How many times have you thought you could fix your own computer? I mean who really wants to pay out all that money when you can take a little time and fix it yourself. After all you fixed the leaky pipe last year and it hasn’t leaked a drop of water since then right? Well slow down there! Computers aren’t pipes and unless you are a SuperGeek then you need to consider a few things before you even start to work on your computer.
1.) Don’t Attempt to Fix Anything You Don’t Have the Knowledge Of
If you honestly barely know how to check your emails then you probably shouldn’t be taking anything apart or even attempting to fix what you don’t understand. No offense but don’t make something worse instead of calling a professional.
2.) It is Going to Be Expensive
This is a yes and no thing to consider. If you computer is more than a year old chances are it may be easier to simply by a new one. Lets face it computer lose their values the second to take them off the shelf and spending $1000 to repair a computer just isn’t worth it. However spending $100 on a new hard drive when everything else is working perfectly is worth it.
3.) Wiping It Clean May Not Be the Best Idea
Before you attempt to wipe your hard drive clean or pay someone else to do it remember you may lose all your files. If you simply have a virus it can easily be cleaned without doing any damage to your files. I had one not long ago and the second my laptop went funny I system down and had it fixed. It took 2 minutes to clean the virus off. Now if I had kept messing with files or programs I could have made the virus worse.
4.) Always Use Safe Mode When Troubleshooting
Safe Mode allows you to fix things without messing everything up. To get into safe mode, you need to reboot your computer and then just keep pressing F8 until you get an option screen with the choice “boot in safe mode.”
5.) Back Everything Up
This is a big one! Before you start working on your computer be sure you back everything up. You SHOULD be backing your system up regularly anyway. The reason is because once you have a virus you can’t always backup those files. They may be infected with the virus and cause damage once reinstalled.
I live in a small Georgia town that you most likely have never heard of and I LOVE it! My house is more than full as I am a single mother of four & caregiver to my aging mother and uncle. Lover of all things Outlander. Goes to the beat of her own drum woman.
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Thanks for the tips! I find great advice for solving simple computer problems just by searching on google. It’s helpful to know what others have done to solve their computer issues.
Great tips, I need to back up my files just in case
awesome tips! i bought a external hard drive when i had to wipe mine so i could back up my fines. my advice when you go to put your things back on your computer from your external hard drive. make sure you know how to convert your files back to what you need. such a pain!
Good tips! I learned about number 5 the hard way when I lost a paper for school I had been working on for a week. Hard lesson …
Now I back up as i go, faithfully, onto a USB drive.
It’s amazing how much you take it for granted when you workplace does the repairs for your PC and you don’t have to worry about it. Good tips!
thanks for the great tips. i will use them next time my computer gives me any issues and i need to try and fix it.
Great tips! I also always google my problem first and usually I am able to find the solution 🙂
I am super lucky that my Hubz is a Super Geek! But we rarely have problems anyway,because we use Linux which is resistant to most viruses. About backing up your work–some years ago, while still using Windows, I lost 3 months of work to a virus.
The only thing I know about fixing my computer can be summed up in one word-DON’T!
These are great tips. I am lucky that the hubby is a computer developer so he knows more about computers than most so he can fix our computers. But, yes, if you don’t know what you are doing don’t even attempt it. I wouldn’t even try to fix anything on my car, for example.
Diana C
Great advice. I run into #1 a lot though, which means my best bet is to call the Geek Squad.
Thanks for the tips! I am very lucky because my husband is a tech geek and can solve most of our computer problems.
Great Advise! I really like #2 and it’s something that should really be considered! Thank you!
Thanks for the tips, i can vouch for #1, haha I have noooo business messing with anything repair-wise
Very smart advice. Unfortunately, I know I have not followed these in the past but have learned much more since then LOL!
my hubby is the one who always fixes the tech stuff around here, usually he does okay
Thanks for the tips, I currently have a laptop computer that is broken and been trying to fix it myself but I know that I don’t have that much knowledge to do it by myself so finally when I get some extra cash will get it fixed 🙂
I’m using my daughters computer right now because my computer is on the fritz..not sure if I’m going to take it in or not. I called HP and it was about 5 days after the warranty ran out (do they make them to do that?) so they wanted to charge me to answer my questions. Honestly if I have someone fix it I’d rather the money go to some local small computer shop than to someone on the phone in Timbuktu. Thanks for tips they really are good ones (number 5 is most important!!)
We use our computers like our cars- we drive them until they drop I have had very good luck really s0 far. The only bad experience was with a Toshiba my husband owns and the harddrive is fried. (and possibly more)
good suggestions…
the other thing people should do on a regular basis is a disk defragment…. this will speed up the computer big time if the disk is messed up with files fragments everywhere… it can take a long time to finish, but is worth it !!!
Great advice, I am lucky enough to know a little about computers enough to clean it if I do contract a virus or trojan. I recently had to wipe my hard drive (computer was only a month old so no important documents were on it). I would like to add to your tip about backing up your files, Do it in two places, one online and the other on a USB…. the reason I had to wipe my drive is because the USB I was using is what had the infected file…. luckily I have online backup, so those files there were not harmed. I usually do online back up every Friday and USB every other day just to be safe.
Great tips! I really need to start backing up my files just in case.
Very nice tips,yes really we should not try to fix things if we don’t have proper knowledge regarding it.We should try to contact anyone who knows to resolve it.!! so that we can avoid unnecessary expenses.!!
I have a friend who accidentally deleted her pictures from her camera. She went to several computer services and a few charged a ridiculous amount of money to retrieve the photos; some even told her it wasn’t possible. She posted her dismay on FB and I suggested she search online and good enough, she was able to salvage it herself. More than anything, have someone you know or ask for help online before going to a professional where you’ll have to pay a hefty fee. The best thing is to back it up.
I faild on first tip … always trying to fix it on my on … do I need to write that it doesn’t end good