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| Freezes, Crashes & Glitches |
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Troubleshooting December 2001 • Vol.12 Issue 12 Page(s) 86-88 in print issue |
Freezes, Crashes & Glitches When To Reinstall Software & Operating Systems | ||
 Windows users enjoy a variety of software applications. Software today is complex, though, and many programs ship with numerous defects. At times, it's necessary to reinstall software to correct some of these problems and prevent them from wreaking havoc on your system. In fact, reinstalling Windows itself is often the only cure for a sick system. We'll show you how to spot the warning signs that tell you it's time to pluck an errant application out of your system and reinstall it. Although software development is not perfect, the number of applications available to Windows users is staggering. Combine the number of applications found in computer stores with the multitude of shareware available for download, and you end up with thousands of applications. And new applications join the ranks daily. The number of development environments for both fledging and seasoned programmers is also growing. Programmers have a wide range of languages to choose from when developing applications: established workhorses, such as C++, and newer environments, such as Java. Combine a powerful language, such as Visual Basic, with a development environment designed to make onerous programming tasks easier, and suddenly you have an exploding community of developers eager to share their applications with you for a small fee. The problem here is that the quality of some software applications lies somewhere between poor and downright awful. You see this phenomenon often in shareware. Development environments designed for ease of use have made it easier for novice developers to quickly create viable applications without understanding how to code well-behaved Windows applications. So, you end up with poorly coded applications that crash often, run sluggishly, and manage memory poorly. However, the problems with software are not limited to shareware. Many expensive shrink-wrapped applications are equally capable of causing headaches for users. The quality of many applications unleashed on the marketplace is highly suspect. Sadly, quality and stability are too often forgotten in favor of quick product launches and extra features.  Conflicts With Hardware Computer users must also contend with hardware problems. As you connect more and more devices to your PC, the number of possible hardware problems will increase. So, let's briefly explore the possible hardware problems you may encounter. One of the most common hardware problems is when two devices are competing for the same resource, in most cases an IRQ (interrupt request lines). When this happens, one of the devices will not function properly. An IRQ problem may at first appear to be software related; however, at its core, it's a hardware problem. To verify this, right-click My Computer, select Properties, and click the Device Manager tab. Device Manager shows you a hierarchical view of the devices connected to your system. Scroll through the list of devices, looking for any with an exclamation point inside a yellow circle. This is Windows' way of telling you the device has a conflict. One device may be attempting to use the port of another device, or a device or your OS (operating system) may have a problem with the device's driver. Double-click the device and read the Device Status text box for more information about the problem and how to correct it. You can usually trace your PCs boot problems to hardware. For example, if a card or chip on the motherboard is not seated properly, the computer will detect the problem during the early stages of the boot process and will stop the boot sequence. You can identify more serious hardware problems by listening to your BIOS's (Basic Input/Output System's) beep codes. Beep codes are audible messages sent by your BIOS to warn you about a serious problem with a hardware component. Consult your computer's or BIOS documentation to get more information about beep codes and what they mean. If your computer gives you a "Cannot find system disk" error during the boot sequence, it can mean one of two things: one, you've left a non-bootable floppy diskette in your floppy drive, or two, you have a far more serious problem on your hands. You can easily resolve the first problem: remove the floppy and reboot. The second problem may be due to a problem with your MBR (Master Boot Record) or to the physical failure of the hard drive itself. Many malicious viruses attack the MBR; if you suspect a virus, use your antivirus software's rescue diskettes to boot your system and troubleshoot the problem. Antivirus programs often instruct you to create rescue diskettes with this very situation in mind. If the drive has physically failed, contact your computer's manufacturer for assistance. When To Act What behaviors tell you when it's time to reinstall an application? You probably have a pretty good idea of how your system behaves when everything is working. You can open multiple applications, your programs respond quickly to your commands, and you have no problem getting your work done. However, when things start going south, how do you decide it's time to reinstall? There are times when an application won't launch. This can occur if you've upgraded your OS. For example, if you've upgraded Windows 98 to Windows 2000, some applications may not function properly under the new OS. In that case, contact the software's manufacturer (or visit its Web site) and obtain a newer version or patch so the application can work with your new OS. You may encounter this problem when upgrading to Windows XP. If you plan to upgrade, be on the lookout for possible incompatibilities. Take some time to look for an upgrade or patch for your applications. If your system's performance slows noticeably, the degradation is likely an indication that something is amiss. Your system may suddenly stop responding quickly when you use your applications. Sometimes, this is a symptom of having too many applications open at once; you're taxing your system's resources to their limits. However, there are times when your system slows even though you have few applications open. When that happens, you may be running a malfunctioning program that's absorbing an inordinate amount of resources. Try to isolate the offending program and remove it from your