Use antivirus utilities. Many problems arise from viruses inadvertently downloaded via e-mail or the Internet. Look for a rollback utility. If your problems began after you loaded some piece of shareware, a rollback utility can return BIOS and Registry settings to their earlier, trouble-free state. Take advantage of self-healing utilities.
Drivers can become corrupted or overwritten.
Self-healing software can detect this and automatically download a fix from the PC maker's Web site. Ask about remote diagnostics. If other defenses fail, remote diagnostics let a technician log on to your system to pinpoint and often correct a problem. Box it up. Only 20 percent of support calls are due to hardware failures.