Computer maintenance in Norwich – 5 things to check before you panic
Computer maintenance in Norwich doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive. Most of the “my computer is driving me mad” calls I get start with the same handful of problems – and a lot of them can be reduced or even prevented with a few basic checks.
Below are five simple things you can look at yourself before you assume the PC or laptop needs replacing.
1. Give it a proper restart
It sounds obvious, but modern machines encourage you to sleep or close the lid rather than fully shut down. Weeks of half-sleeps and background updates can make a perfectly good computer feel sluggish.
- Shut everything down properly
- Restart the machine
- See if it behaves better for a while afterwards
If a restart gives you a short burst of speed and then things bog down again, that’s a good sign the machine needs a bit more than a quick reboot – proper computer maintenance, not just a restart.
2. Check how much free space you have
If your main drive is almost full, Windows will slow down dramatically. It needs free space for updates, temporary files and general breathing room.
- On Windows, open This PC and look at your
C:drive - If it’s red or within a few gigabytes of full, that’s a problem
Deleting large old downloads and unused programs can help, but if the drive is small to begin with, an SSD upgrade or a bit of expert tidying may be the smarter long-term solution.
3. See what’s running at startup
Over the years, lots of software decides it wants to start automatically with Windows. Individually they don’t do much, but together they can make boot-up feel like wading through treacle.
- Right-click the taskbar and open Task Manager
- Go to the Startup tab
- Disable anything you don’t actually need to launch every time
If you’d like a step-by-step walkthrough straight from Microsoft on changing which apps run when Windows starts, they have a helpful article on how to configure startup applications in Windows. I often go further than this when I’m doing full computer maintenance in Norwich, but it’s a good reference if you want to understand the basics.
4. Keep things clean and cool
Dust is the quiet killer. Fans, vents and heatsinks slowly clog up, and the machine has to work harder just to stay at a safe temperature.
Signs heat might be part of the problem:
- The fan runs loudly almost all the time
- The laptop feels hot even when you’re not doing much
- The machine slows down or freezes under load
Careful cleaning and fresh thermal paste are part of the routine computer maintenance I carry out here in Norwich. Done properly, it can reduce noise, improve performance and extend the life of the hardware.
5. Know when to call for proper maintenance
There’s a point where DIY tweaks stop helping and you risk making things worse. If you notice any of the following, it’s worth getting the machine looked at professionally:
- Frequent crashes, freezes or blue-screen errors
- Clicking or grinding noises from inside the computer
- Update errors that keep coming back
- Very slow performance even after a restart and clean-up
At that stage, a structured check-over is usually far cheaper than limping on until something fails completely.
That’s exactly what my Maintenance / Servicing service is designed for. I:
- Inspect the hardware and storage properly
- Clean the machine inside and out
- Optimise Windows and remove the junk that builds up over time
- Advise honestly on whether it’s worth repairing, upgrading or replacing
When you want someone else to deal with it
If you’d rather not spend your time chasing little glitches, you can hand the job over.
I handle computer maintenance in Norwich for home users and small businesses – from simple tidy-ups to more involved upgrades and repairs. You get a clear explanation of what’s going on, what your options are and what it will cost before any work goes ahead.
When you’re ready, send a quick message or request a time slot through the contact page and we’ll get your PC or laptop behaving itself again.
