Did your Mac slow down after you installed macOS Mojave? Or do you suspect that its sluggishness is caused by nearly empty memory storage space? No matter what caused your Mac to slow down, things are not hopeless. Here are some ways to speed it up.

Clean up your Login Items

The Login Items list (or “Startup List”) contains all the apps and programs that automatically start when you log in. Some applications or programs are automatically added upon installation while some are manually added. Items that are no longer supported by Mojave will take time to launch, causing the system to slow down.

To remedy this,

• Go to System Preferences > Users & Groups > Login Items 
• Remove unsupported apps by selecting the app(s) and clicking the “—” button

You can also clean out specific unsupported apps and services from your list. On the other hand, the slowdown may also be caused by apps that are outdated. If you suspect this to be the case, simply update your apps.

Start up in Safe Mode

The Mac Safe Mode is often used to troubleshoot system-wide issues and fix problems with specific apps. Booting up in Safe Mode doesn’t just repair startup drive and hardware issues, but it also deletes system caches, which slow down the startup process.

Cache files are temporary data stored on a hard drive to speed up processes. But for major upgrades like installing a new OS, cache files may become corrupted and slow down your computer. Clearing your Mac’s cache and other temporary files may bring back your Mac’s old speed.

Upgrade to an SSD

An SSD (solid-state drive) is a disk storage system that significantly speeds up a Mac’s ability to process data. It will entail some expense since you might need to purchase one, but it’s one of the most effective ways to speed up your Mac. Alternatively, you can use an external storage system to boot up your computer.

Free up startup drive space

A Mac may also slow down because of insufficient space on its startup drive. Every Mac has a built-in hard disk, but users have the option to use an external startup disk for faster performance. Your space requirement depends on the programs you use. So if you work on large media files and data, you need a bigger disk storage.

If you’ve tried one or several of these tips and still experience sluggishness, it may be time to consider other options, including trading in your old Mac for a new one. But before you do that, let us help you explore other ways to improve the performance of your trusty machine. Get in touch with us today.

The post Slow Mac? We’ve got tips to make it run faster appeared first on Complete Technology Resources, Inc..

According to a recent survey of 1,800 consumers, 42% said they’re “very unlikely” to buy from unprofessional or ugly websites. If you’re wondering whether or not your site could fall into that category, check out these key indicators.

A variety of professional photos

From pictures of your products to team photos, high-quality images are arguably the most important thing on your website. Blurry, outdated, or irrelevant pictures tell your site visitors that you don’t care about their browsing experience. In-house photos are the best option, but stock images shouldn’t cause any problems as long as they are optimized for mobile viewing and relevant to your content.

Navigation

Aside from one subpar imagery, linking to nonexistent pages is one of the best ways to turn site visitors away. Make sure it’s easy to navigate your site and remove outdated or irrelevant pages. You can’t sell 404 pages to customers, and if that’s all visitors can find, it’s game over.

Clear copywriting

The last thing you want to do is to confuse your customers, so it’s important to keep all of your product or service descriptions as straightforward and simple as possible. If what you’re selling has detailed information, such as dimensions or technical requirements, make sure it’s easy to find but not obtrusive.

Promises to site visitors

Any website that ships products should make its returns policy as visible as possible. This establishes trust early and some online shoppers make purchase decisions based solely on the clarity of a return policy.

If you don’t run an eCommerce site, you also need to prominently display privacy commitments, such as those mandated by the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

About page

Your brand needs a story behind it that customers can relate to. Every company website should have an About Us page that describes your team, its culture, and what sets you apart from the competition. Whatever your story is, make sure it’s accessible from any page on your site.

Design

Not everyone is a web design expert, but in today’s gig economy one is never too far away. If your budget is tight, there are DIY site builders specifically geared toward small businesses. Or with a relatively low monthly expenditure, you can hire a managed website provider.

With more revenue originating online, small- and medium-sized business owners can’t afford to overlook the importance of creating a fully functional website. For more information on building a modern website, call us today!

The post Ugly websites cost your business big bucks appeared first on Complete Technology Resources, Inc..

According to a recent survey of 1,800 consumers, 42% said they’re “very unlikely” to buy from unprofessional or ugly websites. If you’re wondering whether or not your site could fall into that category, check out these key indicators.

A variety of professional photos

From pictures of your products to team photos, high-quality images are arguably the most important thing on your website. Blurry, outdated, or irrelevant pictures tell your site visitors that you don’t care about their browsing experience. In-house photos are the best option, but stock images shouldn’t cause any problems as long as they are optimized for mobile viewing and relevant to your content.

