It's easy to take advantage of an unwitting computer newbie who's panicking about his/her computer freezing up. While reading this article, you'll realize that diagnosing the cause of your computer freezing up should not cost you more money if you know the basic areas to troubleshoot. With the gargantuan volume of how-to articles invading the internet, there is no excuse on why you should not be able to carry out this task on your own. Below are some helpful and simplified guidelines for the computer beginner who wants to solve his/her computer freezing up problem once and for all.

Maybe it's a viral infection

Computers do get sick, especially if you're a frequent user of the Internet. The Internet is a wonderful venue for all sorts of information, but unless your computer system is armed with anti-virus software, visiting internet pages without one could put your system at a high risk of crashing down.

Most people who complain about computer freezing up problems usually have OS who are infected with virus. These infections cause your components to malfunction, and oftentimes, they even attack and corrupt your data directly.

This can be avoided by turning on your anti-virus software whenever you're exploring the internet. You should also scan your hard disks for viral infection every time you reboot. Once you've spotted a suspicious looking virus, don't think twice about putting it on quarantine of deleting it once you're sure the it is a virus.

It could also be a spyware or a malicious software

The internet pages that you frequent are also breeding grounds for spywares and malicious software. Installing spyware and malware guards, aside from your anti-virus software, can prevent your system from crashing down. Spywares are one of the most common causes of computer freezing up. You should delete spywares and malwares as soon as you spot them because they could cause serious damage to your data and OS as well.

Always inspect the state of your RAM and your hard disk

As a rule, hard disks are supposed to be defragmented regularly. This prevents any malfunction from happening, and could seriously solve the problem of your computer freezing up. Computer system crash downs are also caused by lack of memory, which is the reason why it's so important to keep your hard disk space in check. The RAM, which is the memory that runs all of your programs, should also be left with at least 20% free space. Most computers that freeze up exceed their recommended RAM space usage.

Check for incompatibilities with newly installed hard ware devices and software

Incompatibilities with newly installed hardware and software can be the primary culprit behind your computer freezing up. The only way to trouble shoot the problem, if this is the case, is by uninstalling the programs or drives, and rebooting the OS. If the OS starts to run smoothly again without the program or hardware, then it's time to call up the shop or manufacturer to ask for the correct drive or program version that is compatible with your operating system.