For the past 15 years, I have been helping people gain a sense of control over their computer. That job actually got harder with Windows because it increased how many things could go wrong. In all this time, and through a survey, I have found there are five common pains we all feel. Here are strategies for dealing with them.

1. Error Messages, Crashes and Freezes

Does your computer tell you helpful things in some foreign language or simply freeze up? If so, you may have been taught to do a warm reboot (Ctrl-Alt-Del for Windows). That’s a good start. It may bring up a window that lets you just close the offending program and keep working. This works well for Windows 2000 or Windows XP. However, in Windows 98/95 whatever caused the error in the first place may still be lurking around waiting to strike again. The only way to be sure you’ve cleaned it out is to fully restart your computer (Ctrl-Alt-Del again or Start, Shut Down, Restart for Windows). Simply doing this will prevent many frustrations.

If for some reason something just won’t work today, try again tomorrow—it might be having a bad hair day! I know this sounds absurd, but it really works. Sometimes, you can just turn it off and try again later that day (it just needed a break). I have no idea why this works. Just trust me, sometimes it does.

In terms of troubleshooting problems, if it only happens once, ignore it and Restart your computer. If it happens repeatedly, try to find a pattern. Then, call technical support (preferably not on Monday morning or Friday afternoon).

2. It does unexpected things

Actually, it’s doing what you told it to do! You need to make sure you’re hitting the right keys (you may be hitting Control, not Shift). For example, if you intend to make a capital B, but hit Ctrl-B instead, you may get bold letters when you start typing again. Be aware of your mouse. There are different pointers for different tasks so make sure the pointer is the correct one for what you want to do. For example, if you want to resize an object, it needs to be a double pointing arrow. If it’s a four-headed arrow instead, you’ll move the object. Be careful not to move the mouse when double-clicking and don’t double-click when you only need one click (sometimes it saves that second click and uses it when you least expect it).

As an aside, people often ask me how to know if they should single-click or double-click. My suggestion: click once; if nothing happens, double-click.

3. Things disappear or move (like toolbars and Start)

Most often, you clicked and dragged when you were trying to click or double-click. If you move the mouse, even slightly, during a double-click, it reads it as a click and drag. One common thing that happens is making the Start bar disappear in Windows. If this happens, just position your mouse over the bottom of the screen until it becomes a double-headed arrow. Then click and drag up and your Start bar should reappear. If you’ve moved it (or a toolbar), click in the gray area (not on an icon) and click and drag to where you want it.

4. Can’t find a file

If you’re losing files, organize! Create a system of folders and sub-folders and put your work in the appropriate folder. Project-based folders work well for most people. For example, I have a folder for speaking and under that, I have different sub-folders for each program. I have another folder for clients and a sub-folder for each individual client. Learn to use Windows Explorer, My Computer, or Mac Desktop folders. You can also use Start Find Files in Win9x or Start Search in Win2000 or WinXP. I try to keep my list of folders to one screen. That way I can quickly scan the screen.

5. You mess it all up

Undo!! Use the undo (“whoops”) button or Edit Undo from the menu. My strategy is to save before experimenting. So, I save, mess it up, and close without saving. Then, I can open the original file and mess it up again. Be sure to save when everything is okay (so save often).

A few extra tips