Fatal error: the system has become unstable or is
busy," it says. "Enter to return to Windows or press
Control-Alt-Delete to restart your computer. If you do this you will lose any
unsaved information in all open applications."
You have just been struck by the Blue Screen of Death.
Anyone who uses Mcft Windows will be familiar with this. What can you do? More
importantly, how can you prevent it happening?
01 Hardware conflict
The number one reason why Windows crashes is hardware
conflict. Each hardware device communicates to other devices through an
interrupt request channel (IRQ). These are supposed to be unique for each
device.
For example, a printer usually connects internally on IRQ 7.
The keyboard usually uses IRQ 1 and the floppy disk drive IRQ 6. Each device
will try to hog a single IRQ for itself.
If there are a lot of devices, or if they are not installed
properly, two of them may end up sharing the same IRQ number. When the user
tries to use both devices at the same time, a crash can happen. The way to
check if your computer has a hardware conflict is through the following route:
Start-Settings-Control Panel-System-Device Manager.
Often if a device has a problem a yellow '!' appears next to
its description in the Device Manager. Highlight Computer (in the Device
Manager) and press Properties to see the IRQ numbers used by your computer. If
the IRQ number appears twice, two devices may be using it.
Sometimes a device might share an IRQ with something described
as 'IRQ holder for PCI steering'. This can be ignored. The best way to fix this
problem is to remove the problem device and reinstall it.
Sometimes you may have to find more recent drivers on the
internet to make the device function properly. A good resource is
www.onlinesuport.blogspot.com. If the device is a , or a modem, it can often be
fixed by moving it to a different slot on the motherboard (be careful about
opening your computer, as you may void the warranty).
When working inside a computer you should switch it off,
unplug the mains lead and touch an unpainted metal surface to discharge any
static electricity.
