Beginners' Guide On How to Fix Common Computer Problems at Home
If you own a computer, you will agree with me that they can develop faults, they can slow down or they can even stop working completely even when you need them the most. As a newbie, if you find yourself in this kind of situation, it will automatically throw you off and not knowing what to do at that instant.
Most of the faults that a computer develop are actually the ones you can easily solve yourself without needing this help of a technician. Some of computer problems require little troubleshooting to fix. If you have computer screwdrivers, you can even go as far as opening the computer and checking what is actually wrong with the computer.
In this article, we will list some major computer problems as well as the troubleshooting steps to follow in resolving them anytime you experience such kind of problem.
Common Computer Problems And Their Fixes
There are major computer problems that you can easily resolve yourself without the help of a technician. Some of the computer problems as well as their solutions are listed below thus;
1) Computer Running Slow
Your computer can start running slowly especially if it is an old computer. A lot of reasons can make your system to start running slowly however, some of the reasons are;
A) Applications: If you have too many applications installed on you computer, it can cause your computer to start running slowly. Any application in your system that you don't use for up to a month is probably not needed on you computer.
B) Program Background Processes: Your computer background processes can adversely affect the performance of the computer and hence make the computer to start running slowly.
C) System Storage: If the the default storage of the computer is small, it can make the computer to start running slowly even before you start installing applications into the computer.
Common Fixes To Computer Running Slow
Below are some of the fixes you can administer on your system once you discover that it has started running slowly;
i) System Restart: Anytime you notice that your system has started running slowly, the first thing to do will be to restart the system. For some system, restart is enough to resolve the problem of system running slowly.
ii) Unused Programs And Tabs: It's a bad practice to leave programs and tabs that is not in use open. If you are not using the application or the tab, just close. Closing unused and tabs helps your system to regain some memory.
iii) Uninstall Unused Applications: Any application you can stay more than a month without using is probably not needed in your computer. For every application that fall within this category, please uninstall them from your system. You can decide to re-install them later when they are actually needed in your system.
iv) Disable Start-up Apps: For all the applications you install on your system, most of them start-up automatically anytime you power or restart your system. These kinds of application slow down the performance of your computer. Use your system task manager to discover those applications that have auto start-up feature. Once found on your system, disable the auto start-up immediately. You can decide to allow only your antivirus application to be on auto start-up. This auto start-up is essential to keep your system protected at all time.
2) Computer Freezing or Hanging
Computer freezing or hanging often happens when the system RAM is overloaded. It can also happen when there is a glitch in an installed software. I remember being a victim of computer freeze and hang caused by software glitch. I downloaded software from a pirate website, installed them on my system and after some time, i noticed that my system hangs, show blue screen and restart by itself. I tried resolving it via command however, since it was a new laptop, i decided to go through the route of re-installing the operating system. The problem was resolved after then and i became more cautious of the kind of software i install on my system.
Common Fixes To Computer Freezing or Hanging
Below are some of the things you can quickly do to fix the freezing or hanging
i) Wait: If it's the first time of experiencing that kind of freezing, you can decide to temporarily wait to see if all will go back to normalcy. If all go back to normalcy, then you can continue with your work however, if after some time the freezing continues, then try the other options below.
ii) Use Task Manager: Quickly access the task manager using the shortcut Ctrl plus Alt plus Delete keys on your keyboard. From the task manager, looking for any app that is not responding. Once you find the particular application that is not responding, click on the end task button at the top right as seen in screenshot below;
Fig1: Task Manager
iii) Check For System Updates: Most times, once your system starts hanging or freezing, it's always a sign that your system requires an update if it is not set on auto-update. If your system starts hanging, quickly go to the windows update section of your system and confirm that there is no important update that is pending installation. If there is no system update pending installation, you can rule out this option and then try the next option.
Fig 2: System Windows Update
iv) System Restart: In computer troubleshooting, restart your system resolves most of the problems. If you restart your system and issue persist, then it means that it requires deeper troubleshooting.
3) Program Not Opening
If your installed application is not opening, then the application is probably corrupted. It can also mean that the files that support the opening of the application on your system is missing.
Common Fix To Program Not Opening
Below is the best action to perform towards this kind of problem;
i) Uninstall and Re-install: For
all remaining parts of the application, you will need to completely uninstall them and re-install them. This approach will help restore any part of the application that was missing initially. Once you are done with the installation, ensure that you restart your system before opening the file again.
4) System Application Crashing
If
any of your system application has not been crashing but started crashing, then it is a sign that your system requires some kind of action to be performed by you. The below actions should resolve your crashing problem.
Common Fix To System Application Crashing
1) App Update: Check if there is an update available for the app, if there is, update the app immediately. If issue persist after update or there is no update available for the app, try the next fix below.
2) Clear Cache: Sometimes, clear the cache of the crashing app automatically resolves the problem. Try clearing the cache of the app.
3) Reinstall The App: There might be that some files of the app have been deleted or corrupted. Try reinstalling the app. Once you are done with reinstalling the app, ensure that you restart your system, then confirm status of the app.
5) Storage Full Warning
Anytime you get a storage full warning on your system, that's a sign that you have some clean-ups to be done on your system. This warning means that there are too many apps, too many files or too many downloads that needs to be backed-up or deleted from your system.
Fixes To Storage Full Warning
1) Empty Recycle Bin: The first step is to check if there are deleted files in your recycle bin. If your system recycle bin is not empty, empty the recycle bin immediately.
2) Delete Files and uninstall Apps: Check your installed apps. For any of the apps you've not used for more than a month, uninstall them.
Also, check your downloads, documents, videos, music and photos directory, for any file that you don't need, delete them immediately. If you think you need all the files in your system, you can decide to back them up in the cloud or in an external hard disk.
6) Malware or Virus-Related Issues
If you think that your system have malware/virus in it, then you need to take an immediate action. System virus/malwares in a system are usually associated with too many pop-ups, slow system performance and unexplained strange system behaviors.
Fixes to Malware or Virus-Related Issues
Below are the fixed that should resolve the issue
1) Delete and Uninstall the Suspicious Application: Quickly delete and uninstall the application you think is the cause of the problem. If you are not sure of the application, just delete the last few applications that you recently downloaded and installed.
2) Use System Restore: Try restoring your system the last system restore point before started. Possibly the issue will be resolves after using the system restore feature.
3) Run Antivirus Scan: If you have not ran antivirus scan in your system for some time, then this is the right time to do that. Scan your system for possible virus and remove the virus if found in your system.
When Should You Need A Technician
1) No power: If your battery is good and your system charge is okay, however there still no power on your system when you press the power button, then an experts' help will be needed. Quickly take your system to a technician to check for you.
2) Hardware Damage: If any physical part of your system is damaged and you don't have a good knowledge on how to repair a system, quickly take it to a technician to check for you.
3) Constant Crashes: If your system continues to crash after experimenting all that is written in this article. The second to the last option you have will be to re-install the operating system if you know how to do it yourself else the last option you have will be to quickly take it to a technician to check for you.
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