PC Problems

Every time Andrea plugs in her USB Flash drive to do a backup, it shuts down the computer with the message – “Your computer has just recovered from a critical error”. Removing the drive solves the issue. I’d say the drive is faulty in some way or may even contain a virus. Anti-virus software is capable of scanning these drives and fixing them so try that. Also try getting the latest drivers for the USB stick. Try using it in another pc too to see if it has the same effect. Worst case, the stick may be damaged in some way so try to get data onto a new one.

Just a quick one for Stephen! PC optical drive doors not opening is normally a quick fix. Stick an opened up paper clip in the hole in the front of the CD drawer and it should pop open. Alternatively, right-click on your CD Drive’s icon in My Computer or on the desktop and choose “Eject”. If neither of these work, your drive might not have power or be faulty and need replacing.

Keith gets a strange problem when he boots up his pc. The desktop shows briefly then the screen goes blank for a few minutes. Sometimes there are strange patterns on screen. What I would do is a quick check to see monitor cables and connection to the computer is sound. Also make sure the graphics card is seated properly inside the computer. You could try a different monitor briefly if available. Also try downloading the latest drivers for your graphic card. Worst case scenario might be a faulty graphics card but they are not expensive.

There’s an outside chance some kind of virus or startup program might be hijacking things so do a scan with decent software just in case. I use Bullguard.

Bram has a decent spec laptop that shuts itself down while playing games! The fairly obvious answer to this would seem to be ‘overheating’. A few things: make sure you’re not blocking any vents. Make sure vents are not dusty/dirty. Make sure your laptop CPU is not too overclocked. Install a temperature monitoring program and google normal operating temperatures for your CPU and see if they match.

Ravi is getting the message “A USB device has exceeded the power limits of its hub port.” This normally means that you have a USB device connected that is drawing more power than the hub can support. If all USB devices still work fine than you can safely ignore this message but if not you may need to get an external USB hub that has an external power supply so it’s not drawing power from the computer. You might also consider upgrading the Firmware/Drivers for your hub.