Common problems
Computer running slow
Everything takes an age, the spinning circle turns up at the smallest thing, and you have started to wonder whether the machine is on its way out. In most cases it is not. A computer that has slowed to a crawl is usually telling you something specific, and the fix is far more often one inexpensive change than a whole new machine. Tell us how it behaves and when it started, and we will find the real cause for free, say plainly whether it is worth putting money into, and give you one fixed quote before any work. If we cannot help, you pay nothing.
- No fix, no fee
- We come to you
- The diagnosis is always free
- A real person who does the work, not a call centre
What it usually means
The likely causes, most common first
- An old mechanical hard drive that a modern system has simply outgrown, which is the commonest cause of all and the one an SSD transforms
- Too much loading itself with the machine, so every start-up drags and the desktop is busy before you have touched it
- A drive so close to full that the system has no room left to work in
- Too little memory for what you now ask of it, so a few tabs and a document bring it to a stop
- Malware or unwanted software quietly using the machine in the background, which we test for rather than assume
- Heat: a computer choked with dust deliberately slows itself to stay safe, and a clean can do more than parts
- Less often, a drive that is beginning to fail, which is slow for a reason worth catching early, and which we check for
Not sure which is yours? That is what the free diagnosis is for. Call and describe it.
What we do
How we find the real fault
- You tell us on the phone what it is like to use and when it changed, because a machine that slowed gradually over years and one that dropped off a cliff last week point at different causes
- We come to you across Leeds, at home or at work, or you can drop the machine to us if that is easier
- We measure the actual bottleneck instead of guessing at it: what the drive is and whether it is healthy, whether the memory is running out, what is loading at start-up, and whether the machine is overheating and throttling itself
- We check it is not malware or unwanted software quietly working away in the background, which we test for rather than take on faith
- Where a cheap change is the answer, an SSD, clearing out what starts with the machine, freeing the drive, we tell you plainly what difference it will actually make before you spend a penny
- Where nothing will meaningfully help, we say that too, because there is no sense selling you parts that will not change how it feels
- You get a fixed quote before any work begins, and if it is not worth it, we say so and you pay nothing
Is it worth fixing?
An honest answer, before you spend anything
Very often worth it, and far more so than people fear when a computer starts crawling. The causes we find most, an old spinning drive, a cluttered start-up, a drive with no room left or too little memory, are usually one modest change away from a machine that feels new again, which costs a fraction of replacing it. The honest exception is a computer that was slow from the day it was bought, or one old enough that the processor itself was never going to be quick, since no upgrade rescues that, and there your money is better kept towards a new machine. If that is where yours has landed we will tell you plainly, at no charge, rather than sell you parts that will not move it.
This is a computer upgrades and speed-ups job. The diagnosis is free, then you get one fixed quote before any work starts. If we cannot fix it, there is nothing to pay.
Call 0113 460 2103 for a free diagnosisWhere we work
We come to you across Leeds
Home or work, Monday to Saturday, 9am to 7pm. There is no walk-in shop, so we come to the machine, or you can arrange to drop it to us. Start at computer repair in Leeds, or pick your area.
Questions
The things people ask
Why has my computer suddenly got so slow?
A sudden change is a useful clue, because it points somewhere different from a machine that has crept slower over years. Something arriving overnight is often a drive that is filling up or beginning to fail, an update that has left something running heavy in the background, or unwanted software that has installed itself and is quietly using the machine. A gradual slide is more often the drive being old and the start-up growing cluttered over time. When you call, telling us whether it came on all at once or crept up on you helps us point straight at the likely cause.
Is it slow, or has it got a virus?
It can be either, and they feel much the same from where you are sitting, so we test rather than guess. Malware and unwanted programs slow a machine by using it in the background, and a computer that got slow overnight, throws up adverts, or has toolbars and software you never installed is worth checking for exactly that. A machine that has simply grown tired over years is usually the drive, the memory or the start-up instead. Part of the free diagnosis is telling you which of those you are actually dealing with, so you are not paying for parts when the answer is a clean-up, or the other way round.
It is only slow on the internet. Is that the computer?
Often it is not the computer at all. If the machine itself feels quick but web pages crawl, videos stall and everything online lags, the fault usually lies with the connection or the browser rather than the hardware, and no drive or memory will change it. A browser buried under add-ons and open tabs is a common culprit too. We will help you tell the two apart, because there is no sense upgrading a machine that is not the thing slowing you down, and we would rather say so than take the work.
Does a slow computer mean it is about to die?
Usually not, and this is the worry we most often talk people down from. Slow is a symptom, not a death sentence, and the great majority of slow machines are held back by something ordinary and fixable rather than failing. There is one exception worth catching: a drive that is starting to fail can show up as things loading slowly, freezing or hanging, and that is a reason to look sooner rather than later so your files are safe. The free diagnosis tells us whether yours is simply tired or genuinely on the way out, and either way you will know where you stand.
Can you fix it today?
Sometimes, and we will be straight with you rather than promise a slot we cannot keep. A clean-up, clearing out what loads at start-up, or dealing with unwanted software can often be sorted on the visit. Anything that needs a part, an SSD or memory for your exact machine, depends on how quickly that part reaches us, and moving your whole setup across to a new drive takes as long as your data takes to copy, which is not work worth rushing. Tell us what it is doing when you call and we will give you a realistic answer, not an optimistic one.
Other problems
Sound more like one of these?
Tell us what is wrong.
Call and describe the fault. We will diagnose it for free, give you a fixed quote before any work, and if we cannot fix it there is nothing to pay. A real person who does the work, not a call centre.