There are those situations, such as IT failures, which can result in a total stall in productivity, then there are your typical day to day IT issues, that you’re encouraged to get a handle on. Or at the very least, consult with someone who’s in the know about such things.
I know, for many computer users, they may not always have the free time to hand their system over to an engineer so that they’ll fix it, especially when it’s something that doesn’t prevent you from doing the things you typically do on your system. For this reason I’ve create a small list of 3 of the most common issues you’re likely to face on your computer, along with a number of recommendations that you can utilise right away, to fix it by yourself.
1. Blue Screens of Death Errors
Of all the error types you can encounter, the blue screen of death is without a doubt the most terrifying. The term is fairly self-explanatory, referring to the blue screen that covers the screen when the error occurs. When a blue screen error occurs, it can result in the total loss of data or worse, in some situations. Either way, it’s a situation that must be addressed immediately. Sometimes a blue screen error can occur during an OS update, and if that’s your situation, then it’s likely you can fix it by yourself.
When a blue screen error occurs, they are always accompanied by an error code. You should write this specific error code down. This is just in case you’re unable to fix the problem by yourself, then you can consult the help of an IT professional who can use that code to work out what the problem is, then apply a series of solutions to fix it. However, before you get to that, there are a number of things you can do by yourself. These are as follows:
Solutions
If a blue screen of death error appears on your screen, it could be software or operating system related, either way, it is possible you could fix it by yourself. If the error code that accompanies the blue screen error refers to a damaged hardware component, then it’s likely, that attempting to fix it, could do more damage to your system.
When a blue screen error is caused by a software problem, the first thing you should do is restart the system. Usually this will happen by itself. Depending on your version of Windows, it may or may not run a Windows repair scan in an attempt to fix the root cause. However, in other situations, a restart may be all that is required to fix the problem. When automated repair tools fail to fix the problem, there are other things that you can do. You could attempt to roll back certain updates, or you could invest in third-party advanced repair tools which are specifically designed to tackle such issues.
If all of that fails, then you should try reinstalling your operating system. Just be sure to tread with caution when doing this, because it’s possible that you could lose all your data in the process. So be sure to back things up first.
2. PC Is Slow
As much effort you may put into caring for your system, over time it will start to run slower. One of the main causes of this, is outdated hardware components. However, despite this reality, if your laptop or computer is still running as it should, without any real hardware flaws, then there are things you can do to make it faster.
These are, as follows:
Make sure your system is fully up-to-date
Maybe this is something you’ve paid very little attention to in the past, but it’s very important that you install the latest iterations of your installed software and upgrade your operating system with the latest patches and improvements. As and when they are made available. This should not only make it run faster but also safer. New updates usually are designed to plug up vulnerabilities that hackers would otherwise look to exploit. For this reason, it’s very important that you’re never shy with the upgrades, patches and updates.
Install and Run Ccleaner
This is a very useful, yet free tool that you can use. When run, it will locate and remove junk files from your system. In addition to its ability to remove junk files, it’s also able to scan and clean your registry, which helps smooth out and speed up your boot times. So, definitely worth a download and install.
Restart your system
If you have your system on for the entire day, it’s always best practice to restart it from time to time. This also reigns true for laptops that are constantly put into hibernation mode. When you restart your system, you can inadvertently fix certain minor issues related to your graphics card, internet connection, sluggish system performance and more.
Defragment or Free up Hard Disk Space
Unless you’re currently running a system with several hard drives on it, it’s very important that you take the time to free up space on the drive you’re operating system is running on. If you’re hard drive space reaches 80% full, then it’s time that you took steps to free up space. Remove programs that you no longer use and transfer any data to an external hard drive. You may also want to consider defragmenting your disk drive, as this will properly arrange the data on your drive, making it more readily and easily accessible by your system. A full or near full hard drive has all kinds of ramifications for your system, especially in the area of performance.
Remove any and all viruses
Although this is something that is not recommended, it is possible for you to avoid contracting a virus, without installing any internet security software on your system. This is because other services, like the cloud are able to offer security solutions on your behalf. However, despite any benefits you may glean from such services, it’s always best practice to install antivirus software on your computer, and run regular scans of your system. This way, any viruses you may have picked up while surfing the web, are immediately located and removed.
3. Apps Behaving Unexpectedly
Another computer problem that is relatively common, is when your apps start to misbehave. Maybe, they shut down without your consent or they simply do not display text or imagery properly.
There are so many reasons why any app may not be working to spec.
The first thing you’ll want to do is save any work you are working on, and restart your system. This will restart not just your operating system, but also the app. Now you can evaluate whether or not the problem has been resolved.
If it continues to persist, your next step should be to carry out additional research on the program and the issue you’re experiencing. You can use any major search engine to do that. If you’re likely, then you may find others that have and are currently experiencing the same problem. You’ll want to look out for those end users who have solved the problem.
You should also consider checking out the website of the software in question, to see whether or not a fix, for the problem you’re facing, has been provided. If there’s a forum on their website, then you should immediately log into it and present your problem there. Just be sure to have the latest updates and upgrades installed for it. In the event you’re unable to resolve the problem from there, you can go a step further, and contact the support team directly.
AUTHOR INFO
Uchenna Ani-Okoye is a former IT Manager who now runs his own computer support website https://www.compuchenna.co.uk.