system. And you may have to reinstall a new copy. For example, if you notice your system slows after you launch an application, there's a good chance that application is faulty. If you exit the application and your system is still sluggish, the application may not be releasing resources when you exit. Such an application should be removed from your system. Reinstall the application only if it's absolutely necessary. Before you reinstall, however, it's a good idea to visit the manufacturer's Web site and search for the latest patches and upgrades for your application. One of these patches might solve the problem. Keep in mind that some applications, such as graphics and CAD (computer-aided design) programs, use a lot of system resources by the very nature of the tasks they are designed to perform. Pay attention to system requirements when you buy graphics programs. Just because your system barely exceeds minimum performance requirements doesn't mean the application will run at a tolerable level. If you must have a resource-intensive application and must enjoy an acceptable level of performance, consider upgrading your resources. An obvious problem is when you get an error message after performing an operation in a program. For instance, let's say you click a button or try to expand a pull-down menu, and the application crashes. Read the error message; it should give you some indication of the nature of the problem. There are two common error messages: You might see a dialog box that lets you exit the application or you may see the dreaded BSOD (Blue Screen of Death). With the BSOD, Windows throws you out of the GUI (graphical user interface) and into a blue screen that explores the source of the error ("*.DLL caused a fatal exception in . . ."). In most instances, the only way to recover from this error is to reboot. Some error messages tell you a program has caused an invalid page fault at some memory address. Although knowing the memory address isn't useful information for the typical user, the message should tell you which file caused the crash. Close the program and search for the offending file. If the file is located in the program folder of the application, the application itself is causing the problem. Windows applications often install ancillary files into the C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory. If you locate the file in the directory, right-click the file, click Properties, and read the dialog box. The General tab contains information about the file, such as its type, its attributes (read-only, hidden), and its location. Click the Version tab. You'll see more information about the file, such as the version, description, company name, and comments, among others. Select the Item in the text box called Product Name. This item will tell you what software product the file belongs to. Now you can restore a working copy of the corrupt file by reinstalling the entire application or by restoring the file, if that option is available to you.
Other crashes may not be caused by a specific file or program, especially with 32-bit applications that use the Windows Registry to store critical information. As you install software packages on your system, the Registry grows. As the Registry grows, its performance can deteriorate, and you'll notice that some applications perform sluggishly. When possible, use third-party applications, such as Norton CleanSweep, to eliminate obsolete Registry keys and reduce your Registry's size. The Registry can also be corrupted. This happens when you suddenly turn off your system without letting Windows shut down. If Registry keys used by an application become corrupted, the application will not work properly. Some applications generate message boxes that explain which Registry keys have become corrupted or unusable. When this happens, reinstall the application to restore the Registry keys. When Windows Misbehaves What if Windows is misbehaving? We suggest you periodically perform a clean OS install to keep your system performing well. As you install, remove, and reinstall programs, the performance of your entire system degrades. Your system may be sluggish, your applications may not respond as quickly, and you may hear your hard drive grinding constantly as Windows accesses virtual memory. This problem can be exacerbated if you don't perform routine system maintenance. For example, if you don't defragment your hard drive often, the Windows swap file (used for virtual memory) may be highly fragmented, causing degradation in performance. Although most Windows applications now come with uninstall routines, many applications leave remnants. Using Windows' Add/Remove Programs tool to uninstall programs may not completely uninstall programs. Here are a few guidelines to help determine if you need to reinstall your OS. If your system is sluggish, if your hard drive thrashes as Windows accesses its virtual memory, and if applications crash often, it's a good time to reinstall. If you perform system maintenance, uninstall unneeded applications, and clean up your Registry (we suggest using third-party software), but your PC still performs poorly, reformat your hard drive and reinstall Windows. At press time, Microsoft was set to release WinXP. Many users may wonder whether it's best to install WinXP on a clean hard drive or upgrade from a previous Windows version. We recommend installing a new OS on a clean hard drive. It won't be a problem to install an upgrade version to a clean drive. The Windows installation routine will ask you before beginning to insert the CD-ROM or media containing your previous version of Windows. Once the installation routine determines you are upgrading, the install program will proceed. Software makes computers useful. Computers that cannot run additional software, such as accounting, gaming, and photo-editing applications, are relatively useless. Windows users have a tremendous variety of software available. You'll find software designed to enhance and support just about any activity, whether for work or for play. This variety comes at a price. The volume of software, and the frequency with which manufacturers release "new and improved" versions means you may not always get the best quality product. Installing, uninstalling, and reinstalling software are three of the activities most often performed by users, so it's a good idea to know how to diagnose software problems and when to reinstall troublesome applications.  by Sixto Ortiz Jr.
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