Home & Small Business Computer Repairs - 8 Tips for Emergencies

Under the best circumstances, you buy a PC, let the experts install it all in your home, and you use it without problems. This might be true for the first period that you have this computer. But sooner or later, you will see error messages appear or an application failure. You can call your expert to come immediately and solve it for you. And when you see a message saying that you have a motherboard failure, it is definitely time to call in the IT. But there are a few ‘first aid’ procedures that you can use to solve some minor problems.

A very common and often occurring problem is freezing of the computer. The applications are not responding anymore and everything runs in slow motion. The main reason of this is poor maintenance. Learn to use Ctrl+Alt+Del. This is not going to shut down everything completely as in the old days. Instead, it makes the Task Manager appear. Here you can see all the applications that are running. Find the one(s) that don not respond and choose ‘end now’.

Another simple solution for common problems as slow motion and freezing is rebooting. By shutting down and restarting the computer, programs are closed properly and fresh copies of the files that are needed to run the operating system are reloaded.

This is a good option to save time, but does not solve all the computer problems. The reason of freezing will not be solved or changed at all. After a crash, you should always run ScanDisk on the computer, so it will find and solve basic problems. ScanDisk can normally be found in the Start Menu under Accessories and System Tools. However, Windows XP named it differently. From ‘My computer, right-click on C: and click on ‘Properties’. On the ‘Tools’ tab, you will find ‘error checking’ and ‘Check Now’.

Defragmenting the computer is the next thing that you should do. After a while, files become randomly spread across the hard drive, which slows down the computer considerably. By putting related files close to each other, the PC does not take so much time to find the files. The defragmentation function can usually be found on your computer at the same place as the ScanDisk.

Your computer crashed, but you never saved the file. Now what? Your file is probably not lost. If you have AutoRecover turned on, it will have saved the file for you. In MSWord, the AutoRecover can be turned on from ‘Tools’ and ‘Options’. Check AutoRecover on the ‘Save’ tab.

In the case that AutoRecover was not turned on when the computer crashed, all is not lost yet. The file could be recovered from the temporary files. Go to ‘Find’, ‘files and folders’ in the Start Menu. Search in C: for a file named *.wbk. When you recognize it from the time and size, you can change the extension to .doc. Do this by right-clicking on the file and choose rename. Now you can open de document in Words again.

When you receive messages that your computer does not have enough memory to run an application, it does not always mean that you need to buy more memory. Some programs that use memory do not give it back when done. This is one of the many design limitations of Microsoft. Use the Task Manager to close ‘hidden’ programs and free memory for programs that are in use.

Memory errors are also created by viruses on the computer. Run a virus and spy ware checker that is up to date and see it this was the problem.

Does is look like you do not have an internet connection, but you are quite sure that your computer is connected. Try other websites first, to see if the problem is on your end or on the side of the website that you are trying to visit. Restarting the browser or the computer might solve this problem.

Have you tried all things that you can think of and your computer problems are still not solved, then it is time to call in the experts. The best computer repairs services will come to your house or office and repair the computer onsite on the same day. When they arrive, try to help them identify the problem by keeping records of everything that you have tried and the results of it. When possible it would help the technicians if you made a screenshot as a record. The screenshot shows the exact error message, with the code numbers and this is very helpful information for the computer repairs expert. It also captures all the applications that are open at the time of the error. Make a screenshot by hitting the Print Screen button and paste this into Microsoft Paint (open this from ‘Programs’, ‘Accessories’). You can print the screenshot out to save you and the IT expert time and money.

Finding the best approach to computer repairs in Perth and across Australia can be especially challenging. Follow these tips and advice first so you are well prepared before you contact a same day computer repairs service in your local area.

Article Source: http://www.uberarticles.com/articles

Nick Tate is a computer repairs specialist and provides support and advice for computer repairs in Perth, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne.

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