Free Computer Fixes

Summer is a troublesome season for computer owners, especially for those without proper airflow in their cases, and if the computer is also located in a room that gets hot...problems are just around the corner! Even more, viruses and other security threats are also waiting to make your life miserable, but you don't have to go and drop your computer at the local computer repairs shop, or the geek next door, because there are a lot of free computer fixes within reach! You don't have to pay for any software, and you won't need any special tools for "playing" with your computer's innards, you just have to pay attention to my advices!

When it comes to software, checking 10 Computer Security Tips could help a lot, although I can't claim that's all you can do to secure your computer and your data, but those tips could take you much closer to "best security you can get," since there's no such thing as "unbreakable system," only "system that hasn't been broken in yet."

Now, let's leave the security issue aside and move to the heat related problems and other issues that my need fixing these days, shall we?

Computer not starting/random reboots after upgrading the video card? If you got your hands on one of the new ATI Radeon HD 4850 or HD 4870 cards, I envy you! Both offer unbeatable price/performance ratio, and there are plenty of benchmarks and tests published here and there to prove that, but what if you just got one new card, and you can't enjoy its power? No, ATI doesn't suck, and NVIDIA doesn't suck either! Here's what you can do by yourself...

First of all, be sure to check that the 6-pin PCI-Express power connector is inserted into the card, because most new PCI-Express card need a bit of extra power. If you didn't check before buying the card, you should also check that your power supply unit can handle the power requirements of your new card, since most of them need at least a good 450W one. At last, if you get reboots in games, check the temperatures of your card, and maybe add some fans to your case, or simply remove the side panel.

After the last power drop, your computer doesn't boot at all, or gives you the BSOD? I know this won't probably help, but be sure to buy a UPS, just to avoid such problems in the future! Now, to serious things...

Test your memory, first of all. How to do that? No, don't go to any specialist, you can do it, too! Grab a Linux bootable CD of, if you have Vista, you can try the Memory Diagnostics Tool to check the memory. If you don't want to use any Linux bootable CD just to check your computer's memory, you can also give MemTest a try, I know a lot of computer service technicians using it, and you don't need any special knowledge to do that.

If your computer is starting up without problems, temperatures seem to be fine, but you still get random BSODs, you shoud check the hard drive, too. The fastest method is to get a program able to check the SMART status, such as Active SMART, DriveHealth or HDDLife. Although these are commercial programs, using the trial versions for a quick check is possible, but you could also consider buying them for long term hard drive health monitoring...or not, it's your choice.

Slow computer? Programs crashing all the time? Check your memory, scan for viruses, clean the dust from inside the case...and maybe even get a new computer, if the one you're currently using is 10 years old!

That should be all for today, but if you're looking for other free computer fixes, don't hesitate to stand out and shout. Your wish is my command, so let me know what's wrong with your computer. If it's ill, we'll cure it!

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