Computers are one of the greatest things since sliced bread! At least when they’re working well, that is. When something starts going wrong with your computer, however—and particularly when you don’t know what the heck the thing is telling you—you can begin to have your doubts.

Most personal computers (as opposed to Macs) work on one of the Windows operating systems. That may not mean much to you if you aren’t very computer savvy, but there are some basics you should know—or at least some things you need to watch out for that could forewarn you before the ultimate computer disaster strikes.

Every now and again every computer will give you some little error messages or lock up. Sometimes you need to reboot your system and that seems to take care of the problem. If everything is frozen, a Ctrl + Alt + Delete will often fix it—or at least get you back to business. And if all else fails—while not the best way to do it (what choice have you got?)—turning the power off, waiting 30 seconds, and then turning the power back on usually seems to correct the issue.

But wait! Those little glitches are signs that something is going awry with your system. Just like sniffles, coughs, sneezes, and headaches may be a sign that you’re coming down with something, your computer is warning you before it totally crashes.

You’re getting symptoms of a Windows registry error in the early (or not so early) stages. And you need to address them before you experience a total computer crash and the resulting panic that goes along with it.

Here are a few signs that you need to repair your Windows registry before it’s too late:

1. Your computer gets sluggish and slow. Any time your computer speed declines, that means something’s not working at peak performance anymore. Perhaps you have too much on your computer and it needs to be cleaned off. Perhaps old programs didn’t uninstall entirely. Either way, this needs to be addressed promptly.

2. Error messages. If you get error messages when programs are starting up or when Windows is starting up—or at any other time—this is a sign that something needs to be fixed. Don’t ignore them. The more frequent the messages, the faster they need to be addressed.

3. The dreaded blue screen. Getting the blue screen when your system is supposed to be booting up is more than just an annoyance. It’s a sign that your registry is having problems that need to be resolved.

4. Lock-ups. This is probably the most annoying of all computer irritations. But again, it’s not just a little irritating problem that will go away on its own. If your computer keeps locking up mid-task, fix your registry problems before you encounter a full-blown computer crash.

You don’t necessarily need to be a computer whiz to correct all of your computer programs. There are programs available that make it easy for you to fix Windows registry errors and other problems. Consider investing in one of them—and taking the time to use it—before you have bigger problems (i.e., that computer crash) to deal with.

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