is happening but hidden. The boot process is opening and identifying the content of your hard drive, the programs that are installed and the peripherals that are installed. That's why your printer makes a noise during the boot process, the computer has found it and connected it to your system. Your peripherals need to be turned on in order to be initialized.

Remember to turn off all programs before shutting down or rebooting The boot process is complete when your desktop (This term is used to describe your computer screen) is fully setup and the arrow (cursor) hourglass has disappeared. The hourglass tells you that the computer is still processing the current task. This can also be determined by watching the hard drive light on your tower. When the boot process is complete (also referred to as boot up) your computer is ready to proceed.

DEFAULT is a very important term. It describes the basic setup of a program or operating system. As you operate your computer, these defaults change depending on the task that you are performing. This is normal. At times the changes conflict and your computer freezes up. This is called a crash. Also very normal. Rebooting your computer returns your computer settings to DEFAULT settings. That dialog box that tells you that you have committed an illegal act is a crash. The computer police will not arrest you for this.

To reboot your computer left click the START button, left click Turn Off Computer and a new dialog box comes up with options. A warm reboot is usually all that is necessary. Select RESTART. A cold reboot is shutting down the computer so that the power goes off. For a cold reboot Select Turn Off. WAIT for the computer to shut down completely. This allows the hard drive to stop spinning. Now press the power button. On a startup boot or a cold reboot your computer may show counting ram. To hurry this along pressing the ESC button will do it. A warm reboot doesn't count ram.

Continue on Too See How to Clear a Crash
Without Damaging Your Hard Drive
The first thing you do when the computer crashes is to hold down the Ctrl and Alt buttons on your keyboard and then press Delete(Del) ONCE. A screen will appear and the title bar will say Windows Task Manager (XP). Below in the white window (called a field) There will be a list of the current programs running on the computer. The crashed program will be listed and may have a (not responding) after it. To clear this program highlight the task click on the [End Task] button on the bottoms of the window and wait. Within a minute another window should appear with the same [End Task] button. Click this button and it will clear the crash and should return you to the default desktop.

At this time it would be prudent to do a warm reboot. To accomplish this you click the Start buttons, click shut down, when the shutdown window opens click Restart. The will shutdown and automatically restart your computer. Your computer is now at the default settings again. Any non saved work will be erased during this procedure. That is why it is wise to save work while creating it.

A cold reboot is when you completely turn the computer off and the restart with the power button. To completely turn your computer off, Go to Start, Turn Off Computer and then click Turn Off This will shut your computer down in an orderly manner. It will close any programs that are still running, in case you forgot to, and a declaration will appear that it is OK to turn off the computer. Most computers today will at that time actually turn off your power. Isn't modern technology wonderful.

A warm reboot is when you go Start-Turn Off Computer and the Windows Shutdown window opens, click on the Restart. This will automatically shut down and reboot the computer. If you are prompted to shutdown open programs, do so. When starting any shutdown procedure make sure there are no open programs. The task bar will show open programs. The task bar is on the bottom of your screen and has the START button on the far left.

If the Ctrl-Alt-Del doesn't work the first time do it again and see if the offending program is still on the list. Sometimes it will clear without the second end task window appearing. If the task is still there try it again. If it doesn't work this time do the Ctrl-Alt-Del again and this time click the Del twice. This should reboot the machine in an orderly fashion. Some times a screen will come and tell you that it didn't shut down properly and it will start a Scan Disk procedure. Let this complete and don't be concerned. This is part of Windows protecting itself and is normal.

On occasion a blue error screen appears with instructions for correcting the error. If following the instructions does not work, try CTRL-ALT-DEL. Most of the time this will not work either. Press RESET button.

When you turn off the machine incorrectly upon reboot it will do a scan disk. This is a self protection device. Let it complete and when the desk top is up, do a warm reboot just in case.

The Following is More Detailed Information on Crashes
When Windows crashes If you're using Windows, you know that your operating system occasionally crashes. The crash can be as minor as an application that goes south or as major as your whole system locking up. These crashes can be caused by any number of situations and troubleshooting them can be a bear--especially if you don't understand why they occur. However, with a basic understanding of the situations that cause Windows crashes and a few tricks, you can better deal with Windows crashes and ultimately free your system from the glitches that cause them. In this article, I'll examine some of the most typical causes of Windows crashes and explain how they occur. As I do, I'll provide you with some techniques that you can use to deal with Windows crashes when they occur as well information on how to avoid them.

