Home & Small Business Computer Repairs - 8 Tips for Emergencies

In the ideal situation, you buy a computer, install it and use it smoothly. Unfortunately, this is often not the case. Everybody will receive some error messages sometimes or some unexplained failures. Should you call in a computer technician immediately or are there a few things that you should try by yourself to solve the problem? It depends on the case. When you see a message saying that you have a motherboard failure, it is definitely time to call in the IT and not try to solve it on your own. A few smaller issues, though, could probably be easily solved by you.

1. 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.



2. Memory errors are also often created by misinterpretations of the operating system. Run a virus checker that is up to date and see if this solves the problem.



3. 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’.



4. 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.



5. 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’



6. Another thing that should be done regularly and definitely after a crash is Defragmentation. When you use a computer longer, the files become spread out over the whole hard drive. The computer needs to work very hard to find them back. The defragmentation function puts related files close to each other and speeds up the computer considerably. This function can normally be found right next to the ScanDisk.



7. If your computer crashes before you saved your file, it does not mean that you have lost the file. AutoRecover might have saved it for you. This is, when it was turned on. In MSWord you can turn on AutoRecover by clicking on ‘Tools’ and ‘Options’. Click on the ‘Save’ tab and checkmark AutoRecover. Was it not turned on when your computer crashed, you might find the file back in one of the temporary files. Click on ‘Start’, ‘Find’, ‘Files and Folders’. In the box ‘named:’ you type *.wbk and ‘look in:’ C:. Find the file by checking the time that is was created and the size. If you have found the file, change the file name to end with .doc and then double click on it to open it in MSWord.



8. Having connection problems? Or does it seem that the internet is down? Try other sites first, to see if the problem lies with your connection or with the website that you try to visit. Restarting the browser or the computer does also solve many problems that look as if coming from the connection.