What to Do if Your Computer Stops Responding

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What to Do if Your Computer Stops Responding

Everything can be going smoothly and then bang, out of nowhere your computer decides it doesn’t want to respond to your commands anymore, so, what do you do? Firstly don’t panic, try and save any work you have access to as soon as you can. Now you have to start working through the possible reasons your computer has become unresponsive.

Fixing a Non Responsive Computer

Think about what you have recently been looking at and using. What could have possibly triggered the computer to stop working or running. For example, were you browsing the internet, were you working on a spreadsheet, or were you browsing through photo albums. If you can establish where the error is it might speed up the whole troubleshooting process.

Too Many Processes Running

Running multiple programs or processes at the same time can exhaust your computer and cause it to become unresponsive. Why don’t you try running one program at a time to find out what is stopping your computer from responding to commands? If this doesn’t do anything then try restarting your computer, troubleshooting, and running a system file check.

TOP TIPS: Try to back up your computer at regular intervals to ensure you keep your documents and photos safe and secure. Always have a tech support contact or company in mind for when your computer plays up, especially if you rely heavily on your computer for work. Getting problems solved sooner rather than later will save you time and money.

Malware Infection

Check all antivirus and malware programs you have installed are all working as they should be. If any settings have been changed or altered this could affect what and who has access to your computer. If you are unable to locate the virus or malware then use a computer wizard like those from manhattantechsupport.com they will be able to guide you through fixing your computer and will have your computer up, ready, and running in no time at all. Always check applications you don’t want to give access to are blocked. 

Software Issues

You may be experiencing issues with newly installed or newly updated software. The first thing you need to do is visit the software providers website and see if any issues have been reported, this should always be your first port of call and if no issues have been reported and you are unable to fix the software then look at removing it and then reinstalling it.

Hardware Issues

Check any newly or recently added hardware, you can do this by simply removing it and see if the problem is still present. Check whether your computer is showing any hardware conflicts. Remove your PC’s components (modem, sound card, etc.) one by one to identify the faulty hardware. It is time-consuming and tedious but removing and checking should help you establish where the problem lies.

Faulty Drivers

You might have outdated or faulty drivers, You could try installing or running new drivers and seeing if this makes a difference. Do a search and make sure that you don’t have any drivers that are corrupt or faulty. If your search shows your drivers are out of date then install updates as soon as you can and restart your computer if it doesn’t restart automatically.

Operating Problems

No matter what operating system you use it is susceptible to problems, and it can have problems resulting from viruses, spyware, or malware. Your operating system could also be affected by installing and removing new and outdated software. To overcome issues you are experiencing you have two options at this stage. The first step is to restore or roll back your computer to an earlier point (when you weren’t having problems) for example a couple of days ago. The next step would be to reset your computer. If you reset your computer it is wise to back up data, files, and information stored on your computer, it shouldn’t clear this data but you can never be too careful.

Overheating

This is something that is quite often overlooked, but it can, and does happen. Your computer can and will overheat if fans are dirty or if there is no air flowing around the computer. So ensure you keep your computer clean, and not squashed into a small space where air cannot flow freely.

If after reading this information you don’t fancy tackling computer problems then that is fine. If you are not confident in dealing with problems then don’t hesitate to contact an expert who will usually be able to quickly help you get your computer back up and running with minimal stress and hassle.