The Long Climb

10 top tips before phoning a friend

Posted on 30. Sep, 2009 by Mike Halsey in guides and how to's

Windows 7 is more stable and reliable than ever before, with fewer blue-screens visible than any other version of Windows that’s come before it.  In fact some people have even speculated that the blue screen isn’t even part of Windows 7.  It is, I’ve seen it, but only in relation to poorly written drivers (the traditional cause of the blue screen anyway).

However things do go wrong and you then become one of two people, the person who has no idea what to do to fix their PC or the person they call upon to fix it for them.  If you fall into either camp this article may be for you and I’ll try to make it XP and Vista generic as well as primarily being about Windows 7.

1: Have you tried turning it off and on again?

This is the most basic way to fix problems with your PC, and you’d be surprised just how often it works.  A simple shut down and restart can sort out some problems you’re having with Windows or your software.  Try to shut the machine down completely and leave it for at least 20 seconds before switching it back on again.  This also applies with external devices.  If it’s a USB device try unplugging it and plugging it back into a different socket.  This will force Windows to reload the drivers.

2: Visit the Action Centre

You might find that Windows already has a solution.  Clicking on the flag in the far right of the taskbar will open the action centre.  Check here for any solutions.  You can click on the Troubleshooting link (below) to find solutions to problems using Microsoft’s automatic problem reporting tool.  This solution is for Windows 7 only.

3: Try Windows Update

If your problem is being caused by a driver or is an issue with Windows itself, it’s possible that an update that will fix the problem is already available via Windows Update.  Have a look at all the optional and recommended updates as well as just the critical ones, as this is where a lot of driver and software updates tend to appear.

4: Reinstall the Driver

If you have hardware problems then dig out the original disc that came with your hardware and try to reinstall the driver.  Right-clicking on the hardware in the device manager, accessed through the control panel (System > Hardware tab in XP) you can update drivers or uninstall them.  You can then reinstall the drivers through windows update or from the disc that came with your hardware.

NOTE: Be careful uninstalling display or network drivers as this could render your screen blank or take you off the internet.

5: Clean up Windows

If your problems are caused by performance issues you can clean up windows.  Buried in your Start Menu you will find disk cleanup which does an admirable job of stripping out temporary and rubbish files that can slow Windows down.  You may also have other software installed such as CCleaner that will also clean up your computer’s registry.  Remember to restart your PC after doing this.

6: Run the System File Checker

From the Start Menu opening Command Prompt (in Vista and Windows 7 right click on it and select run as Administrator) and typing SFC /SCANNOW will run the System File Checker.  You will need your Windows install disc in your optical drive for this to work.  It will scan all your Windows files and see if any have become corrupt.  If it finds any it will replace them with the originals from the install disc.  You should do this if Windows itself is misbehaving.

You will need a disc that matches the service pack version you have installed.  I you are running Vista with Service Pack 2 installed for instance but have a Service Pack 1 or a pre-SP1 Vista install DVD then this may not work for you.  At least for the next year there won’t be this problem with Windows 7.

7: Reinstall the software

If your problem is not caused by Windows itself but by third-party software you could try reinstalling or repairing it.  Accessing Programs and Features from the control panel in Windows 7 or Vista, or Add / Remove Programs in the XP control panel and searching for the program will, if you’re lucky, give you a “Repair” option for that program.  Failing that uninstalling and reinstalling your program might fix the problem.

Before you do this make sure you know any configuration settings you’ll need after you reinstall it.

You might also find that the problem is being caused by software such as Internet Explorer, which can be extremely difficult to reinstall.  If this is the case try…

8: Visit Microsoft Fix it

The Microsoft Fix-it site is a great way to solve problems, many of them fixed automatically through hot fixes provided by the website itself.  This is a good option if Windows is giving you an error number “0x80072EE4” for instance (and no I’m not giving away any prizes to the first person who tell me what this means).  You can access the Fix-it website on this link.

9: Search for a solution online

No matter what your problem you can be pretty certain that you’re not the first person ever to have encountered it.  Have search online using Bing or Google and see if someone else has already found a solution for you.

10: Can you restore Windows from a backup?

Lots of people will consider this to be unnecessary, so before you all shout at me let me clarify this with a caveat.  Phone your friend first and see if they consider this to be necessary.

You can do this is you’ve used complete PC backup in Windows 7 or Vista or if you have an image-based backup created from Acronis TrueImage or Symantec Ghost.

These are the things you can try on your own without causing problems with your PC.  If all else fails then there’s Remote Assistance if you have a friend who can look at your PC over the internet.  Though, if you continue to have problems there’s nothing better than taking the opportunity for a chat with a friend over a fixing session. 

Tags: repair your pc