If you are using Windows and you are experiencing some problems on your computer, do not call customer support just yet. If you know a thing or two about troubleshooting, you may be able to fix the problem yourself. Here are some ways on how to fix common PC problems and save you some money.
* If your computer does not shut down fast enough, you may have a problem with your page file. It is a file on your hard drive that stores excess data from your RAM. It can slow down shut down if it is set to be cleared during this time. To fix this problem, you should open your Registry Editor.
Then, go to “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetControlSession ManagerMemory Management and search for “ClearPageFileAtShutdown”. If you see that it is enabled, meaning that its value is set to 1, you should disable it by changing its value to 0.
* If your computer freezes, you may have a problem with the system process. It can be difficult to track down the cause of the problem in Windows because no details are shown. So if you want to obtain information, you should type in “regedit.exe” and open your Registry Editor.
Then, go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionPoliciesSystem.
You will see “VerboseStatus” at the right side. Make sure that its value is set to 1. You have to create “VerboseStatus” if you cannot find it, and set its value to 1. Once you see the necessary information, you will be able to fix the problem.
* If your computer wakes up when you have already put it to sleep, you should type in “cmd” and then “powercfg – lastwake” to display the most recent hardware device that caused your computer to wake up. If this did not work, you should type in “powercfg -devicequery wake_armed” to see which devices are permitted to wake your PC.
Then, open your Device Manager and look for the devices that match what your command line has displayed. When you found the device, open Properties and go to Power Management. Uncheck the option that says “Allow this device to wake the computer”.
* If you are still having problems with your computer waking up, you should check out your software. Go to Power Options and open the power plan of your computer. Click on “Change advanced power settings” and continue scrolling downwards until you see the Sleep tree. When you see it, you should expand and disable it.
* If your computer keeps restarting, you should get the most recent Windows updates. Update all your important drivers, such as your motherboard, network card, and graphics card. If you are still having problems, there might be viruses such as adware in your computer. Your problem may also be caused by overheating. Most of the time, computers restart frequently when they run resource-intensive video games or programs.
* If your download speeds are slow, you should run a speed test on your computer. Ideally, your download speed should be at least fifty percent of the advertised speed of your Internet service provider. It should also have a ping under one hundred milliseconds. If you do not see anything wrong with the speed, you should inspect your network hardware. Try to download a new driver for your network card and reset your modem and router.
* If your computer is slow, you should check if you still have sufficient space on your hard drive. If there is not enough space, you should get rid of junk files, temporary files, duplicate files, and other unimportant data. You can also get a registry cleaner to make the clearing process easier, as well as to help you prevent DLL errors in the future.
You can also use the System Configuration tool of Microsoft to track the performance of your computer. Make sure to reduce your startup items. Type in “msconfig” and press Enter.
* If you do not hear a sound from your computer, you should go to Sound and change the settings. If you have speakers, make sure to make Speakers your default device. On the other hand, if you want to connect to a display with speakers through HDMI, you should choose HDMI Output as your default. If you still experience the same sound problem, you should check your drivers. You may need to download a new driver for your device.
It is not that difficult to learn how to fix common PC problems. However, if you are not really confident about your abilities, you should ask a professional technician for help. If you have never troubleshoot a computer before, trying to fix the problem yourself may just make things worse.
This was a guest article from Jake Bollingston.
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