Category Archives: PC Problems

Restore a Dell to Factory Settings with Dell Datasafe Local Backup

A family member of mine just bought a new Dell 2 months ago and she was having some major problems with it. I am not sure what the problem was, but I knew it was software or Windows related. After realizing that she hadn’t installed a ton of programs, we figured it would be fine if we just wiped the computer and started fresh. Many new Dells come with a pretty handy tool for this, the Dell DataSafe Local Backup 2.0. Using this tool, you can restore the computer to the factory settings.

First things first, back it up

Before restoring the computer to factory settings, we grabbed all the documents from the “my documents” folder and backed them up to a flash drive. That way, we could easily load the documents back onto the computer after the restore was finished. If you have any music, video, or other files you need, I would recommend backing these up before restoring to the factory settings. The Dell DataSafe Local Backup allows you to preserve files, however, I find it safer and easier to create my own backup. read more

Diagnosing a Computer Crash

A Computer crash is not something that is fun to deal with. To make it even worse, a computer may be crashing for multiple reasons such as bad hardware, software, or even a virus. Let’s take a look at a few ways to diagnose a computer crash.

Use the Error Message on Blue Screen

If you are lucky enough to get an error message for why your computer is crashing, I would recommend searching Google for an answer to your specific problem. Chances are, someone else has had the same problem and found a way to fix the issue. If you’re a small business experiencing a technical issue that requires a quick resolution, getting in touch with experienced it support may be the best strategy. read more

Windows Explorer Has Stopped Working Problem

I often get called or emailed when someone I know has a tech issue. I ran into an interesting problem recently. During normal operation of the computer, Windows would suddenly pop up an error message stating that “Windows Explorer has stopped working”.

After some messing around and some research, I was able to find a pretty simple answer. You don’t need to perform a system restore or insert your Windows disc to fix the problem. The solution to the problem is very simple and only involves changing your thumbnails to icons.  If you are having this problem, follow the steps below to fix the problem. read more

Windows 7 Blank/Black Screen Problem

My sister just bought a new Dell laptop a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, she already started to run into a few problems. In particular, she was getting a blank screen right after she got past the Windows login screen.

I started debugging by trying ctrl+alt+delete at the blank screen and then attempting to run explorer.exe. Luckily, this worked, kind of, and I was able to see the normal desktop. However, when I tried to run Firefox, IE, or a few other programs, they would not start correctly.

Debugging in Safe Mode
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