With our years of experience managing computer systems and troubleshooting their problems, we've found many simple ways people can correct their own problems and improve their systems' performance and stability, often without a support call.
Here are some ways to correct or prevent some of the more frequent problems we see:
Install Windows XP Service Pack 2
	Windows XP Service Pack 2, which you can download and install from here if you have Windows XP Home or Professional, has many improvements and additional features over XP out-of-the-box.  Most important among these are changes to Internet Explorer that prevent Adware/Spyware from infecting your system and make it easier to remove any that do get through; and firewall, application, and TCP/IP stack changes to prevent viruses from infecting your system or nullify their effects and prevent them from spreading from your system to others.
	Another nice change: you get popup blocking in Internet Explorer without having to install poorly written (causing instability) or Adware/Spyware-supported, third-party popup blockers.
	To learn more about Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2, see Microsoft's aptly-named "Learn About Windows XP Service Pack 2" web document.
	Before installing this patch, it is important to first remove any Adware/Spyware that has already infected your system! Installing SP2 on an infected computer may cause the system to hang. See below for removal tips.
Adware/Spyware Hurt System Performance and Stability
	Adware and spyware are programs designed to bring “popup” advertisements to your system and/or send information about you to their authors. They get installed usually through trickery by other programs you have installed, by e-mail worms, or by scripts running on websites you visit. If their intended purposes aren’t bad enough, they also slow your system down and cause system errors.
	There are several utilities available for purchase or free download that can remove these programs. We recommend at least one of these be run periodically on your system even if you don’t suspect you have this problem. We suggest using Spybot, Ad-aware, and/or Microsoft Windows Defender.  Be careful when choosing a utility to clean your system, some adware poses as pop-up stopping utilities.
	Better yet, purchase one of the modern Anti-Virus programs that double as adware/spyware prevention tools as well.  We highly recommend Kaspersky, Norton/Symantec, or Trend Micro AntiVirus programs.
	Be sure to read the fine print in license agreement.  There is usually a statement hidden in the installer’s End-User License Agreement if it includes malware. By always reading through these agreements, you may be able to prevent malware from being installed on your system to begin with.
	Before any programs can be installed on your system by website scripts, you usually must agree to allow the installation.  Before agreeing to any installations, be sure you really need what’s being installed and that you can trust the author. Hint: virus scanners and adware removal tools that attempt to install themselves in this manner are likely adware posing as something useful.
	If your Internet Explorer security settings aren’t set high enough you might be agreeing to installations automatically.  To check your security settings, open [Tools] – [Internet Options] – [Security] in Internet Explorer.  Select the Internet zone and click [Default Level] to configure the minimum recommended security level.
	If your Windows and Intenet Explorer are not fully updated, your system may be vulnerable to hacks that allow malware to install on your system without your permission. Get your computer up to at least Windows XP Service Pack 2 (see above) or Windows Vista and allow Automatic Updates (see below) to download new security updates as soon as they are available.
Use Google to Find Solutions for Your Problems
	Many errors are caused by bugs or incompatibilities that are known to software vendors, and can be corrected with patches that are freely available. When you see a new error on your system, type it into a search engine (such as Google) to see if there’s a patch available to fix it. Try using quotation marks around the error message to narrow down your search results.
Keep Your System Up-to-Date With Windows Update
	Windows 98 and newer versions include a feature called Windows Update that can scan your system and notify you of any updates for your operating system and system drivers.  Keeping Windows and its driver files up to date makes the system more secure against attacks and viruses, corrects bugs that cause errors, and sometimes adds useful features.
	To access Windows Update manually, open Intenet Explorer and click [Tools] - [Windows Update].  While you're there, you might want to download Microsoft Update, which incorporates updates for other Microsoft products into the same updating mechanism with Windows updates.
	To have Windows/Microsoft Update automatically download and install updates, visit [Automatic Updates] in your Control Panel.
Upgrade Your Memory for Better Performance
	There are two system components used as memory space, which is where programs do their work. The main component for memory is called system RAM, or physical memory, and the other is the hard disk, on which virtual memory is kept.  The hard disk is many times slower than RAM, so if your programs have to use virtual memory because physical memory is all in use, your system performance will suffer greatly.
	“A memory upgrade pays for itself in just over a day for managers and in about five days for administrative workers.  Doubling the RAM in a system immediately boosts overall managerial productivity by 38% and administrative productivity by 16%.” - PC Computing Magazine
	To check if you need a memory upgrade in Windows NT/2000/XP/Vista, bring up Task Manager (right-click the taskbar, and click [Task Manager]), then look on the [Performance] tab.  If your Page File Usage (displayed in megabytes) is higher than your Total Physical Memory (displayed in Kilobytes - 1/1000th of a megabyte), you need more RAM.
Upgrade to Windows XP or Vista for Stabilty
	It’s not just hype. In addition to its many new user features and improved diagnostics tools, Windows XP really is a more stable operating system than any previous version.  By upgrading to Windows XP you can correct problems you have now and prevent future problems.  Windows Vista adds to the security and stability Microsoft put into Windows XP, and has a slick new interface to boot.
	All the previous versions of Windows are so riddled with security flaws that Microsoft will no longer patch and so frequently plagued by software compatibility problems and operating system corruption that it will cost you more to keep them going than to upgrade.