Aren’t you tired of waiting for your computer to boot-up? Perhaps Microsoft Word is taking ages to respond, and when it does, it’s sluggish as heck. Don’t rush out to buy a new computer just yet, there may still be some life in your old machine.
There are nearly 3 million tons of electronic waste each year. Don’t contribute to that by tossing your laptop. Instead, try these HP laptop troubleshooting tips.
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Are You Getting Force Closes?
When your laptop experiences a force close, it’s a symptom of your computer not using its assets properly. One of the key components of computer design is its memory (not to be confused with storage, it’s the RAM). The memory stores immediate data for software in the short-term interim, and it’s placed in your limited resource of RAM.
When you’re experiencing a lot of freezing and windows needing to be force closed, it’s typically because of an improper memory allocation. This can be easily fixed.
Open up your Task Manager (CTRL + ALT + DELETE or CTRL+SHIFT+DELETE). From here, go to the “tasks” category. This will identify the culprits using up so much of your computer’s hardware; force close the task to regain some of it.
Look for the processes that are using the most memory – closing them will yield the best results. If you see a process with some sort of Microsoft branding, it’s likely a background task that cannot be force closed. But if it’s other software running in the background, stop that process (better yet, uninstall it if you don’t use it typically).
HP Laptop Troubleshooting for All-Around Slowness
Sometimes, your computer might be chugging along at a snail’s pace and without anything open.
This is typically bad news. Real bad news. Again, open your Task Manager, but this time, navigate to the “performance” tab.
If you notice that your hard drive is flat-lining (it should look like it’s going up and down), your storage device is dying. It’s the same in the medical field: flatlines are very bad.
There’s not a lot that can be done, unfortunately. If your HP laptop’s storage is working at a constant plateau of 100%, the storage device (SSD/HDD) needs to be replaced.
This process might be a little advanced. We recommend using a laptop computer repair shop.
Your I/O Devices Aren’t Working
There’s a lot of disconnect between I/O (input/output) devices with computers. The connection between software and hardware is a delicate thing, and it can become undone.
Devices like mice, keyboards, and speakers are all I/O hardware. Each of them requires specific drivers to work with your software platform.
If you’re having difficulty connecting devices to your HP laptop, it’s likely an issue with drivers. Open up your Device Manager (search for it in the Start Menu). Right-click on any of the culprit devices and search for drivers.
They can go out of date, especially during operating system upgrades. If this fails, you’ll need to visit the manufacturer’s website.
Back Online
Before you toss your laptop, try to do some HP laptop troubleshooting.
A lot of issues can be fixed simply by examining the Task Manager. Others are more involved, like installing a new storage device or downloading drivers.
Having trouble with some of your other devices? Check out our articles to find the help you’re looking for.