Navigation

Aside from one subpar imagery, linking to nonexistent pages is one of the best ways to turn site visitors away. Make sure it’s easy to navigate your site and remove outdated or irrelevant pages. You can’t sell 404 pages to customers, and if that’s all visitors can find, it’s game over.

Clear copywriting

The last thing you want to do is to confuse your customers, so it’s important to keep all of your product or service descriptions as straightforward and simple as possible. If what you’re selling has detailed information, such as dimensions or technical requirements, make sure it’s easy to find but not obtrusive.

Promises to site visitors

Any website that ships products should make its returns policy as visible as possible. This establishes trust early and some online shoppers make purchase decisions based solely on the clarity of a return policy.

If you don’t run an eCommerce site, you also need to prominently display privacy commitments, such as those mandated by the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

About page

Your brand needs a story behind it that customers can relate to. Every company website should have an About Us page that describes your team, its culture, and what sets you apart from the competition. Whatever your story is, make sure it’s accessible from any page on your site.

Design

Not everyone is a web design expert, but in today’s gig economy one is never too far away. If your budget is tight, there are DIY site builders specifically geared toward small businesses. Or with a relatively low monthly expenditure, you can hire a managed website provider.

With more revenue originating online, small- and medium-sized business owners can’t afford to overlook the importance of creating a fully functional website. For more information on building a modern website, call us today!

The post Ugly websites cost your business big bucks appeared first on Complete Technology Resources, Inc..

A “battery low” notification on your Android phone can be the most frustrating thing in the world, especially when you don’t have a charger with you. You can hastily try to close applications and adjust your phone’s settings, but the damage has been done. To avoid getting into that situation again, follow these tips to preserve your battery life.

Use power saving mode

The quickest way to conserve your battery life is by activating the power saving mode found in the settings of most Android phones. As of this writing, you can do this by going to Settings > Device maintenance, then tapping the Battery icon at the bottom left corner.

This mode limits your phone’s processor and reduces the screen’s brightness display, thereby using only the bare minimum power to keep its critical functions running. This means that even with the power saving mode on, you’ll still have access to apps for texting, web browsing, and social media. What’s more, this feature can be set to automatically activate when your Android phone’s battery drops to a certain level, so you can implement this tip once and enjoy longer battery life without worrying about it again.

Set brightness manually

While using auto-brightness on your Android phone is convenient, it also drains your battery faster, because the system actually sets the brightness at a higher level than what you really need. To extend your battery life, adjust the brightness manually by going to Settings > Display. To save even more power, you can set the screen timeout interval to be as short as 15 seconds, so that your phone screen goes back to black faster when not in use.

Offload unused or infrequently used apps

The more apps there are on your phone, the more power your phone uses to keep them running in the background. If you want to extend your battery life, then you’ll have keep your apps to a minimum. Do you really need four photo editors? Do you need separate news site apps when you can access them all on Twitter? You can delete unnecessary, redundant, or infrequently used apps by going to Settings > Apps. From the complete list of all your applications, choose the ones that you can live without, and uninstall them.

Organize your home screen

Since most Android phone users don’t realize that a cluttered home screen sucks away their battery life, they load it with tons of apps and widgets. Don’t fall into this trap by keeping your home screen minimalist. Only keep the essential apps on your screen and do away with live wallpapers, as those consume more battery than regular pictures. A completely black wallpaper is also known to reduce battery life considerably in newer Android phone models.

Turn off sound and vibration

Sounds and vibration lets you know about incoming calls, messages, and notifications. But in some cases, too much of these can drain your battery life. If you have a very active group chat, for example, or if you subscribe to a lot of feeds, then you should consider turning off the sound and vibration for these apps. Anyway, even if you have them turned off, you can still see notifications via banners or message previews. Eliminate sound and vibration options by going to Settings > Sounds and Vibrations.

Hide all notifications

If you want to further extend your battery life, then turn off notifications completely. Ask yourself, “Do you need to know every time someone posts to or comments on your Facebook page? Do you want to hear about the latest deals and offers from your application?” If you don’t really need to be notified about these things, then do away with them by going to Settings > Notifications, then toggle off the All apps setting.

Check your  location services settings

Some apps like Google Maps and Waze require you to turn on location services to display your surroundings and give you directions. But location services chip away at your battery life very quickly and you should turn it on only for as long as you need to. If you have to really use location services but you’re running out of juice, you can go for lower location accuracy by going to Settings > Connections > Location > Locating method, then tick the Battery saving option.

Battery power shortage can be a frustrating issue for Android phone users, but following the simple hacks above can help you extend your battery life and avoid emotional breakdowns because of technology.  To learn more about how to preserve battery life on your Android devices, give us a call today.

The post How to lengthen your Android’s battery life appeared first on Complete Technology Resources, Inc..