What should I do when a computer freezes or locks up?

What should I do when a computer freezes or locks up?

by | Feb 1, 2020 | Computer Repair, PC Tips

What should I do when a computer freezes or locks up?

This blog post contains recommendations on what to do if the computer freezes or deadlocks. If your computer has stopped responding, follow the steps below to attempt to get the computer to unfreeze.

Give the computer some time

Wait. Give the computer a few minutes to process. Sometimes a computer may appear to be frozen, but it’s only slow or busy processing a complex task.

Is the computer deadlocked?

See if the computer responds by pressing the Caps Lock key on the keyboard and watching the Caps Lock LED (light) to see if it turns on and off. If the computer can turn on and off Caps Lock, continue to the next step. If nothing happens, the computer is deadlocked, and you must reboot the computer.

End Task the not responding program

See if the computer responds by pressing the Caps Lock key on the keyboard and watching the Caps Lock LED (light) to see if it turns on and off. If the computer can turn on and off Caps Lock, continue to the next step. If nothing happens, the computer is deadlocked, and you must reboot the computer.

If the Task Manager opens, but the mouse is still not working, it may be a problem with mouse’s hardware.

Reboot a frozen computer

If none of the above steps helped, you must reboot the computer. To reboot a frozen computer, press and hold down the power button until the computer turns off. Once the computer is off, wait a few seconds, then turn the computer back on and let it start as normal.

What happens to any work that has not been saved?

Any work that has not been saved is lost when a computer has to be reboot because it is frozen. In some situations, some programs may auto save your work every few minutes. If the program you are using performs this action, you can recover the work up to the last auto saved state.

Resolve hardware or device driver issue

If you tried all steps above and the computer still freezes, there may be defective hardware or a device driver that is not working correctly. A defective hard drive, stick of RAM, video card, or another piece of hardware can cause a computer to freeze. A device driver can also cause a computer to freeze if it is out of date, conflicting with another driver, or not working properly.

If you determine that a defective piece of hardware is causing the freezes, you should replace the hardware right away to prevent further damage to the computer. If a device driver is at fault, download the latest driver from the manufacturer’s website and install it before the computer freezes. Or use another computer to download the driver and try installing the driver on your computer.

If you cannot install the latest driver before the computer freezes, another option is to start the computer in Safe Mode. Once in Safe Mode, you can access Device Manager and uninstall the hardware device corresponding to the device driver that is not working correctly. Then, restart the computer and load into Windows normally. Windows should detect the hardware that you uninstalled and try to reinstall the device driver. This process may be enough to fix the issue, and stop further freezes from occurring. You can also try installing the latest driver at this point, to make sure your computer is up-to-date for that device driver.

You can also try accessing the computer BIOS and disable any hardware that is not working properly, to see if that stops the freezes from occurring. However, you should still replace that hardware, as you may not be able to use your computer fully if the hardware remains disabled.

Take PC to repair shop

If the options above do not work, we recommend taking your computer to PC Expert Services in Irvine and allow us professionally to diagnose and fix the problem.

What to do when Windows program stops responding?

What to do when Windows program stops responding?

by | Feb 1, 2020 | Computer Repair, PC Tips

What to do when Windows program stops responding?

A computer that stops responding or freezes can be caused by many different problems. For example, a software or hardware conflict, lack of system resources, a bug, or a software or driver error can cause Windows to stop responding.

What to do when a program stops responding

To recover, press the Ctrl+Alt+Del keys on your keyboard to open the Close Program or Task Manager window. Once open, highlight the program that is not responding and click the End Task button to terminate the program. If another window opens, click the End Task button again to confirm stopping that program.

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If the computer doesn’t respond to Ctrl+Alt+Del, it may be deadlocked, contact PC Expert Services to help you to resolve the computer issue.

After the program is end tasked and no longer shows up in the Task Manager, you can try opening the program again to see if it works properly. If you continue to experience issues with that program, restart your computer and then open the program again to see if the issue is now resolved.

If after restarting your computer, the program continues to stop responding, check for available updates or patches for the program on the developer’s website that may address the problem.

If no updates or patches are available for the program and the computer is only having problems with that one program, uninstall the program. After un-installation is complete, restart the computer, and then install the program again. Test the program again to see if it works correctly now and no longer stops responding.

If the problems persist, contact PC Expert Services in Irvine to fix the issue with the program. If the computer is freezing in multiple programs, we suggest to contact PC Expert Services in Irvine for expert troubleshooting to help stop this issue from occurring.

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It is important to realize that when a program stops responding, any work that has not been saved will be lost when end tasking a program.

Why does Windows restart without warning?

