Gemmis Technologies, Inc. is not responsible for any issues that arise from attempting any of the ideas or tips listed below. Click to the links below to display each tip or diagnosis.
Things to try before contacting the Help Desk
Helpful Hints
Co-workers, friends or relatives who send you jokes, pictures, rumors, dubious news items, and so on are increasing you chances of ending up on a spammers list. While this practice may seem harmless, these messages often bear attachments. Not only does this clog your inbox, the sender often forwards you a virus-infected attachment without realizing it. In addition to the direct risk, sending an e-mail to a list of recipients often exposes ALL of the e-mail addresses it was sent to. If the message in turn gets forwarded to multiple generations of other recipients, your e-mail address may end up in the hands of a spammer. To avoid this risk simply delete the message.
This feature finds and corrects errors on your hard drive. Click on Start, Run, when the command box appears, type in chkdsk c: /f/r
Disk Defragmenter locates fragmented files and folders on local volumes. A fragmented file or folder is split up into many pieces and scattered over a volume. When a volume contains a lot of fragmented files and folders, Windows takes longer to gain access to them because it requires several additional disk drive reads to collect the various pieces. Creating new files and folders also takes longer because the free space available on the volume is scattered. Windows must then save new files and folders to various locations on the volume. Disk Defragmenter moves the pieces of each file of folder to one location on the volume, so that each occupies a single, contiguous space on the disk drive. As a result, your system can gain access to your files and folders and save new ones more efficiently. By consolidating your files and folders, Disk Defragmenter also consolidates your free space, making it less likely that new files will be fragmented.
To find Disk Defragmenter, right click on My Computer, click manage, click Disk Defragmenter, then click Defragment. You do not have to click analyze.
Temp files take up unnecessary space on your hard drive. To delete them, go to Start, Search, all files and folders and then type in *.tmp. This brings up your temp files and you can delete them from here. After rebooting, you can choose to empty the recycle bin.
The Internet history folder stores every Internet page that you have viewed. The folder should be on your hard drive. When you want to permanently delete something, right click on the recycle bin icon and click on empty recycle bin.
cleared regularly to free up hard disk space. Right click on the Internet Explorer icon and go to Internet Properties. Click on Delete Files under Temporary Internet file. Under History click on the Clear History button. You can also set the amount of days that viewed pages remain in the history folder.
Items in the recycle bin are not actually deleted. They are taking space on your hard drive. When you want to permanently delete something, right click on the recycle bin icon and click on empty recycle bin.
Top 10 Most Common Computer Problems
The majority of the problems we see on a regular basis fall into the following ten broad categories:
Common Computer Problems
This is usually the result of a combination of factors. Too many programs auto-starting, adware and spyware running in the background, inadequate RAM, file system and/or page file fragmentation, Master File Table fragmentation or corruption, registry conflicts, and a buildup of garbage files on the hard drive can all contribute to general slowness. Usually, a tune up (and maybe a RAM upgrade) is all that's needed to perk up a sleepy machine.
Many factors can affect Internet and network connectivity. Possibilities include a bad modem or network card, bad cables, corrupted drivers, or viruses.
Adware and Spyware are usually the culprits. Other possibilities include programs that are set to update themselves automatically are opening up an Internet connection to do so; malicious programs (viruses, worms, or Trojans) are attempting to do their dastardly deeds; or "dialers" installed by unsavory Web sites are trying to connect.
It's been hijacked. This is another type of marketing spyware that is becoming more prevalent in recent months.
Spyware, inadequate or defective RAM, registry conflicts, missing or corrupted dll's, file system or page file fragmentation, bad device drivers, viruses... the list goes on. But amazingly, about 80 per cent of the time, a tune-up is all that's needed to rectify the problems.
Usually this means that the BIOS is set to "wake on LAN" or "wake on modem."
The CMOS battery is dying. It's replaceable.
This is almost always a hardware problem. Usually its the power supply, RAM, processor. or a dirty or defective cooling fan. Some virus', worms and Trojan’s can also cause this to happen.
Most likely, some moving part is failing. It could be the hard drive or one of the various fans. Sometimes, however, squealing or whining sounds can have purely electronic origins. Whatever the case, it's important to shut down the machine and have it checked immediately.
Could be any number of things, starting with the power cord not being plugged in. Check that first. You wouldn't believe how many times we've responded to calls where the computer simply wasn't plugged in. If that doesn't work, then call Gemmis Tech.
