The Master Boot Record is the second most critical process, after the BIOS, that can affect the start up of your Windows computer. You PC must pass through this process successfully in order for it to boot up. As the MBR is such a critical area of a system many writers of virus programs target it. If they can successfully rewrite this record it can cause your computer to just not work at all. Boot viruses are the most prevalent types of viruses written. You need to be sure to have a good anti-virus software in order to protect your system from MBR viruses.

If you ever get stuck in the start up process you can try using the fdisk partition program. This is available for all versions of Windows and is used to re-write the MBR. In order to use this you will need your sys programs and a Fdisk. You can create your own and other useful DOS utilities as well.

If you ever need to boot from this disk in order to re-write the MBR you will have to insert the disk, usually a floppy, into the drive prior to turning on your computer. Also you need to be certain that the system BIOS will scan for any bootable disks in all the drives. When you turn on your computer and it boots from the fdisk you should see a command prompt. From there you are able to run the DOS commands that will re-write the MBR.

If you don’t hear the beep when you push the power button you have a problem. The beeps come from the motherboard and can indicate information as to what may be wrong with a computer. If you only hear one beep then everything is OK. But what do you do if your computer does not beep at all?

Before you begin to think about replacing parts or buying a new computer there are a few things to check. It could just be that the speaker on the motherboard has become disconnected. No beep but a fully functional system would indicate that the problem is only with the speaker and not something critical.

Check to see of all the other components on the motherboard are seated properly. Check the video, audio and modem expansion cards. Verify that the power supply is on some have a switch so be sure it is in the on position. Plug the computer into another outlet maybe something shorted in the outlet or it is on a light switch circuit that is off.

Sometimes the problem is in the memory module or the expansion card. Remove components one at a time including the network card, modem, memory, etc to determine if one is causing the issue.

If the motherboard has failed then you will have to replace it. Symptoms of a failing motherboard include failure to power up or display sounds and light and generate audio error codes.

Solving your computer start up issues could be easy or difficult depending on what the issue is.

If you experience a computer that will start up but not finish the process it may be corrupt system files or a problem with a new device or newly installed program. You can hard boot the system by unplugging it and then turn it on. Use the F8 key to access the advanced menu. From the DOS prompt you can choose to install from the last good configuration. Other options in this case include starting up in safe mode and disconnecting unnecessary hardware.

If there are disk errors see if there is any media in the DVD, CD, floppy, or flash drives that are attached to the computer. You will have to replace a hard drive if it fails.

Other start up issues that are even serious can be fixed by performing a repair installation. You will need the original CD and Key in order to re-install the software. You may also have to reconfigure your computer as well.

Hardware can also cause problems with your start up. If the Logo freezes you may have a configuration issue. If you computer shudders or beeps you may try checking the video card, monitor and other hardware. You keyboard may no longer be working or you have a peripheral that is not compatible with your operating system attached.

If there are no lights or other sounds you associate with your computer starting up verify that the computer is plugged into a working outlet. If it is then check the power supply.

When looking into speeding up the performance of a slow computer, you can do a lot of things to help. This includes running virus scans and maintenance programs you already have. Something that many see as an option is the websites that offer free scanning of your computer. It is common to go to them and run the scans that they offer. It seems to be a good idea at first though. The kicker is that they either do not remove everything; or you need to buy the software to get the full results.

Well, that is one thing that people are calling a ‘trap’ especially if there is no money to actually buy that software! Try this instead; run the scan and write down (or copy and paste into Notepad) everything it finds and go about removing it yourself. Are you even aware that some of the time this is actually when Trojans/viruses and other spyware programs get installed to your computer? Many do not even think about this. They just want to get the computer running properly again. The kicker is that doing thorough research is not going to hit on all the problem websites and/or software program available.

Sticking with the maintenance programs you use already would seem to be safety here. Just make sure that the virus definitions and databases are up-to-date please. Often these above all else are your best options. We know that the previous statement has been made before; yet it does bear repeating!

A lot more goes on when a computer starts up than you think. From the BIOS to the final steps a problem can occur. Troubleshooting can help you find exactly what step in the process fails but it can be time consuming. You can narrow down the possibilities and that can save you a lot of time troubleshooting.

Know that most issues affecting your computer including startup issues can be resolved. While the solution may not be easy it can be done. Whenever you begin to feel you are investing too much time you might be better off just wiping the hard drive and re-installing the operating system.

Both the autoexec.bat and config.sys files play a role in loading up necessary files and drivers for your computer to start up. These files along with the system registry can create real havoc if something is wrong with them. You have the ability to edit these files if you know what you need to do.

There is a utility for configuring your system in Windows 98 that is a very useful tool to use. It will allow you to turn on or off individual items in these files. Editing the files in an earlier version of Windows is far more difficult.

It would be wise for you to back up all these files prior to editing just in case you really mess something up. If you have a backup you will be able to restore and begin again.

