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Posts Tagged ‘problems’
Wednesday, September 8th, 2010
Can anyone name a small business, or any business for that matter, that doesn’t rely upon technology for day to day operations? Computers play such an integrated role in our lives. Much like automobiles, it is important to maintain your computers and run periodic checks on them to avoid failure.
When doing routine system maintenance, there are several different areas of the computer that should be checked for potential problems. The operating system itself, installed software, updates and patches, anti-virus definitions, the network settings, the system fans, dust levels, hard disk drives, backups, and external devices! Some are more important than others. For example, if your hard drive fails, you could face some very costly data recovery issues. Dust is another one, dust and heat are the biggest killers of electronic components. A competent computer repair firm will have a checklist of items that a technician will run through, the hard drive and dust levels being just one of those, to ensure optimal performance.
Not to get stuck on the automobile analogy, but it’s so easy to do comparisons between that and computer repair. If you forget to change your oil, over time your engine suffers. If you go long enough, eventually your engine will fail. Computer maintenance is the same way. A lot of clients have come to us with failed hard drives. Sometimes we can get their data off pretty easily and recover their systems. In the worst cases, those hard drives need to be sent off to a lab where data recovery becomes extremely costly. Client with crashed hard drives are usually surprised when we tell them that the crash could have been avoided. There are warning signs that most equipment will give when things go bad, and the signs usually begin a while before the actual crash takes place. For hard drives, it could be slow performance, errors while working, errors in system logs, or even clicking or grinding sounds. Most computer fans make noises too when they are about to fail.
Our experts service and repair machines and are experienced in the different ways you can identify computer problems. If you hire a team of professionals that know how to keep your computers working, and have them come out monthly for a quick checkup, you too will be able to keep working. For most people, computer failures usually happen at the worst possible time. Like, right before an important project deadline. If your computer suddenly crashes or the network is not working you may lose work and income. All of this could be avoided with just a couple hours of preventative maintenance per month.
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Tags: anti-virus, automobiles, avoid, backups, business, checklist, checks, checkup, clicking, clients, components, computer, computer maintenance, computer problems, computer repair, computers, costly, crash, crashed, crashes, data, data recovery, deadline, drives, dust, electronic, engine, equipment, errors, experts, external devices, fail, failed, failure, failures, fans, firm, grinding, hard disk, hard drive, hard drives, heat, hire, items, killer, lab, lives, machines, maintain, monthly, network, operations, patches, performance, problems, professionals, project, recover, rely, repair, role, service, settings, slow performance, small business, software, system, system logs, system maintenance, systems, team, technician, technology, updates, warning signs, working Posted in Tech Club General | No Comments »
Monday, August 23rd, 2010
Many years ago when a computer crashed, started running slowly, caught a virus, or lost data, the only recourse you had was to unplug your computer and “take it down to the shop” for repair. Sure, on-site computer repair has been around for some time, but in those days it was extremely expensive for someone come out to your home or business to look over your computer systems. The level of experience necessary for a computer repair technician to perform on-site support is high, and as a result that advanced level of support was only available to companies with large budgets. Each on-site technical worker must be an expert to survive the cutting-edge rigors of working with multiple hardware and software configurations each day. High hourly rates for computer experts allowed physically established computer repair stores to thrive for many years. They could hire one expert, and then employ a large group of less experienced staff for cheap who would work with the expert to learn how to fix the computers that came into the store.
Unfortunately, low prices did not always equate to convenience. The disadvantages to you are high when your only option is to drop a broken computer off somewhere down the road. Forced to crawl around under a desk unplugging cables, hoping that you can remember the correct sequence of cables to plug back in you finally get your computer back is no fun. If you make it past that step without being electrocuted, the next task is to haul the dusty computer and maybe monitor or other accessories out into the heat, rain, wind, or whatever weather we were having that day. Finally, the worst part, handing over all of your sensitive information to the stranger at the counter of the computer repair shop. Do you know the owner or person working at the counter? Great, but do you also know the other people working in the back room? Do they really even care about you or your data? Is your information safe? Just what ARE they doing back there with your stuff after you leave? Will they fix this problem only for you to discover more computer issues once you hook everything back up?
