How to Fix 3 Basic and Annoying Computer Problems

1.     No Internet

All you want to do is pay your bills, work on homework, or play a game, but the internet isn’t working! The first thing you will want to do is check your bottom right corner of your PC and see what it shows you. Computers with a wired or “Ethernet” connection will have a small box with a plug icon available, if there is no internet it will usually have a red ‘X” icon over the top, signifying that your PC doesn’t have a network connection. WI-FI is a dot with 3 curved bars in the shape of a ‘signal’ If there’s no WIFI signal, the bars are greyed out, and a red “X” can be present. With recent Windows updates, these icons may be replaced with a globe looking icon instead, meaning that there’s no internet available for the device to use.

If a cable has become unplugged, or there are potential problems elsewhere (switch, router/modem) You can start to eliminate them by working your way back. Make sure cables are plugged in correctly, WI-FI is turned on, and you have the correct network name and password. Check the power to your router/modem and make sure it is on. Usually, if the router/modem is plugged in but you're still not getting anything, “Power Cycling” your device will help with these issues. I would suggest unplugging the power for 1 minute and plugging it back in. Wait for 3-5 minutes for the device to boot up and broadcast its signals. Usually 9/10 times this will solve your problem. If not, read here for more help. (link to another more advanced post)

2.     Default Apps

I’m sure that you’ve tried to open up a link and Microsoft Edge pulls up and you sit frustrated wondering why it’s not pulling up in Chrome or Firefox like you want it to. Or maybe you want to edit a picture, send an email, or just simply open a pdf, but it’s the wrong program! Lucky you there is a simple fix for these little annoyances. By searching for “Default Apps” things like Mail, Maps, the Music Player, Photo Viewer, Video Player, and Web Browser can be changed and set to the user's preferred settings. If you needed to find something more specific, like how a pdf is opened, you can select the “Choose default apps by file type”. This allows you to change any file type like .docx .pdf .jpg etc. to whichever program you desire.

3.     Display Preferences

When sitting to a computer with more than one monitor, sometimes they don’t “flow” or in other words, you can’t move the mouse between the monitors correctly, the way you would expect. This is simply fixed by Right Clicking the desktop. At the bottom of the dialog box (pop-up window), you should see “Display Settings”. When it first pulls up you will see boxes with numbers in them. Each box represents a monitor. The number associated with the monitor can be found by pressing the “identify” button (you will notice a black numbered box pop up on each monitor). Let's say – as an example – that your left monitor is number 1 and your right monitor is number 2, you know this because you pressed identify and that’s what the computer shows you. When looking at the boxes in the settings, the are actually showing as the right number 2 positioned on the left side with the number 1 on the right, this is the opposite of what we would want. To change it, you can move the “monitor boxes” by simply grabbing the box and moving it to the other side. If your monitors were stacked vertically, you could change them so 1 is on top and 2 is on the bottom. Match the numbers with where they belong. Remember to save the settings by pressing apply. Before you close the Display Settings, try moving your mouse between your monitors, they should flow seamlessly between one another, as if they were connected on a hinge. If it works, you have successfully fixed another major annoyance.

More basic tips and content will be coming!