My computer is frequently freezing, hanging, or crashing.

Freezing, hanging, crashing and bombing are all terms that people use to describe a computer that
suddenly stops working while in use. These terms are not totally consistent in how they are used but
broadly speaking
Freezing - usually describes a system that has suddenly become completely inactive while
running. There are no error messages on the screen, the mouse pointer does not move, and
pressing keys has no effect whatsoever - not even producing beeps etc.
• Hanging - usually describes a less severe form of freezing. Things have ground to a halt, there
are no error messages, but the machine is not completely dead. The mouse pointer may still
move and, on a PC system, pressing the Ctrl/Alt/Del key combination produces a response.
• Crashing - usually describes a situation where a program has terminated abnormally, often with
some kind of error message. The machine may still be usable.
Freezing is usually symptomatic of a hardware fault, or of a non-Plug-and-Play device that is internally
misconfigured. If it occurs erratically, the problem may be due to a component that fails when it gets
warm after the machine has been in use for a little while. If you turn the machine off and let it cool
down, it may work normally for a while. Keep a log of its behavior and how soon after powering up it
misbehaves.
Hanging or crashing are generally more likely to have other causes that SHOULD be investigated
further by your districts technology department. If you suffer from these, then note whether the problem
always occurs at precisely the same point, or only with certain documents, or only after having run
certain other software etc.