Hi folks, perhaps one of the technophiles on here could advise me please.
I didn’t use my pc/internet at all over Christmas and New Year until about a week ago. Since then, every time I use it, particularly but not exclusively on my on-line banking (so that may be coincidental), it crashes. I’m with Free for both mobile and internet.
My pc is relatively old - 2014 I think - and the operating system is Windows 10, so I was wondering if that was the problem.
Or could it be something more sinister connected to on-line banking?
I doubt it’s anything sinister. My guess would be an out of date web browser program that the online banking website doesn’t like.
For comparison, I have a 2010 vintage Apple Mac Pro tower which was my main computer for ages - I now only use it as a big storage box (replaced by a Mac Mini M2 for day to day stuff) because I could no longer update its operating system and Firefox web browser, so some websites stopped working properly (e.g. YouTube).
Update: I opened up the internet just now and it has crashed twice - both times when I entered a Google search. It seemed to freeze for about a minute then the internet shut down. The computer itself plus a Word document remained open and I could write/edit the Word document. I wasn’t using the bank website so that seems to have been a coincidence.
There is a Troubleshooter in Windows that tries to diagnose,/fix Internet connection issues. Next time it fails try that - usually at least tells you what the issue is. Network Troubleshooter - either via Control Panel or just type it in the windows search.
It’s probably your network adaptor (?). If it’s WiFi problems - try a cable instead. If it’s cable try WiFi.
I feel this is more likely your Internet service provider, or your router rather than the PC itself, can you run a speed test or use Windows settings to check your Internet connection?
I suspect there’s terminology confusion here as, to me, it sounds like the browser crashing and others are interpreting it as losing the internet service.
@Mike313 can you confirm if other services, like email, continue to work? Can you still get internet on your phones?
When you say “the internet crashes” - can you describe exactly what you mean, what happens, any error messages that you get and what you do to “get it back” again?
Hi all, apologies if I am not explaining this very well.
My internet browser is Google Chrome.
When I say the internet crashes, what happened (tried it again just now) was that a Google search froze for about a minute, then all the internet windows including Yahoo closed, leaving non-internet windows for Word and Excel open and functioning.
I will follow up on your advice later this afternoon, I’ve got some work to do in the meantime.
If you’re on Windows then Edge should be available to you. Perhaps try that and see if you get the same result. If not, then it might be worth removing and reinstalling Chrome
I occasionally use a very old PC with a USB wifi adapter to connect to the internet without problems – and it’s running Windows 7! With this in mind, I doubt the issue is being caused by your version of Windows.
Mine went down before xmas and it was the old Windows 10 as well. We could not get it back so I bit the bullet and spent an obscene amount of money on a new MiniMac instead and so far, I absolutely love it compared to the almost steam powered HP (not that old stack either) machine. Unfortunately the HP printer/scanner did not like it but my SIL in the US managed to get it over to the “dark side” after finding out the four year old printer was now out of date anyway and no online help from HP with anything, so that saved me a few hundred euros. If you need a new PC I would recommend a MiniMac and their lifetime use is much longer with more protection too.
[nitpick mode on] Apple Mac Mini [nitpick mode off]
Not everyone gets on with Macs, but most that try them do like them - they are not all that different to use from Windows PCs, and are very reliable and hassle-free, by and large. You can use your existing monitor and mouse but will need to buy a Mac keyboard.
Apple do refurbished ones which will save you 15% usually and are “as new”.
If you get one, make sure it’s one of the recent ones with an “M series” processor (M1, M2, M3 etc) not an old one with Intel Inside. The M4 is the current model. The base model M4 Mac Mini is stonkingly good value at £599.
