Usually the biggest problem a computer will have is negligence by the owner. Almost all of the common computer problems can be avoided by some simple maintenance that gets done on a regular basis. As a computer owner, you will want to take care to empty your cache on a regular basis, make sure that your major software is up to date, clean your registry often and run anti-virus and anti-spyware scans routinely.



The most common of the common computer problems is a lack of speed. Your computer can slow down for a number of reasons. In fact, some slowing as time goes on is normal. After all, regular wear and tear on anything will slowly break it down, right? Your computer is no different. That being said, your computer could be running more slowly because of a number of reasons. Perhaps you have fragmented files, or you have overloaded your system with a bunch of programs that you no longer need nor use. Sometimes your start up menu gets overloaded. All of these common computer problems can be fixed manually and there are a number of easy to follow tutorials that you can find on the internet that will tell you how to fix them.

Sometimes it will seem as if your computer has changed all by itself. Maybe you used to be a die-hard Mozilla Firefox user and now when you try to boot up the internet, Internet Explorer has become the default program. Sometimes your home page will have changed or instead of having a google toolbar, now your web browser displays a yahoo toolbar. This means that somehow a hijacker has taken over your computer. Sometimes hijacking can occur from spyware that has been installed. Sometimes it can happen because of a virus that you have accidentally downloaded. Sometimes there is a very savvy computer hacker out there who has managed to get into your system. You can thwart these hijacking attempts by installing an anti-virus firewall and by running an anti-spyware program and make sure you run scans as often as possible. Some anti-virus programs have firewalls that will let you know when a hijacking attempt has been thwarted.

Of course some of common computer problems are a result of hardware and mechanical failures. The "blue screen of death" is usually an indicator that something has gone wrong within your system that you will need help fixing. If you have kept up with your maintenance routines and have done everything possible to make sure that you haven't overloaded your computer's resources, a "blue screen of death" is a certain sign that your computer needs professional attention. A professional computer repair person can have you back up and running in no time.