Your Computer Is Acting Up…  Now What?

It has happened to us all.  Our computer that we rely on for our daily lives starts to act up and you can no longer access it’s programs or files.  Now what?  Well, unless you are tech savvy, chances are you are going to bring it in to a local tech and have it looked at.

Below are some tips on what to do before you bring your computer in for repair.

Have a Backup or Ask for One

A good tech will help you to preserve any files you have on the system prior to making any major changes.  Once you start the repair process the chances of losing your files are higher than they normally would be, because in many instances a complete format of the drive and reinstallation of the operating system is the most effective course of action.

If you have had issues in the past, chances are you learned from your mistake and are now making regular backups of your files to either an external drive or to the cloud.  If not, this will be what makes you start looking in to backup options.  Either way, you want to make sure that you can recover as many of the files as possible.  If you cannot boot in to the system, that makes it difficult for you to do on your own.  A computer tech will either boot to a special recovery disc or remove the drive and access it from a different computer to get all the files you need off of it.  You will want to directly ask your tech to perform a file backup because I have seen many instances where customers have lost their files due to them not specifically asking for their system to be backed up first.

Give As Much Info As Possible

The more details about the issue you can give, the better.  It helps to know what you were doing when the problem started happening, how long the problem has been going on for, steps you took to try and resolve the issue on your own, and any other info you can think of…  By letting your tech know what you are experiencing and what you may have done to the computer will help us out during our initial troubleshooting.

Provide Any Repair Discs You Might Have

If your computer or any of it peripherals came with discs please make sure you include them with the system when you drop it off for repair.  While most of the time the software can be downloaded, it is best to use the discs that came with the device because they sometimes contain programs that are not available through the typical download process.  It is also good to have the specific drivers for your system during the initial restore.

Know Your Usernames and Passwords

Once your system is back up and running, it is then time to start logging back in to all of your online accounts.  Knowing your username and password to these accounts is critical.  Accounts that you will want to know this info for varies from person-to-person, but the basics are listed below:

  • E-Mail Accounts
  • Apple ID
  • Bank Accounts
  • System Login Info

Remembering all of this information can be cumbersome so keeping an updated list or using a password manager is crucial.  Have this information handy when you need to have your system repaired.

If you are experiencing issues with your computer, and want to have someone take a look at it, please feel free to schedule a consult and one of our techs will come out and help diagnose your issue.

CCOC Rick
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What You Should Know Before Taking Your Computer In for Repair
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