In my travels around the country as Circuit Rider for the LINC Project, I've seen some darn near inexplicable things go wrong with computers.
Programs can stop running properly,or even worse, the computer itself can fail to even start.
The challenge with a problem is not so much the solution but figuring out what the actual problem is. By doing some basic troubleshooting you can effectively identify problems and get farther down the path to an actual solution. Also, if you need to call a manufacturers help-line, the call will be much more productive if you've done some troubleshooting before hand. My personal theory to computer problems is that there is a direct connection between the amount of stress a user is under and the number of times a computer will crash. If you're moving fast on the computer, it pays to take a moment, take a deep breath, close unnecessary programs and save your work.