Most Common Causes of Computer Failure

There are thousands of problems that your PC will eventually encounter, from an endless list of possible error messages to various hardware failures. Most of these problems may have several possible causes as well.

Luckily, majority of these potential issues are rare. The problems most computer users see are common causes and errors only, which can also be seen by others.

This could spell good news because it means that there’s a great chance that the problem you're experiencing already has a solution at hand. However, if things get complicated, you may need to contact a tech support company for further assistance.

Computer Won't Turn On

Finding that your PC won't boot up is a very common problem. Whether you mean that the computer is completely dead or it powers on, but nothing happens, the result is the same -- you can’t use your computer at all. It’s a scary situation. For starters, try to see if you plugged the power cord into the outlet (no kidding, tech support companies get a lot of frantic calls from users who simply forgot to plug their computer). Also, try to see if the connectors inside have been loosened or dislodged.

Blue Screen of Death (BSoD)

There’s a good chance you've heard of or seen the Blue Screen of Death. It’s that all-blue screen with the computer code all over it that comes up as your computer is slowly dying. It’s actually caused by a STOP Error, which comes in many different kinds. STOP 0x0000008E and STOP 0x0000007B are two of the most common Blue Screen of Death errors.

“404” or “Page Not Found” Error

A 404 error means that whatever page you’re trying to reach on the Internet isn't there. Usually, this means that you didn't type the correct address in the browser or that the link you used to try to access the page was wrong. Check your Internet connection as well.

“Hal.dll is Missing” Error

Error messages about missing DLL files are unfortunately very common but the “Hal.dll is Missing” error is one of the more common and frustrating ones. There are a lot of possible causes for this problem, which means there are several troubleshooting steps you’ll need to follow to cover all your bases.

Applications Run Slowly

There are several reasons for software to run at turtle speed. You may have computer problems that involve your operating system or an application, your operating system might be missing updates, or your computer doesn't have enough hard drive space. If you don’t have enough hard drive space, you can scan, clean, and optimize your hard drive to avoid this problem from reoccurring.