My new computer freezes or reboots when I'm pushing it (e.g. encoding video). Can you help me figure out which part is bad before I start having to ship things back to newegg and pay restocking fees? [more inside]
posted by chndrcks on Sep 30, 2009 - 19 answers

Windows Vista 64. Computer started bluescreening at random a few days ago, with increasing frequency - it's up to several per day now. [more inside]
posted by sailoreagle on Sep 2, 2009 - 13 answers

UK 80s gaming magazine question: Who drew "Bug Hunters", the comic strip with the big four armed robot, for CRASH and C&VG magazine? [more inside]
posted by Artw on Aug 18, 2008 - 2 answers

Is there a way for me to restart Windows Explorer (the shell) when it crashes, eliminates my taskbar and all desktop icons, but otherwise my open programs are working fine? Don't want to have to restart everything. [more inside]
posted by kookoobirdz on Oct 13, 2006 - 23 answers

My laptop is crashing frequently and I am trying to track down the problem. I suspect it's the hard drive, but I want to know more so I can work around the issue. Any logging/debugging utilities or tips? [more inside]
posted by costas on Jan 7, 2006 - 8 answers

Rencently I installed something that decided to associate a bunch of common file extensions with it. This re-brought to my attention a problem that has plagued me for quite some time:every time I try to modify what programs are associated with a given extension the I am unable to. Example: say I'm browsing a directory using Explorer. I notice that .tif files are no longer associated with photoshop. I right-click and select Open With>Chose Program. The task hangs. The same thing happens when I view file properties:
Type of file: $filetype
Opens with: $someapp ........ CHANGE...
If I click CHANGE, the properties dialog "is no longer responding". Lastly, trying to change the default file associations by going to: Settings>Control Panal>Folder Options>File Types>
results in that applet freezing. HELP [more inside]
posted by Grod on Oct 7, 2004 - 28 answers

My old computer died (complex, but non-HD-related). I've got a new computer. The old computer had 2 drives in a RAID 0 (striping) setup. Is there a way to get the data off them, assuming no possibility of reviving the old computer? (The new machine does have a RAID controller)
posted by davebug on Sep 20, 2004 - 4 answers

On Windows XP Pro, when I enable "Show common tasks in folders" under folder options, Windows Explorer will sometimes crash when I open a folder. [M.I.] [more inside]
posted by signal on Mar 15, 2004 - 6 answers