- The first thing we do before making any repairs is to provide you with complete backups of all your data.
- When we replace hardware components, the old part will be returned to you, or disposed of in an environmentally safe manner -- whichever you prefer.
- We give you the same warranty on parts that we get from our vendors.
"The Clicks of Death"
If your computer starts making a clicking sound when you first turn it on (one or two clicks per second) this probably indicates that the hard drive is failing. The hard drive is where all your data is stored. If you hear "the clicks of death" immediately turn off your computer by holding down the power button for 4 or 5 seconds, or just pull the plug out of the wall. Don't turn it back on -- have us (or another repair facility) try to recover your data immediately. Often, when you hear "the clicks of death" it's too late, and all your data is gone. Sometimes though, we can still recover some or all of your data. Once the problem starts, every second that the computer is running can cause more damage and destroy more of your data, so you should resist the urge to "keep trying" to see if the problem goes away.
"Avoid The Daily Grind"
If your computer starts to make a grinding noise -- especially one that varies in speed -- it is probably caused by the bearings in one of your cooling fans starting to fail. Depending on which fan it is, the replacement cost for the part will probably be between $10.00 and $30.00. That's a lot less than the cost of replacing a heat damaged processor or motherboard. If you hear suspicious grinding noises from your computer, have one of our technicians take a look at it -- you could save a lot of money in the long run.
"Who Makes The Best Desktop Computer?"
Clients often ask us which major brand computer manufacturer sells the best computer. Unfortunately, the answer is "none of them." All of the major computer manufacturers build their computers using the least expensive parts that will meet their advertised specifications. Often, incompatible parts are used so that you don't actually get the performance that you think you will, based on the advertised specs. Lastly, almost all of these computers are loaded with "bloatware." These are computer programs that use up a large amount of disk space and memory, but which actually perform no useful functions. Examples include toolbars, advertisement-filled games you don't want to play, and trial programs that give you a few hours free before becoming useless. You will always be much better off having a computer custom built, using the parts that give either the highest possible performance, or simply the best performance per dollar -- the choice is always yours.
"Who Makes The Best Laptop Computer"
Major brand laptop computers suffer from the same problems as desktop computers (see the tip above.) Unfortunately, it is not really possible to custom build a laptop computer in the same way that you can custom build a desktop computer. Because of their compact size, laptop parts are highly specialized and not interchangeable. Your best option is to buy a refurbished laptop from one of the major manufacturers and have us (or another IT company) erase and repartition the hard drive, and then do a "clean install" of the operating system and whatever application programs you need to use. Which manufacturer you should choose and which specific model of refurbished laptop you should buy both depend on exactly how you plan to use the laptop. We'll be happy to help you figure it out. Just call us, or schedule an appointment.
"Automatic Updates -- Not Always The Best Idea"
Most operating systems (as well as many application programs) have an "Automatic Update" feature. The software manufacturers usually recommend (often strongly) that you enable "Automatic Updates." Although updates are often useful, and even necessary, a small percentage of the time, updates can have catastrophic effects -- and when this happens "automatically" (i.e. without your knowledge) it can make it very difficult for you to identify and fix the problem. A few classic examples of "Automatic Update" disasters include:
- April 2004: Microsoft Windows 2000 update MS04-014 rendered most computers running Windows 2000 unable to start.
- April 2006: Microsoft Windows Explorer update MS06-015 prevents any computer with an older HP scanner program or an older Nvidia video driver from opening files, saving files, navigating to the Documents or Pictures folder, and a variety of othe fun "features."
- April 2006: Microsoft Windows Automatic Update installs the Windows Genuine Advantage "feature" which misidentified many completely legal installations of Windows as being "not genuine." This program harvested various items of personal information from the computer and sent that data to Microsoft, with absolutely no notification to or approval from the customer. naturally, this led to a series of lawsuits.
- August 2006: Microsoft Windows Explorer update MS06-042 caused Internet Explorer to crash and introduced a significant new security flaw in the operating system.
- April 2008: Microsoft Windows .Net 2.0 Service Pack 1 prevents the Quicken accounting program from running.
