Getting things going again

OK, this might sound obvious, but one of the easiest things you can do to get your computer working better is to restart it.

How many times have you spent hours trying to figure out what was causing a computer problem, only to have the IT guy fix it by rebooting? No, your IT guy does not have the "magic touch". What's really happening is that sometimes computer problems are temporary. When you restart your computer it clears its memory and reruns program startups.

Something important to note here is that sometimes the problem you're having won't allow you to restart your computer properly. For example, if your computer freezes, you won't be able to restart without pressing the Power button down and holding it until your computer shuts off.

This is sometimes referred to as a "Hard Reboot," and although it's not ideal, it is essentially the same thing as restarting.

Another thing you can do that's really easy is clearing out your browser's cache. This won't fix every problem, but it does help by giving you a blank canvas to work with.

The process is very easy. Every browser has a different method, but here's how you can do it in Chrome. Go into your browsing history, then click the button at the top that says,"Clear browsing data".

Of course, if these simple fixes don't help, then you might have a bigger problem to worry about. It could also be caused because your computer needs a cleanup.