Think !

First of all - think !

What was the last thing you did before the crash? Write it down. If you are experiencing repeated crashes, keep notes about what you were doing before each one. Look at your notes and try to see if there are any common factors.

If your machine crashes repeatedly while using one program, try to keep track of what you were doing within the program before each crash. A repeatable crash while printing a specific document may indicate a problem with that document, or with a component of the document.

Did you just add any hardware or software to your machine before the crash ? Immediately suspect that there is a problem with the latest addition. If it is hardware - was it properly installed and configured ? If it was software - was it properly installed and configured ?

Note - The evening before the big project is due is not the worst possible time to install new software or hardware, but it is a contender...