Scanning your hard drive using Error Checking can help diagnose and even correct a wide range of hard drive errors. Error Checking replaces older Windows hard drive diagnostics such as “scandisk” and “chkdsk”.
Difficulty: Easy
Time Required: Anywhere from 10 minutes to 2 hours or more, depending on the size and speed of the hard drive
Here’s How: Read More»
One of the most frustrating problems to troubleshoot is a random one, one that doesn’t seem to have one specific cause. The key to troubleshooting such problems is to remember that the symptom is not always directly indicative of the cause. The program or utility that it locks up on is not necessarily the issue.
Suppose Windows starts normally, but then starts crashing, freezing or giving serious error messages shortly afterward. Many times running Scandisk (or Check Disk in Windows 2000/XP) will solve the problem. That’s because such problems are often caused by errors in the FAT or NTFS file system, and this utility will fix them. In Windows 9x/Me, choose Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Scandisk. In Windows 2000/XP open My Computer, right-click the drive and choose Properties, and click the Check Now button on the Tools tab. Read More»