Things have changed considerably over the past five years, all for the better. These days, it’s more affordable for you to have your computer systems serviced on-site in your home or business. The hourly rate for experienced computer repair technicians has come down considerably, changing the playing field between on-site and in-store support companies. What used to be the biggest advantage for the brick and mortar computer store, physical presence, has actually turned into it’s greatest liability. The large operating costs of leasing a physical storefront have made it impossible for old style computer repair firms to compete. As a result of increased operating costs, lease, electricity and other limiting factors, physical computer repair shops are forced to charge more for computer repair services just to cover unnecessary overhead. Efficient on-site computer repair firms avoid these overheads, operating remotely, covering larger areas, and are able to pass the savings on directly to you, the customer. As a result of lower prices, more and more people are realizing the immense advantages to on-site repair, which go far beyond the ability to save money.
A client of ours recently left us a testimonial that sums up the experience quite nicely, “I liked your service, because right away I felt like my PC technician was a friend. He explained everything to me and answered all of my questions.” That is the level of customer service that a physical computer repair shop cannot match. Beyond simply fixing the problem, a technician in your home or business is a real person that is available to answer questions, explain to you what is wrong, and work with you – not just to fix one problem, but several problems all on the same visit. When your original problem is fixed, you’ll probably have time to fix three or four more problems that you otherwise wouldn’t have thought about had your computer been in a back room somewhere else. When you encounter a preventable problem, such as a computer virus, a live person there to assist you can not only help you remove it, they can offer expert training and advice on ways to protect yourself in the future. 95% of computer issues most people have can be fixed right there, on-site. In the rare instance that a more time-consuming repair is necessary, the technician already has everything taken apart for you and can take the necessary parts to a central repair facility for you, bringing back the repaired parts once complete. All the while, freeing up your time and allowing you to work on other things. More importantly, your ability to interact face to face with your computer repair technician gives you the advantage of knowing exactly WHO is working on your computer and whether or not you should trust them with your important pictures, business accounting information, emails and passwords.
Everyone likes to save money, and given the opportunity, 9 out of 10 will go with the less expensive option. It’s nice that the tables have turned to favor the customer, making it possible for everyone to experience better computer repair service without extra work or hassles, and at prices those large computer stores just can’t beat.
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Tags: accessories, accounting, advanced, advice, affordable, Arizona, broken computer, budgets, business, cables, client, companies, compuer systems, computer, computer experts, computer issues, computer repair, computer repair firms, computer repair service, computer repair technician, computer shop, computer systems, computer virus, crashed, craw, customer, Customer Service, cutting-edge, data, electrocuted, email, expensive, experience, experienced, expert, face to face, fix, fix computers, fixed, hardware, home, hourly, hourly rate, in-store, information, interact, IT support, less expensive, low prices, lower prices, monitor, my pc techs, on site computer repair, on-site, on-site support, operating costs, owner, parts, passwords, PC technician, person, phoenix, pictures, plug, problems, questions, rates, remotely, repair, running, save money, serviced, slowly, software, staff, stranger, support, technical, technicians, testimonial, training, trust, unplug, unplugging cables, virus, weather, worker Posted in Tech Club General | 1 Comment »
Saturday, September 5th, 2009
Are you having troubles with your WordPress blog? Are you unable to access it? When you try to access individual pages and posts, do you get ‘page not found’ or 404 errors? Have you noticed strange characters in the URL for blog posts like base64, decoded or other scripts? These errors will also appear in your permalinks setting.
Your WordPress blog has been hacked. Here are a few resources and good reading related to the problem:
http://www.journeyetc.com/2009/09/04/wordpress-permalink-rss-problems/
http://www.seanrees.com/2009/09/02/well-an-update-worth-its-salt/
http://wordpress.org/support/topic/297639/page/2
http://wordpress.org/support/topic/307518
my PC Techs can help you fix your blog and get you back up and running. Email us admin@mypctechs.com or give us a call, (602) 692-6423.
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Tags: 404, base64, blog, characters, decoded, fix, hack, hacked, page not found, pages, permalinks, posts, problems, repair, resources, support, wordpress Posted in Tech Club General | 2 Comments »
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