Minimize Windows 9x/ME Crashes

It was highly appreciated when Microsoft decided to follow the Micro Kernel architecture, and being a technically minded person, I really appreciated this effort and still do. The fact that even Microsoft failed to realize was that the people before this advent were using hardware specific software to keep on running their magic machines, but the Micro Kernel leverage of running almost any hardware with the help of a suitable driver wasnt of a great advantage. Probably the people didn't understand the technical issues enough to enjoy this freedom. That ignorance caused harm not only to the users themselves but also to Microsofts reputation.

Any more discussion on the above scenario will lead me to stray from the current topic, so now I will move on to discuss the solutions to the normal problems of Windows 98/ME that can result in system crashes.

1. Purchase Windows 2000/XP. This is the easiest fix. If you can't afford it then here is what you can do.

2. Most people face an immediate crash as soon as Windows completes its installation and starts for the first time. In this case, your sound card is most likely the problem. Check to see if you have the latest driver available for the sound card.

3. First and foremost install a current version of an Antivirus software. This will give you protection from the viruses which might be playing some role in crashing your system. You can get a good one from www.grisoft.com and it is free.

4. The next best thing to replacing your Windows version is to update your copy of Windows from http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com. Never hesitate to install all the available updates.

5. You should maintain a list of all the hardware devices in and connected to you system. If you havent, it's not that difficult of a job you can create one. For each item in the list you should visit the manufacturers web site and download the most recent device drivers available to run your hardware smoothly. The ones that come with your system are usually old as they are normally developed before the assembly line produces the actual devices. If you do not know what devices are in your system, you can download Driver Manager Utility (30 days trial) from http://driverguide.com and it will perform the job for you.

6. Perform regular Scandisk or chkdsk checks with surface scans. It is a lengthy process but it will make your hard disk run smoother. You can type this command at the command prompt: scandisk c: /Autofix /Surface, replacing c: with the drive letter you want to scan. Scandisk or chkdsk are safe enough to proceed with without making any Undo Diskettes if an error is detected by those utilities.

7. If even all this doesnt help, than your computer is certainly facing some hardware problems which can vary from a bad hard disk to bad memory or a damaged over heated processor.

8. Your system BIOS may also be bad; Windows 98 depends highly on BIOS routines to perform certain tasks. You can have your BIOS patched from the BIOS/Motherboard manufacturers web site, or you might need to install new BIOS..

9. Too many hardware devices attached to Windows also can cause system failures. After all, it is in the labor laws that you cannot make a person work more than you pay him for.

10. Sometimes Spyware and free software might be causing trouble, sometimes even well known software will have a spyware feature, so that might be causing conflicts with the original software which you are trying to run. And software you are not using should be un-installed to reduce the risk of system crashing.

The above can only help you reduce the number of crashes. There are still unknown reasons for which your copy Windows might crash, so it is recommended that you upgrade to Windows 2000 or XP. That certainly will vastly reduce the chances of a crash and you will really see how smoothly the new upgrades will work.

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