When software won't work...

When software won't work
By: Scott Hendison � Published: June 1998

One of the most frustrating things about computers is the fact that for no apparent reason, on any given day, things don't always work. Programs that have worked fine for months will stop working, and new programs simply will not run on your machine, even though you easily meet the manufacturers minimum system requirements. This is most often the case with games.

Many times we have loaded a new game at the store only to discover that it will not run right. This is usually more of a problem with games that we really want to see, or games that have had a lot of pre-release hype touting groundbreaking graphics or new technologies. Many times, however, it will be on standard run of the mill games that by all reasonable thought processes, should work just fine.

There are also many different ways that a game will not work. It can cause the dreaded "illegal operation" that leaves you looking over your shoulder for the Microsoft police. It can lock up, causing you to have to reboot your computer. It can run with no sound, and play just fine. It can run with no picture, and although you hear the sounds of game play, you see nothing. It can run okay, but leave you suffering from poor performance, like stuttering sound or choppy video.

In most cases, these errors are due simply to the poor or even non-existent instruction manual, or our refusal to read the instructions. Many times the answers can be found in the troubleshooting section of the manual, or in one of the "readme.txt' files that are on every CD. Just as often though, there are no answers to be found. Here are a few suggestions that believe it or not really do work. Sometimes.

When programs stop working:
Restart your computer. Twice.
Run scandisk, run disk defragmenter (Defrag), restart your computer.
Uninstall the program. Run scandisk. Run Defrag. Restart. Reinstall. Restart again.

When new programs don't work:
Try everything listed above.
Try changing your screen resolution. Try 640x480 first. Nearly all programs prefer this resolution, even though most people prefer 800x600. To do this (in Win95) right click on the desktop anywhere that there is no icon. Go to "properties". Go to "settings" and slide the desktop bar to the desired resolution.

Try changing your color palette. I have seen this work most often with games. An improper color setting can even effect your sound! To do this, follow the same steps as you would for screen resolution, but use the pull down menu under "palette' to select 256 colors, or High Color, or True Color.

While this is by no means a complete list of options, it is a good start. Try them in no particular order. Try them in combinations. Try them when you have too much time on your hands or when you really want to use a specific game or program. Of course the easiest thing is to drop kick that piece of software and buy something else, but that's not always practical.

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note 2007:

Scott Hendison is the CEO of Search Commander. He is a former Portland computer store retailer that built a local on-site service business through Pay Per click and organic search engine optimization. In 2003, he started focusing exclusively on search marketing.

Today he is a search engine marketing consultant that serves clients in 5 countries, who find him on the front page of most search engines for "internet consultant" and related phrases.

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