Why Does My Computer Keep Crashing? 10 Fixes to Try Right Now

Updated by

Linda 

Written by

Linda 

Last updated on April 19, 2024

Computer crashes can be frustrating for any user, especially when you're in the middle of playing a game or working on an important task. Common signs of a crashing computer include a blue screen of death, inability to boot up, frozen screens with no response, unresponsive mouse and keyboard, and unexpected software terminations.

Why does your desktop or laptop randomly crash or freeze? In this article, you'll discover the reasons behind a crashing computer and learn effective ways to fix the issue.

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Why does my computer keep crashing?

While there can be many reasons for a computer crash, they all generally fall under the categories of hardware or software. Common causes for frequent crashes include, but are not limited to:

• Overheating of the monitor, power supply, or CPU. • Loose internal hardware in the computer. • Incompatibility between software and hardware. • Bad sectors on the hard drive. • Insufficient space on the system partition. • Insufficient RAM capacity. • Damaged or outdated drivers. • Attack by viruses or malware.

These issues can also cause the "games keep crashing" error. Continue below for more fixes.

10 Effective Ways to Fix Frequent Computer Crashes

Solutions to a computer crash can be divided into two categories: hardware fixes and software approaches. Try these ten solutions to address crashes caused by either hardware or software issues.

The following content constitutes a quick fix for recurring computer crashes. Sharing these solutions can aid other users encountering similar issues.

Solution 1: Cool the Computer

Overheating of the motherboard, CPU, or inadequate cooling can cause a computer to freeze. Monitors, power supplies, and CPUs generate a lot of heat when they're working, so good ventilation is important. An overheated monitor can cause color and image distortion and even shorten its lifespan.

CPU cooling is a crucial aspect for the stability of a computer's operation. It's recommended to remove one side panel of the computer case during summer to enhance heat dissipation. For laptops, using a cooling fan or a cooling pad is advised.

Fix 2: Clean the dust

Over time, computers and laptops gather a lot of dust inside their hardware. This dust can seriously affect a computer's ability to cool itself, leading to decreased performance. For example, too much dust on a floppy drive head or CD drive laser can cause read/write errors and even crashes. Because of this, it's important to clean out your computer's hardware regularly.

Fix 3: Check hardware connections

During transportation, the internal hardware, such as memory sticks, can become loose due to vibrations, causing poor contact and subsequent system crashes. Hence, it's essential to avoid severe jolts when moving your computer.

Fix 4: Check for bad sectors on the hard drive

If there are bad sectors on the hard drive due to misuse or aging, the computer can crash randomly when running. You can use special disk partition software - AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional to check bad sectors.

Too many bad sectors make it impossible to read from or write to certain parts of the drive, causing it to become stuck or fail entirely. Use the built-in Windows 10 Disk Management tool to check your hard drive for bad sectors and see how healthy it is.

< strong > Step 1. < /strong> Launch Partition Master. Right-click the disk that you want to check, and then click "Surface Test".

Step 2: The operation will be performed immediately, and all bad sectors will be marked in red.

Here are some other key features offered by Partition Master:

Fix 5: Replace or upgrade your hard drive

If the hard drive is severely damaged with many bad sectors, the only solution is to replace it. Also, even if the hard drive has no issues, but the remaining space is too small, it can cause computer sluggishness during usage. In such cases, it's necessary to upgrade the small hard drive to a larger one.

If you want to change to another disk, the easiest way is to clone the disk. AOMEI Partition Assistant, this disk partition software can help you easily clone a bad hard drive to a new HDD or SSD. This ultimate partition manager supports combining partitions, splitting partitions, resizing/moving partitions, allocating space from D drive to C drive, and more.

Step 1: Select the source disk.

1. Navigate to the "Clone" tab, click "Clone System Disk" or "Clone Data Disk," then click "Next" to proceed.
2. Select the source disk you wish to copy or clone, then click "Next."

Select the disk you want to copy:

Step 2: Choose the target disk.

