Same Day Computer Repair Service

Welcome to British Repair’s Blog!

In this blog you will find information, guides and DIY notes on the latest trends and issues around home and business computers.

Our main aim for this blog is to help people around the world to solve basic computer issues by themselves.

We as a computer repair company receives a lot of calls everyday and quite often we find the problem to be so small that it feels like a waste of time and money for customer and us. We feel that its our duty to educate people on how to solve basic computer problems themselves. Which will save money for them and time for us to concentrate on bigger and more serious issues.

If you are looking for a particular issue and struggling to find the solution please leave us a message and we’ll try our best to get the solution posted here asap.

Scared to open your computer or stuck with problem and can’t figure it out or just need a helping hand or some training, please don’t hesitate to contact us. We are No Fix – No Fee computer repair company. We are experts in the same day computer repairs and ensure our engineer visit the site within few hours of your call. For peace of mind check our 5 star reviews.

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Warning Signs of Hard Drive Failure

It might be useful to know that your hard drive often gives you clear signals when it’s going to fail, which at least gives you the chance to get your important data backed up before the scourge of home computing strikes.

Here are some of the most common indicators:

1. Slow-running system, frequent freezes and the blue screen of death.

These are not necessarily signs that your hard drive is failing; it might simply be too full and need clearing out. They are signs that all is not well, though, and you’d be wise to make a back-up and potentially make a fresh install of the system in Safe Mode. Simply put, assume the worst when these intermittent problems start to strike and you won’t be caught out.

2. Corrupted data.

You know you saved the file, it looks like it’s there and yet it just won’t open. Corrupted data and disappearing files are a clear sign of a gradual hard drive failure. So if it starts to happen regularly, it’s time to protect your information. Computer repairs might be possible at this stage, so take action before it’s too late.

3. Accumulation of bad sectors.

Bad sectors don’t maintain data integrity, but unfortunately they are not immediately apparent and you have to go looking for them. The best way is to run regular health checks on your disk, either by using third party software or your own operating system. These checks can save you a great deal of pain down the line, so it’s wise to build them in to a regular maintenance schedule.

4. Unusual noises, especially clicks.

If your hard drive is clicking then this is pretty much your final warning. This is the disk head trying to write and failing to do so. Grinding or high-pitched whines are also clear indicators of hardware failure and could be things like the spindle or bearings giving out.

5. SMART warning.

The operating system has its own Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology (SMART). Sadly, you simply cannot always rely on it to accurately predict when the hard drive will fail.

While you may be able to repair software errors caused by bad sectors and in some cases you may be able to repair the bad sectors themselves, if your drive has begun to fail mechanically nothing will stop the process. Know the warning signs of hard drive failure to help prevent disaster.

Use hidden international wallpapers and themes – Windows 7

When you first install Windows 7, it asks for your language, time and currency. Based on your responses, it installs a set of wallpapers and themes. If you choose English (United States) for your time and currency format, for example, the available desktop backgrounds and themes will include a United States section with scenery from locations such as Maine, the Southwest and so on.

Hidden, though, are background scenery and themes from other English-speaking countries — Australia, Canada, Great Britain and South Africa. Normally, you can’t access those backgrounds or themes, but there is a simple way you can install and use them:

1. In the search box in the Start menu, type C:\Windows\Globalization\MCT and press Enter. (Note: If Windows 7 is installed in a drive other than C:, use that letter instead.)

2. Windows Explorer will launch and show you a list of subfolders under C:\Windows\Globalization\MCT: MCT-AU, MCT-CA, MCT-GB, MCT-US, and MCT-ZA. Each subfolder has wallpapers for a specific country: AU for Australia, CA for Canada, GB for Great Britain, US for the United States, and ZA for South Africa.
For any of the countries whose wallpaper and themes you want to use, go into its Theme folder, for example, C:\Windows\Globalization\MCT\MCT-ZA\Theme. Double-click the theme you see there (for example ZA).

3. That will install a shortcut to the theme and wallpapers in the Personalization section of Control Panel.

You can now use them as you would any other theme or background, by right-clicking the desktop, choosing Personalize, and choosing a background or theme. They will be listed in their own section.

Watch ASCII Star Wars in Windows

Every one of us has watched Star Wars on television, computer or in a theatre. It is the same movie with aliens fighting each other for galaxies and such stuff. There is nothing new in it. But wait, have you watched an ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange) version of Star Wars and that too in Windows using telnet? A network protocol known only to computer wizards. Well if you have not, then you must do it now!

On Windows …10, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows 7 and Windows Vista

Telnet is turned off by default in the latest versions of Windows. So, in order to watch star wars, you must first enable telnet by going to Control Panel › Programs › Turn Windows Feature On or Off and ticking both the telnet check boxes.
After doing that, follow the steps given below:-
Go to Start, Search in Windows Vista and Windows 7 and Windows 10. On Windows 8 and Windows 8.1, open the main Start page.
Type telnet and press Enter.
In the following command prompt window, type “o” without quotes and press Enter.
Now type “towel.blinkenlights.nl” without the quotes and press Enter.

