You might want to do a hard disk error check as this can get corrupted if you don’t power off a PC properly. Go to Start- Computer – Right-Click – Properties – Tools – Check Now. Tick both options then Start.

You might also try rolling back to a previous Driver version if you’ve recently updated a device’s drivers or undoing any other recent changes. Conversly, updating some drivers may also help!

Also try upgrading the BIOS.

Its easiest if you have an existing Windows XP installation or Recovery disk. Simply put in the disk and reboot the pc. You should follow the prompts to Format the hard drive and re-install XP.

The most likely cause for this in my experience is a faulty soundcard or corrupted drivers so firstly, open the device manager (Right-click My Computer – Properties – Hardware – Device Manager) and see if theres is an exclamation mark beside the sound card entry. If so you may need to visit the manufacturer’s website and download the latest Firmware/Drivers for the card and re-install it.

If this doesn’t do the trick you may need to try a different soundcard or try this one in another pc to confirm it’s not a hardware fault.

Like most PC problems there could be a gazillion reasons for this, but the most obvious is a graphic card problem, possibly overheating. Open the case on your PC and clear out all of the dust from the inside. Check the fan on the graphics card (if it has one) – the graphics card is what the monitor plugs into – and clean it if necessary. Do the same for the fan on the motherboard and make sure that all vents on the case are clear. Run the machine with the case open to check that the fans are turning. Newer graphics cards have software that allow you to monitor the temperature of the card, so this might be worth looking at.

Download and install the latest drivers for your card – use drivercleaner to uninstall the existing drivers should you decide to reinstall.

It is possible to change the settings for shutdown temperature in the Bios, but this is not recommended.

System Restore doesn’t delete your personal or saved files just program installations and automatic upgrades.

Heres how to use it:

1. Go to ‘Start – All Programs – Accessories – System Tools – System Restore’. (Sometimes its not here and in that case go to ‘C:\WINDOWS\system32\Restore\rstrui.exe’).
2. When you get the “Welcome to System Restore” window up, tick “Restore my computer to an earlier time” and click Next.
3. On the calendar, pick a time when you’re sure everything worked fine, maybe a day or 2 previously and click Next.
4. You will then see a screen with a lot of red text explaining what is about to happen. Click Next to restore your pc.
5. On restart, your pc will be restored to before your specific problem occurred and will hopefully be working again.

The trouble with this is that if the initial problem was caused by an automatic windows update which is common then it will probably happen again on the next update so if your pc is otherwise fine you may wish to turn off automatic updating altogether.

To do that go to ‘Start – My Computer (right-click) – Properties – Automatic Updates’ and tick ‘Turn off Automatic Updates’.

Wiping the system and re-installing windows xp is no big deal really but the most important aspect of the whole process is what you do before you wipe! First off, make sure you have a disc with the xp operating system on it, if you don’t you’ll have to buy one. You should have received one when you bought the pc.

Heres a list of things you must do before you format the hard drive to ensure you wont loose anything:

1. Backup all your personal files including everything in the ‘My Documents’ folder and elsewhere (desktop) to an external hard drive or some other media capable of holding lots of files.
2. Export and backup your emails, address book and email account settings.
3. Export and backup your Internet Browser Favorites/Bookmarks.
4. Backup your registry.
5. Export and backup settings form your favorite programs.
6. Locate driver discs for your pc and external hardware or download them from the web.
7. Make a note of xp and other software serials.

Next, restart your pc with the xp disc in and tap the F12 key to bring up the boot preference screen and choose ‘Boot from CD/DVD’. Let the pc boot from the xp disc and follow the prompts to install a fresh copy of xp on top of the existing one, making sure to format the C: drive when asked. The new installation will progress asking you some questions about your location, user accounts and xp keys.

When finished you will have a fresh, clean and fast copy of xp.

First thing to do is then is re-install your motherboard and external hardware drivers so everything connected to the pc works again. Next, re-install all your software either from disc or download, downloading both drivers and software is a good way of getting the latest versions of everything.

Copy your backed up files from your backup media to their original location in My Documents etc.. Import your program settings back to your programs to have them run just as before.

Took me about a day to do it recently but it depends how organized you are and how much stuff you’ve got to backup and restore but its worth it!

First off, you need to employ some preventative measures to ensure against data loss whether the laptop itself goes missing or simply dies. I’ve written some articles in the PC Backup Solutions category which are equally relevant to laptops as well as desktops.

Secondly, you need to password proptect the laptop to avoid access to sensitive data. To do this under windows XP go to ‘Start – Control Panel – User Accounts’ click on the name of your main administrator account and choose ‘Create a password’. If there are any other accounts on the pc they should also be password protected and the account types should be changed to ‘Limited’. You should also turn off the ‘Guest’ account.

If the robbers are PC savvy they can get around this password limitation easy enough so you might need to look at some kind of remote security option which traces the whereabouts of the laptop when its stolen and has the ability to freeze the computer on command, blocking all access. www.absolute.com offers these kinds of services.

Another option is to use LogMeIn Remote Access software to connect to your laptop, if the ‘new owners’ go online with it, and delete data.

You should also consider a physical security lock that chains your pc to something immovable!

Screamer Radio is an internet radio player with hundreds of preset stations which can also be recorded to your hard drive. Designed not to be intrusive, Screamer Radio will not slow down your computer and will hide itself in the system tray.

The main pionts to know about this one -

# A small application that takes very little resources, perfect for running in the background and listening to the radio while doing something else.

# Supports hundreds of internet radio stations from all round the world.

# You can browse dozens of presets by genre, region or langauge…and also set your own favourite presets easily

download from -

www.screamer-radio.com

Well, I think I may have a contender to fit the above criteria

It’s good {been using it on various machines for months now}, it’s extremely easy to use, and its free {which should cover affordability }

The software I speak of is K9 Web Protection – www1.k9webprotection.com

K9 Web Protection is a free service…I say ‘service’ because the way it works is the sites you visit are filtered through their servers as opposed to being checked by something that’s installed on your computer…also, another good thing is that K9 doesn’t slow down your web surfing, which similar softwares sometimes suffer from.

You can manually enter sites into its settings to have them blocked or allowed, and if you happen to land on a site that is blocked but you don’t think it should be, you can override K9′s decision for 15 minutes by entering the administrator password or choose to override it permanently.

All-in-all I consider this an excellent piece of software, doing exactly what it says on the tin…for those in need of such software, grab it while its free, as it may not be free for too long.

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K9 Web Protection is -

Free !

Easy to use

Blocks images from sites that are known for hosting offensive material but still allows a site using that service to be viewed {unless the site is offensive enough to be blocked completely}

Provides one set of internet filtering configurations to be set for all users {not individual profiles}

A web-based service with always up to date detection database

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www1.k9webprotection.com

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