Why does Windows restart without warning?

by | Jan 24, 2020 | Computer Repair, Laptop Repair, PC Tips

Why does Windows restart without warning?

If your Windows computer is restarting on its own, without any warning, review the troubleshooting options below for help on resolving the problem.

Software issue or error

Since the release of Windows XP, Microsoft designed Windows to automatically reboot when errors occur, such as a BSoD. Although this may be nice for errors that do not occur often, users who have a re-occurring error may want to identify the error to troubleshoot it. Below are the steps on how this feature can be disabled and enabled in Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, and 10.

1. From the desktop, right-click on My Computer. In Windows 8 and 10, open File Explorer and right-click on This PC in the left navigation pane.

2. Select the Properties option in the pop-up menu.

3. In the System Properties window, click the Advanced tab or the Advanced system settings link.

4. On the Advanced tab, click the Settings button under Startup and Recovery.

5. In the Startup and Recovery window, unchecked the Automatically restart check box.

6. Click OK.

Now if the computer generates an error, it should not automatically restart and should display an error message, most likely a BSoD.

Hardware issue or error
Any failing hardware component in your computer could cause your computer to unexpectedly generate an error or reboot without warning. If you have recently attempted to add a new hardware device, remove that device to make sure it is not causing your issues.

Make sure you are not encountering any hardware conflicts by viewing Device Manager for errors.

Hardware drivers can also cause this issue. If you have recently installed new hardware drivers, you may want to try an earlier version of those drivers. Additional information and help with computer drivers is available on our drivers page.

If you updated drivers and removed any newly added hardware, and the random reboots continue to occur, it’s possible that the memory is bad in the computer.

Finally, hardware devices that are not installed properly in the computer can also cause random reboots. Make sure all the cables and expansion cards are connected properly inside the computer. The best way to determine this is to disconnect and reconnect all cables and expansion cards.

Computer Virus

Some computer viruses, such as the blaster virus, are designed to reboot your computer without warning. Usually, these viruses make the computer reboot every 5, 10, 15 or 30 minutes after the computer has started up.

If you believe your computer has a virus, make sure an antivirus program is installed and the virus scanner definitions are up-to-date.

How to fix a slow computer?

How to fix a slow computer?

by | Jan 13, 2020 | Computer Repair, Laptop Repair, PC Tips

How to fix a slow computer?

One of the most common reasons for a slow computer are programs running in the background.

Below are steps for Microsoft Windows users that can help speed up the computer or at least determine why the computer is running slow.

This page only covers an overall slow computer and not a computer that has a slow boot up or slow Internet.

1. Reboot

If your computer has not been rebooted recently, make sure to reboot it before following any of the steps below.

3. Delete Temp Files

As a computer runs programs, temporary files are stored on the hard drive. Deleting these temp files can help improve computer performance.

First, we suggest using the Windows Disk Cleanup utility to delete temporary files and other files no longer needed on the computer.

Unfortunately, the Disk Cleanup may not delete every file in the temp directory. Therefore, we also suggest deleting temporary files manually. To do this, open the Start menu and type %temp% in the Search field. In Windows XP and prior, click the Run option in the Start menu and enter %temp% in the Run field. Press Enter and a Temp folder should open. You can delete all files found in this folder and, if any files are in use and cannot be deleted, they can be skipped.

2. Background Programs

One of the most common reasons for a slow computer are programs running in the background. Remove or disable any TSRs and startup programs that automatically start each time the computer boots.

To see what programs are running in the background and how much memory and CPU they are using, open Task Manager. If you are running Windows 7 or higher, run Resource Monitor to get a better understanding of how your computer resources are used.

If you have an antivirus scanner on the computer, spyware protection program, or another security utility, make sure it is not scanning your computer in the background. If a scan is in progress, it will decrease the overall performance of your computer. If this is the case, allow the scan to complete, and the computer’s performance should improve.

4. Free Hard Drive Space

Verify that there is at least 200MB-1GB of free hard drive space. This available space allows the computer to have room for the swap file to increase in size, as well as room for temporary files.

6. Scan for Viruses

If your computer is infected with one or more viruses, it may run more slowly. If your computer does not have an antivirus program installed, you can run free online utility to scan for viruses on your computer, as well as remove them.

It is also recommended that you install an antivirus program for active protection against viruses.

5. Bad, corrupted or fragmented hard drive

  • Run ScanDisk, chkdsk, or something equivalent to verify there is nothing physically wrong with the computer’s hard drive.
  • Run Defrag to help ensure that data is arranged in the best possible order.
  • Use other software tools to test the hard drive for any errors by looking at the SMART of the drive.

