Troubleshooting Windows Problems

There are many problems with Windows. We will provide some direction in solving some of them. Problems like not shutting down, repeated crashes, refusing to perform some operations, etc.

Does your computer hang on the shutdown screen and refuse to complete the shutdown? Maybe we can provide some suggestions.

First you need to understand the shutdown procedure. When you use the Start, Shut Down procedure correctly, Windows is supposed to record any changes you have made. It also does a lot of technical things. Many things can cause this operation to stop in midstream.

The first test to try if you have 98 or Me is to run msconfig and shut off all running programs. Then see if the system will shut down properly. If it does, it is one of the programs that is causing it. Click here for instructions for using msconfig.

Microsoft has troubleshooting articles on their site to help solve this problem.
For Windows 95, go to This Page no longer supported
For Windows 98, go to This Page
For Windows 98SE, go to This Page
For Windows Me, go to This Page
For XP try here

For other problems in Windows 98, check the Microsoft page on general troubleshooting.

For other information from Microsoft, Start here

Jan 2006 Microsoft has this message posted on the Windows Me home page:

Windows has other problems that can frustrate the user. Many of these involve conflicts between programs because we have so many different versions available.

If you want to keep problems to a minimum, follow this formula:

1. Reformat the hard drive and reinstall Windows. Most name brand computers come with a restore CD that does most of the work for you.

2. When you get the computer working with a clean install of Windows, the first piece of software you should install is Go Back.
As of Dec 2009, Symantec has obsoleted GoBack & replaced it with Norton Ghost. The principle still holds- MAKE A BACKUP BEFORE DOING ANY MAINTENANCE. Actually you should do a backup regularly anyway.

3. Then anytime you install a new program and Windows starts acting up, just use Go Back to uninstall the culprit. This is much more effective than using the uninstall program in Windows or the one supplied with the new program. Let me explain.

When you install any program, they write support files to Windows folders. Many of these overwrite existing files with new versions. The old file is not kept. If you uninstall and delete the "Shared" file, something else won't work. If you keep it, you still have the modified file causing conflicts.

When you have Go Back running, it keeps a copy of all old files that get overwritten and if you Go Back, it restores EVERY file just as it was. I am not afraid of a virus or a conflict. I just Go Back. Uninstall just can't do this.

Other kinds of problems relate to slowdowns. As you use the computer, it collects garbage. Check my Cleanup pages to get rid of the garbage.

Then follow my suggestions for what to do with a new computer