Don't always blame the operating system
When Windows locks up, the most typical cause is a problem with an application that you're running. The application could have a bug in it, or it could just be that a random series of events lead the application to a situation it couldn't handle. For example, a bug in an application could cause it to get caught up in an endless loop--which then causes the application to use up all the CPU time. When this happens, the endless loop will prevent the operating system from doing anything else. On the other hand, if an application accidentally tries to access a restricted or protected memory location, Windows will immediately cut off the attempt and display a GPF (General Protection Fault) or Fatal Exception error message. When it does, the application will be shut down or paused, which in many cases can bring down the entire operating system. To circumvent these types of problems, you need to make sure that your applications are in tip-top shape. This means using good quality applications from reputable sources and making sure that you have the most recent versions or have added any patches or updates released by the manufacturer.

Drivers can be at fault
Another typical cause of a Windows lock up are device drivers. In order to do their job, device drivers are given a high privilege level in the operating system. This means that they're allowed access to some of the more critical portions of the operating system. So if a driver is corrupt or incompatible in any way, it can bring down the whole system. As such, if you're experiencing crashes on a regular basis, you can try updating drivers for such devices as your video card, Web cam, sound card, printer, etc. You can usually find the most current drivers on the manufacturers Web site.

When to blame the operating system
While the operating system isn't always the culprit of a Windows crash, it does cause its share of problems. For example, one major operating system problem that causes crashes is a depletion of system resources. Unfortunately, the amount of memory dedicated to Windows XP, 98, and Me's system resources is limited to a small portion of the total amount of physical RAM in your system. This means that system resources can easily be depleted if you're running multiple applications.

RMEMBER: Windows, with all of its faults,is avery resilient system. It is very difficult to do permanent damage.

Using a local reboot to recover
If an application that you're working with starts behaving strangely or locks up, you may be able to recover the system before the whole system freezes by using a local reboot. Basically a local reboot restarts only the program that's failed--not your entire system. To perform a local reboot, you just press the Ctrl+Alt+Delete key combination. When you do, Windows displays the Task Manager dialog box which shows a list of all the programs currently active on your system. Keep a look out for any applications whose status is listed as Not Responding.

If you discover an application that isn't responding, select it, and then click End Task button. When you do, Windows displays another dialog box that prompts you to confirm the operation. Again, you'll select the End Task button. In most situations, this will shut down the one application that is causing the problem and leave all the other applications running. While it may appear that once you close down the troubled application you can simply go back to work, that's not really the case. What you've done is closed the application before it brought down the whole system, but some of the problems that the troubled application caused may be lurking in the background. As such, I strongly recommend that you close down all the other running applications and then restart your system in order to clear out the system and start fresh.

When a local reboot won't work You won't always be able to avoid a total lockup with the local reboot feature. If you press the Ctrl+Alt+Delete key combination and nothing happens, your system is, of course, totally locked up. In this situation, you have no choice but to press the reset button on your computer to force a warm boot. Keep in mind that in some cases, the reset button/warm boot may not unlock your system. You then have to press the power button to turn your computer off and then on, also known as a cold boot. Of course, using either of these measures means that you'll lose any unsaved data in application you were working with.

Webmasters Tip: Just to be safe, you should get into the habit of saving your data every few minutes while your working in an application. That way if your system does lockup and you have to restart, you'll only lose a small amount of data. Many applications have an autosave feature that will save your data every few minutes. See your application's Help system for more information, as you may have to manually enable the autosave feature.

Documenting crashes
When you encounter an application crash or a system lockup, you should document the situation in as much detail as possible. You should keep track of the error messages as well as what you were doing when the crash occurred For example, when you encounter a GPF, or other error message, you should immediately get out a piece of paper and write down the exact error message word-for-word. If the error doesn't lock up the system you can also press Alt+PrintScrn to capture an image of the dialog box containing the error message to the clipboard. You can then launch a word processor, like WordPad, and paste the screen capture in the document. Then type a description of the situation that prompted the error. You can then use this information to help you track down the cause of the problem. For instance, you can later go to the Microsoft Knowledge Base or an application manufacturer's technical support page and search for information on the error message. If the error is documented on the site, chances are you may find the cause of the problem as well as a solution.

Getting a fresh start
If your system is locking up sporadically with different error messages and in different situations, you might need a total system rebuild. Unfortunately, the Windows operating system can suffer from a problem called OS Decay. As you use your system over time, you install, upgrade, and uninstall numerous commercial and shareware applications. In addition, you'll probably add and remove various hardware peripherals and their associated device drivers. Furthermore, you may upgrade your operating system with a multitude of patches, bug fixes, and updates. At this point, the operating system is now cobbled together with bits and pieces of executables, DLLs, drivers, INI files, Registry files, and many other files too numerous to mention.

FINALLY (Never thought you'd get to the end, did you?)
When it gets to this point, there are probably so many problems with the operating system that tracking down the cause of the lockup and crashes is an insurmountable task. As such, your best bet is to back up all your important data, reformat the hard disk, and then reinstall the operating system and all your applications. A computer professional is the best bet to do this.

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