Help Me Now! Frequently Asked Questions
My computer used to be faster.
There are a few possibilities, check that you have enough memory, run a virus/spyware
scan, make sure you know what your programs are all running in the background and
that they are supposed to be there. Also defragmenting your drives (if you have
never done it) can help a little.
I can’t get on to the internet.
Start at the beginning. Make sure all your modems and routers are plugged in and
turned on and are connected to your computer. Be sure that your ISP is not having
an outage. Check your firewall settings.
The power went out and I lost my document.
Hopefully you have been backing up whatever it is you are working on ever y ½ to
1 hour. Then you haven’t lost much. Try going to your start menu and seeing if your
document is in the “recent documents folder”. Or open the program you were using
and click on open file- there is often a list of the last few worked on documents.
Sometimes the computer will auto save in a temporary folder and doing a search for
your document using the first few words of it will yield results.
My screen is blank.
Start at the beginning. Try moving the mouse or pressing the keyboard. Make sure
your fuse breaker isn’t tripped. Is your battery backup plugged in and turned on?
Is the computer plugged into the right outlet? Is your monitor plugged into the
right outlet? Make sure your computer is on and isn’t “asleep” or in hibernation.
Is the monitor connected to the computer? Remember, if you smell smoke or something
burning- it’s fried.
My computer won’t turn on.
See the above steps for your monitor. If you see the hard drive light flickering
or hear it whirring, chances are that the computer is on and the monitor is not.