Operating
System Re-installs & Resets
If
your device is slowly grinding to a halt, failing to
start up, working unreliably or just seems far less
responsive than it used to be, then resetting it, or
re-installing the operating system (Windows or MacOS)
will often make it perform like new again. For
older machines which are unable to upgrade to later
Operating Systems, or are beginning to become unusably
slow, there's the option to install a different
operating system so that they can be used for web
browsing, video calling, email and basic document
creating/editing using Google's suite of online apps.
Re-installing
or upgrading the Operating System requires copying any
personal data (documents, photos, installers, etc.,)
to alternative storage, recording any apps installed
and then resetting or installing a fresh copy of the
latest version of your operating system.
Often
this is a good time to consider upgrading components
of your device and/or tidying up your files and
accounts. Adding an SSD (solid state drive), for
example, is a cheap and effective way of increasing
performance and decreasing start-up times of older
systems. Copying your important files to the cloud
makes it easier to access them on multiple devices
whilst also protecting them by creating a secure back
up copy.
Mobile
phones and tablets can also suffer from software
issues which cause unresponsiveness, failure to boot
and other problems in use. Although it's relatively
easy to reset these devices, care must be taken to
preserve accounts, files and settings to prevent data
loss.
