PC makers are giving you more tools to take technical matters into your own hands. Before you reach for the phone, explore these options. Insist on setup guides. Access the online knowledge base. 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.