I am an IT Technician and run a small independent business that offers computer repair Macclesfield. This article will help you decide if your computer requires attention from a professional.

Is your computer being a complete pain in the neck? Has it suddenly slowed to a crawl and driving you mad or is it freezing and crashing (usually when you’re right in the middle of something important). You may have even experienced the BSOD or blue screen of death although this is seen less with newer operating systems such as Windows 7 & Windows 8. These symptoms are usually a good indication that there is a fault on your computer.

Causes of Computer Problems

There are many things that can cause computer problems and a few of the more common are listed below

Virus Infection

In our connected world it is all too common to get a virus or malware on your computer. Signs that you may have been infected include:

• Unwanted pop-ups or adverts
• Mysterious toolbars added to your browser. Examples are My Web Search & Delta Toolbar
• Your homepage has been changed to an unfamiliar search engine or an unknown page
• You receive a warning that your computer is infected and you are asked to “Fix it now”
• Your Internet connection may stop working

If you are experiencing any of the above it may be wise to have a qualified technician take a look at the PC for you. Any local computer repair business worth its salt will have no trouble removing the problems for you. This should not be too expensive and should be no more than around £80

Hard Disk Failure

All computers have a hard disk or drive which stores the operating system and your data. They are mainly mechanical with moving parts (Newer solid state disks use flash memory and have no moving parts) which means they can fail, and they often do.

If you are fortunate the data on the disk can be retrieved by a computer technician. If the disk is completely unreadable your only other choice is a specialist data recovery company but the fees can run into the hundreds. The disk is dismantled in a clean environment and special equipment is used to read the platters from inside the disk.

Power Supply Unit Failure

Failure of the computer power supply unit is one of the most often seen problems. The user presses the power button and nothing happens and confusion ensues. Replacement of a PSU or power supply unit is a relatively simple and inexpensive repair for a technician and can usually be done on the same day.

CPU Overheating

The CPU or processor gets extremely hot when running and requires a heat sink with a fan attached to cool it. It will still be very hot but processors are designed to tolerate heat up to a certain temperature. If this temperature is exceeded, one of two things can happen. If the BIOS has the correct settings the computer will shut down to prevent the CPU burning out. If no safety setting is in place the computer will usually restart randomly.

If this happens to your computer it’s a good indication that the cooling fan is either broken of blocked up with dust to a point where it can’t do its job any longer. This will need immediate attention to rectify the problem as your CPU needs to be adequately cooled or it won’t last long.

For more information on computer repair and troubleshooting you can find my site at http://www.pcguardians.co.uk