PC FixHow to use this site
- Find your problem. Type the words on your screen into the box above: an error message, a stop code, or what is going wrong. Or browse by kind of problem.
- Read "what it means" first. Two minutes of understanding saves an hour of trying the wrong fix.
- Work down the fixes in order. They run from quick and harmless to slow and thorough. Stop as soon as the problem is gone.
- Back up before the big steps. Any page that reaches a reset, a disk repair or opening the case links to back up first.
Before anything else, try these three
A surprising share of Windows problems end here.
- Restart the computer. Use Start › Power › Restart, not Shut down: a restart clears more, because Windows keeps part of the old session through a shut-down.
- Install pending updates: Settings › Windows Update › Check for updates, then restart again.
- Undo the last change. Unplug the device you just added, uninstall the program you just installed, or remove the update that arrived just before the trouble.
The tools you will meet
Every guide leans on a handful of built-in Windows tools. Each has its own page:
- Task Manager: see what is running, close a frozen program.
- Safe Mode: start Windows with nothing extra, to find out whether a fault is in Windows or in something added.
- The repair commands: sfc, DISM and chkdsk, which mend damaged system files and disks.
- System Restore: take Windows back to an earlier date without touching your files.
- Reset this PC: reinstall Windows, keeping or removing your files.
Beware of fake "support"
Pop-ups that fill the screen with a warning and a phone number, callers who say "we are from Windows" and offer to fix errors, and websites selling "driver updaters" are all traps. Microsoft does not put phone numbers in error messages and does not ring people about their computers. Close the browser (Alt + F4, or end it from Task Manager) and carry on. Our sister site Online Privacy explains the remote-access fraud.
When to stop and call a technician
- A burning smell, smoke, liquid inside, or a swollen battery.
- Clicking or grinding from a hard disk.
- Blue screens that continue in Safe Mode or after a reset.
- Any repair that needs the case opened, if you are not comfortable doing so.
- Files of real value on a disk that will not read: stop trying and ask a data recovery service.
Are these fixes safe?
The first steps on every page change nothing important. Later steps say clearly when they remove programs or risk data, and tell you to back up first.
Do the guides work for Windows 10 as well as Windows 11?
Yes. Where the menus differ, both paths are given.
Do you offer to fix my computer remotely?
No. This is a free written guide. Anyone offering remote help in our name is not us.
For Windows 11 and Windows 10. Written in November 2026. Menus move between updates; use the search box in Settings if a name differs. Back up important files before any step that resets, repairs a disk or opens the computer. This is an independent guide, not connected with Microsoft.