Many businesses rely heavily on the use of mobile devices especially smartphones and tablet computers these devices are fantastic for businesses for general use such as web browsing and emails and the use of using apps that help function parts of the business day to day running.
These small handheld devices are extremely useful but do have their limitations and the next portable computing device that you can do everything from without being tied to a desk on a desktop machine is a laptop them.
Over the years laptops have gone from big chunky and rather heavy machines to slim and extremely lightweight portable and very powerful computers. But, even with all the upgrades in power, size, capacity, and memory, laptop problems still arise pretty regularly.
As a business you rely on your trusty laptop to help you run your business and get your work done, But what do you do if you faced with one of these common laptop issues. In this article, we discuss the most common laptop problems that you may face and offer a solution to rectify them.
Problem: Loud fan noise or heating up followed by shut down
People move their Laptops around a lot and use them on surfaces that are unsuitable like on pillows, beds, carpets, and dusty surfaces. This can seriously lead to limiting air intake to the laptops internal CPU fan. It also gives them plenty of opportunities to drag dust and foreign particles into their cooling system via the laptops fan portal.
Solution: Always use your laptop on hard, flat surfaces; Avoid putting it on soft surfaces mentioned above that will in time block air passage. Limit how many programs you run at once as well because the more you have running, the harder it has to work and this puts more pressure on the laptops CPU which in turn creates more heat.
Here at AJR, we offer our clients an internal thermal cleaning service. This is a full teardown of the laptop cleaning all internal components with special solutions, removing the buildup of dust and debris that clog the regular air flow passage, replacing and applying fresh premium thermal compound to the CPU heatsink. We fully stress test the laptop once complete to ensure the overheating issue is cured.
Tip – You may have heard people say “Clean out your fan with compressed air” We don’t recommend this for two reasons and here’s why:
- All air compressors end up with water in their tanks caused through condensation, and that water is expelled along with the air whenever you blow something off with it. Water inside your computer isn’t a good thing because it can blow electrical components on the motherboard causing both short-term and long-term hardware problems.
- The force exerted by the expelled air from even the smallest of compressors is often strong enough to damage fans and loosen or unplug cables, both of which are obviously quite bad. We don’t recommend blowing directly into the laptop’s vents all your doing is blowing the dust back into the laptop causing further damage. Vacuum cleaners are also a very bad idea as they generate static electricity which can also blow electrical components here at AJR we only use anti-static blowers that are EST certified and industry compliant.
Problem: Laptop running slowly
This happens quite often and could be related to overheating mentioned above, hard drive space, malware or the first signs of equipment failure.
Solution: There are lots of ways to try to tackle speed issues, but you may be wondering Why Do Computers Slow Down Over Time check out our article that explains why. Here at AJR, we offer a complete MOT & Tuneup Service using our custom software and diagnostic tools that go through multiple services to get your laptop running like a brand new machine.
Tip: There are plenty of software tools available online that promise to speed up and tune up your computer. Be very careful as most of these so-called maintenance tools are fake and bloat your computer up maliciously to try and get you to purchase the software and offer no real solution to your slow laptop issue. It never amazes me to the number of fake cleanup programs we see on machines that come in and people just don’t understand why they did not work or better still they installed too many trying to rectify the issue that the computer is heavily infected with malware due to the installation of these programs.
The best thing you can do if your laptop is running slow is bringing it into AJR and let us take care of it so you don’t need to worry about it! you can reach us here.
Problem: Battery doesn’t last
One of the best features of a laptop is that it’s wireless. But, we live in constant fear of draining our battery and running out of juice, so we are constantly hard on our battery.
Solution: First, check all of your charger cable connections to be sure they are snug. Next, drain your battery completely and recharge it by leaving your laptop on until it dies. One of the greatest fixes of all technology is simply to fully drain the energy from it and try again, the computer equivalent of a good night’s sleep. If it still fails far sooner than it should, you may need to replace the battery itself.
Tip: The first thing you will probably do is jump on eBay and search for a battery, just be careful what your ordering as most batteries on there are non-genuine china imports. Make sure you get a genuine laptop battery, it will cost more but its safer and will last longer.
Once you have your battery sometimes it may not be recognised by your laptop on the odd occasion…Don’t panic! take out the battery make sure to also remove the power lead and hold the power button in for about 60 seconds, then release the power button.
This is called a power reflow and basically drains any internal power circulating within the laptop and also any logic errors on the motherboard being maintained with a charge. Now once you have done that connect the power lead and power on. Once your desktop has loaded tilt the laptop on its side and insert your battery, check the taskbar indicator for the battery icon to see if you can see it charging. This has worked most times for us when a customer has had issues with new batteries not been recognised by the laptop.
Problem: No internet
Laptops are notorious for losing connection to the internet and this is quite a common issue, which can be a major hassle. Before assuming some sort of equipment failure, try some basic steps.
Solution: On most laptops, there is an actual wireless button or switch to activate the connection, find it and make sure it’s in the ON position you may have caught it trust me we have seen it all it happens!. Then re-boot your router, again using the drain the power tactic; unplug your router, let all the juice drain out for 60 seconds, then plug it back in.
If you’re still having trouble, troubleshoot your network connections in your control panel if you know how to do this. Verify your SSID and security key are correct. Check your wireless device drivers and reinstall them or update if required. Finally, if your still having issues, re-build your network from the beginning to make sure all your connections are set up properly.
If you have done all this to no avail contact your ISP and ask them to run a line check it could be a simple ISP fault that needs resolving. Failing this and you know your internet connection is working fine it is time to call a professional technician as it could be a more complex issue with setting configurations or an internal hardware issue with the wifi card.
Problem: Black Screen
You open up your laptop, power it on, hear it running, but the screen just remains black.
Solution: Unplug the power, remove the battery and then hold the power button for 60 seconds…Yep, that’s right the good old power reflow trick!. Reattach the power cord and re-boot. Then shut down again, put in the battery and re-boot.
If you try any of these do-it-yourself fixes and are still experiencing issues, it’s time to bring in a laptop repair professional. The engineers at AJR we specialise in laptop computer repair and maintenance. We offer a range of levels of service as well, from flat-rate repair to contract maintenance. Contact us today to get your computer problems fixed and your laptop back on its feet.
In the past i have worked for a leading IT Solutions & Managed service provider in Rotherham dealing with a range of IT platforms, such as - on site field engineering and remote support, dealing with all types of servers such as Virtual & Physical, Hyper–V, VMware, Windows server 2012 R2, SBS - Small Business Server 2008 2011, SQL, Terminal, Exchange, Active Directory, Group Policy, TCP, IP, DNS, DHCP, VPN, RDP, hybrid & cloud, Office 365 and managed security solutions such as Antivirus and Spam filtering.
Prior to this, I worked for Wickersley School & Sports College as the Lead IT & Network Technician and also supporting local primary schools with IT Support and engineering visits & Project Management, while also running my own company AJR Solutions, providing IT & Creative Solutions.
I’m very creative and have a huge passion for design and love how design can have a massive impact on a business image, presence and value also visit -
www.thelogocreative.co.uk | www.ajr-designs.co.uk | www.rotherhamwebdesign.co.uk
Also part of the AJR Solutions Group of businesses.