Select the HDD/SSD you want as the target disk, and click “Next” to continue.

Check the warning message, and then click Yes to confirm.

Step 3: Choose your clone mode.

You can choose to have the disk layout automatically adapted or cloned from the source.

Step 4: Click "Start" to begin the cloning process.

Fix 6: Upgrade your RAM

Your computer uses RAM (Random Access Memory) to perform tasks like playing games and editing photos. If your computer doesn't have enough RAM to support the programs you're running, it might freeze up. You can avoid crashes by upgrading your RAM.

Fix 7: Extend your C drive

If the System Reserved partition doesn't have enough space, your computer may crash while it's running. To fix this, you can extend the C drive to speed up your computer. Refer to the steps below to do this with disk management software.

Option 1: Extend the System C drive using unallocated space

1. Right-click on the System C drive and select "Resize/Move Partition." 2. Drag the system partition towards the unallocated space to add it to the C drive. Then, click "OK." 3. Click "Execute Task" and "Apply" to perform the operation and extend the C drive.

Option 2: Extend the System C Drive without Unallocated Space

1. Right-click on a large partition with enough space on the system disk and select "Allocate Space." 2. In the "Allocate space from (*) to" section, select the system drive, then drag the end of the C drive system partition to the unallocated space. Click "OK" to confirm. 3. Click "Perform Tasks," which will list the pending operations. Then click "Apply" to save the changes and extend the C drive.

0:00-0:26 - Extending the system drive with unallocated space; 0:27-0:58 - Extending the system drive without unallocated space.

Fix 8: Update Drivers

Outdated or corrupted drivers can also cause your computer to crash or freeze frequently. You may be able to fix the issue by reinstalling or updating your drivers.

Step 1. Right-click on "This PC" and go to "Manage" > "Device Manager."

Step 2: Expand the "Hard Disk Drives" section.

Step 3: Right-click on the hard drive and select “Update Driver.”

Fix 9: Defragment your hard drive

Extended use of a hard drive can lead to a lot of fragmentation. Defragmenting your hard drive can improve performance. Additionally, it's recommended that you regularly delete junk or large files from your hard drive. Learn how to defrag your hard drive partition to prevent computer crashes.

Step 1: Locate and right-click the target disk in File Explorer.

Step 2. Go to Properties > Tools tab, and under the Optimize and defragment drives section, click on Optimize.

Step 3: Click “Optimize” to defragment the hard drive.

Fix 10: Install or update an antivirus program

Viruses, malware, or adware could be causing your computer to crash. You can protect against these issues by installing a reliable antivirus software like Avast, AVG, Avira, Kaspersky, and others. Make sure your antivirus runs regularly and stays updated.

In short

Most people who spend a lot of time on their computers have experienced a crash at one point or another. For those who are not computer-savvy, a crash can be particularly troublesome.

This post will explain why your computer might be crashing frequently and offer nine practical solutions. You can follow the guide to try resolving the issue yourself. If you encounter any problems and need further assistance, feel free to reach out to our technical support team for guidance at techsupport@tools.com.

Other information: Tips to Avoid a Computer Crash

Though computer crashes are inevitable, there are steps we can take to avoid problems.

• Avoid overclocking components such as CPUs and graphics cards beyond safe levels, and pay attention to temperature monitoring. In general, it's not recommended to overclock without proper knowledge.
• Never power off your computer abruptly when applications are not properly closed, as this may lead to system file corruption or loss, causing crashes during startup or operation.
• Do not use floppy disks or CDs of unknown origin, and scan software attachments in emails with antivirus software to prevent virus infections that could lead to system crashes.
• If you have limited memory, avoid running memory-intensive applications.
• When replacing computer components, ensure they are securely connected, as loose connections can cause system failures.
• Frequently clean dust from the computer case, power supply, fans, and other components to maintain optimal performance.
• When shutting down, use the operating system's shutdown function instead of directly pressing the power button on the case to prevent file loss and potential system crashes upon the next startup.