IT GUIDEBOOK: BASIC COMPUTER TROUBLESHOOTING

At Global ITN we consistently strive to provide our customers with seamless, reliable and transparent IT support and consultancy. We pride ourselves on our extensive experience and customer service, providing market leading IT services to all industry and business sectors. In modern-day business, we are almost entirely reliant on well-functioning technology from computers, phones, printers, internet routers, servers, to name but a few. However, there are times when technology can let us down. In our IT Guidebook: Basic Computer Troubleshooting we list some of the common issues and solutions that our excellent desktop support engineers face when assisting our clients. We hope that this will help others troubleshoot some basic computer issues.

Basic Computer Troubleshooting: Common Windows Errors and How to Fix Them

Computer is running very slow

Solution

Delete the temp files from your PC by using software call cleaner
Run a defragmentation on your hard disk
Scan the hard drive for any bad blocks or corrupted files
Scan for any virus or malware
Check for any hardware conflict
Update Windows and drivers
Reboot your pc and try again

Windows frequently freezes or stops responding

Solution

Try closing some of the programs that are open and not in use
Update the drivers for all the hardware that has been installed on your PC
Update Windows to the latest update
Configure your Windows to best performance instead of best appearance
Run hardware test and diagnostic to check for hardware failure

Computer freezes or locks up

Solutions

Give it some time for the PC to be back to normal
Try pressing the caps lock button to see whether you can have the green light on and off
If the computer is deadlocked than you have to reboot it
End the task for the application that is not responding
After trying all the above and there is still a failure, backup your data and re-image your PC

Windows restarts without warning

Solution

From the Desktop, right-click on My Computer.

Click the Properties option.
In the System Properties window, click the Advanced tab or the Advanced system settings link
Click Advanced, click the Settings button under Startup and Recovery
In the Startup and Recovery window, uncheck the automatically restart check box.
Click OK.

Fixing the Windows blue screen errors (BSOD)

Solution

Capture a screenshot of the error message on the screen
Google the error message to find the solution and apply it
Do a complete diagnostic of the hardware
Update the hardware drivers

Missing Microsoft Windows .dll files

Solution

Identify the missing .dll files
Download the .dll files from a working PC
Boot up on safe mode and copy the .dll files to the correct location
Run SFC
Click Start
Type “sfc /scannow” and press enter

Windows programs stop responding

Solution

Press ctrl+alt+del and restart pc
Install and Update patches
Uninstall and reinstall corrupted programs

Regaining computer hard drive space

Solution

Run the Disk Cleanup option

Click ‘Start’
Type ‘disk’
Click on ‘Disk Cleanup’
When performing disk cleanup select compress old option
Disable the system restore
Move swap file
Disable hibernation

Erasing the hard drive and starting over

Solution

Open the Start Menu.
Select the Settings option (looks like a gear).
In the Settings window, select the Update & security option.
Select the Recovery option in the left navigation pane.
Click the Get Started button in the “Reset this PC” section.
Choose either the Keep my files or Remove everything option, depending if you want to preserve your personal files or delete everything and start over.
Follow the prompts to begin the recovery process.