The Computer Problems We See Every Week

We keep a rough tally at the counter, and the same handful of problems account for most of what comes through the door. If you're wondering whether your machine's issue is normal or unusual, it's almost certainly normal.

1. Slow boot and slow everything

Usually a full or failing hard drive, too many startup programs, or (on older machines) a mechanical drive that's simply reached the end of its useful life. An SSD swap is often the single biggest speed upgrade we do, on any budget.

2. Overheating and shutting down mid-task

Covered in more depth in our cleaning article, but it's common enough to repeat here: dust-blocked heatsinks are the leading cause, followed by dried-out thermal paste on machines a few years old.

3. Battery not holding charge (laptops)

Laptop batteries are consumables, not permanent parts. If your "3-hour battery" now gives you 40 minutes, that's not a fault, that's wear, and replacing it is usually straightforward.

4. WiFi dropping or refusing to connect

Sometimes it's the laptop's WiFi card or driver, sometimes it's the router. We test against a known-good network before quoting anything, so you're not paying to fix a laptop when the real problem was the router the whole time.

5. Won't turn on at all

The scariest-sounding call is often the simplest fix: a dead charging brick, a failed power button, or a battery that's discharged so deeply it needs a jump-start charge. We check the boring explanations first, because they're right more often than not.

6. Blue screens and random restarts

Usually RAM, driver conflicts, or (again) an ageing hard drive on its way out. We run diagnostics rather than guess, because the fix is completely different depending on which of the three it is.