Some jobs turn up again and again. Different houses, different brands, same five problems. The good news is that most of them have a safe first step you can try yourself, and a couple of them have a wrong first step that makes things worse.
Here they are, with what to try and when to stop.
1. The printer says offline
It worked last month. Nothing changed. Except something usually did: a new modem from your internet provider, a new Wi-Fi password, or a router that restarted and handed out new addresses. The printer is still trying to join a network that no longer exists.
Try first: Turn the printer off, restart your modem, wait two minutes, then turn the printer back on. If that does not do it, use the printer's own screen or buttons to run its wireless setup again and join your current Wi-Fi. Then on the computer, remove the printer and add it again.
Get help when: the printer joins the Wi-Fi but the computer still cannot see it. That usually points to the two devices sitting on different networks, such as a guest network, which takes a bit more untangling.
2. The phone that stopped backing up months ago
This one has no symptoms, which is what makes it dangerous. The cloud storage filled up, the phone showed a warning that got swiped away, and backups quietly stopped. People find out on the day the phone is lost or dropped.
Try first: On an iPhone, open Settings, tap your name, then iCloud, and look for the date of the last successful backup. On Android, open Settings and search for Backup. If the date is not within the last few days, find out what is filling the storage. It is almost always photos and videos.
Careful: do not start deleting photos from the phone to make room. If your photos sync to the cloud, deleting them on the phone deletes them everywhere.
Get help when: you are not sure what is and is not backed up. If things have already gone missing, read what to do in the first ten minutes before trying anything.
3. The virus warning that will not close
A full screen alert, often with a siren sound, a Microsoft or Apple logo, and a phone number to call immediately. It looks like the computer has locked up.
It has not. It is a web page built to frighten you, and the phone number goes to a scammer. Your computer is almost certainly fine.
Try first: Do not call the number and do not click inside the warning. On Windows, press Ctrl, Shift and Esc together, choose your web browser from the list and click End task. On a Mac, press Command, Option and Esc together and force quit the browser. When you reopen it, say no if it offers to restore your previous pages.
Get help when: you did call the number, or someone was given access to the computer. In that case stop using it for banking and work through what to do in the next hour.
4. Wi-Fi that is fine in the lounge and useless in the bedroom
The internet plan gets the blame, but the plan is rarely the problem. Wi-Fi is a radio signal, and brick walls, bathrooms, kitchens and distance all eat it.
Try first: Stand next to the modem and test the speed, then test again in the problem room. If it is good beside the modem and poor down the hall, your internet is fine and your coverage is not. Get the modem out of the cupboard, off the floor and as close to the middle of the house as its cable allows.
Get help when: moving it does not help or is not possible. That is the point where the house needs extra access points placed properly, and guessing at it with a cheap extender often makes things slower. Our slow Wi-Fi guide explains what actually works.
5. The computer that suddenly takes ten minutes to start
Usually one of three things: the storage is nearly full, too many programs are launching at startup, or a pile of updates is waiting and the machine has not been properly restarted in weeks. Closing the lid is not a restart.
Try first: Choose Restart from the menu, not Shut down, and let any updates finish. Check how much free storage you have. If it is under about a tenth of the total, clear out the Downloads folder and uninstall programs you no longer use.
Stop when: the computer is making clicking or grinding noises, freezing for long stretches, or showing errors about the disk. That is not a tidy up job. That can be a drive on the way out, and every extra hour of use risks the data on it. Turn it off and read what to do in the first ten minutes.
The pattern
In every one of these, the safe first step is small and reversible: restart, check, move, look. The trouble starts with the big irreversible steps, like deleting, resetting, reformatting or calling a number on a pop-up. If the small step does not fix it, that is the moment to get a second pair of eyes rather than escalate on your own.
When you want it sorted properly, our trusted local technicians come to your home or office across Australia. Book a HelloTech technician and tell us which of the five it is.