If you do not need telnet anymore, you can turn it off.

Launch taskbar programs with your keyboard

Many of us—especially users of the Start Menu-less Windows 8—use the Windows taskbar as a quick launch bar, populating it with our day-to-day programs. Opening those programs is as simple as clicking them, but there’s actually a faster way to launch software on your taskbar: Simple keyboard combinations.

Every program to the right of the Start button is assigned its own numerical shortcut, with the first program being “1,” the second being “2,” and so on, all the way to the 10th taskbar shortcut, which gets “0.” Pressing the Windows key, plus the number of the program you want to open, launches it.

More secret right-click options

Secret right-click options revealed by the Shift key don’t end with file paths, though.

The basic Send to tool that appears as an option when you right-click on a file or folder is handy enough indeed, allowing you to move the item quickly to a handful of locations on your PC, add it to a .zip archive, or send it off in an email or fax.

But that’s just the tip of the iceberg! Holding down the Shift key as you right-click a file or folder will add an absolute ton of new folder locations to the basic Send to menu.

Add new folders to File Explorer’s Favorites

Another way to quickly open favored folders is, well, by adding them to the Favorites section at the top of File Explorer. The process for doing so isn’t exactly obvious, however.

Drag the folder itself onto the Favorites icon in File Explorer’s left-hand pane, or navigate to the chosen folder directly, then right-click the Favorites icon and select Add current location to Favorites.

Dropping common folders into Favorites is especially handy when it comes time to save files. If you wind up filling your Favorites with too much stuff, just right-click the icon in File Explorer and select Restore Favorites links to wipe the slate clean and bring back the default folders.

Some Useful Computer Tips / Shortcuts

Windows ‘God Mode’, improving speed and keyboard shortcuts – there’s a whole range of tips computer users should know about – but most don’t. Here’s a few just for you, hopefully enabling you to get the best experience possible out of your home computer use.

Unless you’re vastly experienced in home computing, it’s highly likely that you’ve all manner of programs running on your machine each time you boot it up – and you’re blissfully unaware of it. Programs like to start themselves up, so that they’re instantly ready when needed and can perform updates and checks via the Internet. However, too many of these can slow your computer down.

You don’t really need a lot of programs running in the background – so, depending on which version of Windows you’re running, go to the Startup folder in System Configuration (enter “msconfig” into your Run… box) and stop programs you’re familiar with from running. Don’t touch anything that you don’t know about, as it could be critical to operating the computer.

Keyboard shortcuts provide easier navigation, and one of the best is ALT + TAB, so you don’t have to go endlessly clicking around to find a program or folder. Try it now and see. To undo something, especially for typing, use CTRL + Z, and for when things go wrong and you want to end a hanging program that just will not stop running, go to CTRL + ALT + DEL and you’ll see the options there.

Web browsing is a major part of the home computing experience, and again there’s an array of shortcuts and tricks you can deploy to make it faster and more enjoyable. Closed a browser tab by mistake and want it back in a flash? No problem – just hit CTRL + ALT + T. Use CTRL + TAB to easily flick through all your open tabs, and get straight to the address bar with ALT + D. If you don’t want anyone to know what you were up to online, instantly launch privacy mode with CTRL + Shift + P in Firefox and CTRL + Shift + N in Chrome.

About that ‘God Mode’ – it’s a hidden file whose components can be adjusted to change various elements of the operating system, so it’s probably best to leave it in the hands of the creators!

Optimizing Your Computer (Windows)

Update Windows

Installing the latest available updates may help fix errors you’re experiencing, and will keep your computer secure and stable. Windows Update will handle all of the checking and installing. Open the Start menu or screen and type “windows update” to find the Windows Update utility.

• In Windows 10, you can find the Windows Update utility in the “Update & Security” section of the new Settings menu.

Check your available free space

The amount of space on your hard drive doesn’t normally have a massive impact on your performance, but if you dip below 20% free space on the drive Windows is installed on, you may notice some slowdown. Windows relies on this free space to move and store temporary files, and without it your computer can slow to a crawl. Regularly clearing out old files can help keep your system running smoothly.

• Open the Computer/This PC window (⊞ Win+E) and find your Windows drive (usually C:). This drive should have at least 20% free space available for optimum performance.

Run the Disk Cleanup tool to scan for and remove old temporary files

Open the Start menu or screen and type “disk cleanup” to find the utility. Select your Windows drive and wait for it to be analyzed. Check the boxes for each of the types of files you want to remove. Each entry will display how much space you will reclaim by deleting them.

• Check your Downloads and Documents folders to see if you’re stockpiling old files you don’t need anymore.

