Was it software that made my computer crash? Was it hardware that made my computer crash? Was it my new whatyoumacallit that made my computer crash? What if my computer is completely non-functional after a computer crash?

A computer crash can be caused by a huge number of things, many of which are not serious. A friend of mine who ran a server from his office couldn’t understand why there was a computer crash everyday at the same time. One day he went there at that time to find it was the cleaning lady unplugging the computer to vaccuum and then plugging it back in afterwards.

Assuming the computer was not accidentally turned off or reset here are a few common ideas to check out.

If there is a lightning strike many parts of your computer could be damaged, but checking the power supply for life would be a good start and then work your way through.

If it won’t turn on, or there is just a quick flash and then nothing, it could quite likely be the power supply that needs to be replaced.

If your computer overheated, it will shut down, but it should turn on again later and you can install software to monitor the temperature. Check fans are working and that ventilation is adequate. Processor fans are essential, except in specialist setups.

Hard drive failures often result in the computer appearing to freeze if it is on. A scraping sound is certain data corruption, stop using it immediately if you want any chance of recovery using a specialist company. Other non-detrimental failures can also be recovered, but at a price.

Other parts can have problems, but don’t often result in a complete computer crash.

If your computer works fine before installing something new and then you have a computer crash, chances are it is the new part that is causing the computer crash. I had and still have a printer that caused my computer to crash if you turned the printer on while plugged into the computer. That was solved by upgrading the drivers for the printer.

Finding the source of a computer crash can be difficult, but mostly just requires systematically identifying what is not guilty.

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