"You have performed an ILLEGAL OPERATION, the program will be shut down!" But I didn't do anything! Really, I was just sitting here. :-

You did update Windows, right? And have the current drivers for all of your other hardware and software, don't you? How important is it? Well if you are
experiencing a lot of crashes this may just be the cure. Very few people understand what happens in Windows when you install new software and hardware. Since Bill Gates wants to be the boss, obviously he put everything into Windows to make it work with Microsoft products.

Now all the other companies that sell you things have to make theirs for the Gates configuration. Some are not too good at it and some are just careless. For those you get the Blue Screen of Death. Ever see this one?

"You have performed an ILLEGAL OPERATION, the program will be shut down!"? Then a whole bunch of numbers and stuff even a Geek may not understand.

Well it is really a simple matter of shared files not getting along in your Puter. One says "I am going to decide how this operation is done" and the other one says "no you're not!" So the one with the newest info may win but you get blamed for it because the program didn't do it the "Gates Way" and the result is that the program could not start.

Now you get a new program out of the box, put it on your Puter and guess what? The program probably has a whole ton of updates available to make it get along with Windows. Windows has a whole bunch of new updates to screw with the other companies but "You performed an ILLEGAL OPERATION". Feel a little insulted? I do. Then there are some companies that really don't want your Puter
to cooperate with Windows. They want a piece of the Giant and guess who pays for it? Yup, we do.

I won't mention any names but AOL and Netscape are 2 of the biggest offenders. After that comes Real Player and a list a mile long. But let's not make the problem too simple. Several companies are out to get each other and at your expense. Yeah, right. They tell you it is someone else that is the cause and
that company swears that it is another one. So here you are caught in the middle and nobody has bothered to tell you that something as simple as downloading the latest updates and drivers just might solve the problems they are busy blaming each other for.

Here are a couple of solutions for you. First try and find out what all your hardware is. Printers are easy, the name and model are on the front. But what about your CD ROM, Audio System, and monitor? A lot of times, they  just don't have that information available. Yup even keyboards can have updated drivers. Drivers? Updates? Hardware? Software?.

All of your Hardware runs with Drivers. You can find out the model information and a lot more about them from the "Control Panel". From your START button find SETTINGS, click on that then CONTROL PANEL. Once in the CONTROL PANEL scroll down to SYSTEM and double click. The first window will give you the
information on the maker of the Puter and Processor plus how much Memory you have installed and the version of Windows you have.

Next click on the DEVICE MANAGER tab. You will see a listing of the DEVICES in your Puter. By clicking the + beside each item you can see what you need to find out what the product is. You don't need to open the SYSTEM DEVICES unless you are just curious. Now you get to play detective. Go get em, Colombo!

In most cases you can just do a search for the manufacturer and go straight to their site. Drivers will usually be found under SUPPORT and should have download and installation instructions. You should check for updates at least every 6 to 8 weeks if not more often.  Software updates are not as hard. Most of the programs have a link in the Help menu to go to their site and some even have an update link.

But before you start updating 3rd party software (Not Microsoft), you should get the latest updates for your version of Windows.  Hey, guess what? Gates made this one easy!

Click on the START button then go up near the top of the column and you will see Windows Update. Sheer genius! Just click it. You will have to be connected to the Internet first. When the browser opens just click on the Products Updates and your Puter will be searched for what needs to be updated. From there it is
only a matter of following pretty simple instructions (simple? from Microsoft?). It really is pretty easy to do.

One more little thing before I leave you with all this confusion. I use a program for all my Software that isn't Microsoft from ZDNet called, you guessed it, Updates. http://updates.cnet.com There is a small download and then it will search your hard ' drive and give you a report of all available updates for your
software then the option to download the updates. Best of all it is FREE! Subscribe, download the program, get your updates and they will  e-mail you a reminder to keep up with them.

Your life will be a lot easier and maybe you won't see so many of "The Blue Screen of Death" or "You have performed an ILLEGAL OPERATION, the program will be shut down!" Cause ya didn't. It ain't your fault.

Happy Putering,
Mike Smith
ymtc@webworksathome.com

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