When a computer is not working well that can be a real frustration.   A computer can sometimes start crashing or running slowly for no apparent reason.  Too often people jump to the conclusion that it is probably a virus and that is understandable.  Quite often that is not the case.  I have seen computers exhibit all kinds of erratic behavior because of an anti-virus program or other programs that are causing conflicts.

Too often I have seen people buy these super handy-dandy free optimizers or registry cleaners that are supposed to do miracles only to make things worse.  The problem is that the free version only repairs a few problems but if you want to fix the “severe” problems you have to buy their Pro version for $25-35.  For that kind of money I can take a look at everything that could be wrong.  On some of the tech sites I read, the majority of people do not recommend these programs.

The key with tuning up a computer is knowing when to stop.  You need a real human being with technical experience that knows when to stop and not make things worse.  You need a trained technician to take a look and see what is really going on with your computer.  These optimizers can make a few changes but rarely do they get to the bottom of the problem.  Some of these programs can actually tweak registry settings that can render your computer inoperable. Why am I skeptical of these software programs?  Registry cleaning type programs only address one aspect of the possible reasons for a slow computer and the one it addresses is the least one to cause a problem.  There are many other possibilities that can be causing the problem.

When you have strange problems happening the best option is to let me take a look at it before things get worse.  If your computer is very unstable I will back up your data first to protect it before diagnosing the problem.  The most important thing is to not lose valuable data like pictures and documents.  We can always reload the operating system but we don’t want to lose those treasured items like family photos and kid’s homework papers.  Do you really want to take the risk of losing a lot of data and possibly have to go through an expensive data recovery process for what could have been a simple tweak or two to fix the problem?