Computer Optimization

Windows Stop Error (Blue Screen of Death)

Ok. so, Im tired of seeing these ads for these websites claiming if you get a blue screen you have a virus and you need to go to their site to take care of it. Blue screen errors (technical term is Stop Error) are generally drivers or a hardware fault such as a failing hard drive.

If you have a slow computer it doesn’t mean something is wrong, it generally means you have too much crap open or your rocking a machine thats more than 3-5 years old. If it is out of date and slow you can do things to make it better, you can add memory to it (RAM not hard disk space).

Please people, don’t go to these sites, they cause way more problems than they could ever fix including doing damage to the Windows registry that ultimately requires a reinstallation of Windows. If you have computer problems please call a professional. Sites like MyCleanPC, MakeMyPCFast, DoubleMySpeed and others are scams, and will only harm your computer.!Most of the software that is loaded to your computer by these sites is spyware that keeps track of your online habits.

If your computer is running slow check the system tray on the right hand side of the task bar. In all likelihood the system has too many things open, things that start with the computer you don’t use anymore, uninstall, or if you still use them go into their settings and keep them from starting with the computer, you can always start those programs when you need them.

Windows 8 Stop Error Screen (aka Blue Screen of Death)

If you have a blue screen error go update the drivers for your system through your computer manufacturers website. Also if your email doesn’t load in 3 seconds don’t be alarmed either. Thats dependent more on your internet connection speed that anything and is thus not a good measure of your computers speed. You can test your Internet connection at www.speedtest.net, they are safe, and reliable.

If you do actually have a virus, spyware, scare ware, adware, or root kit, check out Malware Bytes. It is free malware (virus, spyware, scare ware, adware) and root kit removal software. Should you decide that you want active protection they offer this as well for a $25 lifetime license. Included is a free trial of their active protection. If you have popups, are running slow, or your computer is behaving in an abnormal fashion, shut down your computer, when its off power it back up and repeatedly hit the F8 key, then select “safe mode with networking” from the list of available options. Go to the Malware Bytes site, download it, install it, update it and then run it. You will be amazed what it finds.

Another piece of sound advice is not using Internet Explorer, while its true that it has improved in the last few years, it is still the least secure of any browser and often distorts the content of websites you view. Download a better browser to keep your computer more secure. Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, or Apple Safari are all great choices. All of them are standards compliant and faster than Internet Explorer.

If you still need to make your computer faster (generally something to be considered if you are running a recent operating system (OS) on older hardware), you can gain quite a bit of speed by turning off services that are unused. Im not going to provide a guide for this because it is not something that should be attempted by any novice users. Your system may also have different services than the ones listed, and the services vary widely from Windows version to Windows version.