Error pop-ups are annoying. They can cause our computers to freeze and crash, and reduce our productivity. I'm going to give you a three step process to deal with computer errors messages of varying degrees. No one step will work for every error so try them in order to determine where you've error message is coming from.

I hope you run at least a regular virus scanner on your PC all the time if not you need to start. This is the first place to start using automated utility software. These programs will scan their respective areas of Windows® looking for items that might be causing your machine to behave abnormally.

The registry scanner is a unique tool that looks not at all of the files on your machine but rather just the Windows® registry. A file structure that holds data about every program, user and device on your machine. This file can sometimes become to large and results in errors occurring in other parts of your PC.

Try to download free scan trials if you can before you buy any software. This will allow you to check for errors before buying. Most programs will let you scan for free but you have to pay to repair the errors found.

Sometimes a computer error message can be localized to just one program. How can you know? Well does the error only pop up when you're using certain software? Or is it happening all the time. If it's only one particular program then it could be a corrupt file. The solution here is to remove the program via the uninstall feature of the software or through your add/remove programs window in the control panel.

Be sure to backup any files related to this program before you do this. Removing an entire program usually removes any files you've created with that application. Once removed restart your machine and use it for a while to determine if the error seems to be gone. If so you can install the application again or leave it gone if you didn't use it all that often.

This is the most drastic of the three steps but sometimes it can't be avoided. This step is taken when you have multiple errors and it seems like Windows itself has been damaged or become unstable. Most computers come with a set of restore discs or restore partition. From there you can wipe your hard drive clean and reinstall Windows® and other applications you use.

Be very sure that you backup all required data before performing this step. There's no turning back once you reformat your hard drive. All data will be gone so be sure you have copies of all important files.

While drastic this process should clear all errors and improve the over all performance of your computer back to factory like quality.