Do annoying computer issues plague your office? Are you losing valuable time and productivity dealing with the same problems just about every day?
If you’re like most businesses, your top five computer issues are probably similar to the most popular complaints our IT staff receives every day, regardless of the industry in which you work.
They are:
- “My machine is soooooooo slow”!
- “The internet is soooooo slow”!
- ”I can’t compose an e-mail in Outlook”
- “I can’t print!”
- “The feature in this application worked yesterday but it doesn’t work today!”
Do any of these ring a bell or raise your blood pressure?
The good news is that while the issues described above could come from literally hundreds of potential sources, most of these issues can be resolved by taking a few simple steps each day to properly maintain your computers and your network. Here’s how…
Complaint #1: My machine is soooo slow!
If the computer you are using is more than four years old, it isn’t designed to handle the requirements for today’s software. Trying to run the latest software, such as Office 2007 or 2010, on an older computer will result in slower performance when compared to a new computer.
The solution: Upgrade your hardware on a set schedule to keep up with the latest software demands. We recommend replacing computers at least every four years.
Complaint #2: The Internet is soooooo slow!
While issues with internet speed could be caused by your provider, most internet slowdowns that we investigate come down to how the internet is being used across your network.
The biggest offender is music or video streaming over the internet, which uses an incredible amount of bandwidth and resources. The slowdown will be most noticeable to staff that access your network remotely, since they are competing for network access through the same internet connection that other staff may be using to stream content.
The solution: Limit music and video streaming for legitimate business purposes only. Institute policies that discourage employees from streaming music or videos that are not work-related. If you do find that the nature of your business requires streaming music or video, consider upgrading your internet package with your provider to add the additional bandwidth and resources you need.
Complaints #3 to 5: I can’t compose an E-mail in Outlook / Can’t print / My application doesn’t work properly anymore
The primary cause for these types of issues is related to resources on the local computer. The simplest remedy is to regularly restart the computer.
When we investigate recurring complaints from the same staff members for these issues, our remote monitoring tools often show us that these systems have not been restarted for several weeks.
Leaving a computer on for weeks at a time, without a restart, taxes the computer and makes it sluggish. It’s tantamount to never going to sleep so you can recharge your batteries!
If we could give our clients only one piece of advice it would be:
RESTART! RESTART! RESTART! RESTART! RESTART!
The solution: Getting in the habit of restarting your PC at the end of your workday is one of the best technical habits you can adopt. It doesn’t take long and can save a lot of frustration, computer support costs and slow productivity.
Have questions about anything we’ve covered here? Feel free to contact our IT support team by calling 416-489-6312. We’ll be happy to provide even more tips on how to keep your computers and network running smoothly!