7. Scan for malware

Today, spyware and other malware is a big cause of many computer problems, including slower performance. Even if an antivirus scanner is installed on the computer, we recommend running a malware scan as well.
Use the free version of Malware-bytes to scan your computer for malware.

8. Hardware conflicts

Verify that the Device Manager has no conflicts. If any exist, resolve these issues as they could be the cause of your problem.

10. Update your drivers

Make sure you have the latest drivers for your computer hardware, especially the latest video drivers. Having out-of-date drivers can cause an assortment of issues, including slow performance.

9. Update Windows

Make sure you have all the latest Windows updates installed.

If you are on the Internet when your computer is slow, make sure all browser plugins are up-to-date.

11. Reboot the computer again

After making any of the changes above, be sure to reboot your machine.

12. Memory upgrade

If you have had your computer for more than two years, you may need more memory.

By having enough memory for programs to run within memory, your computer will not need to swap information stored in memory to the swap file. If the hard drive light is constantly active, it can be an indication the computer is frequently swapping information between your memory and hard drive.

14. Computer or processor is overheating

Make sure your computer and processor is not overheating. Excessive heat can cause a decrease in the computer performance because most operating systems automatically reduce the speed of the processor to help compensate for heat-related issues.

Dust, dirt, and hair can also constrict proper airflow inside your computer, which can cause a computer to overheat. Make sure your computer case is clean, and that the fans are not obstructed.

13. Hard drive upgrade

One of the biggest bottlenecks of a computer is the hard disk drive. Upgrading from a standard hard drive to a Solid State Drive (SSD) will drastically improve the performance of a computer.

15. Erase computer and start over

If none of the above solutions resolve your issues, another option is to either reinstall Windows or erase everything and then start over.

Erasing everything on your computer and reinstalling the operating system can increase performance by getting rid of old software or drivers. Installing a fresh copy of Windows, software programs, and the latest drivers help verify there are no software related issues causing your computer to be slow.

Why is my laptop plugged in and not charging?

Why is my laptop plugged in and not charging?

by | Mar 3, 2019 | Laptop Repair, News, PC Tips

Why is my laptop plugged in and not charging

Sometimes you’re getting a error “plugged in, not charging” message from your laptop battery. The error ‘plugged in not charging’ can be caused due to various reasons such as faulty adapter or faulty charging board. The cause for this error may be power management software that become corrupt.

In some cases the “Plugged in, not charging” message is a normal message in some versions of Windows running on most laptops and netbooks. If your laptop indicates 99% available (plugged in, not charging). All it means is that the battery is full or close enough to it and that the computer is running on AC power. Just unplug the AC power from your laptop and allow your laptop battery to discharge to 5% or 10% remaining charge and then plug in the AC Battery and allow the battery to charge fully again.

If your laptop battery still not charging, then follow the next steps for a possible resolution:

 

  1. Power Off your laptop
  2. Unplug the AC power cord from your laptop
  3. If possible, remove your laptop battery
  4. With laptop battery removed, hold the power button for 20 seconds
  5. Install the laptop battery back inside your laptop
  6. Power On your laptop
  7. Allow the laptop to power on all the way
  8. Verify that your battery is recognized
  9. Plug in the AC power cord and see if the battery is now charging

If your laptop is still indicating the same “not charging” message, please drop off your laptop at PC Expert Services Irvine drop off location by submitting the online drop off form.

After PC Expert Services recives your lapotp, we will provide a FREE Repair Estimate for your laptop not charging issue.

Where to find the best Computer Repair for your Laptop in Irvine, Orange County?

Where to find the best Computer Repair for your Laptop in Irvine, Orange County?

by | Mar 3, 2019 | Apple Mac Repair, Computer Repair, Laptop Repair, News, PC Tips

Where to find the best Computer Repair for your Laptop in Irvine, Orange County?

Computers are an essential part of life these days, but not everyone knows what to do when they break down. Fixing a computer yourself can be both frustrating and time-consuming. That’s why there’s PC Expert Services in Irvine. Whether your work computer hard drive is fried or your personal laptop is infected with a virus, there is PC Expert Services in Irvine Orange County who can offer you in-home, in-store or over-the-phone support to bring your computer back to life.

When you’re searching for computer repair services, you may want a one-stop shop that can handle all of your computer needs. That means more than just fixing your Mac or PC. You may need experts that can repair your iPads, iPhones and other portable devices. PC Expert Services may be the company you’re looking for. PC Expert Services is fully credentialed and has partnered with major manufacturers and vendors to provide you with reliable and affordable computer repair services in Irvine Orange County.

PC Expert Services is located convinently in Irvine, Orange County. Simply submit the Online Drop Off Form to receive a FREE REPAIR ESTIMATE for your laptop within 1 business day.

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