You're finishing up a sales proposal for a morning client meeting when — without warning — your word processing program stops working. No amount of keyboard pounding or mouse clicking seems to shake your computer from its trance.

Unfortunately, marked improvements in computer reliability have not eliminated the fact that computers do still on occasion "freeze" or "hang." Or even worse, "crash," forcing you to unplug your machine to turn it off. Such uncooperative behaviour is not only frustrating, but can also cause data loss and hurt business productivity.

	TIP: When you buy a new PC with Windows XP, you can determine ahead of time if your printer or other hardware will work properly with it. Just go to the Windows Marketplace website, where you can search for your device and see if it has passed the requirements for the "Designed for Microsoft Windows XP" logo. If your hardware isn't found or listed, go to the manufacturer's site and look for an updated driver there.

However, you can take measures to minimize if not eliminate PC crashes and freeze ups. To keep your business computers running smoothly, avert downtime and keep you and your workers working, follow these five steps.

1. Upgrade to the latest operating system
The stability of a PC's operating system is key to computer reliability and availability. And the code used to build the latest versions generally improves on the code woven into earlier ones.

That's the case with Microsoft Windows. For example, a test report from eTesting Labs Inc. shows that Windows XP Professional — Microsoft's newest operating system — is significantly less crash-prone than the now two generations older Windows 98 Second Edition. What makes Windows XP more stable?

• Tested compatibility with a broad range of programs
• Improved support for printers, monitors, CD-ROM players and other hardware devices
• Windows Driver Protection to keep you from installing and loading defective device drivers — drivers that are known to cause the system to hang or shut down unexpectedly.

You can find more about business-level reliability improvements in Windows XP Professional here. And remember: When upgrading your operating system, make sure you obtain a "genuine" version of the software. Visit the How to Tell website to confirm your Microsoft software is genuine. Installing counterfeit or copied operating system software is not only illegal, but also prevents you from installing service packs and security updates that keep the operating system working smoothly.

2. Take virus protection seriously
New computer viruses go into circulation on the internet every day. While some are simply a nuisance, a virus can also erase or corrupt files on your hard drive and trigger a computer crash. Here's a quick review on how to protect your PCs from viruses:

• Install antivirus software and keep it updated.
• Use caution when opening and installing files, including those contained in e-mail attachments, downloads, diskettes, CDs and DVDs. Ask yourself if you trust the source of the file before taking any action.

3. Keep your software up-to-date
Software companies continue to make improvements to their products after they're released to the public. These updates are packaged in the form of service packs, a collection of the most up-to-date drivers, components, security updates, tools, third-party device drivers, patches and customer-requested design changes. They can help ensure the stability of your computer's operating system.

Use the Microsoft Update feature to automatically download the latest service packs and critical security patches for your computer. If you're already using Windows XP, be sure to install the latest service pack available. To ensure that Microsoft Office System applications such as Word, Outlook and Excel have the latest security updates, visit the Office Update site.

4. Use care when installing new programs or drivers
Computer problems often arise after adding new programs or drivers. Drivers are small programs that make your printer, graphics adapter, sound card and other hardware devices work with your computer's operating system.

If you have multiple new programs or drivers to install, install one and then make sure your PC is operating correctly before you install the next one. This way you can more easily identify if a particular program has caused a problem. Also, don't install an updated driver for a hardware device just because it's available. If your PC is operating fine without the new driver, leave well enough alone.

One advantage of running Windows XP Professional on your computer is that — unlike Windows 2000 and Windows 98 — it has built-in tools to rescue your PC from programs that make it behave badly. The Windows Driver Protection feature has already been mentioned. And if you install a disruptive driver overlooked by Windows Driver Protection, you can use the device driver rollback feature in Windows XP to restore the previous driver.

Windows XP also makes the System Restore safety net available. System Restore returns your computer to an earlier state if you have a system failure or other major problem with your computer — without loss of data.

5. Provide surge protection and back-up power
Don't overlook the need for power surge protection in your pursuit of crash-free computing. PCs house voltage-sensitive components that a power surge can easily damage. A spike in the electrical output from a wall plug will at minimum shorten the life of your computer. It could also crash and destroy your system, taking all your data with it.

Surge protection devices work as a buffer between the electrical supply in your building and your PC. You plug the device into the wall, and your PC into the device. Surge protection devices are fairly inexpensive — especially when compared to the cost of replacing a PC. For a bit more money, a device called an uninterrupted power supply (UPS) provides surge protection as well as a back-up battery to keep your PC running in the event of a power outage. This keeps you from losing data you haven't saved, and typically allows you to keep working for at least another 10 to 15 minutes.

Because a slow computer can be as frustrating as one that crashes or freezes, you also might consider adopting a regimen of regular system maintenance. Simple practices such as defragmenting your hard disk, checking the hard disk for errors and deleting temporary files can improve system speed and performance. Using Windows Scheduled Tasks feature is a simple way to automate your PC maintenance chores.