Chuck is using Firefox and recently he's been getting error messages. Leo says that may be due to keeping a lot of tabs open. Should he go back to Safari? Leo says that it's about as good, privacy-wise, as Firefox. But for search, he's currently using StartPage.com for searching anonymously. Use that, and it's just as private as Firefox.
Larry is having issues with his Windows 10 machine restarting. It physically shuts down and restarts. Leo says he has a hunch that the power supply is failing and it is causing a restart. It's definitely not a software issue. It may also be heat-related. If it happens under "load," and your fans aren't moving air enough, that could be it. Heat can also be caused if your computer's insides are blanketed with dust. That can cause the computer to overheat as well.
But the likely culprit is the power supply.
Matt's 4K Apple TV runs for an hour and then shuts down. Leo says that it's possible that the TV is overheating and it shuts down as a protective measure. So Matt should make sure there's plenty of airflow. He can also use canned air to blow out any dust accumulation. There could also be a memory leak that's causing it to crash. Leo really recommends making a Genius Bar appointment at the Apple store to tell them it's overheating after an hour. Since it's still under warranty, they could just give him another one.
Steve has an LG Stylo 2 and he's starting to lose his GPS lock. His Bluetooth also comes and goes. Leo says the Stylo has a weak antenna. That could mean a failing antenna or faulty GPS chip. This could be caused by heat too. That's the likely culprit because when the phone overheats, it's going to protect everything by shutting it off. Leo also thinks that the phone has just worn out and it's time to get a new one.
Bob is having problems with his computer becoming unresponsive. It suddenly freezes up until he reboots it. Leo says that it may not be crashing for freezing at all. It may be an unresponsive mouse or keyboard. If the clock continues ticking, then it hasn't crashed. But if the clock is stuck, then the processor has halted. Even then, the processor may just be busy and he may just have to wait. He'll want to be sure it's really halted, though. If he reboots the computer in the middle of reindexing the hard drive, it could corrupt his drive.
G Scott bought a Sony Vaio about a year ago, and he's been getting random shut downs. Leo says it sounds like a heat issue. Computers will shut down as a safety measure when a processor begins overheating. The fan has stopped running. G. Scott should go to CPUID.com and download a motherboard monitor to keep an eye on it.
Jay's Mac Mini is starting to crash every 4 hours. What can he do? Leo suspects overheating. It's pretty small, and they do get pretty hot. He could try opening it up, but he'll need a "spudger" to do that. He should probably take it in and talk to a genius.
Gary is having thermal issues with his laptop. Leo says that there's a sensor that has probably come off the rails. The fans require suction to work properly. If the case isn't in contact, that could be the case. But more likely, it's just a failed sensor. He should also make sure there's no dust blocking the fans and that there's clean airflow. Leo says that he can turn off the setting that could stop it from bugging him.
Patrick is a DJ and his laptop shuts down randomly. Sometimes when he closes the lid, and sometimes when he plugs in a USB. Leo says that could be an overheating issue, but more likely there's a short somewhere and that's a serious issue. Laptops are difficult to repair, sadly. Either the fan has gone bad, or there's a lot of dust. Even the thermal paste could have dried out.
Matthew has an Asus laptop and it restarts from time to time. Leo says that it's crashing and shutting down to protect the hardware from damage. Leo suspects that it's overheating. Matthew can remove the outer case and clean it out with a vaccum cleaner or blower. A fan may also have stopped working, especially one for the CPU. If the thermal paste that attaches the fan to the CPU has dried out, that could be causing overheating issues as well. A flakey power supply is also a possible culprit. Leo suggests finding an independent computer expert that can fix it.
