· 3 min read
Slow computer? Seven things to check before you give up on it
Most slow computers have an ordinary cause that can be found in a few minutes. Work through this list in order, from the free fixes to the cheap upgrades.
Slow, crashing, infected or simply not working: tell us what is happening and we will find the cause and fix it. No contract, and no jargon.
Most computer problems feel mysterious and turn out to be ordinary. A drive is failing, a program is starting up that should not be, an update went wrong, or something unwanted was installed along with a free download. The work is in finding which one it is, and that is where we start.
You tell us what is happening, in your own words. "It takes ten minutes to start" and "the screen goes black when I move the lid" are both very useful descriptions. We ask a few questions, look at the machine, and find the cause.
Then we tell you what is wrong, what it will take to put right, and whether it is worth doing. You decide before any work begins. When the job is finished, we explain what the problem was and what, if anything, will stop it happening again.
Sometimes the honest answer is that the money would be better spent on a replacement. A rule we use: if the repair costs more than half the price of a comparable new computer, or the machine cannot run an operating system that still gets security updates, replacing it is usually the better decision. If that is where you are, we can recover your files, advise you on what to buy, and set the new one up with everything moved across.
When a computer is down, someone cannot work. We treat business problems with that in mind: get the person working again first, then deal with the underlying cause. If the same problems keep coming back, we will tell you why, and what would stop them.
No. Break/fix means you call when something is wrong and pay for that job. There is nothing to sign up for.
Yes. We find the cause first and tell you what it will take to fix. If a repair is not worth the money, we will say so. Our guide to what a laptop repair should cost shows typical price ranges.
Protecting your files comes first. Where a repair could put data at risk, we back it up before we start, and we tell you if there is a problem with the drive itself.
Yes. We work on Windows PCs and Macs, along with the printers, routers and other equipment connected to them.
· 3 min read
Most slow computers have an ordinary cause that can be found in a few minutes. Work through this list in order, from the free fixes to the cheap upgrades.
· 3 min read
A slow or broken computer is not always a lost cause. Here is a simple way to decide whether a repair is worth the money.
· 5 min read
Typical US price ranges for the most common laptop repairs, what pushes a quote up or down, and how to tell when a repair is not worth doing.
Tell us what is going on, or what you would like to set up, and we will get back to you, usually within one business day.