Drivers
Drivers Headquarters scans your system and determines whether you need to update your drivers.  Unfortunately to download drivers from their inventory, you have to register and pay for this service.

Error Reporting Messages
One of the new features of WinXP is error reporting.  When Windows or a program suffers a crash, Microsoft (MS) wants to know about the error.  It uses this information to find and fix weaknesses in Windows.  Not everyone wants to ship his or her data off to MS.  The Error Reporting Message gives you the option of refusing to forward it to MS. But you can turn off the message by clicking Start, right-clicking My Computer, and selecting Properties.  On the Advanced tab, click the Error Reporting button.  Now disable the message, or limit it to certain programs and click OK twice.

Events Log
WinXP maintains logs of application, security, and system events.  When troubleshooting, the application and system event logs can provide valuable clues about the cause of a particular problem.  To view these logs, click on Control Panel, Administrative Tools and select Event Viewer.  For information on how to use this applet, click on Event Viewer and choose Action, Help.

Monitor Flicker
Flicker is a problem with CRT  (Cathode-Ray Tube) monitors.  It's practically non-existent with flat panels.  Flicker occurs with CRTs when the screen is redrawn too slowly.  To show movement, the image on the screen must be constantly refreshed.  This action is necessary even to show the flashing of the cursor.  Unless your monitor is very old, you should be able to get rid of flicker.  Computers are often factory set to refresh the screen at 60 times per second, or 60 hertz (Hz).  However, the standard today for flicker-free viewing is 85 Hz.  To change the setting, close all windows.  On the desktop, right-click an empty area and click Properties, Settings, Advanced.  The Settings should be on the Monitor tab, but it may be different on some units depending on your video card.  Check your monitor's manual for available settings.  Higher settings will use additional computer resources, but they will give you a more stable screen.   To prevent damaging the monitor, you should not exceed the manual's settings.

Random restarts
If you have upgraded your computer and it now restarts at random, there could be several reasons for this problem.  They include a faulty power supply or insufficient power to run the computer due to the upgrade.  The problem is probably the latter reason.   To determine how much power you need for your computer, make a list of all the components in the computer and the power requirements for each of them. You will find the component's power requirements on the manufacturer's Web site. When finished, your list may look something like this:  Pentium 4 processor -- 70W, Video card -- 50W, 10/100 Ethernet card -- 4W, CD-ROM drive -- 25W, and 256 MB of RAM - 16W.   Note, though, that this list does not include the motherboard, fans, hard drive and floppy drive.  When you have listed all of the components, add up their required wattage and multiply by 1.8.  The resulting number is the power supply wattage you need for your computer.  The wattage of your current power supply is listed on its label.  If your machine is underpowered or marginal, you should consider buying another one.

Startup Beep Codes
The beeps heard when starting up your computer is its way of talking to you.  Learning the beep code could help you troubleshoot problems.  Beeps are built into the BIOS (Basic Input/Output System). There is no standard system of beeps.  Different computers use various codes.  One beep is a good thing.  Generally, a healthy bootup will emit one beep.  If the computer fails to boot, it might emit a series of beeps.  You can use them to diagnose the problem if you know the code.  The beeping only occurs on a cold boot.  You should not hear it on a reboot.  If your computer fails to start, you must turn the computer off and back on to hear the beeps again.  Usually, the beep code is a warning about a bad part or connection. Your computer's manual should explain the beep codes.  If not, try the manufacturer's Web site.

Startup Disk
To make a startup disk for either Win2000/XP, begin with a blank, formatted floppy disk.  Next you open your C: drive in Windows Explorer.  If Explorer displays a warning, click Show the contents of this folder.  To display the particular files you need, select Tools, Folder Options, and click the View tab.  Make sure Show hidden files and folders is selected, and uncheck Hide protected operating system files (Recommended).  At the warning, click Yes, OK.  Copy the files boot.ini, ntdetect.com, and ntdr to your floppy.  Remove the disk, open the write-protect switch in its bottom-left corner, and label the floppy “Boot Disk.”  Return to the Folder Options dialog box and recheck Hide protected operating system files and folders (Recommended).  If your computer hangs while loading, you may not need this disk.  Simply reboot and press F8 as your computer begins to reload the operating system to see a menu of boot options.  You may have to press F8 twice to get the full menu.  Your best option for restoring your computer is to select Last Known Good Configuration.  If this choice does not work, try selecting Safe Mode.  Dell Computer has announced plans to discard the floppy drive.  Traditionally, we used a floppy to make startup disks.  To start Windows in an emergency when there’s no floppy drive, you don't need a special startup disk.  Simply place your original Windows program disk in the computer's CD drive.  Now turn on the computer and a Windows menu will appear.  You may need to change the computer's boot sequence so it checks the CD drive first, before the hard drive.  Make this change in the BIOS Setup.  When powering up a computer, you usually press a key such as Delete or Escape to enter Setup.  Look in your computer's manual for instructions.

