Don’t Be Afraid to Reboot!

Sometimes the simplest and more effective fix to a strange problem with a computer is simply to reboot your machine.  While it’s not recommended to reboot multiple times in a row, it will not harm your system to restart every so often.  In fact, your system will need a reboot every so often to clear out stale processes and other things that bog it down.

Restart the Program

Sometimes a program stops responding and needs to restart.  Other times a program simply stops doing some of the normal things it does but functions the same in every other way.  Either way, there’s a simple step you can take that may fix the problem; restart the program.

Check for Malware

Often, when a computer is acting strangely and not letting you do the things you normally would do, it may be infected with malware or spyware.  Most of the time, malware is blocked by your virus scanner or your internet browser, but sometimes the programs get through and start to infect your system.  It doesn’t hurt to run an anti-malware program like MalwareBytes or SuperAntiSpyware, both of which come in a free version.

Delete Old Data

Sometimes when you’re computer is starting to run slowly or your hard drive is starting to get full it becomes worthwhile to go through your documents, pictures, and emails and get rid of some of the really old or completely unnecessary files and data that are taking up much needed space.

Verify Internet Connection

Even though most computers these days will automatically connect themselves to the internet, occasionally something will go wrong with that connection and it will not establish itself properly.  Obviously, when this happens, many things grind to a halt like Outlook, websites, and communications.  It is sometimes necessary to repair the internet connection with the standard repair tool in the Network Settings of your Control Panel.  This will usually solve the problem.