When Windows first came out many years ago, there were many, many problems with it and it seemed to crash almost violently. Things are not as bad today and Windows 7 appears to be quite stable. However, there still are some annoying things about Windows I would like to address.

OMG—It’s a Blue Screen of Death
The blue screen of death is likely the most well known of all Windows programming disasters. I remember seeing Bill Gates demonstrating new products at a trade show and even he got “the screen”. If the computer made a sound when the blue screen made an appearance it would most likely sound like it was choking and puking. Some of the problems associated with the dreaded blue screen are:

• RAM gone bad
• Overheating
• Bad Voltage and power supply
• Bad hardware
• Overclocking
• Badly written software
• Windows Bugs

In almost all of these situations, all you can do is reboot. Even though you would like to give it the boot that really won’t help much. Sometimes you may be able to recover by removing media currently in use. But, usually there is nothing positive you can do no matter how hard you try.

Annoying Sounds
Windows apparently thinks it is wonderful to have cute little musical notes and sound effects play whenever you do anything. Granted, some of the sounds are needed like when your computer is about to take a dump or remind you of something important. But mostly, the sounds just aren’t need—like the wave of music that swells just because you started your computer. There is hope because you can turn this stuff off. In Windows 7 and Vista, you just open the Control Panel, choose Hardware and Sound and click on the link for Change Systems Sounds beneath the Sound heading.
Once you land there, you can choose the sound you want to silence. You may be surprised at how many there really are. On the other hand, some people just love these sounds and record their own. Admittedly, when I first got Windows a long time ago, I recorded my voice saying “Your computer is starting” when Windows booted. Pretty sly, huh? Gosh, that is a weird memory but things change and no one is perfect.

Windows has gotten much better but there still are some annoying things. Find your own. That is an assignment.

Check out Windows software here.