Uninstall old, unused programs

As you use your computer, you’ll likely accrue a variety of programs that you used once but then forgot about. These old programs can take up a lot of space on your drive, and some may be running in the background, taking up system resources. Regularly uninstalling old programs can help keep your computer running smoothly.

• Open the Control Panel and select “Uninstall a program” or “Programs and Features.” Make your way through the list of installed programs and remove the ones you don’t use anymore. Highlight a program and click “Uninstall” to remove it. If you aren’t sure what a program is, look it up using a web search.

Clean up your startup sequence

Many programs will set themselves to start alongside Windows. While this makes opening the program quicker when you need it, too many programs can have a significant impact on the time it takes for Windows to start.

• Windows 10 and 8 – Press Ctrl+⇧ Shift+Esc to open the Task Manager. Click “More details” to expand it, then click the “Startup” tab. Select the items you want to remove from your startup and click “Disable.” If you aren’t sure what a program is or if its required for startup, perform a web search for it.
• Windows 7 and Vista – Press ⊞ Win+R and type “msconfig.” Click the “Startup” tab. Uncheck the box next to each item you want to disable. If you don’t know what one of the programs is, you can look it up online. Just type the “Startup Item” name into a search engine and the first results should let you know what it is.

Try alternative programs for some of your favorites

A lot of popular programs are poorly optimized, and can slow your computer down when they’re running. Common culprits include Norton Antivirus, iTunes, and Adobe Reader. All of these programs have free, light-weight alternatives that can significantly speed up your computer.

• Instead of using Norton as your antivirus, consider using Windows’ built-in Microsoft Defender. Avast and Bit-Defender are also two popular free options. SeeTurn on Windows Defender for instructions on using Windows Defender.
• If you use iTunes for your media, consider a program like foobar2000 or MediaMonkey, both of which support syncing your iOS device.

Removing Adware and Cleaning Browsers (Windows)

Open the Control Panel

If your web browsers are running slow, or your plagued with pop-ups, advertisements, and toolbars, you may have an adware infection. Adware is unwanted software that is designed to hijack your web browser, leading you to different searches and littering your browser with ads. The first step towards removing these infections is by uninstalling unknown programs through the Control Panel. The process varies a little depending on your version of Windows:

• Windows 10 and 8 – Right-click on the Windows button and select “Control Panel.”
• Windows 7, Vista, and XP – Click the Start button and select “Control Panel” from the Start menu.

Select “Uninstall a program” or “Programs and Features.“

 This will display a list of all of the programs installed on your computer.

Find recently-installed programs that you don’t recognize

You can sort the list by install date, which can help you find programs that may have been installed recently without your knowledge. Go through each program on the list and make note of the ones you don’t recognize. Perform a web search for each unrecognized entry to determine if it is an unwanted program.

Select an unwanted program and click “Uninstall.“ 

Follow the prompts to remove the program from your system. Repeat for any additional programs that you want to remove.

• This would be a good time to remove programs that you do recognize, but no longer need. Old games, unused browsers, utilities that you used once and then never used again, and other legitimate programs can add to your computer’s bloat. Remove them to free up some space and potentially speed up your computer’s start-up time.

Reset your web browsers

Your web browsers may still have lingering remnants of the malware removed by the scanners. Resetting your browsers will remove any additional software and return them to their default settings:

• Internet Explorer – Click the Tools button and select “Internet options.” Click the “Advanced” tab and click “Reset.” Check the “Delete personal settings” box and click “Reset.”
• Chrome – Click the Chrome Menu button and select “Settings.” Click “Show advanced settings” and then scroll to the bottom. Click “Reset settings” and then click “Reset.”
• Firefox – Click the Firefox Menu button and then click “?”. Select “Troubleshooting Information” and then click “Refresh Firefox.” Click “Refresh Firefox” again to confirm.

If still having trouble with malware or spyware contact us and we will be happy to help you.

Basic Troubleshooting

Reboot your computer if you’re experiencing issues

This may sound like a simple suggestion, but rebooting your computer will solve more problems than you may think. Make sure to save any open documents before rebooting.

Reset your network if you can’t connect to the internet

If you could visit websites, and now you can’t, try rebooting your network hardware. This will often fix connection problems with modems and routers.

• Unplug the power cable from your modem, and unplug the power cable from your router (if you have one).
• Wait about thirty seconds, then plug your modem back in.
• After the lights on your modem have finished turning on, plug your router back in. Your network should be up and running again in about a minute.

Check your computer’s clock

If your system clock somehow got set incorrectly, you may not be able to load security certificates from websites. This can cause problems loading many webpages. Check your system clock and set it to the correct time.

Reboot your printer if you can’t connect to it

If your printer is no longer appearing, rebooting it may get it to show up again. Either turn the printer off with the Power button or pull the power cord out. Wait about thirty seconds, then power it back on.

If nothing works we are here to help. See our website for further details http://www.britishrepairs.co.uk