Start-up Problems
There are several major system related issues affecting boot times.  They are hard drive, fragmentation, Registry bloat, and programs that start automatically each time Windows loads on your computer.  By running your defragmentation utility this software rearranges files so they are stored in contiguous clusters. To access the built-in Disk Defragmenter, click Start, Programs (or All Programs in WinXP), Accessories, System Tools, and Disk Defragmenter.  One of the best tools to clean the Registry is RegCleaner, which is available as a free download from the Internet.  If your computer fails to boot, attempt to start it in Safe Mode.  Turn the computer on but press F8 repeatedly until a boot menu appears on your screen.  Use the arrow keys to highlight Safe Mode and press Enter.  If you can get in using Safe Mode, a program or driver is preventing your computer from accessing Windows.  You must uninstall it and then reinstall or reconfigure that application.  Unfortunately you cannot use Add/Remove Programs while in Safe Mode to get rid of rogue applications, but you can prevent them from loading on your machine.  Click Start, Run, type msconfig.exe in the Open field, and click OK.  Select the Start-up tab and remove the check from the checkbox next to the entry causing trouble.

Stop Messages
Stop messages are the WinXP version of the Blue Screen of Death associated with previous Windows’ versions.  When WinXP encounters a serious problem, a solid blue background appears with text at the top that says “STOP: 0x00000XXX” and other information about recovery driver involvement.  The hexadecimal code that follows the word “Stop” indicates the type of error.  It can be abbreviated to “0xXXX.”  Stop messages occur due to outdated or damaged drivers, incompatible software or hardware devices, hardware conflicts, or file system corruption.  Focus, in solving these computer problems, should be on any new software or hardware added to the machine.  Therefore try removing any new software/hardware devices to see if this action resolves the error.  If so, check for driver or software updates at the manufacturer’s Web site.  If the error persists, you should try clean-boot troubleshooting to narrow the possibilities for the problem.  At this point a visit to MS Knowledge Base and search is suggested for the specific error code.

System Configuration Utility
If you install one or more new software programs on your compute and then receive error messages, there’s a way to isolate the problem without uninstalling everything.  The System Configuration Utility on your computer simplifies identifying incompatible hardware drivers and software.  In Win98/Me/XP, click Start, Run and enter msconfig to open the program.  The Startup tab lists programs that launch automatically when Windows loads your computer.  Unchecking one keeps it from this action.  To find the source of your problems start by disabling all the programs that automatically launch at Windows’ startup.  Under the General tab, uncheck “Load startup group” or “Load startup” items, depending on your version of Windows, and reboot your system.  If the problem(s) end, then you know one of these programs is the culprit.  To isolate the offender, recheck your “Load startup” option, “Restart,” reopen “System Configuration Utility,” click the Startup tab, and enable one program at a time by checking the box next to its name.  Reboot after re-enabling each program.  When the problem starts to recur, you’ve found the source of your conflict.  If this process of elimination doesn’t work for you, follow the same steps with the listings under the “System.ini” and “Win.ini” tabs.  Some old hardware and software may affect these settings.  If that’s the case, then they’re prime candidates as troublemakers.

The letters “dll” stand for Dynamic Link Library or dynamically loaded library. These files have names like VMMREG32.DLL. They are collections of more common functions used by Windows and other programs.  You'll find many dll files by searching for the files using Windows Explorer. If you try to open them in Notepad or WordPad, you'll find they are unreadable.  These files are absolutely critical to the proper functioning of your computer. If one dll is changed, you're going to have a problem.  Missing dll files usually result from over-enthusiastic cleaning of hard drives.  After removing a program from your computer, you'll often get messages about dll files. They'll say something to the effect that a dll file was shared, but no longer appears to be used. These messages give you the option of eliminating the file. They also warn that removing the file may keep a program from running.  You should never delete these files. Even if the dll file is never used again, it won't hurt anything by sitting on the hard drive.  You can usually recover the missing dll by reinstalling the program. The same is true if a dll file becomes corrupted.  Just reinstall the software for the program or peripheral that won't run.  If nothing else works, there are lots of free sites on the Internet that have dll files. You might be able to find the file there and put it back on your system.