Common symptoms of a stroke include:
- Tingling, numbness, or acute weakness in any part of your body, particularly if it’s predominantly on just one side
- Your vision suddenly becomes blurred, distorted, or you have trouble with focus
- You have trouble speaking or your speech is markedly slurred
- You suddenly feel confused or find simple comprehension to be extremely difficult
- Your balance is suddenly off, or you have trouble walking in a straight line
- You develop a sudden, severe headache similar to a migraine
Can your computer suffer a stroke? Technically no. A stroke is an event in which blood is prevented from getting to the brain. But your PC can suffer damage similar to that of a stroke survivor. In a human brain, the lack of blood can kill blood cells, which results in physical and/or mental damage. If your PC’s “brain” – the hard drive – is detrimentally affected, the damage can be extensive and sometimes even permanently disabling. This is often noticed by you, the user, when your computer crashes. The culprits include user error – deleting files you shouldn’t touch, improperly installed hardware, and viruses, among other reasons. How can you watch for signs that your computer might be in the throes of a major problem?
Common symptoms of a computer crash include:
- Your PC is unstable: sometimes it boots up properly, sometimes it doesn’t, sometimes programs open and run smoothly, sometimes they don’t... you get the picture.
- You get error messages, but if you reboot, or close certain programs, they disappear.
- BSOD – the Blue Screen of Death is aptly named. If you repeatedly see this screen, there is a major problem with your PC that needs to be addressed immediately.
- Your computer crashes: while you’re using your PC, it suddenly shuts down without warning.