Help Please

Hello
I'm 64 years old and don't have much of a clue when it comes to computers, but was always able to turn to my husband for help when things of that nature went wrong.
Sadly he died suddenly last month.
We each have a Lenovo computer, they both say 'ThinkCentre' on the outer casing, I can't be more specific than that. Both computers have been working just fine up until yesterday.
I accidentally turned off the BT Router thing for a few minutes in the morning. My computer is unaffected and still working OK, but Peter's seems to have lost the ability to connect to the Internet or to send and receive emails. It could be coincidence, but I don't know.
The error message says it can't connect to the server of a particuler site, eg. EBay and yet I can connect on my machine no problem.
Strictly speaking I don't need his to work, but it's a reassuring back-up in case mine goes wrong or indeed vica versa as in this case.
Can anyone out there explain to me in very simple language what might have gone wrong and what I could do to fix it. I'm scared of meddling too deeply in case I do something stupid and mine stops working as well, then I really would be in a mess.
I've tried to include all the info you might need. All ideas and suggestions would be gratefully received.
Thank-you.

 

On the bottom right corner of your comp find the internet access icon that looks something like this (since I am not familiar with your machine it can look like either one of those):

1.

2.

3.

If it's not there try the arrow that points up (hidden icons). It's possible your internet access icon is among the hidden icons.

Click on that internet access icon. Click on your internet connection from the pop-up. That should do it.

 

Thank-you so much for your reply, I did what you suggested and thought it had worked, but sadly not.
'Windows Network Diagnostics' 'Investigating Router or Access Point Issues' is the message I got, going on to say: 1)Unplug or turn off the devise. (Do they mean the computer or the router?)
2)After all lights are off wait 10 seconds.
3) Turn devise (?) back on or plug it back into the power outlet.

I'm scared of doing the wrong thing as I said before because I'd hate to mess my connection up as I have some important stuff to do on Monday for which I will need my computer and phone in working order.
So could you just advise me as above. Computer or router? Then I'll give it a go next week.
Thank-you once again.

 

They generally mean the router when that pops up however rebooting both is not a bad idea either depending upon how long it has been since you rebooted your husband's laptop.

You also should have no fear rebooting your router as long as you do it properly through the power button. Rebooting your router, especially when dealing with a standard consumer-grade router is a fairly minor thing and is/should be done regularly every few weeks to months.

If none of the above work, and this is a wireless (Wifi) connection, try to plug your husband's laptop into the router via the Ethernet plug and see if having a wired vs. wireless connection makes any difference.

If it does allow you to connect via. Ethernet cable you may need to forget the network on the laptop in question and then connect to it after with a fresh network profile.

 

Thank-you for this advice. I don't actually know what an Ethernet cable is, but I'm sure I can find out. Thank-you.

 

An Ethernet cable resembles a phone cable but is larger and features more wires. Both cables share a similar shape and plug, but Ethernet cables have 8 wires and a larger plug than the 4 wires found in phone cables.