Be your own tech TROUBLESHOOTER

More than 40% of over-55s admit to calling younger family members if they have tech difficulties. But it can be easier than you think to solve problems with your smartphone, laptop or wi-fi. Here’s what to do…

TECH TROUBLE 1

‘I can’t find my phone.’

Losing your phone (or tablet) can be a pain, and if it’s on silent, calling it won’t help you track it down. Luckily, you can track your phone’s last known location and make it play a tune (even if it’s on silent) from any web browser. Visit icloud.com if you have an iphone or ipad or android.com/find to locate a Google Android device.

TECH TROUBLE 2 ‘Help, the internet is really slow!’

First, reboot your router by pressing the power button to turn it off, then turn it on again. If that doesn’t help, you may need to change the channel your router is using, as too many routers on the same channel can cause congestion and slow everyone down. Check your provider’s website for specific instructions on how to do this. You’ll need to open your router’s settings page, which is accessed from a private internal web address, eg http://192.168.92.3 (usually found on the bottom of your router).

TECH TROUBLE 3 ‘My computer is taking a really long time to load programs.’

Having too many programs (such as web browsers, games, email and documents) running at the same time or having too little available hard drive space can both cause your computer to run more slowly than it should. Use the Windows Task Manager (press Ctrl + Alt + Delete) or Activity Monitor on a Mac (press Command + Spacebar, then search for ‘Activity Monitor’) to check which programs you have open and close those

you’re not using. To free up hard drive space, start by deleting unused programs. On a Windows computer, select Control Panel from the Start Menu, then Uninstall a Program. Select the program you want to remove and click Uninstall. On a Mac, simply drag the program to the Trash icon at the bottom of the screen, then empty your Trash folder. Next, delete files you no longer need (moving them to the recycle bin doesn’t delete them completely so empty this, too) and use a secure online storage service, such as Dropbox, Google Drive or Microsoft Onedrive, to store photos and videos.

TECH TROUBLE 4 ‘My print-outs have white lines running across them.’

There’s a good chance this is because the printhead (the part of the printer that lays the ink on the paper) is clogged, but this is easy to fix. Head to the Settings menu in the printer app you installed when you first set up the printer, then select the cleaning cycle. If there are still white streaks on your print-outs even after a clean, try opening the printer and removing the cartridge/s to access the printhead underneath. Delicately clean it with a cloth or cotton bud.