Why is it always like this when I need to do something urgently (1 Viewer)

[Odd job]

I did a quote today and came home to price up the matterials, the computer was running very slow so I tried to restart it. That was 2 hours ago. I've had to price everything using my phone.

Why is it if I have some time to waste it works perfectly

 

[Itsmcb]

The Gremlins are watching you through the laptop camera

 

[Kannon Fodda]

If it really has taken 2 hours for that update then something is badly screwed up.

For a start I would ensure there is a good backup of everything on the computer and then look to completely wipe and reinstall the machine.

But if the computer is ancient then it's a sign you may be overdue an upgrade for Black Friday, especially if you are reliant on the computer for some business use.

 

[ChrisL]

I did a quote today and came home to price up the matterials, the computer was running very slow so I tried to restart it. That was 2 hours ago. I've had to price everything using my phone. View attachment 834396Why is it if I have some time to waste it works perfectly

You should leave your computer on and schedule updates for a specific time when you are not going to be using it, it won't then surprise you when you need something doing quickly.

 

[Floydster]

Ditch Windoze, get a mac

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[Odd job]

I think it's letting me know it is time to replace it. It is many years old and was a cheap option even then

 

[gus-lopez]

You should leave your computer on and schedule updates for a specific time when you are not going to be using it, it won't then surprise you when you need something doing quickly.

This^^^^^^

 

[Gromett]

I did a quote today and came home to price up the matterials, the computer was running very slow so I tried to restart it. That was 2 hours ago. I've had to price everything using my phone. View attachment 834396Why is it if I have some time to waste it works perfectly

The windows update system was the reason I moved to Linux. I finally got through an update only for what seemed like every bit of software I wanted to use decided to do an update as well.

On linux I get a little red dot on the shield to let me know updates for either the OS or the software are available.

I click on it and I get the update window.

I click install updates then minimise the window. It doesn't slow the computer down. It doesn't require/force a reboot. The only interruption is if a web browser has been updated and you try to load a new tab it may ask you to restart chrome or firefox.

This update system updates ALL software and the core OS. So no multiple rounds of interruptions.

If you ignore it for long enough it will give you a very polite prompt asking you to run the updates as soon as possible. BUT you can dismiss them, but why would you when it is two clicks to set them going and there are no downsides to doing it?

 

[Odd job]

This^^^^^^

These days I only used the computer a couple of times a week, although that is starting to change now I have started to do some work

 

[Odd job]

I know almost nothing about computers is this worth buying? it seems very cheap

Amazon product ASIN B09V33NXBS

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[dna]

It would help with diagnosing the situation if you could answer a few questions :

When you restarted the machine, did you just turn the power off or use a restart command? Was the machine running an update installation at the time?


What male / model is it and what version of windows is being run? Sometime updates do take an unexpectedly long time to complete - as windows is an open system, microsoft cannot predict what combination of components every machine has and test them all before releasing an update. Did the

How PC confident are you? Do you regularly run clean ups of disks to clear out temporary files, defragment hard drives or scan the registry for errors? How much spare space do you have on the disk (is it full?).

The sledgehammer solution would be a new machine, that would then need any files (documents, mucis, videos etc) and programmes transferring to the new machine from the old one. If the old machine is using an old version of windows, programmes will probably need updates or even new versions purchased to bring them up to the current level in order to use them on the new machine.

If you are carrying out work for an employer they may have security rules in place that dictate the minimum versions of programmes you can use. If you are working for yourself then you can set your own standards and there are Funsters who specialise in IT security who might be able to point to some basic standards.

 

[Gromett]

I know almost nothing about computers is this worth buying? it seems very cheap

Amazon product ASIN B09V33NXBS

Too cheap. They state i7 but then don't state which generation or specifics.
22" monitor is pretty small and 8GB of memory for Windows may impact performance.

 

[Odd job]

Too cheap. They state i7 but then don't state which generation or specifics.
22" monitor is pretty small and 8GB of memory for Windows may impact performance.

I thought it was very cheap

 

[Odd job]

How PC confident are you? Do you regularly run clean ups of disks to clear out temporary files, defragment hard drives or scan the registry for errors? How much spare space do you have on the disk (is it full?).

I know a little bit and I haven't done any housekeeping on it for a while. I don't store stuff on the hard drive I have an external hard drive and also back up to a usb. The computer is running Windows 10 and cannot take windows 11so I will need to replace it soon anyway, although after the update it's running ok.

 

[dna]

Ironically, the heating in our guest house went off at lunchtime and would not come back on so I've been trying to get that sorted before today's guests check in. As you say these things only happen at the most awkward time!

You can buy tools to clean up PCs but most of the functions they provide are already available in Windows. The following link lists a few things you could do to spring clean the machine - if you want to try some of them.

Tips to improve PC performance in Windows - Microsoft Support

Learn how to improve Windows PC performance if your device is running slowly.

support.microsoft.com

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