Help! My program doesn’t work!

It’s incredibly frustrating when a program stops working for no apparent reason or when a program you just installed doesn’t work at all. The cause could be an incompatibility between the program and your computer’s operating system or other programs that were recently installed. Or maybe your PC doesn’t have enough memory to run the program efficiently. What to do?

Check your free hard disk space

Every piece of information takes up space on your computer, including software applications themselves. If your hard disk is really full, a given program (or all your programs) might not start. A program might “freeze” or “hang” while you’re trying to perform a task (meaning that it suddenly stops responding to user input, and you may not be able to close it). You might even get an error message that you don’t have enough disk space when you try to install a new program.

Always check the minimum system requirements recommended by the program’s maker before you install the program. These requirements will say how much hard disk space the software needs to run efficiently. Then make sure you have enough free disk space.

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What does it mean?

service pack
A tested, cumulative set of all the hotfixes, security updates, critical updates, and updates created to fix defects in a piece of software.

To check the amount of free space on your hard disk:

1. Click Start, then click My Computer.

2. Right-click your hard disk drive; usually this is Local Disk (C:).

3. Click Properties, then click the General tab. You’ll see a pie graph showing, in pink, the amount of space still available on your hard disk.

The Windows Live OneCare safety scanner can help you free up space on your hard disk by and . Such optimization can also help your PC run more efficiently.

· To remove obsolete temporary files, go to the Clean Up Center and click Clean Up Scan.

· To fix hard disk fragmentation, go to the Tune Up Center and click Tune Up Scan.

If you’ve never cleaned out temporary files or defragmented your hard disk, or if it’s been awhile since you’ve last done so, run the full service scan to do it all in one fell swoop!

Rule out a compatibility problem

Sometimes software problems happen because the software is only compatible with current operating systems (such as Windows XP) and will not work with earlier versions of Windows. The program you’re having trouble with might also be out-of-date; you may need to upgrade to a newer version.

To verify that your program and operating system are compatible:

· Visit Microsoft Update and check for any needed updates for Windows, Office, and other Microsoft applications.

· Check the software maker’s Web site for updates or for a newer version of that software.

· Ensure that your operating system is as up-to-date as possible. If you’re using Windows XP, it’s vital that you download and install Service Pack 2. A service pack contains updated system files, security enhancements, and other improvements that can make a difference in software compatibility.

Use the process of elimination

Sometimes it isn’t clear which software program might be causing the problem. To find the problem program, close your applications one at a time and observe the results. If you can determine which program is causing the problem, you can concentrate your troubleshooting efforts on that program. You can try to repair the program’s files (the documentation that came with your software should have more information), or you can remove and then reinstall the program.

If a program hangs, freezes, or otherwise stops responding when you try to close it, you can use Windows Task Manager to close the program.

Note: When you use Task Manager to quit a program, any unsaved changes you made in that program will be lost.

To exit a program using Windows Task Manager:

1. Press CTRL+ALT+DELETE. In the Windows Security dialog box that appears, click Task Manager.

2. Click the Applications tab.

3. In the Status column, look for the words “Not Responding.”

4. Select the unresponsive program in the Task column, then click End Task.

5. You may see a dialog box stating that the program is not responding or that it experienced an error and had to close. Click OK to close the dialog box.

6. Click the Close button (the red X) in the upper right corner to exit Task Manager.

When you restart the program, you may see a dialog box prompting you to send a report to Microsoft about the problem that caused the program to stop responding.