Most of us rely so much on computers these days that when something goes wrong it’s a major disaster. Not having a functioning PC means you risk losing time, data and even money. Your first thought when something goes wrong is likely to be, “I need someone to fix my computer.” But it’s worth taking a little time first to try to diagnose the problem yourself. You might find that it’s something easy to fix – like a loose connection. But even if it’s a bigger problem, if you’ve taken some steps towards finding the cause it will help when you do need to talk to a technician.
Tracking down PC problems isn’t as hard as you might think, all you have to do is take a logical approach.
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What’s Changed?
When your computer stops working or begins behaving oddly the first question you need to ask yourself is has anything changed? A surprising number of problems are caused by the installation of some new hardware or software. This causes a conflict with something that’s already on the machine and you have a problem.
By thinking about any recent changes you’ve made you can either roll them back yourself or alert a repair technician to the problem. By giving the technician an idea of the source of the issue you’ll help them to fix your problem quickly.
Some people may choose to get help before making major changes to ensure that things run smoothly. You may choose to seek professional assistance for tasks such as setting up a wireless network for the first time or adding a printer so that it can be accessed by all of the devices in in your home.
[Read also: 6 Common Computer Nightmares and Possible Ways to Fix Them]
Regular Maintenance
All PCs slow down over time as they accumulate junk on the hard drive, programs are added to the start-up routine and so on. Although this is an inevitable consequence of the way the machine works, regular maintenance can help to put the spring back in your system’s step.
Cleaning up the file system, removing unused software and defragmenting the hard drive can all help to get your system back on track. If you don’t feel confident doing these things yourself then a qualified technician can help. They can even do the job remotely over the Internet so you needn’t be without your computer.
[Read also: Are You Keeping Your Computer in Optimal Operating Condition?]
Viruses and Malware
One of the most common causes of computer problems is malware. Whether it’s a virus, spyware or something else it can infect even the most careful of computer users. Once you have an infection it can be very hard to dislodge as it embeds itself deeply in the system and can return even when you think you’ve removed it.
[Read more: Where Do Computer Viruses Come From?]
Removing malware and ensuring that it doesn’t come back requires a good deal of technical knowledge. It often needs specialized software tools too. Although you can tackle this yourself it’s an area where most people will need to call on the services of an expert.
Signs that you may have an infection are slow performance, unusual pop-up messages, a change to the home page or search screen used by your browser, or increased levels of Internet traffic. These days malware is often aimed at stealing your personal details so it’s important to deal with it as soon as possible. Make a note of the symptoms you’re experiencing as these will help to identify the particular nasty that’s infected your machine.
Whatever the issue you’re having with your PC it’s important to tackle it as soon as you can before it develops into something more serious. Being able to carry out some initial diagnosis yourself will help ensure that when you do call on a technician they’ll be able to solve your issue more quickly.
[Read also: Why Does My Computer Shut Off By Itself Unexpectedly? – Common Causes and Fixes]
[Image credit: Paula Haberman, Flickr]
Good topic.
Only thing I can tell you is to back it up.
Do it now.
If you only remember to do one thing for your computer back up your data.
Get some USB drives if you have to whatever just keep your data secure these computers are like over sized calculators they just go kaput sometimes who knows why?
Just remember your pictures, and music, and videos are more important than that.
Even regular maintaining your system would not guarantee your system wouldn’t crash or lost of data. Yeah, nothing is more important than backing up your data! Thanks for the advice, Darnell.
Thanks for this great tips. I will surely follow this for me to improve and maintain my pc at good condition.
OK, Jan! 🙂
Malware can really give a computer a lot of problems, like slow speeds and program crashes. Running a virus scan regularly is a good idea. Regular computer maintenance is mandatory if you want to keep a good computer performance. Calling a computer technician should be the last resort.
Just like we always say : Prevention is better than cure. But I doubt many would practice the habit of maintaining their computer regularly.
Really a very good piece of info
Well i too use to regularly clean up my PC for it’s maintenance. All above discussed are really very important and basic things that might lead your computer to some critical errors and slow down. 🙂
keep sharing!!!
Right, Ashutosh! Thanks for commenting and hope to see you around!
Regular maintenance really helps in preserving your PC’s top performance Peter since there are already lots of software around that will help you easily do the job for you.. But for viruses and malware? Ahh.. need some tutorials for these.. 🙁
Nhick
Just don’t open any email links as well as downloading any programs from untrusted sources. This will help reducing the possibilities of getting infected. To 100% guarantee of not getting infected, well…. I don’t think there’s a sure way unless you don’t use the internet or computer 🙂
i need to learn something here. i know the importance of maintaining and cleaning a computer but i just dont do it. i hardly scan my computer for viruses (ii have a paid antivirus). but still i dont scan it. i hardly use any utilites like tune up and ccleaner. so i think i should consider doing these things now
You have a paid antivirus, so why not use it?
Finding the hardware fault on your PC is more easier than that of software one as hardware faults are limited and can be easily diagnosed. But dealing with virus programs/malware fault is a tough task. One need to be extra cautious if he/she doesn’t want his/her PC to get infected. you have already solved 50% of the problem if you are able to diagnose the nature of it. Even if you don’t get success in finding the fault, you will certainly learn something from it & can help technician finding the fault in less time.
Well said, Rajneesh! I personally think hardware problem is easier to attest than software too. Software problem sometimes do give me a big headache!
One thing that I would add to the list is keeping restore points at intervals, especially before installing a software and right after installing one. In case something goes wrong you can always go back to the version of your OS that was working. Also, staying away form shady websites and anything free which should not be free will help you avoid trouble with your PC a great deal.
Yeah that’s a good idea, Mukesh! In fact I’ve used the system restore for quite a number of times myself after getting some software installation errors that made my OS went havoc.