Things You Should Do BEFORE and AFTER Your Computer Crashes

When it comes to tech issues, the crash of something could stir as much fear as a physical automobile crash will do. The fear every computer user would rather want to imagine than experience is the sudden stillness or crash of their computer systems. What makes a computer's Operating System crash is the damage of the Windows files the computer operates with. And when that happens, only one thing follows: You lose important data that have been stored into various multitudes of files on your hard drive {computer memory}. 

The pains you suffer from most when your computer starts malfunctioning is the inability to retrieve whatever files that have been gathered/acquired and stored/saved on the computer over some periods of time. Just like a woman that has just been bereaved of a child would initially cast her mind  back to the day she had the labour of the child to quantify her loss, the first shock that ruffles your psychology when your computer suddenly crashes is the magnitude loss of vital information through inaccessible data. In building security around your activities on the computer and saving yourself from unnecessary trauma, information on how to go about doing that is germane. It is also good to debunk the myth that technology and electronic devices provide you with the required security on automation. In technology, nothing is totally secured until a back-up that serves as the resolve or restore-point is created for it. This simple strategy enables you to quickly retrieve your data through the copies you have made somewhere else after a crisis.

BEFORE The CRISIS:

There are a number of ways you could prevent irrecoverable loss of files on the computer system. Vital external storage means is the key. The files you have on your computer system are not totally protected until you have saved a copy of it in other places apart from your internal hard drives. There are numerous ways you could securely save copies of data on different external devices and sources. The following under-listed ways of creating back-ups for your files will help when you maximally appropriate their functions.

Here we go…

Flash-drive is one common retrofitted storage device. Save copies of the information that matters to you on it when everything still runs smoothly with your system. With flash drives, the amount of files you can save is minimal. What you do is to only save those that are of core importance to your immediate activities.

External Hard-Drive/Disk: This device has larger storage capability to store up files than flash drives. The size of it is as much as or more than the memory your internal drive carries. Backing up your files on an external hard-drive allows you to do so all at a time. It enables you to save enormous files on it at once without having to save your large files in bits on different storage hardwares.

On-Line Hosting: The amazing thing about this technique is that it costs nothing in cash to do. It's just a means of storing copies of your data on a virtual memory by uploading it to a server. There are various online platforms that provide this service for free, though going for a pay option gives you more features of the service. Online hosting of your files is the process whereby you create a copy of your files online. However, the free-option of this service might not give you the best security of the files you hosted. You might find out one day that your files are gone from the server you uploaded them to. For pictures, Online Picasa Web Albums still guarantees a satisfactory percentage for your picture security. A hosting service for files can be found in Opera browser too. It is called Opera Unite. Opera Unite is one of the Add-ons in Opera Browser. With it, you are given access to host contents from your computer to your online Opera Unite account, it is an advanced form of Opera Synchronization. For the list of free files hosting services, google the internet and sign up for the one that suits your needs.

Disk-Creation: Disk-creation is the process of saving/writing data (music, document files, softwares, pictures, etc.) on an empty computing disk. There are two kinds of disk; an un-rewritable disk and a rewritable disk. On a rewritable disk, you can always go back to the saved data and make some changes. But on an un-rewritable one, that isn't possible. You can only save on it once. The data on it are never erasable; they can only be read only and copied from whenever you need the files that are stored on them. To save large files, get a DVD empty disk which has the memory capacity of 4.7 Gigabytes, while an empty CD only has 700 Megabytes of memory.

Publishing Contents Online: This may sound a lot awkward to you. But it definitely works the magic. If you are a kind of person that publishes most of his reports, articles, pictures and documents online, it won't be a total loss for you when your computer suddenly freezes; denying you access to your files. Since things posted online on blogs, sites, forums, etc., are never removed without the approval of the site's administrator or content owner, replacing your lost files on the system with your published copies is very much handy.

 

AFTER THE CRISIS:

Now that your computer is down because of its vulnerability to viruses or mishandling of some of its softwares by you, what firstly comes to your mind apart from the loss of files is the reinstallation of the Operating System (Windows) you were wont to working with before the computer's abrupt crash. Having the exact Windows restored or reinstalled on your computer might be a difficult task when you do not have the Windows-Recovering disk that came with your system when it was bought anew. It is most likely you would have to settle with the pirated Windows your local repairer offers you.  So, you shouldn't fret much when this happens. What you should however know is that the major difference between an original Windows from the pirated one is the numbers of drivers each one comprises of.

Don't blame it all on your computer repairer when he is not able to fix your system up as well as you would love. All what your repairer might do in most cases is to restore your Windows for you and make sure all its drivers are working normally. Be honest with yourself, you were the sole administrator/operator of the computer before it went 'infirmed'. You should know well than whoever is fixing it up for you. Your taste is your taste. The way you will want your computer to work might be quite different from mine. What determines the speedy response and performance of your computer is the Windows drivers it operates with. Windows drivers are packs of software that aid the operation of the affairs of your computer. For instance, the bright screen of your computer and the strong 3D graphics of the game applications on your system all operate on the platform of different drivers. A good Windows will make sure that all the software you would ever need for basic tasks on your system are complete. But when after the reinstallation of your Windows, which might even be a pirated Windows, and you still cannot have a whole system, these are what you should do:

Windows Update: This function on your computer updates all needed drivers on your system automatically whenever you are connected to the Internet. With Windows Update, you do not have to worry about what drivers you would need installing for a particular application to run well, Windows Update thinks that out for you. When this menu is activated, it searches through all online available sources for a driver that is not up-to-date, properly installed or found missing on your device. To make sure your Windows Update is on in the automatic mode, go to the Control Panel on your computer. On your Control Panel, click on Security and on the Security page, you will find the Windows Update function. Click on it to be taken to the page where you will be able to change its setting.

Device Manager: This function is only advisable for an advanced operator; a person who knows the exact driver that he wants to correct, reinstall or update. Device Manager is the portal that contains all your system drivers. It is the place you can go to check which of the drivers is not working properly. At this stage, a total Philistine could make things go more awry through petty mistakes. To access the Device Manager, right click on the computer icon on your desktop, on the little dialogue box that pops up, click on Properties. The Properties page shows you the configuration details of your computer. On the right side of the page, access the Device Manager button. I wouldn't want to say more on that because it is only meant for the Pros and every Pro should know what next to do when s/he gets to the page…

Manual Search: Before you are able to use this strategy, you must have known your computer too well: how it functions, what driver helps what application to work, etc. Manual Search is when you conduct thorough hunt for compatible software for your system online. It is like hand-picking software that would fit into the working of a particular application on your system. For example, you would have realized that before you have a good graphics to run gaming applications and conduct 3D-like video streaming on your computer, you would need a VGA that is harmonious with the Windows you have just installed. So, in the case where a proper VGA is malfunctioning in your newly installed Windows, all you have to do is go online and search for the VGA that would work on your Windows. You repeat this same method for other drivers you would want updating or replacing. But remember, you must know the name and function of the driver you want before this process can work for you.

 

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There are so many other ways to go about backing up your system and managing computer crisis. What I have written about in this how-to-do article are just the things that worked for me when my system crashed recently. I believe it should work for you as it did for me.

Please do you know more than what have been written here? Tell us about it in the comment box. Thank you.