We like to live up to our name, Friendly PC. While we welcome your business and absolutely love to exceed our customers’ expectations, we also want to save you time and money with some friendly advice. Stay tuned on the blog for these sporadic installments of Friendly Advice.
This week we’re going to focus on the quick and easy ways you can troubleshoot your problems at home. These apply to a computer that is running slow, freezing, or overheating.
Turn It Off, Wait, and Turn It Back On
We know, we know! You hear it all the time, but you’d be surprised what you’ll forget to do when you’re frustrated. Turning the system off, waiting 15 seconds, and turning it on again can often remedy the issue. If it’s possible, you should always shut down your computer the proper way by choosing “Shut Down” or “Restart” from the menu.
Update Your Software
Your computer can have a very hard time keeping things running smoothly with outdated software. Check to make sure you haven’t missed any software updates. While you’re checking, set your computer to make automatic update checks. This way, you’ll never miss an update.
Take Out the Trash
Even if you delete something, that does not mean it’s gone. Everything you have deleted is still taking up room on your computer and will continue to do so until you take out the trash. These files can really slow your computer down. If you know without a doubt that you don’t need anything on your computer, you can “Select All” in a file and drag it to the trash. For instance, many people keep everything important in the cloud on a system like Dropbox or Google Drive. For these folks, it’s easy to clean up without worrying about losing something crucial. If you aren’t sure, then we recommend going file by file, and piece by piece.
Shut Down Unused Programs
Leaving older, unused programs or tools on your computer can be an afterthought. You may not even know they’re there. However, these are the space hogs slowing you down by making your operating system work harder. These hoarded, unused programs are a frequent culprit of crashes and slow performance. Get rid of anything you don’t need or don’t use often enough to keep.
Check Your Internet Connection
Slow or halted performance can also be a product of a bad internet connection. If your wifi speed is slow, it can be very frustrating, but what’s more frustrating is not knowing how to pinpoint the issue. Luckily, there are some great new apps that can help you tell! NetSpot is one we’ve heard good things about. It will tell you your upload and download speeds so you can figure out if your internet connection is the thing causing your computer to slow down.
