Though you may never be able to prevent crashes totally, a few safe computing practices will minimize crashes and crash damage. One problem occurs when the operating system or application expects one thing but gets another, such as when you've got a program using a CD or floppy disk that you remove before saving. Here are some hints to help you prevent crashes.

1. Always shut the PC down properly. Windows creates temporary files that need to be closed before you turn off your machine. If you just throw the switch, these files are left in limbo. Not only might you lose program data that has not been saved, but it's possible that badly written programs could be left in an unusable state.

2. When using Dial-Up Networking (DUN), don't physically disconnect your phone line from the PC before shutting down your connection. Depending on the application that's using DUN, Windows can hang waiting on the COM port.

3. Let ScanDisk run during boot-up if your machine requires it.

4. Store data files on a different partition from the operating system. If Windows does crash and needs to be reinstalled, you won't lose data.

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