I.T. consultant about, but they could be an early warning sign of a much larger problem.
For example, if you’re driving your car and you start to hear squeaking when you apply the break, you might not think anything of it at first, just telling yourself maybe the wheels are wet, but it’s not big enough to call your mechanic about. Then the squeaking continues to get worse and by the time you do get it checked, your brake pads are nearly gone.
With technology the same types of things can happen. Something as small as a computer that takes longer than usual to boot up can signal a problem that will cause a full hard drive crash if not addressed. If you think something’s “too small” to bother your I.T. provider about, you could end up with severe consequences.
What could go wrong if you don’t report every technology-related problem you have? Read on to learn what innocently small problems could end up becoming if left unchecked.
Why It’s Important to Have Any I.T. Issue Checked Out
Here are examples of why it’s important to tell your I.T. provider about each and every technology related problem you’re experiencing sooner rather than later.
You Could Have Malware and Not Know It
Your computer is just a little slower than usual, but everything else seems fine, so you just shrug it off, telling yourself you’ll clean out some temp files later to see if that fixes the problem.
What you don’t realize is that a malware infection is the cause and spyware is currently recording every keystroke you make, which is the cause for the slowdown.
If you had called an I.T. pro, one of the first things they would’ve done is check your system for malware and been able to immediately identify the problem and remove the malicious code before it ended up infecting your entire network.
Your Hard Drive Could be Getting Ready to Crash
Just a few strange clicks coming from your hard drive every now and then, might not send up any red flags for you, especially if everything else seems okay and your computer is running fine.
Strange noises happen to be one of the signs of an impending hard drive failure. Left unchecked, you could end up losing every file on your computer and suffering downtime while you’re trying to recover.
But if you were proactive and checked in with your I.T. partner, they could’ve let you know the hard drive needed replacement, ensuring all your files were transferred to a new drive and switching out the old one before it failed.
Your Network Could Go Down
Strange network behavior, such as WiFi that loses connection every now and then, could be warning you that your router is about to go out. But if the connection drops only happen a few times a week for a few minutes, you might think just unplugging it and plugging it back in is all you need to do.
Until it goes out for good and you can’t get it back. That means downtime and being disconnected from your customers and many of the programs you need to do business.
98% of organizations report that just a single hour of downtime costs over $100,000.
An I.T. pro could tell you that hardware is not supposed to behave like that and should be giving you a consistent connection. Had they been called at the first sign of trouble they could’ve helped you avoid any costly downtime and the emergency situation that is caused.
What Are Potential Warning Signs of a Bigger Tech Issue? As we mentioned, we like you to call when anything seems wrong, even something small. But here are a few warning signs that can point to larger problems, such as a malware infection or impending hard drive failure. Technology signs that something’s really wrong:
Poor software performance
Dropped connections with hardware (printers, wireless keyboards, etc.)
Noisy hard drive
File corruption
Computer starts slowing down
Unexpected reboots
Higher than normal network activity
Unusual error messages