Troubleshooting Your Laptop
Is your device slow or freezing up? Is your monitor blank? Please check the tips and advice below for issues regarding your laptop.
Speeding Up A Slow Computer
Run fewer programs at the same time:
Don't have too many programs running at the same time. Each running program consumes a bit of the system's resources.
Having multiple open windows for the same program (e.g. having three Word documents open) also lowers resources as each window takes up a bit of memory and processing power.
If you are not using an open file or program, close it so that the files/programs you are working in can speed up a little.
Restart your computer:
If you haven't restarted your computer for a while, or your normally put it into Sleep or Hibernation modes, allow it to restart. This clears the memory and allows your system to 'clean boot', freeing up resources in the process.
Free up hard disk space:
Delete all files you don’t need or transfer as many as possible to Google Drive.
Check your Downloads folder and delete all files you don’t need anymore.
General Software Issue
Windows displays a blue screen during startup:
• Windows may automatically restart after displaying a blue screen. You may also get a Windows startup menu upon reboot. If you do, choose 'Start Windows Normally' and see if the problem goes away. It may be a one-off glitch.
• If Windows hasn't automatically restarted after displaying a blue screen, press the Ctrl & Alt & Del keys on your keyboard at the same time to restart the machine. You may need to press and hold the power button on the machine to force it to turn off. Switch it back on and, if you get a Windows startup menu upon reboot, choose 'Start Windows Normally' and see if the problem goes away.
• If nothing happens after the restart, contact Stacey Gardner.
Windows does not start successfully or repeatedly displays a blue screen:
• Contact Stacey Gardner
Cannot login to Windows:
• Ensure you are using your correct username (full email) and password (computer password, not your Google password).
• Check that Caps Lock/Num Lock isn't on by mistake.
• Check that your password is what you are expecting it to be by typing it into the Username box. This allows you to see what you are typing in case your keyboard is set to another locale, for
example.
• Check if you are connected to the network – you should be connected to SVSD-MobileDevice. If you see the network but you are not connected, click on the name and select ‘Connect’. If you cannot connect manually but your friends are connected, contact Stacey Gardner.
Cannot access the Internet or web browsing is slow:
• Delete browser history – it’s different for every browser, so you may need to search for instructions on how to do it with yours. For Chrome browser – press Ctrl+Shift+Del.
• Open a different browser and see if you can browse the web. If you can't, then there may be connectivity problems.
• Try restarting your computer and see if you have a network connection. If nobody around you has a connection to the Internet, then it’s not a problem with your device. Let Stacey Gardner know
Cannot access email:
• Restart Outlook. You might be prompted for a username and password when Outlook starts.
• Try accessing your e-mail from SVSD web page – open svsd410.org, Staff resources, WebMail. If you can, then Outlook itself has problems. If you can't, then there may be a problem with the email servers.
General Hardware Issues
My computer freezes or is behaving weirdly:
• Try restarting your computer. Many basic problems can be resolved easily and quickly this way.
• If you cannot shut down/restart your computer, then hold down the power button on the machine until it forcibly turns off. Wait a few seconds and then turn it back on again.
My computer doesn't power up:
• Check if the laptop is charged. Plug in the power cable and wait a few seconds to see if it starts charging again.
• If you don’t see any lights on the laptop check that the power cable is securely plugged into the laptop. Check that the power cable is plugged into a power socket and the socket has been turned on.
• Try using a different power socket or, if you are using a power extension strip, plug the power cable directly into a power socket in the wall.
• Replace the power cable with one that you know works.
Nothing appears on the monitor:
• Make sure the computer is on – press the power button and wait a few seconds. The laptop doesn’t show anything in the first few seconds.
• Touch the mouse pad or press any key on the keyboard to make sure the screensaver hasn't activated or that the computer hasn't gone into standby/hibernation mode.
"Non-system disk" or "disk error at boot":
• Contact Stacey Gardner in the library.
• If you can hear a repeated scraping or clunking noise, power off the computer as soon as possible, as there may be a physical problem with the hard disk, and you may lose data.
Keyboard/mouse does not work:
• If you cannot see any lights on your keyboard when you press the Caps Lock or Num Lock key, it may be a dead keyboard.
• Contact tech support
The pen does not work:
• Replace the battery and check if it works with the new one
• Try the pen on a different laptop and try another pen on your laptop. If the pen works on another device and no pen works on yours, then it’s a laptop problem. If your pen doesn’t work on another device, even after replacing the battery, buy a new pen.