- January 2011: Microsoft Windows Automatic Update installs KB 2454826 (a non-security patch) which caused numerous computers to experience the infamous "Blue Screen of Death" 0x7F errors, essentially rendering the computer inoperable.
- April 2012: Right before tax day, Microsoft Windows Automatic Update MS12-025 suddenly stops TurboTax from printing.
- February 2013: Microsoft Windows Automatic Update installs KB 2670838 (another non-security patch) caused Internet Explorer 9 to display a black bar on the right side of the screen. Clicking on the bar caused the computer to die, displaying a "Blue Screen of Death."
- April 2013: Microsoft Windows Automatic Update MS13-036 causes numerous bogus error messages and froze many computers.
- August 2013: Microsoft publicly admitted that six Windows patches installed by that month's Microsoft Windows Automatic Update, were bad.
- November 2013: One of the "patches" for Outlook 2013 which was installed by Microsoft Windows Automatic Update caused numerous problems with Outlook, rendering it unusable in many cases. A second subsequent patch caused more problems and also made it impossible to fix the problems caused by the first bad patch.
- In 2014, Microsoft warned all users of Windows 8.1 that they had to install the KB 2919355 update (so-called Win8.1 Update 1) by May 13, or they wouldn't get any new patches. Not too surprisingly, many Windows 8.1 customers discovered that Update 1 wouldn't install, no matter what they did.
- August 2014: Microsoft Windows Automatic Update installed four patches that caused "Blue Screens of Death" on Windows 7, 8, 8.1, and RT machines.
- December 2014: Approximately one fourth of the Microsoft Windows Automatic Update patches generated problems, some of which still have not been fixed.
- This month: We can hardly wait to see what's coming next...
- All of our technicians have experience and specialized training that far exceeds the standard A+ Certification which many of our competitors rely on.
- We also offer training courses which will bring your employees up to speed on basic computer skills, basic and advanced hardware repair, and basic and advanced software maintenance.
- Technology changes fast, and if your computer is more than a few years old, it may no longer be possible to buy new parts to replace some components that wear out and fail (especially motherboards and processors.) Refurbished parts are available from several reliable vendors and often provide a cost-effective alternative to a major hardware upgrade. We'll be happy to explain your options and even recommend which choice is best, based on exactly how your computer is being used. Just call us, or schedule an appointment.
- Many costly hardware problems can be avoided by having a competent service professional make routine checks of all your computers and related equipment. Ask us about our different annual service contracts, and you'll probably end up saving quite a bit of money.
- For larger networks, that have numerous computers, it makes sense to employ a standardization strategy that allows all of the computers to share identical hardware and software components. This approach minimizes downtime due to hardware or software problems, since failed components can be quickly and easily replaced from a preexisting store of spares.
Many of the computer problems that clients experience are caused by software issues rather than hardware failures. Fortunately software problems can be greatly reduced, and in some cases completely eliminated, by instituting a few basic changes. If your computers are not already set up this way, just give us a call, or schedule an appointment and we'll be glad to lend a hand.
- Data Segregation: Almost every off-the-shelf computer is designed to co-mingle the data you create with the operating system and application program files that you use to create that data. IT professionals have known for decades that this is a bad idea, but the major computer manufacturers still insist on building their machines that way. A much better approach is to separate the computer hard drive into separate partitions: one for the operating system and application programs and one for your data. Not only does this greatly simplify such tasks as backing up your data, it insures that you can make whatever changes are necessary to the repair the operating system, without adversely affecting the data. For larger networks, each computer's data should be moved off the workstation computers and stored on a central file server. This adds numerous advantages in terms of security and sharing of data between multiple users.
- Disk And Partition Imaging: Disk imaging software has been around since the 1960s and it is difficult to understand why it is not in common use. Disk images perfectly replicate the structure and contents of a storage device (a hard drive, disk partition, flash drive etc.) independent of the file system. By making a disk image of a new, pristine operating system with all of the application programs installed, it is easy to restore the computer to that original, nominally perfect, state at any time in the future. This eliminates problems caused by viruses, malware, faulty software updates, and almost anything else that can cause a computer to experience software problems. By using disk imaging software in conjunction with proper data segregation techniques (see above) it is possible to eliminate the vast majority of computer problems that users experience.