Crash Proof Your
Computer
Part 1
If you think your PC will
stop crashing after you apply all the wisdom
contained in this article, hit the Back button now. Simply put,
there's
no way to crash-proof a Windows PC.
You see, when Windows first
came out, it was just another program that sat on top of DOS--
except it went on to take over the entire machine. When the operating
system got much bigger with the advent of Win95, DOS continued
to reside beneath it. Problem is, a 32-bit version of Windows,
like Win95, sitting on top of MS-DOS is like John Candy sitting
on a plastic tricycle. In both cases, crashes are inevitable.
But it'd be unfair to blame
Microsoft for all of our PC crashes. Read
on.
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The best way to make a Windows
PC crash infrequently is to keep it
lean. When you have some free time, perform a clean install of
Windows. Then, only install the applications that you really
use. Eliminating that which is unnecessary-- such as the game
you no longer play or the freeware that wasn't as cool as you
thought it'd be-- will cut down on software conflicts and system
bloat. As an added benefit, your PC will run faster if the hard
drive isn't full.
Once you find a stable configuration--
a selection of software and
hardware that won't constantly crash your system-- resist the
temptation to mess around with anything. Every time you add new
software to your computer, the likelihood of conflict-causing
crashes increases. When you do add new software, back up your
system first so that you can revert back to the old, stable configuration
if trouble brews.
Above all, keep away from
beta software. It's fun to be one of the
first people to tool around with a new product, but unfinished,
buggy
applications can cause your system to crash more.
When using your computer,
run as few programs as possible. My computer crashes when I start
feeling drunk with power and run a silly number of cool applications
simultaneously. On all but the most powerful computers, even
if you just have Word, Netscape, and your email client open at
one time, you're at risk for a crash.
If you like or need to have
several applications open at once, add more RAM. One of the reasons
computers crash when you have a bunch of applications open at
once is that they run out of memory. For Windows computers, the
RAM minimum sweet spot is between 32- and 64MB, remember the
more the better - think about 128, 256, dream on and on.