I am going to give you the best tip there is for solving issues on Windows 10 (or Windows 8).
You can use this tip for any niggle you may have:
- The computer is running slow
- A program or app won’t open or close
- Printing isn’t working
- No Internet or emails
- Anything else
I am not saying it will definitely solve the problem, but it is an excellent place to start.
And the tip is: Restart your computer.
That may seem obvious but what I stress here, however, is that you RESTART rather than Shutdown. Before I explain how, this is the reason why.
In The Old Days
With an older version of Windows, shutting the computer down and starting it again usually solved a lot of these types of problem.
On Windows 10, however, it often doesn’t, and these issues come back to haunt you. The reason for this is mainly due to a new feature called “Fast Boot”. It is used to boot the computer faster when starting up and if you have Windows 10 – especially if you have upgraded from it – you may have noticed it is a little quicker at booting up than your old computer or operating system.
It works by storing lots of information when you shut down that it would generally need to fetch when starting up. Because it already has that information, it can start faster. The trouble is that some of the niggles mentioned above can get caught up in this information and are therefore not cleared when the computer starts.
Restarting, however, works like the older version of Windows. It puts everything away and brings it all back out again when you startup. It’s slower at starting, but it is a clean start and, hopefully, the niggles will no longer exist.
How To Restart
- Close any programs you are running.
- Click the Start Icon in the bottom left-hand corner of the screen
- Click Power
- Click Restart
The computer will shut down and then restart automatically. As I mentioned, be prepared for a wait as the process of starting up takes longer than usual. However, once finished, it will hopefully have solved those niggles you were having.
Any questions on any of the above – or anything else – just get in touch.