In a previous article, we talked about safeguarding your data in case of a problem where your hard drive crashed or you lost files (maybe with the help of grandkids).   You now know to back the data up frequently.  Perhaps you are doing that.

Here’s something that might happen, though—for some reason Windows stops responding.  You try to restart and you get the BSOD (Blue Screen of Death).  Maybe just a black screen that says Windows is missing important files.  You are desperate!  You haven’t recently done data backup.  You need your computer.

You have system restore disks, so you try to use them to get the system up and running.  This might not be a good thing to do.  Many system restore disks will wipe the hard drive before restoring.  This will cause all your programs and data to go away.

Unless you know what you are doing or like living on the edge, it’s best to call a computer professional to see if Windows can be repaired instead of restored.  If you can get the computer working again without losing your stuff, you’ll be a lot happier.