Is your computer giving you some trouble? Here are some troubleshooting basics for common computer issues that may help you.
1) Computer Shuts Off With No Warning
This could be a heat related problem or a hardware problem.
Heat related problems are the most common cause for a computer to shut off with no warning. Many computers are designed to do this when they become too hot. If your computer is making strange noises, such as squealing, it may be that one of the fans isn’t working properly, allowing the computer to over heat. You can check the fan that cools the power supply by looking at the back of the computer to see if it is running smoothly. To check the processor and case fans you will need to open the computer case to look inside.
A hardware problem may arise if you’ve recently added new hardware,which isn’t working, to your computer. Try removing the new hardware to see if that’s the problem. If it isn’t, or you have not added any new hardware recently, try removing any hardware that isn’t necessary to your computer’s operation such as the modem, sound card, and other expansion cards.
2) Computer Freezes
This is usually an easy problem to solve. If you can’t move your cursor or type, try pressing the Num Lock button to see if the Num Lock light turns off and on. If the light does turn off and on, and you’re running Windows, press the Ctrl-Alt-Delete buttons to shut down the current task. This should get your computer working again.
If the Num Lock trick doesn’t work, and you don’t get results from pressing Ctrl-Alt-Delete, shut down your computer and re-boot. This should solve your problem.
3) Computer Is Running Too Slow
First, you should check your hard disk drive. If your hard disk is too full, it can cause your computer to run slow. If your hard disk drive is 2GB or less, check to make sure you have a minimum of 200MB of free space available. If your hard disk is larger than 2GB, you should have at least 500 MB of room left. This space is necessary for the swap file to increase, and for temp files.
If your hard drive has enough space, you should next make sure your computer is not over heating. Follow the steps in tip #1 above to do this.
Tags: tips, troubleshooting