So you have the problem of a slowing down computer when you have things to get done. What you are supposed to do now pops to mind. If in the middle of something important the urge may be to start going a bit off the deep end. We have each been there though; so what is best to do? The best thing to do happens to be the simplest – and not quite so easy as well – to keep calm! Some say that this is far easier for an outsider or onlooker to say than to actually do in the heat of the event.

The how of keeping calm in the midst of this messy situation is not always that easy to define though. Yes, it absolutely makes sense to stop doing what you are doing and take a look at what the machine tells you is wrong. Does the situation end with that? Nope, it surely does not end there. Switch over from frustration and panicking mode to running some routine maintenance first. Looking into the online scanning and cleaning programs is a good start there. A word of caution there needs to be made; be aware of the conditions under which you need to use these.

If it is a virus or a bunch of them that bogged your poor machine down, a virus scan makes matters much better. Scanning the hard drive and any external drives and/or external storage hardware makes a better move there. Look for the common stuff first and then the not-so-common stuff!

When any time your laptop or perhaps that desktop computer slows down it is more than simply frustrating. This is especially true when you have something important to get done. We all are well aware that many, many things cause a computer to slow down these days. What some of us are not aware of is that ‘flipping out’ and getting frustrated really does not help the situation any!

Knowing what software and programs you have installed on your own computer makes the world of sense. This goes without saying for many computer users and owners. Although it is common sense, this does not always mean that it gets followed! So what to do in the situation is this: calm down and do not make it worse. Keeping you focus on figuring out what is causing the problem is the paramount thing here. When unaware of what the potential problem could be, stop and take a look at what it is not first!

Do you know everything that is installed on your computer? This includes those folders and files that are otherwise hidden! Uncover those and take a look through them to see what they have. Alright, some think getting some programs and/or files is the answer. Well; it can be. Yet it can also cause trouble if you end up mistakenly deleting an important file – like a .dll or .cab – as these are important to the operation of the computer itself. Watch what you are doing in everything computer-related!

When you start dealing with a computer that slows down all the time it is indicative of something wrong. You might be saying or thinking yes, I know this already; the question is what has gone awry? Oftentimes we are not aware that something has snuck in under our nose to make life difficult for us. Some, not all, of those times we are very much aware of what the potential culprit(s) are though. Most times it is simply a matter of not having run your maintenance programs on any type of regular program.

So, that solution is what pray tell? As simple as it might be to tell ourselves that we absolutely must remember those scans; it does not always go this way! So which scans would you be best off remembering on a somewhat regular schedule? Well; try a virus scan for one with any of the popular anti-virus programs; as well as a malware scan. Malwarebytes is a good anti-malware scanning program for that. You also want to defragment your hard drive pretty regularly. The basic operations systems for Windows already have a defrag utility built into the basic program. The Iobit Smart Defrag is also a good program to look into.

There are various other maintenance programs available for free and premium/paid versions too. The question of which is better largely depends upon you directly. A good multi-purpose maintenance program is Advanced System Care 4 also made by Iobit. Spyware and adware are also pretty big problems that cause computer slow-downs

Alright, this is another statement that is plain old common sense! The question of safety when surfing the ‘Net arises about what you did and where you went that could possibly have created some problems. Making the connections between where you have been online and the problems that you are encountering currently is not always that easy. Run your anti-virus and anti-malware scans, makes perfect sense in any case. Finding out what could have possibly been installed on your computer that slows it down makes a difference!

Remember this however; you might not always find the offending file or program right away. You might want to run a Boot Scan and a Disc Scan of your hard drive in that case in order to make very sure each thing works as you are expecting them to. Watch out for those Tracking Cookies too! Those are simply a bit of code that allows websites to track where you go online and sometimes hides a nasty little surprise. Keep those banner ads away too! Yes, they are cool and fun to look at; however… some of them hide viruses, spyware and malware. It is sometimes the really flashy ones that hide the most trouble, so be wary about them.

It also makes perfect sense to be very cautious about the particular websites you are visiting. You never know what all could be attached to certain well-visited places. Some of these include, yet are not limited to, porn sites, gaming websites and a few others you might not even suspect.

One of the things that you might not understand when dealing with a computer that slows down is what has caused the slowdown to start. Having an whole bunch of junk files and unwanted or unneeded programs on your computer makes its job that much harder to do. You may not understand the purpose of even doing these maintenance scans if you have never had a problem. Something else to think about is that you need to clear out the Error Console as well as you Browsing History pretty routinely.

How often you run these maintenance scans – anti-virus, anti-malware, spyware, defrag and security – honestly does make the difference. In answer to the title question running maintenance scans does a world of good as this alerts you to any as well as all potential problems that exist. It can easily be said that not keeping up your maintenance leads to massive problems faster than the Titanic sank! Having your computer slowing down when you need it to work at peak performance the most really, really stinks!

One other thing to think about here is how up-to-date your browser and all other programs really are! Do you have the latest versions of your browser, anti-virus (with the virus definitions consistently updated), security software, any instant messengers that you use? Another thing that needs to be done is to delete all of the Temporary files that tend to build up on the hard drive. Getting rid of all those Junk Files and unused files makes things easier on the computer.