Five things to try before you book a visit

None of these can make things worse. If one fixes it, you have saved yourself a visit.

1. A real restart

Shut down fully and start again - not sleep, not lid-close. On Windows, hold Shift while clicking Restart to force a clean boot.

2. Power-cycle everything

For internet trouble: unplug the modem and router from power, wait 30 seconds, plug the modem back in first, and give it two minutes before the router.

3. Check the cable that never gets checked

A black screen is very often a loose or failed video cable, or a monitor set to the wrong input. Reseat both ends. Try a different cable if you have one.

4. Look at free space

A drive with under about 10 GB free will crawl and updates will fail. Empty the recycle bin, then check Downloads.

5. Let updates finish

A machine that seems frozen on a blue screen with a spinner is often mid-update. Leave it alone for an hour before pulling the plug.

Still stuck? Open a ticket and tell us which of these you already tried - it genuinely shortens the visit.