Keeping your PC maintained is important for preventing problems and keeping it running smoothly. For individuals that remove programs just by deleting their folders, open unknown emails with attachments and go online without any protection, you should start pay more attention in how you use your computer. With proper use, you can avoid seeing messages like Dr Watson and win32k.sys blue screen errors.

A slow PC which experiences freezing and crashes intermittently is probably in need of a tune up. You don’t have to do a full reinstallation of Windows, but the idea is to try and get your PC as close as to how it was when you first got it. Now and again it isn’t a bad idea to start anew especially if you’re finding your computer less useable. Accidentally deleting files or making system changes can cause problems that might just be easier to fix with at full installation.

If you decide to start from scratch, only install the programs you need. You should be able to free up tons of space since you will have to copy your old computer files either to disk or portable drive or transfer to another computer. If you’re computer isn’t on it’s last legs, a quick cleanup should be all that it needs. Does it take you a few minutes to track down files on your PC because it’s such a mess? In that case you should heed to a little advice on how to manage your files.

Don’t just dump files onto your desktop. A few folders on your desktop is fine for files that your use often, but keep it to a bare minimum. Organize files into related folders which fall under top level categories looking like a family tree. This means don’t make a folder named ‘Stuff’ that contains anything and everything in it!

Experiencing excruciating long boot-ups and shut-downs? Train your eye to the bottom right of the system tray and you might just see a bunch of applications operating that you don’t need. If you don’t need them running you can disable the function to Autostart in each one. But leave important ones such as security applications running.

You should at minimum have one antivirus program running on your computer. You can download pretty decent free antivirus software such as AVG antivirus. With so many threats online including spyware, adware and viruses, you’re PC’s very likely to pick up something. It’s better to run several antivirus and anti-spyware applications instead of just one. It’s quite a common occurrence for one program to pick up threat and not the other.

Rootkits can be especially nasty and can cause Atapi.Sys Blue Screen as well as other problems like ad pop-ups. Your computer’s OS can become corrupt and rendered useless from a single threat if not removed. Apart from having protection installed, be cautious when opening emails and using the Internet.

You can clean up a bloated registry using a registry cleaner which will often fix a number of problems such as DLL errors, application failures, hardware incompatibilities and even blue screen errors. Running a registry cleaner after a removal of a program will also help get rid of orphaned files which only bloat the registry.

If you’re unlucky enough to experience severe problems such as the BSOD you can check for a guide on How To Fix Blue Screen Of Death online. Since blue screen errors can be caused by various issues, you should write down the exact error message before looking for a fix. A well kept computer that is regularly scanned for errors and infections will give you less headache. Take action today and get your computer back up to speed!