Computers and Technology

Below you will find a list of 5 tips concerning computer freezing help. They are all things that have the potential to increase the speed of your slow computer and are, most importantly, free. We save a lot of important information on our computer, so we want it to be in its best condition when defending itself from viruses, spyware, keyloggers, and anything else malicious.

1. Find Out Why Your Computer Keeps Freezing.

This is pretty obvious, right? Well the root of the problem is not always so apparent. Ask yourself, "What am I doing when my computer freezes?" Are you playing video games? Could it possibly be overheating and shutting down? If so, you need to find some way to keep the temperature cooler. Is there no apparent pattern when your computer freezes up? It might be a virus, and actions should be taken appropriately.

2. Use Safe Mode for Troubleshooting

For the most part, safe mode is a safe haven away from many errors and other problems plaguing your computer system. This is because it only uses essential Windows programs -- just enough to run, nothing else fancy. If your computer does not run slowly of freeze while in safe mode, it might be fixable. In safe mode, your computer does not allow anything foreign to run, so if you activate a virus scan while in safe mode, it could remove the virus when running in normal mode it could not. Running in safe mode is the best way to try to fix the problem, assuming it is software related.

3. Keep Your Computer Clean, Hardware and Software Alike.

Of course it is important to keep your computer clean of viruses and spyware using the appropriate antivirus and anti-spyware software, but the physical computer needs some monthly maintenance too. Your computer could keep freezing up just because it is simply filthy. Buy some form of compressed air in a can for a few dollars. Stick the hose of a vacuum near your computer tower, and use the compressed air to blow out the dust into the vacuum's stream of suction (so the dust does not just resettle). Make sure there is no form of power connected to your computer at this time; if computer fans are on and you used compressed air against them, it could damage the fans. Whether your computer has problems or not, this is a good practice. Dust is often the silent killer of computers; the dust makes them very susceptible to overheating and freezing (funny, huh?).

4. Monitor Your Computer Use.

Password-protect your computer, and make sure you know any time someone uses it. Sure, none of your friends or family would harm your computer, but they never do it on purpose. Plus, if it is not password protected, it will make it that much more difficult to diagnose the problem if you have no idea what has been taking place on your computer. This leads me into my final tip.

5. Watch What You Click.

Fake links are everywhere, and the people making them are just getting better and better at making them look real. Tip #4 is important because one of your children could click a seemingly safe link, but it actual ends up installing a keylogger that reports everything you type back to an unknown location. Then it is just a matter of time before the unknown has your account information. If someone using your computer falls for many of these tricks, your computer could pile up with much needless information and programs, causing your computer to run slow or freeze.

The easiest way to tell if a link is fake is by hovering over the link. Look at the bottom corner and see if that link matches the link you are hovering over. But, of course, that is sometimes faked too, most commonly in e-mails. The safest method of following links is copying the link from the page on the address bar. Google Chrome and other browsers also alert you when they think you might be going to a malicious link. Always take their advice: If they think it is not safe then it probably is not worth finding out.