Guides
Straight answers, written down
Plain-English guides built on what our technicians see every day. The same advice we give when you get in touch, written down so you can make good decisions before you spend anything: what is worth fixing, what the warning signs mean, and what to steer well clear of.
20 guides Free checklists RSS feed
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The laptop died on a Sunday and everything is shut. What now?
Sunday is the day a dead laptop hurts most, because the week is already in front of you. The calm checks worth doing, what can genuinely be sorted the same evening, and why the first job is the files rather than the repair.
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Replacing a laptop battery: a Dell Latitude 5290, start to finish
What a laptop battery replacement actually involves, photographed as it was done on a Dell Latitude 5290: the base off, the old cell out, a new cell in from its anti-static bag, and what to check before the machine goes back into use.
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Can it be fixed without a visit? What remote support genuinely can and cannot do
Half the faults people contact us about can be fixed over a secure link while you watch. Here is the honest split: what works remotely, what never will, and how a session runs.
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Computer died at night before a deadline? Who is actually awake, and what to do first
It is 11pm, the machine is dead and the work is due tomorrow. The calm first checks, what can be fixed tonight over a link, and a repair firm that is actually awake.
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Parental controls that actually stick: phones, tablets and the family computer
Screen time, app limits and safe search that survive a determined child: what the built-in tools on iPhone, Android and Windows actually do, and where each one leaks.
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How to become a computer repair technician in Leeds, and what the good ones have in common
No licence exists for this trade, which is why serious firms set their own bar. What it takes to get in, what separates professionals from chancers, and how our bench trains.
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What a mobile computer repair technician actually does all day
The working day of a professional field technician: doorstep diagnosis under commercial pressure, specialist bench work, and the verdicts that take real depth to give.
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After your repair: keeping the machine right
What a repair does and does not do, what settling in looks like in the first week, and the small habits that keep a machine going: heat, dust, batteries, chargers and backups.
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Your computer is asking for a 48-digit recovery key. What that is, and where yours is.
The blue screen demanding a BitLocker recovery key nobody remembers being given. What it actually is, where yours is almost certainly stored, and the honest answer if it is gone.
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Sound but no picture on your TV? The torch test tells you in ten seconds
A black screen with the sound still playing is one of two very different faults. A torch, a dark room and ten seconds tell you which one you have before anyone comes out.
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TV will not turn on, or the standby light just blinks
Nothing when you press power, or a standby light blinking the same count over and over. What is worth trying yourself, and the one split that decides whether a set is worth fixing.
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Your laptop will not turn on. Can you still get your files off it?
A laptop that is completely dead usually still has your files intact. Why the drive is normally the survivor, what makes recovery harder, and the one thing not to do while you decide.
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How to back up your files before a repair (or before anything goes wrong)
How to back up what matters before you hand a machine over: what to save first, where to put it, and how to copy it across when the computer will barely start.
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Laptop will not turn on? The simple checks to try before you panic
A dead laptop is not always a broken one. The calm, ordered checks that rule out the cheap and simple causes first, and when to get it looked at.
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Slow computer? What actually speeds it up, and what does not
Why a computer feels slow, the free things worth trying first, the one upgrade that genuinely transforms an old machine, and the myths that change nothing.
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Spilled a drink on your laptop? What to do in the first ten minutes
A spill is a race against corrosion, not just water. The calm first-aid steps that give your laptop the best chance, and the mistakes that make it worse.
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How to spot a tech support scam before it costs you
The fake call from "Microsoft" and the pop-up that says your computer is infected: how these scams work, the golden rule that defeats them, and what to do.
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Is it worth repairing my laptop, or should I buy a new one?
The honest framework we use every week: how the age of the machine, the kind of fault, and its worth to you after the repair decide fix or replace.
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The warning signs your hard drive is failing, and what to do about it
Strange noises, sudden slowdowns, files that vanish: the early warnings of a failing hard drive, the first thing to do, and the mistakes that make it worse.
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SSD vs HDD in plain English: the one upgrade that makes an old computer feel new
What a hard drive and an SSD actually are, why the old spinning drive is usually why a computer feels slow, and when the upgrade is worth it.
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If a guide has not answered your question, send us an enquiry and describe the fault. We will find the fault properly, give you a fixed quote before any work, and if we cannot fix it there is nothing to pay for the repair.