Troubleshooting Guide: 5 Reasons your laptop is underperforming
Laptops and PCs are amazing—until they stop working! Perhaps they still function, but they behave erratically or run very slowly.
Once our devices begin to act up, we can jump to many conclusions about what is going on.
This is where the device warranty and support centres can step in. Acer South Africa's support call centre handles queries from multiple regions, and they frequently encounter the most common device problems.
Their top support people continually help clients with different issues, even those whose device warranties have lapsed.
"We support everyone from business professionals to gamers and students," says Francois van Zyl, Acer Africa's Call Centre Manager. "Some of their issues are more unique, but most of the time the same problems show up."
What are some of the most common issues, and what can you do about them? Acer's support staff share a few insights.
Accidental damage
Accidents happen. Spilling coffee all over your keyboard can seriously damage the computer's hardware. Another one is to forget a pen on the keyboard when closing a laptop—that can damage the screen. Then, there are apparent accidents, such as dropping or sitting on a device.
These types of damage are not generally covered by device warranties, so be careful. Replacing or fixing them could be expensive. However, you can get extended and accident coverage warranties.
These are additional warranties that you can purchase to cover accidental damage or extend the duration of your device's warranty. They can provide peace of mind and potentially save you from costly repairs.
Downloading bad software
When a device starts to act poorly, we tend to blame the hardware. But in most cases, computer hardware is dependable and does not degrade. If a computer component fails, the device usually stops working. Poor performance is more likely to relate to software, especially harmful software downloaded from the Internet.
Be very careful about what applications you download to your device. Only use official sites and stores, and install antivirus or malware-detection software to catch dangerous software criminals use to hack your device.
Running out of space
Storage can seem infinite. When a photo or video only takes up a few megabytes, a drive with 512 gigabytes might seem like it will last forever.
Even saving a few movies does not seem like a big deal. Yet, if your storage space starts to run low, your device will become slower, and some applications may even begin to crash.
Computers constantly write information between their memory and storage. When space becomes limited, writing and retrieving data takes more time. Think of it as having a shopping basket.
Once the basket is full, you either need another basket, or you must take the time to rearrange what you've got in there.
Having enough space open, especially on the primary drive, improves performance. Backup your files to cloud storage and delete unwanted files.
Hard drive crashes
Modern hard drives are where you store your data on your device. Modern drives, especially solid-state models, are resilient and can take some knocks.
But if the damage is sufficient, the drive could crash and make your data inaccessible.
A crashed drive is a serious problem—there is no guarantee you can recover your data.
Prevention is the best cure. By creating regular backups of your essential data and using online services, such as an online email service that stores your messages on its servers, you can feel more proactive and responsible for your laptop's health.
If your hard drive crashes, contact your support centre. Acer's support experts will analyse the damage and provide a quote on the cost of recovering the data. But ideally, make backups before it's too late because you are responsible for your data.
Poor computer literacy
We often overestimate how much we understand our devices and are quick to blame them when something goes wrong. However, a little knowledge can address fundamental performance issues.
There are excellent online courses on basic computer literacy, and many are free. By improving your computer literacy, you can feel more empowered and capable of handling basic laptop issues. You can also call the call centre experts. They are there to help, and you can learn a lot from them.
"We've got years of experience and a global database of answers," says van Zyl. "Based on your questions, we can advise you on the best steps to take. Calling us is free, even if your warranty has lapsed. We're ready to help you understand your device better."