Computer Service & Repair for your Desktop or Laptop Computer is as important as that irreplaceable data you have on it.

As prices continue to drop on computers and peripherals, many people don't see the need to have maintenance or routine checkups for their equipment. What they fail to realize, usually until it is too late, the real value is, the time and sweat of all the information that has been input and converted to usable data, not the equipment itself. "Don't know what you got.... until it's gone" applies here.

What to look for in a Computer Service Technician :

1. Honesty
2. Speaks to you in plain English
3. Patience
4. Knowledge
5. Willing to suggest alternatives to make your computing easier

Pitfalls to avoid before calling a Service Technician:

1. Attempting to "repair" it yourself.
   • If you know FOR SURE how to fix it, do so.
   • If you don't know how to fix it, then try to fix it, chances are it will get worse, and cost you A LOT more to fix it when the Computer technician arrives.
2. "Waiting" to call, stretch it out, buy some time, etc....
   • This almost always results costing you more
     • Don't wait for it to "totally" break down, to save money
       • More things fail due to the first failure
     • If you have a virus, it replicates or is on a "fuse" and when it lights it tracks all your moves or steals all your passwords for credit cards, bank accounts etc...
     • You lose data to corruption

Some recommendations:

1. Give the kids a separate computer away from yours
   • Even better, make this computer Linux or an Apple to ward off viruses and other infections
2. Don't partake in "file trading, "file sharing" or other copyright infringing online activity
   • You download or share copyright material without paying for it, you can get sued
   • These open trading portals are ripe with viruses and infected files, especially for those running Windows
     • Majority of these viruses are keyloggers or trojans, custom made to steal your passwords and financially ruin you
   • Morally, it teaches kids not to respect peoples intellectual property
3. Don't buy the cheapest computer you find at the store
   • Cheaper usually means:
     • Stripped down
     • Refurbished units
     • Inferior parts
     • Lower end brand name
     • Higher potential for failure
     • Poor tech support
4. If you run a business, keep the computer "business" only
   • Don't conduct personal actions, especially personal internet surfing, on a business computer
   • Keep other family members off the business computer, especially kids
   • Reserve the computer you do online banking & transactions on, away from the kids
5. Don't "jump" or change Computer Service Technicians
   • Cheaper doesn't mean better, in the long run
   • A committed tech will learn your style and your systems "in and out", being able to accomodate you.
6. Ask for a "service contract" or a "monthly maintenance contract"
   • You pay a set price ahead of time for a set period, in exchange for a tech to devote an agreed amount of time and services on:
     • repairs or:
     • a maintenance plan. - This preventive maintenance saves you the most money in the long run.

Client: You are worse than the Dentist. (as the Technician hands her the invoice).

Technician: No, I am the oral surgeon. (after the Client's son infected her business computer full of Social Security numbers and billing information, with viruses from a porn site and the Technician successfully saved all of the Client's data.)