We have all been there. You are working along when suddenly you get a weird message, a glitch, or God forbid, the dreaded blue screen of death. Your thoughts can range from “Did I save what I was just working on?” to “Are all of my files backed up?” and finally land on “Great, what now… Do I try and repair this machine and save all my data or do I try to get in, salvage what I can, and buy a new computer altogether?”

Or, less drastic and most common, is the gradual slow down. With every new version of an operating system or new program installed it may begin to use up all of the available resources. When the crawl gets to a non-manageable point, it’s time to decide.

Deciding Whether to Buy a New Computer or Repair Your Current one can be a toss-up.

Before you panic………. Get Your Computer Diagnosed.

You can bring it to a repair shop, such as Computers & Crypto of St. Pete or if you want to check a few things at home here are some suggestions.

#1 Make sure it’s not a software issue. Run a virus check and malware test to make sure you have no infections.

#2 Check your resource usage. On a PC, open the Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc) and click More Details. If you are on a MAC, open Spotlight and hit (Command+Space) and search for Activity monitor. If you see one program using up all the CPU or RAM you may want to uninstall that and replace it with a different option.

#3 If the program is a web browser you may try switching to a different browser or it may be time to update hardware.

#4 In the Task Manager you may evaluate your CPU and memory use. If either is very high, and stays that way your computer likely needs an upgrade.

#5 Your hardware may be failing: You can do a hard drive test online with a program such as HD Tune. It will let you know if you have slow or abnormal read-write activities or if it’s failing all together.

#6 Run a RAM test like Memtest. I will check by stick to see if they are still good or not. If you have a bad stick it needs to be replaced in order to regain functionality.

Once this is narrowed down and you can pinpoint the problem it is then far easier to get a projected cost and budget to repair and you can compare it to the replacement cost for a new computer.

We know computers are not everyone’s specialty. That is why, as experts in the field, we opened Computers & Crypto of St. Pete! We are here for you. We welcome you to bring your machines in and we can diagnose and make the best recommendations for you.

Computers and Crypto of St. Pete are located at 2931 1st Ave S. in St. Petersburg FL, 33712. We can be reached by calling (727)291-3352. Please visit our website to learn more about our company and the services we offer here in the Tampa Bay area. www.computersandcryptoofstpete.com.

Courtesy of Computer Crypto of St. Pete (Greater Tampa Area)