Error reporting, what is it and why does Microsoft want you to have it on? Basically whenever your computer crashes Win XP makes a little report of what went wrong and then sends it to Microsoft so they can improve the Windows Operating System. Generally it sounds like a nice idea, but do you really want to be sending reports about your computer to Microsoft? I personally don’t and they allow you to shut off this feature. Here’s how you do it:
- Open your control panel
- Click on Performance and Maintenance
- Then click on System
- Go to the Advance Tab
- Click on the Error Reporting button at the bottom
- Select Disable Error Reporting
- Click the “But notify me when a critical error occurs”
- Click Ok Twice.
You can leave out step 7, but I like my operating system to tell me when its had a major error, mainly because I can look up the cause of the error and hopefully find a solution to it on the net or at Microsoft. There you have it, error reporting to Microsoft is off and you don’t have to worry about sending a report to Bill Gates.
I will not assume any responsibility for problems that may occur to yoursystem from using any of these suggestions. It is always prudent to backupimportant data before you make any changes to your operating system.
Why is it that simple steps often are overlooked? A great example is backing up all that data on your hardrive. From flash drives to external USB drives, backing up gigabytes of your most important files, digital photos, mp3 music, etc… has become easy and cost effective thanks to USB.
Why USB?
Because it’s simple to connect and easy to drag and drop directories or files to the USB drive. When you’re finished, just unplug the drive and keep it in a safe place. No more excuses NOT to backup your data.
You just can’t beat the price. From 1GB flash memory to 250GB of storage, prices can range from $ 20 – $ 250. A small investment that will pay dividends when you discover your PC hard drive just died.
High speed connection. USB 2.0 data transfer speeds are blazing fast, as much as 450Mbps (mega bits per second). Gone are the days of the slow moving flying folders across your monitor.
Portability. From storing 1byte to hundreds of Gigabytes, you now have no more excuses that the dog ate your report.
Plug and Play. USB drives are fully compatible with Windows, Macintosh and Linux operating systems. Depending on the format of the drive, the possibility exists to copy data from one OS and connect to another without needing to be a Computer expert.
Simple. Ahhh yes, we as human love simple things. So why is that we never have time to backup what we consider important data. If you took inventory of the type data you keep on your PC, it will probably surprise you. Losing that data is like losing everything if your house burnt down to the ground. Sure, your USB drive will also be gone, but you probably take precautions with important paperwork by keeping them in a fireproof safe or at another location. Isn’t time that you add digital data to that same thinking?