Computer Freezing Up On You?

One of the most common calls we get is - "my computer is locked up". 

This is a very common problem in both computers and laptops.  There could be several causes.

Made Any Recent Changes?
Since the problem could be hardware or software related, you should first stop and think about any recent changes you might have made to your computer.  Did you recently install a new printer?  If so, and the PC began to lock up, you could have a driver problem.  If you have made no changes to hardware or software, perhaps some general maintenance is in order to help keep your PC running smooth.
 
Heat Is The Enemey!
Computers will shutdown or even freeze up if their internatl temperature gets too high. If your PC has not been cleaned for a while, you might want to invest in a can of compressed air and blow out any fans.
 
Turn off the PC, unplug the power and open the case, but remember to touch a piece of the computer’s metal chassis to ground yourself. Some computers will have fans in the front grill area. Even if there are no fans, blow out the grill to make sure your computer is able to draw cool air in from the room. Next, look for a rear fan. While your PC may not have a rear fan, it will have a power supply fan. You will also see a fan above the CPU and possibly the graphics card. Blow them all out. Plug in the PC and make sure all fans are spinning. If your computer keeps freezing, there might be an issue with a fan, it might be causing your system to overheat and lockup.
 
Scan The Hard Drive For Errors
If your hard drive has bad sectors, you can try scanning it with Microsoft’s built-in utility called CHKDSK. To run it, right-click the C: drive in My Computer and select Properties. Under the Tools tab, select Error Checking and click Check Now. Tick the options to fix errors automatically. Make sure you select a thorough scan, as this will check the entire surface of the disk for errors and move data off that sector to a different place on the drive.
 
IOT provides pc computer repair, laptop repair, local area networking (LAN) and remote computer support for the Minneapolis, Saint Paul and Twin Cities metro area, as well as Saint Cloud, Rochester and all points in between!  Serving Minnesota since 1995, IOT also provides software solutions, installation and setup and user training services.

For more information about computer repair or networking please visit our website iotsolutions.com or call us at 651-605-2500.