Frequently Asked Questions

Absolutely, and you would not be the first. Computers intimidate a lot of people and there is nothing wrong with that. My job is to take that worry off your hands so you can get on with your work instead of fighting with the machine.

I will give you as much or as little of the technical detail as you actually want. Some people like to know exactly what went wrong; others just want it working again. Either is completely fine by me. I have never seen the point in making someone feel silly for asking.

It is usually a few things adding up rather than one big fault:

• When the computer was new it was faster than most machines around you. Everything else has moved on since, so the same speed now feels slow. Part of it is simply your frame of reference.
• Programs pile up over time and quietly start themselves whenever the computer boots. You will often see them down near the clock. Each one takes memory and a little bit of speed with it.
• If you are still on an older mechanical hard drive, it slows down as it ages and fills up. Moving to a solid state drive is the single biggest speed improvement for most older machines. If you already have an SSD, a nearly full drive will still slow you down, so it is worth keeping some space free.
• You could have picked up spyware. Spyware tracks how you use your computer, and at the mild end it just follows your browsing and throws ads at you. Some of it is far nastier. It can be removed, and your computer protected properly so it is less likely to happen again.

A few simple habits will save you most of the grief:

• Back up your data as often as you could afford to lose it, and use a good cloud service as well as a local copy. Hardware fails without warning. If there is no backup, everything goes with it.
• Keep an eye on your drive’s health. Modern drives report their own condition, and it is far easier to save your files if a failing drive is caught early.
• Keep Windows and your programs updated, and restart the machine properly now and then rather than just closing the lid. Do not bother defragmenting a solid state drive. Windows already looks after those, and defragmenting them only wears them out faster.
• Buy a decent surge protector. There is a real difference between a cheap power board and a proper surge protector. A good one comes with a connected equipment warranty, so if a surge damages gear that was properly plugged into it, they pay up to a set limit.

A handful of sensible steps covers most of it:

• Windows has solid protection built in these days with Microsoft Defender, and for most people that plus a bit of common sense is enough. If you want something extra, Malwarebytes is what I use and recommend, and there is a link on my Useful Resources page.
• Keep Windows updated. Updates install automatically now, but it is worth checking they have not quietly stalled. If you are still running Windows 10 or anything older, come and talk to me, because those no longer receive security patches.
• Use common sense with email. Do not open attachments you were not expecting, even from someone you know, since accounts do get taken over. Attachments ending in .scr, .bat, .pif, .exe, .com, .js or .iso are very often trouble.
• Be just as careful with links. Most infections I see these days arrive through a convincing looking email or a fake download page rather than through an attachment. If something feels off, it usually is. Ring me and ask.

There are two sides to it, software and hardware.

Software

• These will get the machine running roughly as well as it did when you bought it, which is often all it needs.
• Remove programs you no longer use, and stop the ones you do not need from starting with Windows. If you are not comfortable doing that yourself, leave it to me. It is a quick job.

Hardware

• Swapping an old mechanical hard drive for a solid state drive is usually the biggest single improvement you can make. It is the upgrade that makes an old machine feel new again.
• Adding memory is the next best step, and it makes a noticeable difference if you keep a lot of tabs or programs open at once. The type your machine takes depends on its age.
• Beyond that you are into a major overhaul. A faster processor usually means a new motherboard and memory as well, and at that point you are effectively building a new computer.

Yes. Alongside repairs I do web design, web hosting, computer networking and IT consulting.

Give me a call on 0403 261 661 or send me a message and we will work out what you actually need. I would rather build you the right size website than sell you something bigger than the job calls for.

Yes, easily. Once the computers are on the same network you can share the internet connection, and your files, printers and games along with it.

That might be two machines talking to each other, or wireless coverage that reaches every room of the house without dead spots. Either way I can set it up and make sure it is secured properly, so you are not sharing it with the whole street.

No lights and no fans at all usually points to power rather than anything you did. The likely causes are:

• A cable that is not seated properly, at the wall or at the computer.
• A faulty power cable or power adapter.
• The wrong power supply for the machine.
• A dead battery, on a laptop.
• A failed power supply, power button, power board or inverter.
• Faulty memory.
• Recently added hardware causing a conflict.

Worth trying first: unplug it completely, hold the power button down for about fifteen seconds, plug it back in and try again. That clears a surprising number of these. If it is still dead, give me a ring rather than pulling it apart.

No call-out fee. You pay for my time, not for me turning up.

I charge an hourly rate with a one hour minimum, and most onsite jobs are finished inside that hour anyway. Ring me on 0403 261 661, tell me what it is doing, and I will give you the current rate before I start.

I work 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday, and I am fully mobile, so those hours are spent out on the road coming to people.

If those hours do not suit you, ask. I do work after hours when it is needed, so if you cannot get away from the shop or the office during the day, say so and we will find a time that works.

How soon depends on the week. Often I can be there the same day or the next day; if I am booked up it might be a few days. Ring me on 0403 261 661 and I will tell you honestly where I am at rather than leave you waiting.

A fair bit can also be sorted remotely or over the phone without a visit at all.

I come to you. I am based in Robina and cover the Gold Coast, and I do as much as possible onsite while you wait. That is the point of a mobile service, and it means you are not left without your computer for a week.

The only time I take a machine back to the office is when it is a job I genuinely cannot finish at your place, or it needs tools I keep there. If that happens I will tell you before I take it.

Yes, both. I set up, upgrade, repair and back up Windows PCs and Macs, and I can move your files across between them.

Act on this quickly, and please don’t feel embarrassed. It happens to careful, sensible people every day. The people who ring are professionals – it’s their full-time job, and they’re very good at it.

• Disconnect from the internet. Unplug the network cable or turn the Wi-Fi off.
• If you gave them card or banking details, ring your bank straight away. That comes before the computer.
• Do not use that computer for banking or email until it has been checked.
• Change your important passwords from a different device, starting with your email.
• Ring me and I can check what was installed and clean it up.

A real company will never ring you out of the blue about a virus on your computer. Microsoft, Telstra and your bank do not do it. If in doubt, hang up and ring me instead.

Usually, yes. A computer that will not start often has a perfectly healthy drive inside it, and the fault is the power supply, the screen or Windows itself rather than your data.

Data recovery is one of the things I do. What makes it harder is switching the machine on and off over and over, so if the drive is making any clicking or grinding noise, stop and ring me.

It depends on the machine, and I will give you a straight answer either way.

If it is only a few years old and just feels slow, a solid state drive and some extra memory will usually transform it for a lot less than the price of a new computer. If the fault is a failed motherboard in an older laptop, putting the money towards a replacement is often the better call.

If you do decide to buy new, I can set it up and move everything across so nothing gets lost.